But luckily I did still find a way to move on and go about my day. I had a wonderful time in Chicago but there is always something to be said for routine. Routine feels good every once in a while.

Still, I really would have liked SOMEone to swim my 5000 yds with this morning. :) No takers so off to the YMCA by myself it was. And I had a very good workout ONCE I got going. It took me a while but about 1500 yds into things I started to feel very strong and fluid in the water. Not really too speedy, but strong and fluid. :) I also lifted.

Last night O and I ran 14 miles in 80 degree weather with 100,000% humidity. I dub last week my "heat acclimization week" as I did the majority of my running in temps above 80. That's rough business. Last night it felt a lot like I was breathing through a hot, wet towel! But as I remember correctly by the time I got around to running at Steelhead last year it was in the 80s and roasting. So this is good practice. Of course I'm very much looking forward to some cooler temps for my run tomorrow morning around 5 am. :)

And now it's time to go check out what Roxy is up to. I think I just heard her jump in the bathtub. Storms must be coming!

Good night everyone!

I've really only been to my masters swim practices which are pretty laid back. We don't swim too long and there is a wide variety of abilities from the really fast to the pretty slow. I fit right in the middle somewhere.

Not so with Elizabeth's team. I think everyone is a national champion! They swim long and EVERYONE swims fast. So when Liz says she can't keep up with her masters teammates it's only because they are the Real Deal. I told her she needs to come to Pittsburgh where she'd be kicking everyone's butts!

Regardless, Liz took me under her wing and joined me in a lane with a man named Fritz. I liked Fritz. He was a cool guy.

At the pool where we swam there was a huge white board mounted on the wall that the masters coach wrote the workout on. One piece at a time. I would have liked to see him try and write the whole workout all at once. He would have needed a much larger board!

But first the warmup. Not too bad. And then a few sets of 50s to get us going. And then the main set. I immediately got scared. It was all stroke and IM! But luckily Liz noticed the fear in my eyes and said I could stick with all free.

At first I felt kind of bad - it's not fair for me to do all free while everyone else is toiling away with breast, back and fly. But then I quickly got over it. Mostly because I STILL had trouble keeping up with everyone! And the intervals were by no means cushy even when I was doing all free! And let me just say, it's not as if I was having a bad day and swimming slowly - no, no, these people are just FAST!

As we were just finishing up the main set I noticed the coach erasing the white board and writing another whole main set. Hmmm...main set #2? Okay then! This set had more stroke and IM but luckily also a good amount of free. But again, no time spent standing around at the wall. Fritz was always pushing off the wall for more!

Of course by this point we had already swam >4000 yds so I figured that was the end. But wouldn't you know that dang white board was being erased again and ANOTHER main set was about to start? When the coach was explaining it my brain wasn't processing. Did he say more 400s and more fly? How could this possibly be? But he was serious. Luckily Liz had swam her quota for the day and set off on a cooldown, as did I. When all was said and done, we had a good 90 minutes of pool time. And then it was hot tub time. I'm going to be severely disappointed when I get back to my YMCA and there is no hot tub waiting at the end of my swim workouts. :)

Next up was our ride. Chris and Liz drove us up to a beautiful area to ride - much more like where I live, out in the country. But much flatter. And a lot more corn. :) There was an hour loop to do and Liz rode it with us showing us where to turn. It was awesome. Beatuiful roads and beautiful countryside. Definitely what one pictures when they think of the midwest. After the first hour Liz went off to do some harder riding while Ness and I started our 2nd loop. And then our 3rd and then our 4th. We rode just a little over 4 hours and got in over 77 miles! And it was an amazing ride. One of the best 4 hour rides I've ever had. The weather could not have been more perfect (sunny, in the high 70s/low 80s, no humidity and very little wind), I had great company, there was no traffic and the scenary was beautiful. We rode past farms and fields of corn and soybeans and cows and horses.

And Ness was so kind to ride with me the whole way. I don't think 4 hours was her original plan but she was great company. We sometimes talked and laughed and sometimes just rode together in silence.

And that was our day! We drove home, stopped for snacks, and then ordered a Chicago deep dish pizza for dinner. OH MY! O would have been jealous. It was so good and so filling. Now THAT is my kind of pizza!

So now I am sitting in the airport waiting for my flight back home. I was thinking back on the week and all that I learned. I truly can't begin to thank Elizabeth and Chris enough for having us to visit. They fed us, housed us, kept us clean and provided for great training opportunities! Not an easy task! And all for nothing in return! It was definitely a lot to ask but they graciously and selflessly provided. I hope they had as much fun as I did.

I learned so much. I very, very much enjoy spending so much time with such awesome athletes who are so dedicated in their pursuits of excellence. It's a different breed of person than the usual and that was readily evident from the get go. I tried to pick their brains - all of them - Elizabeth and Chris and Ness and Jen, to learn and see their perspective on our sport. And I came away with different ideas and some different experiences.

And let's not forget the fact that it was just fun. Boss? Yeah - he could entertain all day. Ness? Could make me laugh for hours on end. I had a blast and created many great memories.

But now it's back to Pittsburgh. I really miss O and Roxy so it will be great to see them again! I'll get home this afternoon in time for some running and riding and laundry and then it will be back to the daily grind tomorrow.

Thanks for a wonderful, wonderful week in Chicago Elizabeth and Chris! Your generosity has meant the world to me. Now it's time to put my new found knowledge to use.

But we must start somewhere so here goes! First off, the ride last night. I never blogged about that one. But Ness and Liz did so I don't have to. Crazy laps. That's all you need to know. It was very fun though and riding with so many others made the time go by so fast.

Now moving on to today. I got up and ran easy and short. And then we went to the pool. To swim with Chris and Liz's masters team. I was a little scared but it was really great. And there were many memorable moments. First off, the actual workout. 50s and 100s and 25s, the last of which involved not breathing. Or not breathing very much. The 50s and 100s were on a descending interval starting off on the :50/1:30 and then :45/1:25 and then, yep...you guessed it :40/1:20. I have to admit...I was a little sad when Coach Liz suggested that one.

But the fact of the matter was, Ness was leading the lane and as you can very well tell from my blog title, her draft is a very good thing. I'm not afraid to admit that on the last set I left about 0.0005 seconds AFTER Ness pushed off the wall.

Right before we started the last set on :40/1:20 Liz spoke the Quote of the Day:

"I have come to the Hurt Shop...and I am ready to make a purchase."

Truer words have never been spoken.

Hundreds on the 1:20 aren't something I can usually accomplish. But today we didn't do too bad. Not bad at all. By the end I wasn't sure what was going on though. I just kept swimming until I saw Ness standing at the wall. At that point Chris had also jumped in our lane and when we finished he asked "were you guys swimming a 400?" Yep...that sounds about right... :)

Anyway, we all lifted. Ness got caught in the Web of Stretch and then we all went to Einstein's for coffee/lunch and DP for me (Diet Pepsi of course).

But all of that is neither here nor there because the truly important event was about to take place later in the day. Championship Putt-Putt.

Elizabeth will have pictures on here blog to document the rest of the evening. I'm a bit nervous to see what she'll post. If there is a picture of me looking for my putt-putt ball in a pond or holding a black napkin, remember, pictures can be deceiving.

Regardless, it was a putt-putt championship for the history books. 36 holes total and much was on the line. Loser had to buy everyone else cake. As I said, the stakes were high. The pressure was on.

Add to the fact that Liz and Chris don't play normal putt-putt. Midway through the first game Liz started making up new rules. Rules like "this next hole we will play with our eyes closed" and "now we must tee off turned backwards and through our legs" and "the person who loses this hole gets an additional point added to their score." Rough stuff.

When it was all said and done I finished in 2nd place. I was in 3rd after the initial 18 holes but luckily Chris went out way too hard, bonked and blew to smitherins. His coach may need to work on some pacing strategy with him next time. Ness was the champion and was quite impressive overall. She talked the trash and then she backed it up. Not easy to do. And Liz won the most holes in one award with 2 total. I'd call it dumb luck but she was the only pro athlete in the field and I have to believe that was no coincidence.

Naturally we were all very hungry after our 36 holes (talk about bonking my friends!) and our next plan of attack was dinner. More games and eating and lots of laughing. And then Ness started making "things" out of her napkin. I almost snorted Diet Pepsi out my nose. If you've ever done it, you know how badly that hurts.

Of course now we are all blogging and eating the spoils of victory - our cake that Chris had to buy us for losing putt-putt. Cake never tasted so good. That is until Ness remembered that there are walnuts in carrot cake of which she is allergic to. She's still breathing at this point though so I'm not worried.

Camp sure is fun. Too bad tomorrow will be taken up by lots of riding...otherwise I we would have time for me to show Ness how putt-putt is REALLY played.

PS Boss is still cute!

I can't believe I missed the Red Bear! He came and left all while I was sleeping the night away. The only remnants of the Red Bear this morning were a pillow and blanket on the couch. And perhaps a few tufts of red fur. Okay...not really any red fur, but you know what I mean. So I'm not any closer to knowing who the Red Bear really is, other than the fact that he is elusive. Perhaps his new name should be The Elusive Red Bear.

In other news, we went running this morning. Elizabeth took us to a beautiful forest perserve. I had a nice 70 minute aerobic run to do, Ness had some running to do and Elizabeth had hill repeats. Gotta say I wasn't too jealous of her. :)

I ran on a incredible crushed limestone trail and the weather was gorgeous! All the heat and humidity of yesterday was gone and instead replaced with a beautiful sunny, cool, breezy day. Amazing! Especially because I know it's STILL raining at home. I lucked out this week for sure. I'll have to say that there are some great places to train in the suburbs of Chicago and lots of open water BUT the only down side is, there is a lot of driving to get to everything. That only adds to the total workout time. Which makes me feel blessed that I can ride and run right out my front door. (and my pool is a mere 5 minutes away)

Anyway that was our morning. Lunch, blogging, relaxing, (and Elizabeth actually working - glad SOMEONE works around here) has filled the hours since and soon we are leaving for a group ride. I haven't been on a group ride in a longggggg time so it should be fun. But I hear this specific ride is really big so I'm a bit nervous!

Details to come I'm sure. And pictures too...if one of us could actually remember to bring a camera! (I think we need Marit, the official camp photographer!)

2) I've deemed Liz the healthiest eater of all time. A dietitian's dream. When I was telling O of this this afternoon when I talked with him on the phone he said "oh no, does that mean we are going to have spinach and hummus on our grocery list?" You could sense the fear. Worry not O, I could never give up pizza. :)

3) I've also deemed Liz World's Fastest Typer - she types fast and furious.

4) Chris is the the fixer of all things bike. He's currently building wheels. Who in the world knows how to do that?

5) Ness just plain makes me laugh.

6) Jen could very well be the spunkiest person I know. Spunky being a very good thing of course. :) I'm amazed at her energy.

This morning we went to the track. Well, to me it seemed like it was more like 3 in the afternoon. But that's because I'm an hour behind here and also because, as previously documented, I usually do my workouts very early in the morning.

Getting up at 4:45 am for a track workout (done purely so I can get to work at a decent time) isn't always fun but it does have it's benefits. First and foremost of which is, the temps are usually in the 50s or 60s and sometimes if there is a heat wave going on, in the 70s. In other words, the conditions are usually ideal for running fast.

This is good and bad. You have the confidence of knowing that you can run fast and that you can feel good doing it. It's a lot easier to recover from a workout done in the 50s than done in the 80s. And the list goes on.

But enter Liz and Jen who apparentely eat nails for breakfast (although they claim to always eat oatmeal). Don't believe these tales of oatmeal. It's pure nails.

They apparently always do their workouts at this 10 to 11 am hour when it's...oh, I don't know...80 degrees, humid and windy. Ouch.

So we drove to the track and I knew it was going to be rough. Jen and I did the same workout while Ness and Liz were also off working hard running their own version of crazy laps. Crazy laps indeed.

I had some time goals in my mind for the workout we were doing as based on the last time I did this workout but after the first repeat I immediately ammended those goals. Jen graciously agreed. There was no way I was going to be able to repeat the same performance when it was 30 degrees hotter.

And the workout was still painful and I still suffered. But it was SUCH a great workout regardless. Because it was really good practice for racing. In fact it was very much like the run portion of a race where it's hot and humid and you feel like pooh. And you want to stop. And mentally you are struggling to stay in it. But you keep going anyway. Because that's what you do.

I wouldn't want to run my track workouts in the high heat every week, but I realized today that it's not such a bad idea every once in a while. You learn to perservere better that way. And we all know perserverence is what racing is all about.

Regardless, when we were all done with our workouts we cooled down together and then back to Liz's for lunch and recovery and mostly me being lazy while everyone else did work. I'm good at being lazy.

The next agenda item was swimming. An open water swim race was on the docket but the weather had other ideas. Unfortunately the swim was cancelled as storms rolled in so instead we went to Liz and Chris's gym to swim with a few others.

The pool was really nice! And the water chilly. Which at first didn't feel good but was REALLY nice while we were swimming our 500s. Yeah - 500s. But all was well and other than almost getting lapped when we were doing 250 pulls and then Ness trying to take my hand off (I've renamed her LANE HOG), all was well. I can't say it enough - just how nice it is to be around and train with strong, talented women who share the same passion and focus. I'm so thankful for it. And I've already learned a lot from these guys.

Oh wait - did I forget to mention the hot tub after the swim? Um yeah...my YMCA definitely needs one of those!

Finally we finished up with some dinner at Noodles which is the bomb. O and I had eaten there last year when we were in Portland, OR but I had forgotten about it because there are none in Pittsburgh. That might be a good thing - because I would ALWAYS want to be eating there!

And so it goes. Camp day #2. Looking forward to seeing what day #3 holds!

Regardless, camp is all I had hoped it to be and more. First of all, Chris and Elizabeth live in a beautiful home and I have my own room and the sheets smell REALLY good. I've already put in my request to stay...for a long time. But I will really miss O and Roxy so I've requested that they be allowed to stay too. After all, I think Roxy and Boss would really get along well.

Speaking of Boss, I have to admit it - he's got a serious case of the cutes. Wow. That dog is cute!! Elizabeth isn't kidding around when she talks about him. And the crazy laps? Very cute. But I think it's the ears that do it for me. They are big and animated. And very, very cute.

Regardless, today we did a couple workouts after we picked Ness up at the airport. I immediately knew I was really going to like Ness when we spotted her standing at passenger pickup at the airport with her aerohelmet on. Now that's my kind of girl. Let it be known there has been no shortage of laughter around here!

Back home from the airport we did a few things and then Jen arrived. I've met Jen before so I knew what to expect but still, her fire and spirit and smile amaze me. And then off to the quarry/pool/swimming hole it was.

The swimming was great - sort of like open water but not. It was outside and that alone made it much better than my home pool. We did some work in the lanes and then Ness, Liz and Jen were nice enough to practice some dives into the water with me. My next race requires a dive in and I've already been fretting about that for quite some time. No big deal though. Just keep the chin tucked as Ness told me.

After the swim Liz took us to the famous Fermilab to ride. I've read so much about it before! It's not at all what I expected but really a great place to ride in many senses. Very low traffic and good roads. And it's bigger than I thought. And as I realized, the midwest certainly doesn't have hills like back home but the wind could very well be worse. And Liz said that today wasn't windy. Hmm... As expected, "wind" might be redefined for me after this trip.

Anyway, we did a great workout and I truly, truly enjoyed having 2 very strong riders to work hard with. Liz pedals on that bike like I've never seen before. WOW! I really enjoyed myself and was sorry for the ride to be over. Although there is more riding to be done this week so no worries.

Hmm...what else. Liz made us dinner and it was soooooooo good. Seriously, I'm not going home. Last night Chris built my bike for me in about 3 minutes. No, make that 2.5 minutes. Seriously, I'm not going home. Ness makes me laugh, really hard. Actually EVERYone makes me laugh. And no, I don't plan on going home.

But wait, Boss is about to put on a show with his red blanket so I've got to go.

Tomorrow is "track" as everyone calls it around here and some more open water swimming. This really is the life.

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... :)

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. :)

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.

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!

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!

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!

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... :)

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!

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!