Wordless Wednesday

Had my worst 5 mile run in a long time this morning and felt like this afterwards!

Good thing I will be celebrating a friends 30th B-day tonight at the American Ice Company to lift my spirits.

Tri Season Coming to an End

T minus 11 days until Nations. I am getting pretty excited!

We got our bib numbers last week: I am lucky number...

I will be going to one last open water swim practice at Gunston Cove this Sunday. They will have a 500 meter course set up and you can swim it as many times as you want. I plan on doing three loops so I can get the full 1500 meters in and feel confident for the following weekend. Also, I am not sure what the water temp in the Potomac is suppose to be next week, but I haven't swam in my wet suit yet. So, I figured this would be a great opportunity to swim in my suit should I want to use it during the tri. I'm still undecided about the whole wet suit thing though come race day. I have done all of my open water swims without one, so yeah I'm just not sure what to do?

After I cross the finish line at Nations my first season of triathlons will come to an end :(  But, I must say that I have had so much fun this year! I loved trying to juggle all three sports as apposed to just training for a running race. Don't get my wrong, training for a running race takes just as much of a time commitment, but I never had to train twice a day while running. There is something about never having enough time in a day to do anything, but yet somehow finding the time to run in the morning and bike in the evening that just intrigues me. I think I love the challenge of the training and reward of crossing the finish line after all the hard work. It's just the best feeling in the world.

I will be a little lost after 9/11 with all my new found free time. Ok, I don't know how much free time I will actually have because I still have 4 more planned races (3 half marathons and a 15k) before the end of the year, but it will feel like free time since I will be using cycling and swimming as cross fit days.

I am trying to look ahead to next year and plan out my race schedule, but I have to hold off until I get my Gymnastics Meet schedule. Every meet always seems to fall on a day I want to race. So far the only thing I have on the books will be my first HIM, mooseman :)

Ok I think I have done enough rambling for today.

Happy Tues and I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler temps in the morning (perfect running weather, right?)

Weekend Recap: Irene Edition

As big bad hurricane Irene approached the DC area I got ready by moving my long run to Friday morning, so Sat morning I would be free to squeeze in a ride. My 11 miles went great on Friday morning, although I must say one of the downsides about running right into my office is being forced to just sit down after running so long. When I got back out of my chair my legs felt a little wobbly.

Anyhow, Sat morning Jason and I were out the door at 7am with a planned 30 - 40 mile bike ride. The skies looked very dark, so I wanted to stay close to home just in case the rain really started to hammer down on us.  So, we just headed to Haines Point, oh boy. We rode only three laps and the cops had blocked off the entrance to the long loop and also closed the gate at the other end. On our third loop they drove by us twice telling us we needed to exit the park, so we did. I wasn't upset that we had to leave early because it did look like it was about to storm any minute and I was just happy that I was still able to get in 17 miles for the day.

The rest of the day went a little something like this and it was wonderful:

1. Watched Kiwi get her self into trouble by jumping up to the window then the fence!

 2. I finished watching Mad Men ... such a great show and now I don't know what  I am going to do with myself since I have finished all the seasons!

3. I ate an entire box of Cheez - Its ... yes an entire box!!! I'm not sure what else I had for the day?

4. I went for a beer run at our corner store and proceeded to drink 5 beers and pass out by 7pm. What I had to rehydrate after my big 17 mile ride...

5. Spending the entire day on the couch doing nothing meant I got to spend time with this cat!

Sunday morning rolled around and I slept in to a whooping 7 o'clock (what the heck? I went to bed at 12:30). The skies still looked dark and it was a bit windy out, but it had finally stopped raining. My butt was killing me from sitting on it all day yesterday because I was drunk there was a hurricane and I need to get out of the house. I went for a nice little 2.5 mile walk around my neighborhood to check out the damage from the storm. And oh boy let me tell you there was a lot of damage! Twigs on the side walks, umbrellas turned inside out, a tree in the middle of the road, and a branch into someone's car!

 Then Jason played around with the camera and got some running shots of me :) He got a new lens for the camera and I think he might be in love with it.

I guess with this new lens, Jason may even be able to find me in the water and get some swimming shots at the Nations Tri :)

Riding in style to Cit Bikes

After doing some more of nothing I went up to City Bikes to take my bike in to get a tune up. There was an extra long wait (a family of 4 with all flat tires...and the store would not just let me drop it off even though I didn't want the work done today.) When I finally made it to the front of the line a half hour later they told me I would not be able to pick it up until Thurs. OMG are you kidding me, Thurs! There was no way that I could afford not to ride my bike until Thurs so I stormed out of there pissed off because they told me Monday on the phone. The guys must have overheard me bitching complaining and talked to me outside of the store and he told me it would be ready on Tues. So I left it with him and I am just praying that it will be ready then!

After the bike dropped off, I headed over to dinner at Senart's Oyster & Chop House. It was the first time I have eaten there and I got the hanger steak. It was very yummy and I will def. be going back.

yummy new place to eat :)

 Overall my weekend of doing absolutely nothing was really great and relaxing! Thank you hurricane Irene for giving me this chance to rest! 




How did you spend your weekend in the rain? Were you just as lazy as I was? 

Forgetting Your Work Clothes

On a daily basis I am either: walking, running, or biking into work. I commute this way into my office rain, sun, or snow and I have not taken the metro in over 2 years. I obviously never wear my dress clothes into work (even when I'm walking because I sweat like a pig) and always  bring a small bag with my change of clothes in it. On some days, I bring my clothes into work the day before so that I may get in a ride at Haines Point or a long run before heading straight into work from my workout. I love these days because doing a long run and going straight to work as appose to going home first saves me so much time! And anytime I can sleep in longer is a positive in my book!

But, there is a downside to these commutes.... the fear of forgetting your dress clothes, under wear, bra, etc :( If you have a green commute you are bound to forget something sooner or later!



my outfits hanging up all nice at my office



Last week I brought three outfits in on Tues for the rest of the week. This way I could mindlessly roll out of bed and hit the ground running on my way to work. Friday rolled around and I had a 10 mile long run on the books. The run went great, but once I got into work I realized I didn't have any underwear to change into :( I had no other choice but to go commando for the day. Not my favorite thing to do at all and I suppose I could have went to Victoria's Secret in Union Station, but I didn't. Friday was the first time I forgot my undies :( But, over the years I have also forgotten my bra (more than once) and my dress pants and my shirt for the day! When I forget my pants or shirt I either go back home (4 mile round trip) or go up to Express in Union and just buy what I need. Oh the stresses of a green commute!

Yesterday, I get this lovely email from my one and only:

"I was late for work because I grabbed your black BCBG pants for work. So I had to go over to men’s warehouse and buy another pair. Nose tap!!!"

I was laughing so hard at my desk because I have been there before. And I was laughing at the thought of Jason trying to put on my pants and realizing they were way too small! At least he got a new pair of pants out of it :)

When you get into work have you ever opened your bag and realized you forgot something? I would love to hear your stories :)

Happy Friday All and I hope the Hurricane doesn't mess with your plans too bad !!

An Evening filled with Tri-ing

Somehow or another, yesterday I ended up doing a tri (well sort of) on accident :) It was great to stuff in a lot of workouts last night, but my nutrition was a total failure!

 

I will start off saying that I ate lunch yesterday at 12:15. I had brought in left overs from Tues dinner which was spicy sausage with rice and green, yellow, and red peppers. It was yummy and I also had a peach. I had no snacks left at my desk so therefor when I left my office at 3:50 something I hadn't ate anything for almost 4 hours.

 

I had planned on swimming right after work and since the Eastern Market pool closes at 5pm, I ran the 1.5 miles there to get there as fast as possible. It took me about 13 minutes to run over... oh how I hate running with a bag on my back! I was in the water about 4:10 and found myself a lane to share. I wasn't feeling the swim at all and basically had to talk myself into to each set I did. I would be like ok Sarah if you stop swimming and get out of the pool you will be mad at yourself, just stay in and swim, you are almost finished. I had a cramp in my side almost the whole time I was swimming but stuck it out until the lifeguards kicked us out of the pool at 5 for closing time. I managed to fit my whole workout in minus my 200 cool down. I did the following: 200 warm up with a ladder: 100 - 200 - 300 - 400 - 400 - 300- 200 - 100. I was actually pretty happy I forced myself to stay in the water and finish this!

 

I walked home and proceed to stuff my face get some snacks before Jason got home. I had some humus with crackers, a glass of chocolate milk, a string cheese, and fruit snacks! Once Jason got home about a half hour later I changed into my cycling clothes and we headed down to Haines point for 20 miles of riding. The ride down to Haines is always super annoying with lots of stop and go through the city, but once there it felt good to be on my bike. I was actually having fun (something that I have not had while I'm riding in awhile!). There was some nasty head wind on the one side which made for a challenging ride, but other side the wind pushed you along and going 22mph was easy :) I tried to concentrate on how much water I was drinking and drank one water bottle on the ride, but didn't eat any of the shot blocks I had brought with me. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to ride the 20 miles.

 

Once back home, I changed into my running shoes, took a big sip of Gatorade and out the door I went for a brick run. The second I hit the ground running my stomach started to turn. My legs, oh my legs felt fine, but not my stomach! The first mile seemed to go on forever and I wanted some water so badly. For some reason or another I didn't bring my water bottle with me and had nothing to drink while I was running which was a big mistake. By mile 2, I wanted to stop and walk, but kept telling myself this is how I might feel during a race and during a race I would be pissed at myself if I walked, so I kept running. My stomach issues continued on mile three and I had a couple throw up preps...gross. I have never been so happy when my watch beeped at mile 3 and I was finished. I managed to hold a decent pace despite my stomach issues and finished in 26 minutes. This was such a hard run for me!

 

When I ran into the house I motioned for Jason to get me water and Gatorade. Oh how they tasted so good!!! I was happy to be done with all three of my workouts and realized I ended up doing a triathlon with a big T1 time. But, as happy as I was to be done, I was disappointed because I had another huge nutrition failure. I am chalking this one up to eating lunch at 12 and not really eating again besides the few snacks after my swim. And my stomach hurt so bad the rest of evening that I never even ate dinner :(  And dinner was pizza...which is something I never pass up!

 

Happy Thurs All

Earthquake!!!

Yesterday around 2 o'clock the ground started to shake a bit while I was at my desk. At first I thought it was my building working on something as our building is getting renovated, but then it really started to shake. I work 2 blocks from the Capital and thought for a split second that we may be under attack, until my coworker from CA yelled: "Earthquake!" My cube walls were really shaking and almost fell in and the building felt like it was swaying back and forth. Our building evacuated and while going down the stairs I had some lady panicking yelling "move it, move it."

I tried calling Jason, but there was no cell service and my texts were not going through either. However, twitter was still working and the twits with earthquake were flooding in. I forgot to bring my house keys and snuck back in our building to get them. Once I came back out the side walks were lined with office workers. It was about 2:30 by this point and I figured we were not getting let back into our building anytime soon and went into the garage to get my bike. I felt bad for a lot of my co-workers because they either van pool, ride the metro, or the marc home and they were all looking at me with envy of my commute home! I must say living in DC rules!!! Some of them did not get home till 8 last night.

My commute was still interesting though. I usually ride past the Capital, but they had all the streets blocked. I tired to go one way or another and everything just seemed to be blocked. There was tons of people lining the sidewalks and I def could not ride my bike, so I was just walking it on the sidewalk. I finally got to Mass Ave by Union Station which was open. There was so much traffic in the roads though that I really didn't want to risk riding in the road and get ran over by a manic, so I continued to walk my bike on sidewalk. People were fleeing the city like we just got attacked by aliens! Eventually I was able to get into a bike lane and ride the rest of my way home. It took my a half hour to get home, which isn't bad all.

Once home, some pictures had fallen downstairs and more pictures / nic nacks had fallen upstairs off our build-ins. There was glass all over the place from frames breaking and my poor kiwi was no were to be found. She usually meets me at the door or comes when I call her name, but I had to search for her. She was hiding under the bed and wouldn't come out. The poor thing was still so scared. So, I scooped her up and loved her!

I still really wanted to do Conte's Hills, but there was no way I was going to brave the traffic on such a crazy day. And riding my bike over there is not an option for me because I'm dead by the time I get there then. I thought and thought about it, but then saw my neighbors having an earthquake party. So instead of riding I pulled out my chair on my porch and joined them in having a beer and chit chatting. It was a great evening with good times and lots of laughs. It was nice to feel like I have a life outside of working out.

At least I did manage to run a 5k (splits were 8:06, 7:57, and 7:50..whoot) on my lunch before all the mayhem happened, so the day was not a total workout failure. I will def. be riding tonight after work.

How was your earthquake day?? Hope everyone was ok.

Happy Wed All!

A New Pool

I do not have to work at gymnastics this week as we always give the kids this week off so that they can adjust back to their first week of school. You are probably wondering what does this really have to do with triathlons? Well, nothing really, except for the fact that I use the pool at Fairland to swim at after I'm done coaching. There was no way I was driving to Fairland this week (it takes me an hour in traffic) if I didn't have to. I certainly wasn't going to skip all my pool workouts for the week though, so I had a plan B... Wilson! Then I was on twitter yesterday morning and discovered Wilson is closed this week! I guess I'm glad I found out before I went up there because I would have been really mad if I rode the metro for a half hour for nothing. And come to think of it, Fairland is closed until 9/11 for maintenance, so I guess I will be swimming somewhere else for awhile.

So anyhow, my plan B was out as well... great.... but have no fear....I do not give up that easily! I went onto the DC department of parks and recreation website to look up other DC aquatic Facilities. I actually never knew DC had so many free pools. Just a few short years back, swimming, and lack of a place to swim was one of the reasons I never registered for a triathlon. Duh, hello blondie, there is a ton of them in DC. I wish I opened my eyes back then, but never the less I found a bunch of good pools today. If you haven't checked out there website or don't know where to swim in the district you should check it out.

Onto plan C ...William H. Rumsey Aquatic Center located right next to Eastern Market. Now, one would think this would be the obvious place that I would swim since I live three blocks from Eastern Market, but believe it or not, I have never swam there. They have someone crazy hours, but the pool is decent with eight 25 yard lanes. On Monday's they close at 5pm and open again at 6:30. I really didn't want to go home and sit on my ass and do nothing till 6:30 in fear that I may not go, so I simply left work early. Not super early, just 15 minutes early and ran like a bat out of hell to the pool. I had a little less than a 2 mile run from my work to the pool and wanted to try to get there as fast as I could so I could get a good workout in before they closed at 5. I was breathing hard when I arrived, but made it there in just 15 minutes. The pool was nice and not very crowded at all. When I began swimming I think that there was a total of three people in the water including myself. I had a great workout and swam 1600 yards straight with 2 x 200 yards. I pretty much liked everything about the pool and have no clue why I have never came to this pool before???

Things I loved about William Rumsey:

1. I honestly really could care less what either the locker room or showers look like,  but it had decent ones. And since it's so close to my house, it's just as easy to take a shower at home.

 
2. The lanes may only be 25 yards, but the pool isn't crowded the time of day I would be going at. Having my own lane = me happy :)

3. It's right next to Eastern Market

 
4. Which means it takes me 5 minutes to walk home to my beautiful block! 

So in conclusion, WR pool is now my pool of choice :) and.... maybe I can even get my M to come with me :)

So do you have a favorite pool? If it's closed do you find another pool to swim at? 


Happy Tues All

To ride a century or not?

hmmmm....I'm not even sure what to talk about here. My weekend was a big failure for my workouts.

 

I went to bed early on Friday at 9:30, but when my alarm went off at 5am I was just too tired. My body felt like it was sunk into my bed and I couldn't move, let alone peel my eyes open. Next thing I know it's 7:30 and my opportunity to ride 60 miles was gone! As I was visiting my family in Fredericksburg, VA later that day and the 6 hour round trip there & back basically sucked all my free time away. Ok, no biggie I guess, I'll just use Sat as a rest day since I did my long run of 10 miles on Friday anyhow.

 

Better luck tomorrow, right?

 

Wrong! Sunday I had to teach one of my girls her floor routine smack dap in the middle of the day at 1 o'clock. I knew I wouldn't have time to ride 60 miles, so my plan was just to ride 30 with a 40 minute brick run afterwards. I left with the boys (Jason and Wyn) at 7am. They were riding 70 and I was just going to ride 15 with them and turn around. I couldn't even make it 15 miles because I was feeling light headed and my stomach was really hurting. I kind of felt like I was going to pass out. So at only 7.5 miles I yelled to them that I didn't feel good and turned around to go home. Booo.. I rode a big whopping 15 miles!! And I felt too crappy to run when I got home, so I just jumped back in bed. I did however manage to teach my floor routine and dance around and sweat for a few hours. Which made me feel a little less like a sloth.

 

I guess this all leads to the every looming back roads century that I registered for. I really only registered for it because I get jealous/feel left out if someone else *aka Jason, in this case* is racing in something and I'm not. My heart is not into this century ride at all and in hindsight I should have just let Jason and his friend ride in on their own. But, with every weekend that passes and every weekend that I don't do a long ride this really becomes more and more out of reach for me to be able to finish on 9/18. I'm not even sure at this point that I will be able to make up for my lack of training and be able to ride it. I have been toying with the idea of just dropping down to the 56 miles ride instead. But, it's a tour and it's going to be boring to ride by myself. Plus, I don't want to look like a wimp while the boys are still out there riding while I'm already waiting at the finish line and enjoying the festivities. Ugg... I don't know what to do?? Help.

 

Have you ever registered for a race and wish you hadn't? Did you still race it anyhow??

 

Happy Monday All!

My Tri - Twin

For those of you who did not already know, I have a tri-twin! Her name you ask, why of course it's Sarah Karpinski :)

Things we have in common:

1. The most awesome name in the word: Sarah Karpinski!!! and although we have to compete with each other for email addresses, screen names, and twitter ids, it's ok because we are just that awesome.

2. We are the same age (our b-days are within one month of each other)

3. We both live in DC

4. We both lived at 17th and T at one point

5. We ride the same bike: Gait Avail 1 .... can you tell who is who ?



 I guess we both like racing in blue tops as well, and might have the same water bottles too :)

6. We both love running

7. We have been running in the same races for years and good thing for bib numbers or else I would have no clue who's results were who's. We usually cross the finish line within minutes of each other.


8. We ran our first marathon together - The Marine Corps Marathon in 2004 -  with out either one of us knowing that there was indeed another Sarah Karpinski out there! This might be the race we found out about each other?? But it would take until this year to finally meet by chance at an open water swim clinic!


Who is this other Sarah Karpinski? And my goodness we finished with-in minutes of eachother!



9. We both got into triathlons this year

10. Yet another first for both us - Our first tri was the DC Tri



Oh know... who is who?

11. We went running together this morning and I had such a good time. It's always nice to have a running buddy to chit chat with, but it's even better when it's your long lost twin!!

Does anyone body else have a twin out there, who has the same name and everything in common??

Happy Friday All!

Three Things Thurs

1. I have had no motivation this week at all! what is wrong with me??

Hopefully I can finish out the week strong and not skip any more of my workouts. That will make me happy. And I really did have all in the intention in the world to ride after work yesterday, but getting a flat one minute into my ride just made me mad. Plus, it takes me over a half hour to change it and I only time to ride for an hour and 20. Excuses I know.

Also what's up with it being so dark in the mornings now??? This not getting light out till around 6:30 in really messing with my riding time. I don't think I am going to be able to do it in the morning anymore :( I have to be at work by 7:30 so I can't start any later than 5:40am. Yesterday I showered, put on my cycling clothes, and looked out the window at 5:30am and thought how in the world am I going to ride in the pitch black of the night? So instead of riding I just climbed back in bed and slept. booo!! But, at least I can still run when it's dark out :)

2. During my 4 mile tempo run yesterday I really tried to push myself. Because I slept in, I had to do this run during my lunch time. I figured it wouldn't be too hot out since it has been nice, but I thought wrong and it was hot. I wanted to try for sub 8s on this run, but didn't quit hit my goal. My splits were 7:54, 7:45, 8:06, and 8:15 with an average pace of 8 minutes. By mile 4 I was totally out of steam and it was a struggle for me to maintain the pace. I really thought I pushed myself hard on this run though and I felt good when I was done. There is nothing like getting a little break from your desk and enjoying fresh air. Although my plan of no one knowing I went for a run didn't work out. My face was bright red and I was dripping with sweat for the next hour at my desk.

3. I have already started looking at Halloween costumes for this year. I love Halloween so much. I think it is one of my favorite holidays (if it even counts as a holiday)? Plus I just love Oct. in general. It's my favorite month.

How does the season change affect your workouts? Are you still able to get something in super early in the morning?

Happy Thurs All!

Wordless Wednesday

What I had for dinner lastnight: raspberry sherbert with strawberries and blueberries. Needless to say I am hungry this morning!

I am Cursed!!!!

Last year on this very same day - August 16th - I crashed while riding my bike pretty bad. It was a nice sunny day, but I took a turn to fast and wide and was going to run into a stop sign. So it was either hit the stop sign dead on or try to cut my wheel hard right. When I cut my wheel my back tire skidded out from under me and I went down. The first thing to hit was my left knee then my right arm and hand. I jump up after the fall and started to continue to walk towards work (since I was about a half mile away) then I felt really dizzy and the sweat started pouring off of me. I looked down and I had blood dripping down my leg and my hands had chunks of skin hanging off of them and I guess more blood was dripping off my arm. I sat down on the wall in front of the Capitol to dig my phone and call Jason to come get me. My hands were shaking and I still felt like I was going to pass out. Since I crashed by the Capitol the Capitol Police came over to help me within minutes. They thought I had hit my head because I was pretty out of it. I couldn't get ahold of Jason (he had just got a new phone and I had put the number in wrong) and I didn't want to go to the hospital. The police could not drive me home, so I stumbled home 1.5 miles crying with blood all over the place. Not a single person on my way home asked me if I was ok or if I needed help!! Once home Jason answered the door in shock and helped me get cleaned up. My knee was so swollon and did not stop bleeding for almost 5 days. I probably needed stitches?? who knows? I couldn't walk on it for over a week and took a taxi to work every day because even walking a half of mile to the metro hurt too bad.

Fast forward to this year on August 16th.... I am running to work this morning. Yes, not biking, running! And I trip over the side walk. I stumbled for a bit trying to get my footing, but it just wasn't happening and I bit the dust in the middle of the cross walk. I tucked my legs in because I did no want to hurt my knees and ended up just hitting my right for arm and palm of my hand pretty hard. I jumped up since I was in the middle of the road and looked around to see if anyone saw me? Nope, no one around! I continued into work holding my arm up for the next mile so blood would not be dripping down it or get on my shirt. Once to work my co-workers gasped when they saw me, but then started laughing as I was telling the story. I am obviously ok, but more embarrassed than anything!!! I am always so scared of falling while I'm cycling, but running, come on! Running is suppose to be the safe sport.

Anyhow, with two falls on the same day, two years in a row I am officially cursed!! I should have never laughed at that Voodoo lady last year in New Orleans. She put a hex on me, I know it. Next year I am using August 16th as a rest day!

Race Report: North East Tri

Oh North East Tri, where to begin? This was Olympic distance that was not!

It was about a 2.5 hour drive up to North East, MD, so I drove up the day before so I could sleep in a little longer. During pack pick-up on Sat it looked like it was going to rain and as soon as I got back in my car the rain started coming down and it never stopped! Despite hating to drive in the rain, Jason agreed to drive the bike course while I sat passenger so I could get a good view as to what was in store for me. And what was in store? LOTS of HILLS! I was thinking to myself, what did I get myself into! I knew my legs would be trashed after this course and the run course was not easy either with a out and back with more hills! It rained all evening and when I fell asleep about 8:30 - 9 it was still raining!

I actually sleep pretty good and only had a few nightmares about skidding out while on the bike...well actually I thought I might die with wet roads, rain, and turns. Some thunder and lighting woke me up at about 5am (45 minutes before my alarm was to go off). At this point I walked over to the window and looked at the monsoon that was coming down! It was then, that I pretty much made up in my mind that I was not doing this race! The swim fine, the run fine, the bike not fine. I didn't want to risk a really nasty fall and possible injury over what....a silly little race? At any rate I proceeded to get my tri suit on and get ready. My plan was just to go there and turn in my timing chip. I saw some other triathletes in the lobby of the hotel and they said they were doing the same thing because the weather wasn't letting up.



I don't think I'm racing ....but I have my bike just incase



After we parked our car, I found myself taking my bike out of the car and walking it to the transition area with the other fools triathletes. Once we got there, they announced they extended to transition area from 7:15 to 7:45 delaying the start time of the race. I racked my bike and then looked at the muddy filled ground.  I didn't bring any plastic bags and didn't want my stuff getting any wetter than it had to, so I left everything in my bag and hung it in a hook on the rack. I still was not planning on racing! So who cares that everything was still in my bag? I asked one of the volunteers what time I had to make up my mind and she told me until the transition area closes. While I was asking her two athletes turned in their chips to her and told her they felt unsafe. I couldn't agree more and by this point my heart was not into this race at all. I didn't want to be there and I was scared for my life during the bike course. I figured since they had not called the swim yet and I already paid for the race, I would just do the swim leg and use it as open water swim practice. This made perfect sense in my head. I proceeded over the bathrooms and herd them announce that the everyone would be swimming only 750 meters due to flooding and debris in water. Everyone would also only be biking 11 miles because some of the roads were flooded that the course went on. Hmmm... swim 750 meters (bummer) and only bike 11 miles ... I can do this! I went back over to the transition area and got my bike shoes and socks out of my bag and put them in a small plastic bag my t-shirt had came in the day before. I left my running shoes in my book bag because I didn't have another plastic bag.



Ok, I'm doing this silly little race!



Ok... finally race time!

Swim - 750 meters: 16:44

I was in the very last swim wave (all oly distance women). It had started to rain again while we were waiting for our wave to be called and we were all freezing! I wasn't nervous about the swim anymore and really just wanted to get into the water to warm up since it was 81 degrees. We had to walk down a small boat dock to get into the water. Everyone in my wave had to get into the water and tread water until the horn went off. I placed myself at the very back and to the outside of the group on the right hand side. We were to keep all buoys to our right, so I figured this would be a good place to be? My sighting still sucks and I was swimming off course a bit. I felt really good on this swim, but still had to breast stroke every now and again to site! After figuring out where the heck I was, I would free style again. I stayed clam the whole time and my breathing was really under control so I couldn't be happier. I feared that I was going to be the last one out of the water since I was the last wave and in the back of the pack, but I must have passed some people because I was not the last one out! Even though my time was slow, I was just so happy that I felt comfortable and calm out there!!! Goal defiantly accomplished! I am no longer scared of the swim :)

Swim start

I'm freezing before my wave is called

T1 - 3:28

It must have stopped raining at some point during my swim because it wasn't raining anymore went I ran out! This was really good news because I was still unsure when I was in the water if I wanted to risk my life on the bike. But no rain, meant I was biking! The swim exit to the transition area was really far away (maybe 500 - 600 meters). The ground was really muddy and you also had to run over a parking lot with some gravel and such in it. I found my bike and my feet were covered in mud and brown. The guy next to me had a bucket he had brought to sit on and I asked him if I could use it too since he was running out with his bike. He said yes. This was great because I had a clean spot to set my butt down on while I cleaned off my feet and put my bike shoes on. I wasn't really in a hurry at all because as mentioned earlier my heart really wasn't into this race and it was more or less not a race anymore and just practice to me. The bike out was in about a foot off water and mud and there was no way around it. Dry shoes and socks not more! Both my feet got big soak-ers and my bike shoes were not longer black, but brown. I felt like this was a triathlon turned mud run!

The Bike - 11 miles -38:56 (17mph)

So as everyone already knows I was still scared to do this course even though it was only 11 miles. The roads were still very wet and there was lots of hills. I took my time on the bike and really only put forth a medium effort. I didn't want to go to fast (especially on the down hills) and wipe out! I had no clue what my speed was during the bike since I had decided to just keep total time on my timex watch. I wasn't thinking about much while on the course except that I wished that I had brought another pair of socks because mine were soaked and I wasn't looking forward to running with wet feet. But, the course seemed to go by pretty quickly and before I knew it, I was back to the dismount line! My bike time was slow, but I was riding with caution, so I'm just happy I lived and made it back in one piece.



About to dismount



Almost done with the bike



T2 - 1:30

Oh thank the weather gods because as soon as I got off my bike it started raining again! I guess it didn't matter that my socks were wet because they would only get wetter! T2 was pretty uneventful and I used that guys bucket again to sit on :) We had to run through a mud pit to get out again and both shoes were now mud brown.

The Run - 10k - 50:59 (8:13 pace)

I was happy to be off the bike and running! My legs felt pretty strong since the bike was basically done in a blink of an eye. The course was an out and back and filled with hills. If we had biked the full course (24 miles) my legs would have been trashed, but they weren't :) I'm not sure what any of my splits were, but I was passing people! The rain went from a heavy rain to a really heavy rain!!! At the 3 mile mark it was raining so hard that it was somewhat hard to see in front of yourself. Lucky for me is that I would actually take running in a rain storm over running in 90 degree temps with high humidity. So, I was actually enjoying myself! I kept on running and only grabbed some water once at one of the aid stations. For the last mile I felt like I really pushing it and I was the only one coming to the finish line. I have never crossed the finish line with no one else in site and it was kindof fun because the announcer said my name as I crossed! This was a 10k PR for me! I have only ran one other 10k and I think I ran it in 53 minutes. So I couldn't be happier with the run, plus I had fun running in the rain and looking hard core, even though I'm not.



Running out of T2 and feeling good

 

See you at the finish line, M





running to the finish!




Almost there!



Overall - 1:51:37

Despite not having my heart in this race and wanting to back out of it several times, I'm glad I didn't! I might not have had the fastest times this race, but I did have fun! And I think it makes for a great story that I did a triathlon in a storm!!

Also I big thanks to Jason for being so good to me!! He was out in the rain the whole time and got as wet as I did! I loved seeing him out there cheering me on and it always brought a smile to my face :)



Love you M



Random Friday Facts

1. have been on a peanut butter and jelly kick for the last two weeks.

 

2. add peaches to that kick. they are so good!

 

3. Extra's dessert flavored gum (mint chocolate chip ice cream) does not taste like ice cream :(

 

4. I must be hungry because I have listed three 3 foods already.

 

5. My cat demands pets in the middle of the night and shoves her head under my hands! So I sometimes have to hide my hands under the covers so she stops and I can sleep.

 

6. I just found out I can get 20 bucks a month for commuting to work on my bike! Can they back pay me a couple of years?

 

7.  I have had a cup with dried up ranch dressing in it on my desk at work for a week now. Why am I so gross?

 

8. I have changed out of work out shorts into jeans while driving. I don't recommend doing this!

 

9. M (aka Jason) is riding 60 mile tomorrow without me. I am jealous, but want my legs fresh for my race on Sunday.

 

10. I have to make up a floor routine for one of my gymnasts. There will be lots of dancing around my house soon.

 

11. Speaking of floor routines whenever I hear music I think to myself that would make great floor music!

 

12. I like wearing dresses because you always look put together and you don't have to worry about matching anything together.

 

13. I haven't made an eye appointment in 3 years and have just been self ordering contacts off the internet. I have no clue what my real prescription should be?

 

14. I'm wearing my glasses today because my eyes have been killing me.

 

15. I forgot my CC today at work and have no lunch. Why am I so forgetful all the time?

 

16. I need new cleats for my bike shoes. The rubber came off mine and it makes it hard to clip in.

 

17. I drank chocolate milk after my long run this week and it tasted great.

 

18. I want from froyo right now. 32 below on 8th is a must tonight.

 

19. I only know two phone numbers by heart. My parents and M's. Everyone else, sorry if I lost my phone I couldn't call you anymore.

 

20. Am I the only person who doesn't like Disney World?

 

Have a great weekend all and good luck to all racing!

Three Things Thurs

1. I had no trouble getting up at 5:15 yesterday to head out for my 9 mile weekday long run. I was actually even looking forward to it :) I usually like to do my long runs on the weekends, but since I have a race on Sunday, I am taking sat as a rest day and wanted to make sure I still got this run in sometime this week. The weather is finally starting to feel better and the run flew by yesterday. Even though I was wearing my watch I had mapped out a rough 9 mile route that would take me all around dc. I gave myself a small tour of DC starting off on Capitol Hill and ran through China Town, Logon, Dupont, Adams Morgan, U st, Downtown, the White House, and finished it off on the mall.

It was still dark out when I left my house at 5:30, but it was pretty to watch the sunrise as I was running. I sometimes think I should listen to music when I run, but I never do. Instead I just think about god knows what while I'm running. I had some small stomach issues on this run and thanked my lucky stars that there is a star bucks at just about every corner! This was also the first run that I used my Nathan's water bottle and loved it. Overall the run was great, but I would like to get my pace down by about 30 seconds per mile.

2. Because I did my long run in the morning and this is an easy week for my with the race this weekend, I didn't have to double up on my workouts. Which meant Wednesday evening was free and I could act like a normal person. So, me and M (aka Jason) went out to dinner on H st at Smith Commons. And I also still have time to watch one episode of Made Men before hitting the hay.

3. I'm still really nervous about the swim leg of the tri! I know I am not going to sleep at all on Sat night. I will be too busy having nightmares about swimming!

Happy Thurs all! The weekend is almost here!