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June 30, 2008

Confessions of a Deliquent Packer

I seriously need professional help. Why do I have such an aversion to packing? And if you are rolling your eyes right now for the fact that I'm complaining about packing AGAIN, trust me, I understand.

My main excuse for packing procrastination right now is that I'm waiting for O to get home (around 1:30) because packing my bike by myself (while definitely possible solo) is much easier with 2 hands. Well wait, make that 4 hands. You know what I mean.

In the mean time I've been keeping myself busy. First up on the docket this morning was a swim and lift. Now I know it defies all logic to swim today when this might very well be my last chance NOT to swim for the next 5 days. But my Monday morning swim is non-negotiable for me. I love the Monday morning swim. After long training hours on the weekend (long brick Saturday/long run Sunday) I like to have a day off the legs. So I hit up the pool this morning but I kept it relatively light. Because I have to admit, I'm a little scared of the swimming that's about to come. But I'm also really looking forward to it. I need 3 fishies to shake up my swimming and that's exactly what I'm going to get.

Anyway, I also have to admit that I'm getting a little nervous. You see contrary to what you may or may not think of me from reading this blog, I'm a pretty shy, NOT out going person. Blogs can be deceiving. As can emails. I can "say" things in emails that I would NEVER even consider saying to someone's face. This is bad, I know. Regardless, I always get pretty nervous around new people and in new settings. Definitely a creature of habit and liking to be in my comfort zone.

This morning in the pool I was thinking about my freshman year in college when I met my roommate for the first time. She was also on the cross country/track teams (thank God or we REALLY wouldn't have had anything to talk about) and she was just like me - quiet, shy, and a bit awkward. I don't think we said more than 5 things to each other for the first 2 months. We would do our morning runs together in complete silence! :) But of course she is now one of my closest friends. We lived together again our junior years and you couldn't shut either one of us up. So see...it only takes me 2 years to warm up to someone! :)

But it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone. To ride and run in places I've never been (I'm the type of person that could run the same 5 mile loop every single day of my life and not care one bit). To swim with people that are way faster. To stay with someone I've never met. To take a trip by myself without the comfort of O being with me (yes, I am 29 years old but please don't laugh). Because we all know that is what sport is in a nutshell - getting out of your comfort zone. Pushing yourself to do something you never thought you would or could do.

So Chicago here I come! Here's to pushing out of that zone of comfort. But I gotta tell you...I really hope Elizabeth, Ness and Jen like to talk a lot. Otherwise it's going to be one quiet week... :)

Posted by beth at 12:40 PM | Comments (5)

June 29, 2008

Nap PR, Long Run and CAMP

I just set a new PR – in time spent napping. 3 hours. Yep – that’s right. I just took a 3 hour nap!!

I’m not sure but once you get past a certain time, it can no longer be considered a nap and must now be termed “going to sleep”. Naps have their limits. I was definitely getting close. But boy did it feel good. With my recent racing and traveling it’s been hard to get the naps in. I had a little making up to do!

Regardless, before the big nap I was busy doing my long run with O this morning (2 hours, felt great) and going to church. Church was awesome – our pastor actually showed a video and talked about Team Hoyt (of whom I know you all know about) and compared Dick Hoyt’s love for his son and willingness to “carry” him through all those races to God’s love for us and how God carries us through life.

When our pastor was explaining the distances of an IM to the congregation I was hearing lots of ohhhs and awes (me included). It absolutely amazes me the Dick Hoyt completed Kona with Rick in tow. Just the concept of doing an IM at all awes me. It’s that kind of thing that makes me a little teary eyed.

ANYWAY – mid blog I must update the fact that O just returned home from the Pirates game where he sat in the all you can eat seats (he went with his dad while I was clearly at home sleeping the afternoon away). I had to get the run down on all that he ate. I won’t spoil it for you as I’m sure he’ll write about it himself. But let me just say – as a dietitian I am appalled. But as a fan of eating, I am amazed. :)

So tonight I have a few things left to do:

1) 1 hour spin on the bike
2) finish cleaning our house (a project we started Friday night but have yet to complete)
3) PACK

Pack you ask? Why yes – because tomorrow I will be leaving for SUMMER CAMP!

Excitement isn’t even the right word to describe what I feel. I’m off to Chicago to train for a week with Elizabeth, Jen and Ness!

I’m not really sure how this all came about other than the fact that I’m fairly certain I invited myself. Kind of rude, I know. Elizabeth was kind enough to oblige though. I think the emails went something like this:

Me: whoa is me, I always have to train by myself, wouldn’t it be nice to train with you Elizabeth?

Elizabeth: well why don’t you pick a week this summer to come visit Chicago?

Me: REALLY?!?! Are you serious?!?!?! How about the week of June 30th – I’ve already purchased my plane tickets!!!

Poor Liz. But I know it shall be a blast. I am so excited to learn so much from these 3 ladies and be inspired and well, just have fun. I feel very lucky to be going.

That is until I saw the agenda. This is no crazy training camp where we are out to kill each other and go hard every day. We are essentially just doing the training we would be doing otherwise but blending it together so that we can do some riding and running and swimming with each other. But some how every time someone sent out an updated version of our training agenda there was an additional swim.

I blame Jen Harrison. Or perhaps Ness. Heck, I may even blame Elizabeth too.

At first there were 3 swims and then 4 and then some how on the most recent agenda there was a swim every day. How could this be? I think they are trying to tell me something. :)

But seriously, this is exactly what I need! And there is open water swimming to boot! I simply can’t wait.

But I hope these gals know I can’t do butterfly. And I don’t drink coffee. And the fact that I like to do my track workouts at 5:15 am has already been discussed. Should be a most excellent week indeed. :)

Posted by beth at 5:45 PM | Comments (11)

June 28, 2008

Swimming, Biking, Running and More

Well it's been a very fun-filled day here in Pittsburgh, PA. At least for the Shutts is has been!

Things started off early this morning as O and I packed up the car and headed to Moraine State Park for my very first open water swim race. As in just a swim, no bike/run after. It was kind of a novel idea.

I didn't know what to expect so I wanted to get there very early. Which we did. Maybe a little too early. But I did get to survey the scene and once they got the buoys in the water I got my wetsuit on and into the water I went for my warmup!

At first I was a little worried because the only people showing up at the race appeared to all be "real" swimmers and oh...maybe about 12 years old. Did I some how get confused and sign up for a junior mile swim? This was looking more and more like a possibility but then...relief! I started to see some of my triathlete friends - first Matt and then Kim and then Chad and Jen. Whew! Of course they were all swimming the 2 mile and I was swimming the mile, but at least I wasn't the only one wearing a wetsuit!

Before I knew it I was lining up for the start of the race. It was a simple out and back course - 2 buoys for the mile and 4 for the 2 mile. On the start line I was feeling very tall. As in most of my competitors were under the age of 15. But there were a handful of adults. Apparently most of the triathletes were swimming the longer event.

We started on the shore and went running into the water! My only goal was to swim hard. I think the more practice I get in open water, in my wetsuit and just swimming hard will help me. I'm slowly learning how hard I can go for that 1500 meter to 1.2 mile distance and starting to realize that I can go harder than I usually do. Be aggressive I thought.

Problem was, I had an 8 year old boy, about half my size, in my way. Those little squirts are really great swimmers but boy are they bad at sighting! :) (which means a lot coming from me, the queen of poor sighting!)

I finally got around him and into some open water and just swam as hard as I could. I felt great on the way out - long, strong strokes. And I even got to the turn around buoy faster than I thought I would (usually straight swims like that are my nemesis because it feels like it takes FOREVER to get to the turnaround). I got around the buoy and hit some serious chop. YIKES! It certainly wasn't as bad as swimming in the ocean but chop it was. But I actually had quite a good attitude about it and welcomed the opportunity to get some practice in rougher water.

It was about this point that I found some feet to draft off of. There really weren't too many people in the race so drafting wasn't an option. But all of a sudden - feet! I decided my next plan would be to practice some drafting. And then I noticed that my potential draftee was...oh...about 12 years old and again, half my size.

So I ask - it is okay for me, a 29 year old with a wetsuit on, to draft off of a 12 year old 80 pounder with no wetsuit? Something about the whole situation seemed very morally wrong. :)

Luckily she made the choice for me because she also appeared to be a very poor sighter. We were headed off to the left so I decided to just swim my own line. And that's how I swam in.

Overall I'm really pleased with it. I honestly don't even know my time (I left before they announced any of the results) or place but those are both sort of arbitrary. I wanted a chance to experience another open water swim and that's what I got. It was probably the best job I've done of swimming hard the whole way and sighting but then again I didn't have the worry of biking/running hard when I got out of the water! Either way, it was fun and I'm really glad I went!

Next on the agenda was my bike/run brick. My friend Kim was going to ride with me but she was doing the 2 mile swim which started AFTER I was done with my mile swim so I actually got started on my ride while she was out in the water. I got a good hour in before I headed back to the cars to meet up with Kim who was ready and waiting to go! Good timing!

Of course within the first 5 minutes of our ride Kim's bike was misbehaving and she dropped her chain twice. Bad juju.

We rode back to the cars and miraculously WE ACTUALLY FIXED HER BIKE. This day will go down in history as the day Kim and Beth (the most mechanically challenged gals in the world) actually fixed a bike. I had the tool. Kim knew what to do with it. And in the end her bike shifted properly. We rode away very pleased with ourselves. :)

The ride went well. As I expected the area was very hilly. No HUGE mountains but either up or down, no flat. We rode another 2:30 together until I had a total of 3:30 and then Kim took off to finish her ride while I got ready for my T run.

In the mean time while I was riding and doing my thing O was off riding and running and swimming too! I expect him to write his own report on his blog. But when it was time for me to run, he still joined me. We did 30 minutes, changed clothes, sucked down some serious water (it was probably only in the low 80s but boy was it humid and boy was I thirsty!) and then headed out for a (late) lunch at Panera.

And now we are home. I've iced, showered, stretched, poured hydrogen pyroxide all over my open wounds (wasn't the cleanest lake water I've ever seen), rolled, unpacked, eaten, and now we are watching the track Olympic Trials on tv. I got teary eyed watching Amy Yoder Begley fight her way onto the team. Dreams come true. Doesn't get much better than that.

Posted by beth at 7:50 PM | Comments (4)

June 27, 2008

Boiled Beth

So tomorrow morning I'm entered in an open water swim race. It's a mile long. And I'm pretty excited! I'm mostly excited to get another opportunity to race and to work on my weaknesses. That being swimming and *especially* open water swimming, of course.

I'm wearing my wetsuit although you aren't allowed. Well you are allowed but you just won't show up in the official results. Some silly open water swimming rule about no wetsuits. But half my problem with open water swimming is that I feel different in my wetsuit. Like kicking for example. I'm much less so now but still a big kicker. Not such a great idea when you are in a wetsuit. So anyway, I'm wearing the wetsuit for more wetsuit practice. Although it just recently occured to me that the water may be very warm and much like in Philly I might start to boil. Boiled Beth. Mmmm doesn't that sound good? (mental note, put sleeveless wetsuit in car also...)

Anyway, after the swim I will do my 3:30 ride/30 min run brick at the race site. Lots of country roads up that way (that I suspect are very hilly) so O, the map maker extraordinaire, has set up a course to ride upon.

O will also be going to the race, mostly because I would be lost at a race without him, but also because he will be doing his OWN triathlon at that same state park in just 3 short weeks. So he'll also be taking his bike and running shoes and jumping in the lake for some open water swim practice (but he's not doing the swim race). It will be a fun morning/afternoon!

Have a great weekend everyone and best of luck to all those racing! Be great!

Posted by beth at 5:53 PM | Comments (1)

June 26, 2008

Arms in Revolt

Now that my toe is back in order (amputation is definitely out), my arms are revolting. Not from swimming per se (not that that helped any) but more from lifting. When in doubt, blame the lifting.

So my 4K swim this morning was a little rough. Actually, I did just fine but the lats, the shoulders, the triceps...they were all whining and complaining. I told them to buck up. We had a workout to do! When that didn't work I threatened amputation. I'm not sure why but I seem to have amputation on my brain. Must be because about half of the patient in the one ICU I cover just got something amputated. Surgeons and nurses must have weird dreams...

ANYWAY - I came home from work today hoping to see "2 hour nap" on my training schedule. You can probably guess that wasn't the case. Instead "2 hour ride". Hmm...not quite the same thing. So although I was pretty sleepy, I got my gear together, pumped my tires and out the door I went.

The ride started off hot, humid and with sore legs. But by about 15 minutes in I started to feel much better and quite enjoyed the remaining 1:45. I'm really starting to feel comfortable on my bike. I know that sounds strange because I've had it for over a year - but I think it takes quite some time to really feel good on a TT. At least it has for me. We've played with the fit here and there a little and I think I'm really happy with where it's at now.

Regardless, when I was about 10 miles from home I was stopped at a traffic light that was adjacent to a backyard where a man was sitting with his two dogs. I said hello to which he responded by looking into the sky and saying "I think you're gonna get wet young lady." I told him not to worry and that I was almost home (um...not really...) and rode off. And then I looked up and around and realized that it was getting awfully dark for only being about 6:30 pm! Hmmm....

Angry clouds chased me home and the wind started to whip up but I made it safe and sound! And about 5 minutes later the thunder, lightening and pouring down rain started. Couldn't have timed that better had I tried!

So there you have it. Another exciting day in the life of me (note the sarcasm of course... :) Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 9:36 PM | Comments (1)

June 25, 2008

Today's News

First of all, I'd like to report that I think my toe is going to make it. I woke up this morning to a much more normal looking toe. But I'm not against Ashley's advice to "cut off the toe and save the leg!" if need be. One smart girl is that Ashley... :)

In other news, my friend Kim (thanks Kim!) sent pictures that her husband took this weekend while we were racing. I find this one to be the most interesting:

I asked O what he thought I was doing as I appear to either be talking or smiling or something of the sort...none of which I SHOULD be doing in the midst of a race. "OH, I think Kyle took that picture when I was telling you that you were 75 seconds down on 1st place." Ahhh...that explains it. Notice the lack of visor. I think we've previously discussed what happened there. You may also note that I appear to be a bit of a heal striker. No wonder I was a 10K runner in college. :)

Anyway, today I had 3 great workouts! First off this morning was some work at the track with O. It was a perfect morning for some hard 400s - in the high 50s with no wind and the sun was just rising. And the workout went well. I had aimed pretty high with the splits I wanted to hit so I was pretty excited when we actually did it. Not that it wasn't really hard. In fact when we finished the last repeat both O and I were on all fours on the track, desperately seeking oxygen! But my run fitness is coming along. I don't often get large chunks of time where I'm 100% healthy for running so when I do I'm so thankful and it feels awesome!

After work I came home really wanting a nap. But there wasn't time for that. I still had a swim and lift and if I wanted to get that done and eat dinner and stretch and do all the other things I needed to do (like blog of course! :) I needed to get moving ASAP.

So to the pool we went. I always swim better in the afternoon but I don't often do it just because we don't ever swim tired in a race so why practice it right? :) Regardless, today's main set included 4 sets of 5x100, each set on varying send-off times. The goal today was to descend each set of 5 which is really hard for me. Coach determined that based on my POOL swim fitness I should be able to swim faster in open water. But the fact is, I'm just not getting it done in races. Swimming in open water is obviously tougher for many reasons so I'm trying my best to fix these problems. One of them is just pure lack of experience in open water and in my wetsuit so this year I'm making a good effort to get more open water swimming in (including my first ever open water swim race this weekend!). But another problem we think I have is my lack of feel for what pace I'm swimming when I don't have a pace clock staring me in the face. I sometimes think I just don't swim hard enough in races because I don't have a good awareness of pace and feel for the water.

Anyway, the point of all this is that coach wants me to do some swim workouts where I have to descend throughout the workout or parts of main sets so I get that feel for what I can do and for certain paces. So today the goal for each set of 5 was to swim the first one in 1:20 then 1:19, 1:18, 1:17, 1:16. (the intervals for the 4 sets were 1:50, 1:30, 1:40, 1:30 to mix things up). And I'm proud to say I actually did it! A couple times I would swim 1:20, 1:19, 1:17, 1:17, 1:15 or something like that but I was very close on all of them. That is HUGE for me! I know I wouldn't have been able to do that a couple months ago. So I'm getting there. Slow as molasses but I'm getting there.

Finally a trip to the weight room and then home for PIZZA NIGHT!! I love pizza night at the Shutt house. O even had it made by the time I got home. How's that for service? :)

Hope everyone has a great night!

Posted by beth at 8:14 PM | Comments (6)

June 24, 2008

Toe Troubles

Race recovery is going pretty well. I did an easy recovery swim yesterday and today a bit of easy biking and running. Tomorrow it's back to the grind.

I've gotten lots of sleep, did my traditional ice bath on Sunday after we returned, lots of stretching and rolling, a chiro appointment Monday and a massage Monday too (what can I say - I take my recovery seriously! :) So my body is coming around again.

Except for my 2nd left toe.

I think I might have to amputate soon.

I can't say for sure when it happened on Sunday but at some point I just about tore the top half of my 2nd left toe off. I didn't even realize it happened until after the race when I removed my racing flat to find a bloody mess where that 2nd toe once was. Hmmm...what do we have here?

I immediately ruled out a blister type injury because the toe didn't hurt at all with the racing flat on. While usually the culprit - this time, the run didn't do the damage.

I thought next of the cycling shoe because it's much tighter in the toe box than the racing flats, but again, no blood on the cycling shoe and not much pain with the cycling shoe on.

Which leaves just one sport - THE SWIM!

Meaning one of 2 things. Either I ripped part of the toe off while trying desperately to exit the Schuylkill (of which I was unsuccessful approximately 4 times before I got it right) OR, I ripped part of the toe off when I decided that it would be easier to rip my whole leg off than just trying to rip my evil wetsuit off of my leg. The answer isn't entirely clear.

Either way, the end result is the fact that part of my toe is missing and the remainder of that toe was subjected to dirty Schuylkill River water. And yes, I know, just yesterday I was saying how clean the Schuylkill was. But really I just meant that it was clean IN COMPARISON to the Allegheny. Don't misunderstand. Both rivers are very dirty.

So anyway, I started to worry a little about my toe when the whole thing became very red and puffy and quite painful. And it was hot. All signs of infection. And remember, I work in a hospital and I know first hand about those people that come in with a little pin prick and leave without a leg because of flesh eating bacteria.

Okay, I agree, that last statement was a little dramatic. (but seriously...necrotizing fascitis is a serious and real thing)

ANYWAY - of course I had to ask a few of my co-workers what they thought. Mostly because I can't trust O. He comes home from a softball game with half of his butt missing (from sliding), pours some hydrogen perioxide on it and calls it a night. He clearly doesn't fear infection.

But my co-workers basically told me I was being a baby (which I highly suspected) and prescribed some antibiotic cream and a bandaid. Where's the compassion here people?

So I guess I will be okay. But I do know a few good surgeons just in case... :)

Posted by beth at 7:39 PM | Comments (7)

June 23, 2008

Running Out of Real Estate - Philly Style

I never know how to start these race reports. Other than with...well...the start of the race. I know, very original!

Anyway, Philly has a point to point swim in the Schuylkill River which makes things sort of complicated. Mostly because there is no easy way to get from transition to where the race starts, other than to take a bus ride. It's not like at Steelhead (or many other races) where you can just walk the 1 mile to the start. So of course, this is the type of thing that I worry about. How will I get over there (the buses provided by the race of course)? When will I leave (ASAP)? Can O go over with me (yes)? What do I take with me?

Naturally I worried about it much more than I had to. If given the opportunity I will usually worry about the smallest, most insignificant details. Although O can probably attest, in our 6 years of marriage I have improved on this character flaw significantly. Mostly because he doesn't seem to worry about anything and this has rubbed off on me.

Regardless, it all worked out. We got to the swim start and I had everything I needed and I got in a good warmup and all was well. In large part because I have a husband willing to come over to the swim start with me and then run about 3 miles (with about a 50 lb tri bag on his back) back to transition. Three cheers for O! :)

The swim. What's to say? I was hoping for a raging river to carry me the 1500 meters down river but instead got a nice, calm, HOT river that was going to force me to do my own swimming. Darn. :) (by the way - I've heard many stories about how dirty the Schuylkill is and let me tell you, it's clean as a whistle compared to the Allegheny!) Philly doesn't have an elite amateur race category so I started the swim with what seemed like a HUGE pack of my AG and another AG (I think women 40-44). I'm sure it wasn't much bigger than 100 women but I've lost all perspective on large wave starts.

Anyway, we all got in the water and before I knew it we were swimming away. Actually, I never even heard someone say GO or START or a horn or anything of the sort. I just started swimming because everyone else started swimming! And away we went!

Truthfully, I had a relatively uneventful swim. It was a lot of kicking at first and then I found open water and tried to swim long, powerful strokes. It got a little messy again when we started to catch the waves in front of us but otherwise I can't complain. My overwhelming feeling while I was swimming was that I was HOT and wanted out of my wetsuit ASAP. I should have taken a lesson from Ness, where, in her most recent race, she decided to start taking her wetsuit off mid-swim. :)

My goal for the swim was to get in the 21s. Lofty I know. But I felt like I could do it. And I know one day I will. But yesterday was not the day. I glanced at my watch as I exited the water and saw low 22s (the official swim time includes running up to transition some, hence the slower time). At Columbia I was absolutely thrilled to swim in the low 22s and rightly so as last year I swam in the high 23-low 25 range. But now I'm getting greedy. And I don't want to wait another whole year to break that next barrier. So I don't think I will. :)

As uneventful as the actual swim was, the next few minutes were pretty exciting. First, getting out of the water. Holy cow! I kept trying to stand up when I was close to the sandy exit but it was still too deep! One of the volunteers finally took pity on me and grabbed my arm and dragged me in to solid ground where I then proceeded to trip and fall about 3 times. I just couldn't get my feet under me! What a tool! I finally got myself right and took off up to the transition area where my wetsuit and I were about to engage in a serious battle. I'm still not speaking to it (my wetsuit that is). I struggled and struggled and struggled and that dang thing would not unclench it's death grip from my hips! I finally wrestled it to the ground, grabbed Scotty (my bike) and off I went.

Ahhh...the bike. My favorite. I had borrowed my friend Jeremy's disc wheel and he left me with instructions to "make those wheels sing." (of course referring to the whirwhirwhir song the disc produces when going fast enough)

Let's get to business! The bike course in Philly is two loops and actually a bit on the hilly side. I didn't believe these tales I was hearing about hills but I have to give them credit. The bike wasn't flat nor was it technically easy. There were quite a few turns and quite a few hills and MANY, MANY, MANY people out on the course. By virtue of the 2 loops and the fact that the race had close to 3000 people in it, things got crowded quickly.

I have to admit that I feared for my life a few times. And I definitely didn't ride as aggressively on some areas of the course that I normally would have. I truly don't mean to sound elitist but there were quite a few folks out there that were perhaps a bit new to the sport and not very familiar with the "stay to the right, pass on the left" concept. That, combined with the fact that some people are out there riding 27 mph and others are riding 14 mph and we've got issues! Maija can attest as she was one of the unlucky ones that got tangled with someone on the bike course and crashed (but is thankfully okay)! YIKES!

I was lucky to stay safe the entire ride though and it was a beautiful course overall, running along the river and up through the city and Fairmount Park. And I had a great ride. I got on the bike with the focus of hunting down my very fast teammate Lindsay (also in my AG) who I knew was out of the water a good 2-3 minutes ahead of me. It was a good goal to have because it kept me on task.

Right around the time I caught Lindsay I saw O who told me Lindsay and I were 1-2 in our AG. Which was very exciting. But I also had the goal to be the top amateur and so I knew I had to continue to push hard because all those fast gals in the younger and older AGs would be pushing hard too!

Off the bike and into T2 where among other issues I couldn't find my visor. And so what did I do? I actually looked for it. WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING?! Looking for a visor of all things. Who the heck cares where my stinking visor was? Now if I couldn't find one of my racing flats...THAT'S something to look for. The visor obviously doesn't matter. So when I finally came to my senses I took off on the run sans visor. (by the way, I later found the visor about 5 or 6 bikes away - no telling what happened there)

On the run and I see O again who tells me I'm 75 seconds down on 1st place. WHAT?!?! I wasn't looking for my visor for that long! But obviously he had missed someone on the bike. Which is very easy to do considering how many people were out there and how quickly people whiz by. I immediately started wondering who was out there and what I was up against to catch her.

I started the run off feeling...um...tired. And my first mile split showed it. 6:47. UGH. For someone with designs on breaking 40 minutes, this was not going well. But I had a mission to complete and because the run course was essentially 2 out and backs I was soon going to see who was in front of me as I was heading out and she was heading in.

After the first mile split I got angry with myself and told myself to MOVE. MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! Next mile split 6:22. Now that's a little better. And then I saw 1st place - Mary Miller. Mary Miller! ARRRGHHHH!! I have been fortunate to race Mary quite a few times and although I may have beaten her once or twice she usually gets the best of me. At St. Anthony's this year she crushed me.

But I was not discouraged. Instead I just started doing what I always do. I set my sights on the next AG guy in front of me and then the next and then the next and just kept trying to pick them off.

When I passed through the finish line area to start on the next out and back, I saw O again hoping for an update on how far back I was. But he didn't say anything. This, I thought, is bad. Not only am I not making up time but I might be losing it! (O later told me he had just missed Mary going by and so he just didn't have an update to give me - although he worried I might think exactly what I started to think).

So the minutes and the miles ticked by. I took water and I focused on the next guy ahead of me. And then just when I was feeling a little hopeless (because I still really couldn't see Mary ahead) I see Maija on the side of the road yelling and telling me to "GO CATCH MARY!" Well thank you very much Maija - I think I will try!

And it really wasn't long after that that as I was heading out to the final turnaround, I saw Mary heading in and I realized I WAS gaining some ground. It felt like Columbia all over again!!!

Just after the 5 mile mark I passed the final guy that separated Mary and I from each other and I could sqaurely see her. And trust me, I tried my darndestest to catch her. And just like Columbia, I can honestly say I never gave up. With about a half mile to go I put my head down and even though I was really hurting I told myself "run as hard as you can for just 3 more minutes and then you can lay down on the ground and not get up for 10 minutes." And that's what I did.

But it wasn't enough.

Mary beat me by 10 seconds. I had run out of real estate yet again.

And I was very, very, very disappointed. 10 stinking seconds. I was disappointed because I didn't win. I was disappointed because I didn't break 22 minutes in the swim. Because I didn't break 40 minutes on the run. I was disappointed because I didn't really accomplish any of the goals I had come to accomplish at this race.

But then of course I came to my senses. Because while time and place goals really motivate me, they certainly aren't the be all end all in the sport.

I lost at Columbia and yesterday in Philly, both my less than 20 seconds. BUT, I learned big lessons in how to COMPETE. How to go out there and give it all that you have and cross that finish line knowing that you swam, biked and ran the best you possibly could. I learned not to search for a stupid visor in transition. I learned that getting your wetsuit off in a timely fashion is important.

And as the season is progressing I'm learning that sometimes, disappointment isn't such a bad thing. It's a huge motivator. O told me almost directly after the race "this will make you hungrier for next time." And boy is he right!

Going into this race I knew it would be my toughest of the season. It came at a time in my training where the training load is the highest. My rides, runs and swims are the longest. My recovery time is the shortest. This race wasn't a qualifier for anything nor was it an "A" race. The kind of race that both mentally and physically would be hard to get up for.

But just like anybody who is competitive, my stubborness thankfully took over in the race and I was still blessed with a good performance. My final time was 2:12:40, a PR for the distance. My bike split was 3rd fastest including the pros. Mary won the amateur race and I was 2nd. And although I didn't break 40 minutes on the run, I was close (40:34).

And besides all that mumbo-jumbo O and I really had fun! We had fun visiting a new(er) city. Learning how to drive around it. We had fun getting to see my teammates Lindsay and Kim and also seeing Maija and Heather and all the other wonderful girls that I get to race against so often. I had fun watching my friend Eric on the run (I was still on my bike!) and just getting to experience another big race. I had fun standing on the podium with Mary and my MAO teammate Lindsay. MAO rocks!

And so it goes! Thank you so much everyone for your good luck and encouraging words! I so often come away from races feeling so lucky to be in such a great sport filled with such great people!

Posted by beth at 12:27 PM | Comments (16)

June 22, 2008

Six Years Ago Today...

Happy 6 years O!

I can't believe you've put up with me for this long! Thanks for being my best friend and the love of my life. You have loved me through so much good and so much bad! It amazes me over and over again!

And what better way to celebrate than to do a triathlon! Right? :)

As for the race today - it was GREAT! Actually, there was some disappointment but also some encouragement. There was some good, some bad and some pretty ugly! Just like any race of course! Full race report to follow. But for now, sweet, sweet sleep... :)

Congrats to all who raced this weekend!

Posted by beth at 10:57 PM | Comments (8)

June 20, 2008

We Have Arrived!

And we didn't even get lost. Well, okay...maybe once. It was somewhere around the Art Museum. I think we were too busy looking at the Rocky statue and ended up in the wrong lane. And therefore the wrong road. But we eventually righted ourselves and ended up at our hotel in one piece.

And now we are all settled in. I even have my packet already! We hit up the expo and saw Heather at the Zoot booth. AND get this - the Philadelphia Zoo had a booth at the expo and the guest of honor was Needles! Needles, of course, is the resident porcupine. That was the best expo ever.

Tomorrow will be the usual light workouts and checking out the course. I'm really excited for this race. It's my first race in a big city (Pittsburgh does not count because (a) it's not a big city and (b) it's my hometown so it doesn't seem new or different) and there will be great competition! I have some big goals (as always), the most important of which is to make the most of this great opportunity to race. As I learned last year, just getting to the race healthy and on the starting line in one piece is a victory! Now it's time to make it count.

Best of luck to all those racing this weekend including IM Japan and IM CDA! ENJOY and BE GREAT!

Posted by beth at 8:23 PM | Comments (2)

June 19, 2008

Philadelphia

Is it too early to start complaining about packing? Yes? Okay. I'll spare you tonight... :) Although I have to admit I feel as if I've been doing a fair amount of traveling lately and the packing is becoming easier and easier. You sort of know exactly what to take and how to put it just so in your bag so that everything fits. Who knows, maybe I'll start to LIKE to pack by the end of the season? (and yes, I do see the insanity of that last sentence...)

Anyway, tomorrow we leave for Philadelphia and I'm rather excited about it! I was talking to my father on the phone today who ever so lovingly called the City of Brotherly Love "Filthadelphia". Hmmm... It's a city that definitely has some bad juju associated with it. That Big Bell that they so highly regard is cracked afterall. But still, Philadelphia does have some good going for it. Like a nice triathlon. And the Penn Relays. And it's Roxy's hometown. (yep, we got that little mutt from the streets of Philadelphia)

I haven't been to Philly much. My family did live in the area for a bit when I was in elementary school (maybe 4th grade) but to tell you the truth we only lived there for about a year and I really don't remember much. I was lucky enough to run at the Penn Relays in college. And when I was in high school I dreamed of running for Villanova (does that count?). That about sums up my Philly experiences. Oh, once I went to a conference in Philly and it was really cold. That's about all I remember.

So this weekend we add to the experience. I do believe the run course takes you past the famous Philadelphia Museum of Art where Rocky raced up the steps in triumph, but I plan on just staying on course. We can run up the steps AFTER the race. :) I can tell you I never thought I would be swimming in the infamous Schuylkill River. But that's what triathlon does for you - puts you in the position to do things you never thought you would do. Or could do. I think that's why I'm thankful for this sport every day.

Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 9:08 PM | Comments (3)

June 18, 2008

Anniversaries

Today we celebrate a few things! First of all, O's birthday. Yep, that's right, O is the big 3-1 today! (getting a little old 'eh? :) We were just talking about the fact that he still weighs the same that he did when he graduated from high school. How many people do you think can say that? We tried to think through all our friends and couldn't think of too many that hadn't gained at least 20-30 pounds (especially men). Anywho, in the spirit of O's birthday and staying a fit and trim 155 pounds, my gift to O is Pirate tickets (he's a HUGE baseball fan) in the all-you-can-eat-seats. Yes, there is such a thing. The tickets are a little bit more but you are treated to...well...all you can eat (alcohol not included but O doesn't drink so that doesn't bother him one bit!)! Soft pretzels, nachos, hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn...the list goes on and on. And he's quite excited. So excited in fact that he choose a Sunday afternoon game wherein he would be able to eat BOTH lunch AND dinner at the ballpark... :)

Regardless, the other celebration today is the 2 year anniversary of my very first triathlon! Yep, 2 years ago today I was nervous as all get out for my first ever multisport race. I did have a tri bike believe it or not. But I didn't know anything about locklaces or wetsuits or...well...how to swim... :) It was a small sprint race in Charleston, SC and my parents and sister and brother-in-law (and of course O!) were all in attendance. I remember my father asking me after the race which was the hardest part to which I replied "THE RUN!" Ah...some things never change...

Here's a picture of me during that first race. And yes, those are the reflectors still on my bike. And yes, I did take time to put on socks for a sprint triathlon. And yes, I know that helmet should never be worn in public. :)

Posted by beth at 5:40 PM | Comments (7)

June 17, 2008

Dog in the Bathtub

First of all, is bathtub one word or two? I've looked at it both ways and I can't decide. And I'm too lazy to look it up. Just like today at work when I couldn't decide if the back of your foot is a heal or a heel. I see it misspelled so often at work I actually forgot how to spell it myself! And I can't ever spell protein either. The "e" and the "i" get me confused at the end. I'm not sure why I'm admitted this to you all. My mom might be appalled! I would blame my spelling misadventures on my lack of reading (I honestly couldn't tell you the last book I read) but I don't think that's necessarily it. I base this theory on Marit. She can't spell either and she reads a lot! :) (just kidding Marit!!)

ANYWAY, back to the bathtub (or is it bath tub?). Recently Roxy has taken to hanging out in our bathtub. It's really strange. In the past she would occasionally take cover in the bathroom if it was lightening and thundering or during July 4th fireworks. But now she seems to be hanging out in there all the time! Like this morning when I got back from the pool and wanted to take a shower. There was a dog in the way. Or again after my bike workout this evening. Again, a dog in the way.

I guess I can see her point. It's definitely the coolest place in the house (other than the freezer) but today has been quite cool outside (never got above 70) and so I'm not sure that she would be seeking relief from the heat on a day like this!

Who knows. One thing for sure is, she is one weird dog! :)

Posted by beth at 7:41 PM | Comments (6)

June 16, 2008

MarkAllenOnline Camp 2008

Well, if there is one thing I learned this weekend it's that the internet IS my crack. Truly. I was so internet deprived I think I was having rigors. Next time I know this is going to happen (no internet access for 3 days that is) I'm going to have to undergo a strict tapering protocol. I can't just go cold turkey again - it was just too painful!! :)

Actually, I really didn't even notice my lack of internet because I was busy thinking, learning, eating and breathing triathlon from Friday at about 7:00 am until Sunday at 4 pm! And I loved it!

But still, on the drive home, it hit me. I hadn't checked my email for over 3 days! QUICK - call O so that he could read it all to me (yes, it's true, I actually did this!). And then when I got home, to my horror, the internet didn't stop while I was busy at camp. No, no...I had a lot of catching up to do! Race results and email and of course reading blogs. I was one busy gal! :)

But seriously, camp was awesome. I don't even know if I can recall all that we did now. Let's see...there was swimming and biking and running and lots of it. There was my coach and about 12 other campers/teammates. There was lots of fun. And good food. There were lots of lectures on why we do what we do and why we don't do what a lot of other coaches/triathletes do. There was talk of power meters and nutrition and bike fit. There was A LOT of swim technique work complete with video taping and review (where we learned I have quite a bit of drag from my lower lip when I'm swimming :). There was a bike ride on Saturday morning in beautiful New Jersey (I'm being serious here - it really was beautiful wherever we were!). And there was the 90 minute long run that turned into a 2 hour affair. Moral of that story is, don't listen to the German when you aren't sure which road to turn on! (just kidding Christian!)

I really had a great time. And learned a lot. And forged some great relationships with some great people. It's the best part of the sport isn't it? The people you meet who dream and train hard just like you do every day.

So I got home last night and today have busied myself getting caught up on life. Which I accomplished. I also got my workouts in for the day which went well. The Philadelphia Triathlon is a mere week away and I am already so excited! Racing has always been the reward for me and I don't expect next Sunday to be any different!

Posted by beth at 8:07 PM | Comments (5)

June 12, 2008

And Away I Go!

Off to NJ! Oh wait - my bag didn't pack itself while I was out riding this morning? Darn!! I guess I should pack first then... :)

70+ mile ride this morning. Oh man. No doubt about it - my legs feel like garbage! They were none too happy about climbing today. But I told them to suck it up. And anyway, I was fully expecting them to be tired. I've been training hard with little rest for several weeks. But the good news is, this weekend will be some moderate training and then come Monday, a bit of a taper for the Philadelphia Triathlon the following weekend. So they will get their rest, they just need to wait a little longer! :) Plus, as my college teammate (who I looked up to quite a bit) always used to say "you can't feel all good all the time."

It was a great morning for a ride though! It started off in the 60s and by the time I was done it was in the 80s, but less humid and a little more manageable. I only got in a fight with my bike once. Okay...maybe twice. The first fight was over the saddle. But then again I don't even think I would be comfortable sitting in a Lazy Boy for 4 hours! :) The second fight was when I kindly asked Scotty (my bike) to pedal on his own for a while while I took a break. No such luck. I consider that rather rude. Why am I the one that has to do all the work all the time? :)

Alas, I just checked and my bag still didn't pack itself. Darn... Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 1:19 PM | Comments (10)

June 11, 2008

School's Out For Summer!

Although I'm not a teacher and I've not been in school for some time now, I still get the excitement of summer vacation through O. It's the best! Today was his last day of school and he was very excited. As am I.

People always ask me if I get annoyed when he has the whole summer off and I still have to go to work every morning. To which I reply - NOT AT ALL! This is my favorite time of year by far. Instead of being away from 6 am to 6 or 7 pm (or during track/cross country meets more like 9 pm), O is home all day! And actually he does do some different jobs in the summer that earn extra $$ (which of course I'm never sad about!). And he is able to do so much around the house that normally I might have to do. And he is very good about not being lazy and just laying around wasting time, but rather making himself very useful. AND (and this might be the best of all) he can ALWAYS train with me! He doesn't have a bike so the biking is out. But we do all our runs together (he's a faster, stronger runner so it's a big benefit for me!) and he'll even go to the pool with me. Even though we aren't doing the same swim workouts, it's just nice to have someone there with me.

Even though he still had to go into school today, he got an early start on the training partner gig by joining me for my track workout this morning. On tap was 400s and 800s and it was NOT an easy workout by any means. Geez the track has a way of putting you in a world of hurt. But I was really pleased with the outcome and it didn't hurt at all that the humidity finally relented a little and it was only in the low 60s! I actually felt a little chilly when we walked out of the door this morning! :) I think the track will always remain one of my favorites. I've done so, so many workouts on the track in my lifetime and I don't think it will ever get old.

After work I had a hard swim and weight lifting session on tap but the pool didn't open until 4:30 pm. I got home from work around 3:40 so I fed Roxy, let her outside and then hit my bed for a 40 minute nap. I think I was asleep in about 3 seconds! I was so sleepy! And when I got up? Yeah...had no idea where I was, what day it was, what time it was or what in the world I should be doing at that point in time. I feared for my swim a little but by the time I arrived at the pool deck I was back in this time zone. :)

Swim went well. Lift went well. And most of all, dinner went well! I was starving! :)

Anyway, the good news is, in celebration of O's summer vacation I'm going to summer camp! :) My coach has several camps throughout the country and this Fri-Sun there is one in New Jersey that's sort of close for me (~6 hr drive). I am so excited! One of my teammates that lives in the area is so kind to let me stay at her house so I don't have to pay for a hotel. I am always amazed at how kind the whole triathlon community is.

There is a lot on tap at the camp including a good amount of training. When coach asked me though what I wanted out of the camp the most I replied "FIX MY SWIM!" :) I am feeling more confident with my swimming as time goes on and I do think I'm (very, very slowly) getting there. But coach comes from a swimming background and I'm sure he will have lots of tips to help.

So after my 4 hour ride tomorrow morning, I'll jump in an ice bath and then jump in the car. New Jersey here I come! :)

Posted by beth at 8:04 PM | Comments (5)

June 10, 2008

Close Call x 2

I was out racing storms all day today! First such instance was on our run this morning. O and I went out for 1 hour and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise. Amazing as always. But as we were making our way back home with about 5 minutes to go, we both heard a loud boom. Was that thunder? Or maybe a big truck. Afterall the sun had just risen into a big, beautiful sky! But we heard it again and then, just as I turned around to look behind us, I saw a flash of lightening and the BLACK, ominous sky chasing us home. MOVE IT!

I'm not sure where it came from but it was quite a storm. And we LITERALLY just made it inside the house before huge rain drops starting pelting the roof of our porch. Close call #1!

It stormed throughout the day but by the time I got home from work I was still hopeful that I could get outside for my hard ride. I've done the past few bike interval sessions on the trainer and I really need a break from that torture machine! :) After some consultation with the weather man (also known as O), we decided I could get my 75 minutes in before the next storm came through. So I got ready and out the door I went.

And boy was it windy. And feeling a lot like a storm was brewing! I continued on but just as I was as far away from home as possible I looked up to the same ominous, black skies I had seen earlier on our run. YIKES! At that point it was too late to worry so I just continued on and again, beat the storm back home. I have to say though, I was pedaling quite quickly on my cooldown! :) Close call #2!

Welcome to summer! Meanwhile, Roxy has been hiding under the bed all day because storms just aren't her thing. :) We did coax her out for a picture:

Thanks Asics for sponsoring my MAO triathlon team!! :)

Have a great night everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:24 PM | Comments (6)

June 9, 2008

The Long Ones

Everyone has those workouts that are tough for them. Tough for them physically or tough for them mentally. Or both. Those workouts that strike fear when first noticed on the schedule and cause a little flip flop in the belly when you are preparing to do them. Those workouts that you know will be challenging, on all levels, to get through.

For some it's hard intervals on the track or tempos on the bike or 200s in the pool. It could be the long run or maybe even the short, easy spin that is hardest to get out the door for. We are all different.

I know for me, it's the long ones. The long bikes and long swims that is. Coming from a running background there really isn't too awful much that spooks me in terms of running workouts. Don't get me wrong - the running that my coach gives me to do challenges me and is tough as all get out! But it's generally not stuff that I haven't been doing for years already and know full well that my body can handle.

Swimming and cycling though - those are different stories. It's not the short fast stuff on the bike or in the pool because that's the kind of stuff I live for. But rather it's those long rides and long swim intervals that strike fear.

Anything over 3 hours on the bike seems like an eternity to me! I do almost all my riding by myself so I know that that's part of it, but still. That just seems like an awful long time to be doing something! :) And to tell you the truth - it's the long rides like those in the 5-7 hour range - that keep me from wanting to do a full distance IM. I know one day I will not be able to resist but for now - my 4 hour long rides are enough for me thankyouverymuch! :)

In the same department is the long swim intervals. Again, I always do these by myself and therefore I think that makes them tougher, but still! Any interval set over 400s makes my knees knock!

So this morning when I saw a 4500 yd swim on my schedule with a mainset of 3x800 and 6x150 I shuddered! 3x800?!?! Like what the heck?!

Now I know, I know. There are people out there reading this thinking - "what a baby!!" 4500 yds in the pool or 4 hours on the bike isn't that bad at all!! And slowly I'm getting used to stuff like that. But for me, for now, these are the really challenging workouts.

So of course because they are so tough for me, I get absolutely BENT on nailing them. And this morning was no exception. I was tired when I woke up for sure. Tired for the fact that it was 4:45 am but also because it was a pretty big weekend of training and the heat was taking it's toll and doing housework/yardwork is something that really tires me out!

But I wanted those 3x800s bad. And then the 6x150s were to be done as 100 fast/50 moderate. And I wanted them too.

First 800 I kept smooth and under control and still was *quite* pleased with my time. Very nice. Number two - okay, now it's getting harder. And boy is this pool water HOT. And man does my stroke seem to be getting shorter. And am I on 650 or 700? When will this dang 800 be over?! But I finished it and went 8 seconds faster than the first one. And now for the last one, where I had to erase all my thoughts altogether because I couldn't come up with one positive thought for the life of me! Sometimes I just have to let the mind run blank - because that's better than thinking negatively! And I also reminded myself that giving up on this interval just because I was tired and just because "mentally" an 800 seemed long, was JUST NOT AN OPTION. It's amazing how strong our minds can be, or how weak.

Third one was the fastest one of all.

So now onto the 150s, which honestly felt like nothing after the 800s! Save for the fact that my arms were getting very tired, very quickly! I was so pleased to rip off some 1:15s for the fast 100 part of the 150s, which for me, is very fast.

And so it goes. I finished off the workout with the slowest 300 cooldown possible and left quite a happy camper. Because for me, getting through a big swim like that is very rewarding. Just the same as getting through a long ride. These are the kind of workouts I remember on race day when I wonder if I can continue on. These are the kind of workouts that make us who we are as racers!

Posted by beth at 8:15 PM | Comments (4)

June 8, 2008

Weekend Results

Well the weekend results are pouring in and it looks like there were great races all around! And also harsh racing conditions. As cold, wet and windy as Worlds were in Vancouver yesterday, Eagleman seemed to be equally as hot, humid and generally miserable today! I picked a good weekend not to race! :) (although I'm sure I'll eventually get my fair share of rough conditions too...)

Anyway - so many of my teammates *really* raced well this weekend, all over the country! And my friends Chad and Jen rocked at Eagleman! And bloggers were racing well here, there and everywhere! It's so exciting to see people's hard work pay off! :)

As for me, I'm just doing my normal thing here in hot and humid Pittsburgh! This morning O and I had a nice long run of about 14 miles on the trail. It was already 75 degrees at 5:30 am but we ran in the woods so it was at least shady. Now if only we would have thought to wear bug spray! (not that it all wouldn't have been sweated off in the blink of an eye of course...) Also on the docket (but not yet completed) is an hour spin on the bike, cleaning our dirty house and planting those flowers that I bought Friday. The planting might have to wait until it's dark outside and I feel like venturing back out into that heat!

Hope everyone has a wonderful start to their weeks!

Posted by beth at 2:13 PM | Comments (3)

June 7, 2008

Mission Accomplished!

I didn't melt! Five hours of training completed today and I didn't melt! Mission accomplished!

As planned I pushed off relatively early this morning. So much for beating the heat though! It was already 75 and VERY humid when I started at 6:30 am. But on the bike, the heat isn't too bad. Don't get me wrong, within 15 minutes I was a slimy mess but the primary benefit of the bike on a hot summer day is going downhill at 30 mph. Ahhhh.... :)

My main goal for the bike today was NUTRITION! Despite the fact that I'm a dietitian my nutrition during training leaves a little to be desired (in general I eat pretty well though). I'm going to blame this on my nausea issue all last year but really it's most likely a result of a lack of discipline.

Let me explain. You know how everyone has these really meticulous plans for nutrition during longer events? Like every 7.645 minutes their watch beeps and they take in 65.4% of their gel and 10.52 oz of fluid and this is all based on sweat tests and metabolic testing? Yeah, that's not me AT ALL.

Not that I didn't want to be like that because trust me, meticulous could be my middle name. But the problem was, I would have all these grand nutrition plans for my races and then I was just so dang nauseated that right away I would be off schedule and then when I did take something it I just threw it right back up! So I sort of grew lazy with nutrition - even during long training sesssions, because I knew during racing getting in some water was maybe the best I could hope for.

Well times have changed! Prevacid has saved the day and all of a sudden I can take nutrition in races! And I can keep it down! At Columbia I actually took some gel during the RUN of all things. Amazing!

So anyway, this has given me renewed motivation to practice a good nutrition plan in training so that it can be carried out in racing - especially at the 70.3 distance. (I do have to admit that my nutrition during an Olympic distance race is still a bit squirrelly at best, mostly because I know I can get by on very little and I'm usually wayyyyyy too into racing to pay attention).

So given the fact that by an hour into my ride it was in the high 80s, fluid intake was my key focus. Every 15 minutes. And for the most part I stuck to it! I was so proud of myself. And I took a gel every hour! Over a 3.5 hour ride I took in 700 kcals on the bike today! Seriously people - if I took 300 last year it would have been a miracle. And BOY does that nutrition make a difference! My legs felt great - the whole entire ride AND even on the run after. Superb. Really gets me excited for my first half IM this year because I think this can make a big difference for me.

Anyway, nutrition aside, the ride did go very well. I rode ~64 miles and did a fair amount of climbing again and despite the heat I kept my HR just where it needed to be. And I think the drinking every 15 minutes made the ride go faster because I was always thinking...time for a drink, time for a gel, etc... Off the bike and onto the run without even stepping inside the cooler house because I knew how sad I would be to go back outside into the heat! :)

I did have to slow down on the run to keep my HR under control. It was blazin' hot by then! But my legs felt very good right away. Yipppeee!!

When I did make it home I was just dripping. I checked the weather right away and it was 88 with a "feels like" temperature of 93. No wonder I was dripping! So I got a towel, got some water, laid down on the floor and drank and ate a Powerbar Recovery Bar until I finally cooled down some. Of course this whole time Roxy licked my legs over and over and over. Yummy salt! :)

I had to get to the pool within the next 30 minutes in order to get my hour swim in before the pool closed so I put my bike and gear away (and I even cleaned all the sticky gel off my aerobars! :) and then got changed into my suit. And then I made the mistake of sitting down at the computer to just check a "few things". Famous last words!

The problem was, I stumbled across the live coverage of the ITU AG Worlds and I was glued to the screen! It was so fun because they were updating the placings and times of all the AG races. I saw Jen was in 6th place in her race and on the 2nd loop of the bike. And I really wanted to watch her finish! But alas - the pool called! I had to get there or risk missing my workout. So I grudgingly turned off the computer and drove to the YMCA... :)

The first 400 yds of warmup in the pool was a bit rough. My legs were angry from just having 4 hours of training on them and my arms were sore and angry from my lift yesterday. Not many muscles left to swim with! But I eventually loosened up and the cool water felt great and to tell you the truth, I really swam well! Surprising but pleasing. And even more pleasing was finishing that last repeat and pushing myself up out of the pool. Great training day completed.

I came home for a nice big lunch, ice bath, shower, stretch, rolling, and then just as O was getting home from golf - time for a nap! Of course the FIRST thing I did after the pool was to look up how well everyone did at Worlds. Huge congrats to all that competed. Sounds like it was a ROUGH day, bad swim (that was eventually cancelled!) and wind and cold on the bike and run. Way to survive out there everyone!

Posted by beth at 7:03 PM | Comments (3)

June 6, 2008

Preparing for Tomorrow

First of all, some pictures of me finishing the race last weekend, thanks to Maija and Esther's friend Matt. Thanks Matt!

And yes, the tongue is out, as it always is on the run. I can't help it! :)

As for today - I didn't have too much training and for that I'm thankful (pool run this am and then lifting after work)! For one, it's about 10 bajillion degrees outside. Seriously. I can only imagine what it feels like in the south right now! And is was also nice to give my tired legs a rest because they have some work to do tomorrow!

So not too much training today has given way to a productive evening. I played around with my new computer some, installing some programs and being totally surprised when they actually worked. I bought flowers to plant! (not something I usually do but something MUST be planted in the empty flower bed in our front yard!).

And I also prepared for my training day tomorrow - a 3500 yd swim and a 3:30 bike/30 min run brick.

First I put a lot of thought into how I wanted to best go about this. I would usually do the swim first but my pool doesn't open until 8:15 on Saturdays. Usually not a problem (that just means I get to sleep in!) but tomorrow the high is in the 90s. This means that if I wait until 8:15 to start my swim, I won't be finished, refueled and on my bike until at least 9:30 am. Which would mean I would be riding and running up until 1:30 or 2 pm, just about THE hottest time of day! I'm all for heat acclimization but I'm also all for surviving. So I decided to do the brick first, starting at around 6 am and then heading to the pool directly after.

I got my bike ready and my riding/running clothes set out. My nutrition and fluid is ready to go! My swim bag is packed. I have my breakfast and mid-morning snack planned. My tires are pumped. My proposed bike route is planned (and oh boy is it a good one!). I am ready to go! I plan on making it a good one. Because we all know the big training sessions give way to big races.

Meanwhile O is off playing softball tonight and then has an early golf tournament to go to. Who says he's just a one trick pony? He truly is a master of all sports. The one trick pony is the one typing right now... :)

Best of luck to everyone racing this weekend! ITU Worlds, Eagleman - go get 'em guys! I can't wait to follow along and watch a whole heck of a lot of hard work pay off! And the same goes to my friend Jeremy, competing in the National UK TT Cycling Championships! Go Jeremy Go!

Posted by beth at 8:19 PM | Comments (8)

June 5, 2008

Attack of the White Fuzzy Monsters

So um...yeah...I have one question. Who the heck turned up the heat around here?! Holy cats! I swear last week the lows were in the 40s and we had nice, cool, spring like weather. Fast forward to today where it feels more like mid July! In the high 80s and humid! (and you crazy people that live in places like Hawaii and Florida can stop laughing at my definition of "hot"! :)

I was actually a little afraid to go for my ride this afternoon. I haven't ridden in 87 degree weather since...maybe last August? I do recall one really hot day before Steelhead last year... I'm really not sure but it truthfully doesn't get THAT hot around here too often.

But my ride was fine. Actually quite nice. And while I was definitely hot, it wasn't too bad. At least when you are riding you get a nice breeze! Now running in this kind of weather...that's a whole different ball game.

Anyway, I choose a nice mix of hills and flats for my ride today - mostly back country roads because I knew they would offer up more shade and less heat producing traffic than the main roads. I rode for just a bit over 2 hours and all was well. Except, of course, for the Attack of the White Fuzzy Monsters!

Just imagine - riding along, minding your own business, enjoying the scenary, trying to squeeze the last drop of fluid out of your water bottles when you happen to look up and see...well...what is that?!?!...could it be?...are those...WHITE FUZZY MONSTERS? It honestly looked like a bird exploded and it's white feathers went flying everywhere. But what I think it really was, was a crazy white flower/plant/tree that let loose all it's white fuzzies. Regardless of WHAT it was, the end result was that all those white fuzzies descended upon me and totally coated me. They stuck right to my sweaty, nasty self and wouldn't let go! Now, not only was I sweaty and nasty, but also itchy and coated with some sort of white fuzz!

Luckily, by the end of the ride, I had ridded myself of the fuzzy monsters. I lost most of them going down a large hill and then plucked the rest off at the first stop light I came to. Ahh...the things we do... :)

Also today I had a nice swim workout at masters practice! We are in the warmup/practice pool at Pitt because the main pool is getting a facelift. It makes for good open water swim practice because there are a lot of bodies in a little space creating a lot of waves! :) I didn't take any elbows to the face today but I did swallow some water!

The workout today was sets of 75s which I like. 75s seem like a good compromise to me - just like doing 300s or 600s on the track. I like those "off" distances, where you're not even sure what a good time might be - you just go with the flow!

And so it goes. It's time for bed now. I'm very glad tomorrow is Friday (although the high for tomorrow is 92 degrees!). Good night!

Posted by beth at 9:27 PM | Comments (2)

June 4, 2008

Catching Up

1) I got a new computer today!! More accurately it's a "new-to-me" computer because it's actually a hand me down from my sister. I love hand me downs! Mostly because they are free! :) My sister got a new computer so she was kind enough to send me her old one, which is WAY better than my current computer. It's faster and best of all has wireless! My old computer didn't do the wireless thing (I told you it was old!) and so I was always jealous of O sitting on the couch and looking on the internet at the same time. Now I can do that too. HA!

2) I figured I'd give you an update on Roxy in the case that anyone was wondering what happened with her limp. After the whole $600 xray ordeal, we came home with some anti-inflammatory/pain medication that instantly made the limp go away. So after a week of the medicine we decided to try her out and see if she had healed. And she did! For about 3 days. Then the limp came back. Darn! So back on the medicine and we just hoped and hoped and hoped that once the medicine ran out she would magically be better. Which she was! She's been off the medicine for about 10 days now and no limp yet. We haven't run with her but we did start talking her on walks again and of course she runs around the house like a crazy dog. No stopping that! So our fingers are still crossed that she really has healed!

3) We are getting really close to buying race wheels of our very own! We've been saving up for this venture (which took quite a while) and now I think we finally have enough. So of course the question is - what to buy? I've been sooo, sooo, sooo lucky to have been borrowing race wheels from my very generous friend Jeremy. He has 2 sets of wheels, a set of Zipp 404s (which I love) and also a disc wheel (which I also love). Of course the disc isn't really an option for me to buy right now because of price and the fact that I couldn't ride it everywhere (as in one day if I ever qualified for Kona - are you even allowed to ride a disc in Hawaii?! :). So what I'm looking for is a set of wheels that is versatile (since I will only have one set) and can be ridden on any type of course/wind conditions, but that is also the fastest for the $$. Easier said than done! Of course I'm again sooo, sooo, sooo lucky to have Jeremy helping me through this process as I really don't know what I'm doing. I think what we've decided as of now is a Zipp 404 on the front and an 808 on the back. What do you all think of that? Anyone use this set-up currently? Anyone have any opinions?

4) Training today - swim with a main set of 500,400,300,3x200,3x100 - which is my kind of ladder! I love the ladder that goes DOWN and stays down. Not a fan of the ladder that goes up or, worse yet, the ladder that goes down and then BACK UP. My college track coach was a fan of those kinds of ladders. NO thank you! :) And then a run that included some fartlek with very little rest (ouch!) that I did on the trail. And man was it humid! I was soaking wet within minutes and then REALLY soaking wet when, about 30 minutes into the workout, it started to pour down rain! I'm not going to complain though. Humidity isn't my favorite but the warm weather is so nice. How cool is it to just walk around outside in shorts and sandels?

And I think that's about it! Tomorrow is a new day. Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 7:19 PM | Comments (5)

June 3, 2008

No Rest For the Weary

9 mile am run
work
bike intervals on the trainer in the pm (storming and raining hard outside)

Will somebody please arrange for me to have twenty-SEVEN hours in my day? It will be much appreciated! :)

Posted by beth at 10:33 PM | Comments (1)

June 2, 2008

Black Bear Triathlon Race Report

First of all - will somebody PLEASE make me feel better by telling me that I'm not the only one in this world that hates to clean their bike? I think it might be my least favorite thing in the world. Okay, that's a bit dramatic. But I really don't like to do it. Even though it only takes about 10 minutes. So instead of cleaning up my bike, taking off the race wheels and getting it set up to be ridden normally again I'm blogging. And eating ice cream. :) I did already do my swim and run so does that count for anything? And yes, I know, I'm pathetic. :)

Anyway - onto the race!

Race morning dawned bright and early and beautiful! I have really lucked out this year with great race weather. It's something that I think I take for granted too often!

O and I got to the race site in plenty of time and I went about my usual pre race routine. Setting up transition, 15 minute warmup jog, stretching, checking my bike in transition, hydrating, checking out the swim course, checking my bike in transition, checking my bike in transition, checking my bike in transition. Did I say that I checked my bike in transition? :)

Regardless, with about 30 minutes to go before race start I got on the wetsuit and went down to the lake to get in the water. I wanted to make sure to get a good swim warmup and also get used to the cold lake water because I'm a bit of a cold water wimp. But on race morning the water seemed much warmer than the day before. I still can't believe O got in there on Saturday with no wetsuit! :)

Anyway, I was swimming around prior to the race, minding my own business, trying to "feel" that smooth stroke that I know is in me somewhere - when...all of a sudden - WHAPPPPP! Head on collision with another swimmer and MAN did it hurt. I stood up and was literally seeing stars. My teeth felt loose! OUCH! I wasn't really sure what was going on around me and then I see the guy that I ran into and he (along with a few others) are asking me if I'm okay. What? What's going on here? I finally realize the situation and all of a sudden I'm fighting back tears. I'm not one to cry easily but wow did it hurt and my teeth seriously felt like they were going to fall out of my head.

I assured them I was fine and the man that I ran into was fine too (I have to say, I think I took the worst of it because he seemed like nothing even happened - although he was twice my size!). I swam a little more just to make sure I still could swim and then I climbed out of the water to find O. When I saw him I was fighting back tears again! GEEZ - get ahold of yourself Shutt! I think I was just shaken by it all and while I knew I wouldn't even think of it during the race (which I didn't) it really did hurt at the time. So no, no cycling crashes so I thought I would try something new - a swim crash! ;)

Finally onto the race where I started in the 3rd wave and was excited for a great swim! The swim was in a lake and 750 meters and while I didn't really have time goals for anything else, I did want to try to swim under 11 minutes.

I went hard from the gun and was doing pretty well with sighting and then (as Maija mentioned in her race report) we turned around the first buoy and all of a sudden there seemed to be lots of bodies from the first 2 heats to get around! It was interesting trying to navigate around the slower swimmers because quite honestly I'm not usually in this position! But I did the best I could and swam as hard as I could and as I exited the water and started running up the beach I looked at my watch and saw 10:56. Close enough! :)

T1 was a long one (in the results the swim and T1 are together so I don't exactly HOW long it took me to get up the hill and to my bike but I guess around 2:45!). I saw Maija in transition, along with some other gals and then off on the bike where my goal was to catch as many people as possible! It was nice having some of the age group men in front to try and catch pretty much the whole way.

And the bike course was HILLY! Both down and up. If you knew the course really well you really could have rolled, stayed aero the whole time and never touched your brakes. But I wasn't familiar enough with it to do that so I was riding my brakes down some of those hills and sitting straight up! I did FINALLY break that 40 mph barrier though! I was so excited to look down once and see 45.4 on my bike computer. WHOO-HOO! No matter what else happened in the race I had at least accomplished my one goal of breaking that 40 mph limit! :)

I rode really hard on the course and pushed as well as I could. It was, afterall, only a sprint and I didn't have a full 10K to run afterwards!

I finished up the bike, had a quick transition and then took off down the trail to start the run. I saw O early on in the run where he told me I was in first but I didn't want to let up too much because there was a heat that started AFTER mine that definitely had some ladies who could be moving fast, fast, fast and I didn't want to lose the BOUS spot that way!

The run was so beautiful. It was on some gravel/dirt paths and some grass with one big hill and the rest either very gentle rolling or flat. It ran through the woods and along the lake and past a little barn and WOW - very scenic! I would love to run on those trails for training so I could take in the scenery a little more because yesterday I was just trying to get finished!

I kept trying to pick off the age group guys ahead of me, one by one. As I would pass one I would focus on the next, etc... to keep me motivated and running strong. Finally, I saw the little covered bridge that the course takes you through that was my signal that the end was near! I sprinted through the bridge and up the little grass hill to the finish and YEAH was done! I had my first post race interview too as the guy announcing all the finishers asked me some questions over his microphone. I'm sure I said some dumb things. :)

Regardless, although I finished first in my heat I didn't want to get my hopes up too much in the case that someone from the heat behind me snuck in there! O was pretty sure that this wasn't the case but I didn't believe him until I saw the results. :) Luckily they had the results up very quickly and by the time I had done my cooldown jog and got my stuff from transition the results were up! And, as I wrote in my entry yesterday, I was VERYYYYYYYY excited! Yeah for BOUS!

After the race I got showered up and some food inside of me and O and I waited for the awards. We got a chance to talk with Maija and her husband (and Frito and Cooper!) and her friend Esther some and then it was time for the longggg ride home. I'm not a very good traveler to say the least but I did okay yesterday. I wish we could have stayed to watch some of the half IM finishers just because I wanted to cheer on those brave souls who rode 56 miles on those hills intead of just the 18 that we rode! :) But alas it was time to head back to Pittsburgh!

The top 3 - I really need to grow an inch or two... ;)

And now it's off to clean up my bike...unless of course I should happen to check my email first... :)

Posted by beth at 12:52 PM | Comments (18)

June 1, 2008

Arizona Here I Come!

YIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEE!! I am very happy to say that today I won the PA qualifier for the Best of the US so come October I will be in Tempe, AZ racing hard and trying to represent PA well! And again I say...YIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Of course full race report to follow but I just wanted to thank everyone now for their good luck wishes and texts and phone calls and emails and just general support that truly means the world to me. Very much appreciated it! Also appreciated, as always, is my husband, the tireless O, who drives all over the planet, gets up at 4 am, carries my crap all around, scouts out the course and the area, puts up with my nervousness and general crankiness prior to races, and the list goes on and on and on...all for...well, not much. :)

The best equipment manager around: (and no you can't have him!)

And so indeed June 1, 2008 turned out to be much better than June 1, 2007. It didn't however, go without a crash. Not a bike crash, no. But a swim crash. Today. Right before the start of the race. I swear only I could manage to "crash" in swim warmups. :) But more on that later. Because right now I feel like I've been up for 24 hours straight! Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 10:43 PM | Comments (9)