Can I get *NSYNC already???

I really hope my mind and body sync up for my "A" races. Isn't that what's supposed to happen? So that you have one sweet, fast race?

So last week was all about how my mind was in the game 110%, and my body was about 10 feet behind me. This week...strike that, reverse it! (Name the movie for bonus points). My body feel really good. Legs are fresh, though I don't know how that happened. However, my mind is just TIRED.

I think its because I'm finished with grad school. Two years of hard work, and it just ends...like that. *SNAP* you're done. Here's your piece of paper that says your a Master. Now, it just didn't happen, I put a TON of hard work in over the past two years. Which is why, all the sudden, my mind is just tired. Its like riding up a really long, steep hill on my bike. The build up of two years...up and up and up, spinning at 50rpms, going 6mphs...and finally, after hard work, sweating profusely, legs and lungs burning, you get to the top. Then what? Then you get to speed down the hill at 40mphs into the real world.

Back to yesterday. I had a swim. 3000. Not bad by any means. And it was actually my favorite workout... 200's!! Main set was 8x200's. I started at the interval of 3:15 and went down by 5 seconds each time until I ended on 2:45. I held about 2:50's the whole time, and the last one I rocked right at 2:45. Before even getting to the pool, I just did not want to go. All I wanted to do was sleep. I knew I had to do it. So I went, and it ended up being a good workout.

Then I had my one and only final of the semester. Did way better on it than the midterm, even though I started studying for it at 9:30 yesterday morning..oops! I went home and all I wanted to do was sleep. Are you seeing a theme? I layed in my bed, but my body (or Junior) just wouldn't let me fall asleep. Junior saw a doggy friend outside and got excited, so we went out for a bit and played. We came back in and I laid down again. Talked to Mom for a bit, told her how I didn't want to run. She said "yeah you're probably tired", but I knew she was really saying "get off your butt and run, cause you'll never finish an Ironman by laying in your bed." And she was right. But I still wasn't convinced.

I text messaged Seth.

"I don't want to run. Too tired. Can I do it tomorrow?"

He called right away.

"No you can't do it tomorrow. Get off your butt and run. Just do it. You know you need to and you want to, now DO IT!"

Ok, ok. I'm going. So I did. And I'm so glad I did, because it was beautiful outside. Perfect running weather. The sun was going down, it was about 60 degrees, and just overall nice. I didn't take my ipod because I just wanted to soak up the end to the beautiful day. And better than that, I had a great run. 4 miles...paced a 10:18. Pretty good for me, and considering I wasn't supposed to push the run all that much. I was very happy I went.

More importantly, I'm so happy I have people in my life that are so supportive of my crazy life. I couldn't be happier that my parents completely support me in my crazy endeavors as of late. I only wish they could see more races. They will get to witness their first triathlon at Memphis in May in a few weeks! I'm so excited! Also, I have great friends (Corky, Seth, Coach, Barb, Mike, Dawn, etc. etc. etc.) that keep me going. Without any of you, it would not be possible!! THANK YOU ALL!

Anyway...I can't wait for my body and mind to decide to work together for once!

Best...Workout....EVER

Saturday, that is. I had scheduled a 3 hour ride and 20 min run. Let me preface this story with I was the D.D. on Friday night for Corey's birthday. Another tidbit of info, I never go out, and if I do, I don't stay out much later than 11pm.

However, on Friday night, we were in West Memphis at the Dog race track. West Memphis is probably a solid 45 min from my apartment...about 30 from Corey's place. All 6 of us piled into Corey's SUV and I drove. The dog track was fun, but horse racing is better! I just wanted to pet the dogs :) Also, I wanted to adopt a retired greyhound. But I'm probably allergic to them, and Junior would get jealous. We ended up staying at the track until the last race, and left about 11:30pm. Corey and Andy wanted to go out on Beale St. and everyone else wanted to go home. So I dropped the boys off on Beale St. and took everyone else back to Corey's. By the time I got home and in bed, it was 1am!!! I text messaged Lisa and said I wouldn't make the group ride at 8am. There was no way I was going to ride 3 hours on 5 hours of sleep.

I felt bad and was disappointed I didn't go to the group ride 2 weeks in a row. But I knew I needed a quality workout, and if that meant doing it on my own, then so be it. I woke up about 9am, and started getting ready. I took my time to let it warm up a bit outside. I had to babysit at 4:30 that evening, so I finally got outside at 11:15. I started with a 30 min warmup, and followed that with 4x20 in HR zone 3, holding above 80rpms. After each 20 min, I had a 10 min easy recovery. Wow...I ROCKED THIS WORKOUT. This was probably the best ride of my life. I just felt so smooth. I was holding about 90rpms, in my big ring, perfect HR zones, slight headwind, and my legs weren't burning...that much. Obviously by the last interval, I was fatigued, but I still kept good numbers. I couldn't have had a better ride!

With that said, I really didn't want to ruin my perfect day with a bad run. But I knew it needed to be done. Besides the fact that I just didn't want to run, my legs were near toast at this point. I had to do it. I quickly changed into running clothes, as Junior stared at me with puppy dog eyes (which I could actually see) saying "Jeez can't I go, too???" I knew I only had 20 minutes. 10 minutes out, 10 minutes back. I started off and felt OK, but not great. Then I looked at my Garmin and realized I was running at a 9:30 pace. Ok, nevermind, this feels good! I ran down the street my apartment is on, turned left and over the bridge. There were guys working on finishing the sidewalk, and its not fun when they stare at you when you run by. Oh well, I was over it. I ran past the bridge until I got to as far as I could run. Normally, this would take me 10+ min...not today! I got there in about 9:30...exactly one mile from my apartment.

I turned around, passed the creepy bridge guys again, and headed over the bridge. Once I turn on my street, I always feel better knowing I don't have much further to go. But today, since I was flying, I'd have to run a loop inside my apartment complex to make my 20 minutes. I did and finally finished at 20 minutes. 2.1 miles! 9:30 pace! YAY!!! This is actually pretty good for me, especially as of late. I've had trashed legs for the past 3 weeks, so running a 9:30 pace felt amazing to me. I'm not a runner, so this is pretty close to Olympic speeds for me.

I started the day with a great ride, finished it with a great run. The real challenge of the day was not falling asleep while babysitting...good thing the parents got home right when it was getting close to my bedtime!

Another great week ahead. However, in my future is a 2 hour long run (Thurs) and a 4.5 hour ride (Saturday). Kinda nervous about those....

Extreme Makeover: Shih Tzu Edition

Before:

After:

Total inches lost: 3ish.

Number of female dogs who have paid him more attention: 3

Number of female humans who have paid him more attention: 2

Perks: Smells better, doesn't shed anymore, looks like a real dog, eyes and face are noticeable, WAY CUTER.

An Open Letter About Training Etiquette

Dear Hooligans in which I came in contact with last night,

I am writing to tell you about training etiquette. I realize that you were only at the pool for fun, but I was there to train. To train, and sweat, and cry, and hurt, among other things. I realize you may not know the rules of a pool, so I'm here to tell you.

1.) Do not stand in the lane I'm swimming in. I will not stop to ask you to move, I will simply continue to swim and if you are in the way, too bad.

2.) Do not stand against the wall where I will be doing a flip turn. Again, I will not stop, I will actually flip harder and closer to you to send the message that you're not supposed to be standing there.

3.) Do not hang on the lane line and kick your feet in my lane. See number 1.) for what will happen.

4.) If you choose to swim across my lane to reach another lane, do not do it when I'm only feet from swimming at that spot. I will run into you because, again, I will not stop my set to wait for you.

5.) Most importantly, when you figure out that you are bothering me, do not purposely stand against the wall right where I will flip turn, and move only seconds before I do. This is rude and next time I will aim for you.

I hope you take these tips and consider them the next time you are playing with your 12 girlfriends in the pool. While I was very annoyed yesterday in the pool, you actually made me swim faster. However, next time, let's just avoid this.

Sincerely,
Robyn

P.S. If you happen to be the hooligan riding his bike in the park last night as I was running, please be aware that you ride/run on the right side of the path, not matter which way you are going. This way, we do not run into each other. Also, if you see that I'm running on the right side, do not move from the right to the left side of the path so that you will hit me. I do not appreciate it, and it works better if we just stay on our sides.

List of thoughts

1. Got to school this morning and realized I forgot all my swim stuff...now I have to go back home before I come back to school to swim! Wouldn't be a problem if gas wasn't $4.98/gallon...

2. School is almost over. I am almost a MASTER (of the universe).

3. Job stuff is looking up...more to come as soon as I can talk about it.

4. Casey called me last night. I miss her.

5. My mind and my body are still fighting, but making some efforts to communicate.

6. Did 4 loads of laundry to celebrate Earth Day yesterday...I've probably got about 4 or 5 more to go.

7. I need to clean out my closet and get rid of some clothes.

8. My bike needs a tune up...badly.

9. I'm poor. Very.

10. Junior needs to be groomed. Refer to #9.

Body vs. Mind

It's finally hot in Memphis. I'm not excited that it went from late winter to summer in a week. Spring is my favorite time of year, and I think I slept thru it.

Saturday was my longest ride of the season so far: 4 hours. How did it go, you ask? TERRIBLE. First off, my nutrition plan was off from the get go. I won't get into details, but it was completely my fault. Secondly, during my 3rd hour, I went south, and the fourth hour was coming back north. I felt GREAT the 3rd hour...because apparently I had a 15 mph tail wind. Which means....I had a 15 mph headwind coming back during the 4th hour. I cursed the wind, myself, my coach, the earth, Ironman in general-the whole time. I was almost driven to tears twice, simply because my legs were on fire and I was averaging 11 mph the whole last hour. I think I quit triathlons 3 times, and, in the words of Coach...broke up with my bike about mile 42. I ended up going just under 60 miles, which I wasn't happy with, but its miles in the bank. I ran 10 minutes off the bike...well actually 9, and my legs were screaming the whole time. Not fun.

Today wasn't much better. Like I said, its finally hot. I think I woke up to 75 degrees. 75 degrees is awesome, unless you have a 1:45 run scheduled. My mind was ready to go. I was super motivated to go run! However, my body/legs thought otherwise. I just felt SO SLOW. The more my mind told my body to "move!", the more it resisted. I think I averaged around an 11:30 min/mile. TERRIBLE. The longer I ran, the better I felt, but I was still miserable. The good news is my nutrition plan was really good after the fiasco on Saturday.

I just wish my body would cooperate! I'm hoping after tomorrow's easy 1:30 recovery spin, I'll be ready to go Wednesday with my swim and run.

Also...the great news is that I met an April goal! I not only met my training time for the week...I surpassed it by 10 minutes! 12 training hours last week, and 11 this week. Doesn't sound like much, I know, but when your body and mind are currently in a fight and are not speaking, it makes things a lot more difficult.

Going the extra mile 100 yards

Wednesday was a swim day. I had 3150 yards planned. What if I told you I added an extra 100 yards? Not impressive? What if I then told you that I added 100 yards of no breath fly? That's what I thought.

It was superfly day! 500 total yards of fly, and also some IM. What's even crazier is that I asked for it. Swimming is my strength so I feel like I should kick my own a$$ in the pool. I was tired, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. So after my 2x25 no breath fly...I decided to add four more on, just because.

Then I went home and thought "Before I tackle my paper, I'm going to lay down for 30 minutes". Two hours later, I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in, drooling. I always know its a good nap when drooling occurs. I must have turned off my alarm, too. Then, as I was eating dinner, the arm I was holding my bowl with started shaking from fatigue. Either the salad was denser than I thought, or the superfly was coming back for revenge.

Yesterday, clearly not recovered from superfly day, I had a 1:05 run scheduled. Apparently the devil is messing with me this week, because I misestimated my run course and ended up running 1:15. Again, an extra ten minutes isn't necessarily bad, but when you're tired and hurting, and extra ten minutes might as well be an extra 10 hours. Luckily I had grabbed an extra gel "just in case"...good thing. I may still be passed out on the trail otherwise.

Last night I was so proud of myself. I came home from class and all I wanted to do was eat and sleep. I had a 30 min recovery spin planned. I knew I had to do it. Only 30 min! So I called my sister and talked to her the whole time while I spun.

Remember my April goal of doing every minute of workouts planned (unless the swim takes me less time)? So far for the week, I'm +10 minutes! Due to the extra run yesterday ;)

YAY for me! 4 hour ride + 20 min run tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

Random Wednesday Thought

I was just looking at pictures of me on Facebook (yes, I'm at work) and I looked through my pictures from Halfmax last year, and it made me REALLY excited for Kansas 70.3. Yes, its a long and grueling race...but I LOVED that race last year! I can't wait, especially to be in Kansas, and know so many people racing! Plus that distance, its not necessarily that you are super fast (well, except for those who are trying to win), but its about being consistent. Consistent speeds, transitions, nutrition, EVERYTHING. And if there's one thing I am in athletics, its consistent. Well, for the most part. Can't wait!

Stop the Presses!

I have trained two days in a row! I know, I know. Pretty amazing, considering the past week I've had with little to no training. Yesterday I had a 30 minute recovery run...pretty comical considering the only thing I had to recover from was walking in to the rec center. Then a swim. A 70.3 lactate set. Not my cup of tea for the first swim back, but it could have been way worse.

Today I got up and did a 1:30 ride on my trainer, including 30 minutes in zone 3. My HR might have been in zone 3, but I'm pretty sure my legs were somewhere between zone 12 and about to fall off. I wanted to stop so badly after 10 minutes of it, but I knew that would be the absolute wrong thing to do. The devil on my right shoulder said "my excuse is that I'm getting over being sick and I need to ease into it". The angel on my left shoulder said "that was yesterday, suck it up". Then the angel ripped off the halo and threw it at the devil. This is what happens when I've been alone training all morning.

I had a 15 min run off the bike. I was kind of nervous, because although it was BEAUTIFUL outside, there was still a bit of a morning chill. With the way my breathing has been lately, with the sickness and asthma, I was nervous. But I went for it. Go hard or go home, right? I had a pretty fantastic run. It wasn't super fast, like I normally feel off the bike, but it didn't feel as bad as yesterday. I ran pretty close to a 10 min/mile pace, even though I can't confirm that (didn't wear my Garmin). I'd like to think it was a steady pace.

So I just read on my friend Running Jayhawk's blog that she and her husband drove the Kansas 70.3 bike course this weekend. Apparently it is kind of hilly. I thought, and was hoping, they were kidding. So...I suppose its hill training for me from now on. *sigh* And apparently I have to train extra hard because Barb plans on me pulling her up the hills. Catch me if you can Barb!

The weekend

The good news is...I'm finally better. It only took an ENTIRE WEEK! That's pretty frustrating. Normally, I probably average about 10-12 hours of training per week. Last week? 2.5 NEAT. But I'm right back on it this week. I haven't been so excited to train in so long. Especially since seeing teammate Leslie cross the finish line of Ironman Arizona yesterday! Way to go Leslie!

Besides being tired, things are good. I was in Lawrence/Kansas City this weekend for my first college roommate's wedding. It was beautiful...but very cold! It was an outdoor wedding...normally not a problem in mid April in Kansas. It was definitely snowing on Saturday morning. Nonetheless, Cara was a trooper and had a beautiful day. Here we are!

It was so nice to see all my girls this weekend. But now back to training, because my next trip will be back to Lawrence for Kansas 70.3! But not until I rock Memphis in May. And my 'rents are coming down for it! They've never seen me race and this should be a good first race to watch!

Today I have a swim and short run planned. It'll be nice just to be active again. Ok, I suppose I should get some work done??

It's official.....

I'm signed up for it!!!

After going back and forth, mostly for financial reasons, I asked God what to do. Silly, I know. But he answers. I had a dream today that I was talking to a friend from Kansas (haven't seen him since graduation day) and he is signed up for the race...in real life he is. He's a really good triathlete. In the dream, he asked if I was coming back for it. I said "well of course I am! How could I not!" I woke up and knew I had to do it.

It's not just a half IM race. It's practice for IM. It's in my old stomping grounds. I know tons of people who are racing. I have a FREE place to stay. I just have to get there. Now granted, its not going to be easy, seeing as how I will have only been working at my new job for about a month.... "see ya boss! I'm off to race!" That only goes over well with my current boss.....

But nothing in life is easy. This whole year is about testing my limits. Seeing how far I can go. I'm graduating (again), starting a big girl job (where I will actually work 40+hours per week WHILE training), moving (again, again), and doing a freaking IRONMAN. I have two quotes I live by, and while they're somewhat silly in nature, its true:

That's how I roll....

And

Go Big or Go Home.

So, I am going big. And I got a job in Memphis so I'm certainly not going home. So right now I just need prayers that everything works out financially, which I know it will, because everything is in God's hands. I'm just going to work my butt off for the next year. Because.....wait for it.....

THAT'S HOW I ROLL.

Health Update

I'm feeling better...a MILLION times better than yesterday. I think it was the retail therapy that helped a bit. But don't worry..it was a birthday gift card!

I'm leaving for Kansas City/Lawrence tomorrow morning! My first college friend/roommate is getting hitched! I can't believe it. We used to sit around our kitchen table and guess who was going to get married first...because that's what girls do.

We hardly every guessed Cara would go first! In fact, sometimes it was me! Pah!! That's just funny now. Although, high on my list was Casey eloping in Vegas. I still see that happening, but she only has 2 days to beat Cara.

So it'll be nice to see all my girls from college again. Though I'm upset, because its going to SNOW while I'm there......SERIOUSLY??? I remember laying out on my birthday (April 3) 3 out of 4 years I was at Kansas. Well, its now April 10th, and its supposed to snow???? Jeez. When I left, it all went to hell.

I'm going to spin today...how long is yet to be determined. Tomorrow is a spin and Saturday I have a longer run. I'm sure it'll be slow, but I just want to put the time in.

Swimming and Running Efficiency

I know I just posted something, but I had to add this. My officemate, Lucas (who is a really good swimmer from Brazil), is doing one of his class projects on the efficiency of swimming compared to that of running.

He just told me that he found an article stating that the efficiency of running is between 70-80%, meaning anywhere from 20-30% of the energy you expend doesn't do much for you! What is swimming???

5-8%

WHAT?!?!?! That means that over 90% of what you do in the water, is useless! You are just accelerating the water! How frustrating is that???

I guess that explains a lot about the mentality of most swimmers I know.....

April Goal

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!!! Once again, I am sick. Bronchitis. It's not nice. Not a fan. At least I went to the doctor pretty quickly and got some antibiotics. Hopefully by tomorrow I will feel near 100%. Coach said no swim today, but I can spin if I want. I'll do that, so I don't die on my longer ride tomorrow...because that WILL get done.

Seth and I talked about goals for this month last night. His goal is to run every day for the rest of the month. He asked mine and I thought "I don't really have a goal for this month". But then I thought about it. I did have one.

"To actually meet my time requirements from Coach".

You see, for the first few weeks, I actually exceeded the time goals, because I only had 6-8 hours to do per week. I felt great about myself! But every since those first few weeks passed, its been more and more difficult to get my time requirements in. On almost all of my swims, I get them done faster than Coach schedules. For example, a scheduled 1:15 swim usually takes me right at an hour, give or take a few minutes. But sometimes, it happens where I don't get a lift in, or I don't get to run as long as I should because of class, sickness, fatigue, life, etc. This worries me, because how am I supposed to get my heaviest training weeks done once I start my job??

So my goal for the rest of April is to meet my time goals. However, this will start NEXT week because I am sick this week and have already missed a whole workout....dang!

ROCK CHALK

BOOYAH. Wipe your tears Memphis.

A Jayhawk living in a jungle of Tigers

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK GO KU!!!!!!!!

So I've only been threatened twice so far today, and its 9:30. I'd say that's pretty good. Rocking my Jayhawk stuff, surrounded by Memphians who are all the sudden excited because their team is doing well. I'm not trying to call Memphis fair weather fans....but I am.

I definitely wish I was in Lawrence today. I guarantee you can't get into any bar in Lawrence at this point. I know that, because I was in Lawrence the last time the Jayhawks went to the championship game. It was a BLAST.

Training this weekend was good and bad. Saturday, I decided to go on a group ride. I show up and there's nearly 200 other cyclists. Is this a normal group ride??? I asked someone, and turns out it was actually the spring kick off ride, which was a benefit for Livestrong. Sweet! I paid $20, got a nice shirt and lots of free stuff (well worth the $). You could ride 35 or 75 miles. At first I thought, ok I'll do the 75, but once it became time to go left or right, I decided to go with the group I had been riding with because I was able to keep up with them. They were doing 35 (thank goodness). I met a nice lady named Lisa, who is doing IM Florida this year. We exchanged numbers and are going to start riding together.

*Note* Apparently there ARE hills near Memphis, because I climbed 1400 feet in those 35 miles. So that's good news. Bad news, I have to drive 25 minutes just to get to them. But worth it.

Sunday, since I had missed some training during the week due to a birthday celebration, I decided to get a solid 3 hour workout in. That is, until, my body thought otherwise. Sunday is normally my slug day...where I don't do anything that requires my HR to go higher than, say, 120bpm. I rode to school (about 7.5 miles) and thought I was going to die on the hills (note: the hills are really not even hills, I was just riding on trashed legs). Got to the pool and started to swim. I felt like I had 100 lb dumbbells tied to each limb. My moderate pace all the sudden was my normal slow pace, and my fast was my normal moderate pace. I felt like I was swimming through pudding. Kinda kinky, but not good for the training. Knowing I had to ride home, and I had a decently rough week ahead, I called it quits only 1/3rd of the way through the workout. 1,000 yards. NEAT. What's funny is coach had a similar swim this weekend. That makes it ok, right??

I got home from the S-L-O-W ride back, and collapsed on my bed for an hour. Last night, Brian, Leslie, J Row, Corey and I went to Joel Osteen. I love being refreshed like that. Its just a good day today. Well, besides the fact I just looked at my bank account and determined I'm very very poor. When does my real job start????

Relief

I'm happy to report I know where I'll be residing for at least the next two years. Good 'ol Memphis, TN. I have a job set up, but it isn't finalized so I can't give details. As soon as it is, I'll make sure to post it!

Until then, I'm definitely happy to nail down a race schedule, excluding finalizing Kansas 70.3 (ahem...MOTHER). Supposedly that may be my birthday present??? We'll see.

My birthday was yesterday!!! I'm the big 2-4 now. I know, still a baby, as they refer to me around here. One more year until my quarter of a century birthday. *sigh* Because it was my birthday yesterday, and since I woke up not feeling well...I didn't get my run in. I'm going to do it today before my swim...at least that's the plan as of right now. It's been pouring rain for two days, so I'll most likely be hitting the treadmill. It sucks, because its fairly mild outside (63). Oh well...such is life.

I've had a fantastic birthday week, so thank you to all who made it special!!!!

Good News Bears

I'm happy to report that getting back to my training post first race of the season is much easier than last year at this time. Last year, I felt like I had done my racing, and I needed a solid two weeks of practically no training just to recover. This year, I'm right back at it and I don't feel too badly. I definitely didn't feel like a million bucks this morning during my 1:30 ride and :15 run, however, it could have been worse.

Also, yesterday was the 20th annual Student Research Forum here at Memphis, where over 100 undergraduate and graduate students present their research. It is sort of set up like a science fair, where you have a trifold board with your research on it (my poster (thesis) for the NSCA conference served as my research) and judges walk around and judge you. Historically, our department has always done well at the SRF. Last year, however, I was the only one to represent the department, and unfortunately chose the wrong category, because the judges had no understanding of exercise and its impact on many areas of life. I didn't get a dang thing. This year, however, 5 of my classmates and I showed up strong. We were in the Life and Health Sciences category. This was probably the largest category in the graduate division, with 14 projects. One of my good friends and classmates Heather, won 2nd place, and Andy (another classmate) and I TIED FOR FIRST PLACE!!! We won a nice plaque and $150! I was so excited because I love every aspect of research, especially presenting. Both the judges in our category were so interested in my research on Parkinson's disease and that made me fired up to tell them about it. It was great to get recognized in front of the most important people on campus related to research for something my advisor and I have worked so hard on. This definitely made me think about what I want to do in the future..more to come on that in the next few days.

Also, tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Rebel Man Race Recap (finally)

I know this is late, but I've had a crazy time catching up at work. So here goes:

My friend Seth was competing with me Saturday, so we started off the day at an early 4:30am. It's about an hour and a half to Ole Miss, so this was unfortunately going to be an early day. Pack everything up, take Junior out, and on the road. When we got outside, I thought "there's no way in hell, it's like 45 degrees!!" But I knew what I had to do. It was a long drive to the race, but once I got there, I was ready to go. We got there a little later than I would have liked, but that's what you get for standing in line at check in. We got our transitions set up, and only had time for about a 100 yard warmup! I was pretty mad about that.

Overall time: 1:20:32

Swim: 6:54 (400 yards)

I was not very happy to find out minutes before swimming that we were NOT allowed to do flip turns. In the words of Courtney "but that's what makes us better than everyone else! They can't take that away from us!" Oh, but they did. Last year, I remember going all out and getting really tired at the end, not to mention having a ton of trouble climbing out of the pool. So this year, I decided to take it at a steady, but fast pace. This worked out nicely, except I think I could have pushed a bit harder. I looked at my watch when I touched the wall, and it was right at 6:30. About 15 seconds slower than last year. I decided this was probably due to the lack of flip turns. Also, we were not allowed to run out of the pool to the outside...did they realize this is a RACE?!?!?! Apparently not. That's where the extra 24 seconds comes in! WALKING. There's no walking in triathlons!!

T 1: 2:43

This SUCKED because I had to put on as many clothes as possible because it was only 52 degrees at race time! Arm warmers were a bit tricky, so that really slowed me down.

Bike: 46:36 (13.5 miles)

I thought I blew this out of the water compared to last year, but last year I went 17.3 mph last year, and this year I went 17.4mph. Coach told me to take it out at a decent pace, but save more for the way back. I thought I did that, but in hindsight, I went out way too hard. Every time I looked at my computer on the way out, I was going around 20mph. So that means on the way back, I was going.....slow. The headwind on the way back was much more than on the way out, and it was a bit hillier on the way back in. I wish I would have paced it a bit better, but overall, I at least FELT like I was in better shape this year. I felt better on the hills, which I was happy about. See the elevation here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=203431

T 2: 1:05

EXACTLY the same as last year. I pride myself on my transitions, and this one ROCKED.

Run: 23:17 (2.5 miles)

This was originally supposed to be a 5k, but they shortened it the MORNING OF and did NOT tell anyone. They just expected us to figure it out when the little freshman looking girl said "go straight" instead of doing a short out and back like we did last year. The first 3 guys actually ended up doing this part of the race, because they knew it was part of the course. I was still looking for that out and back, when all the sudden I saw the finish line. Had I known I was going to have a half mile LESS to run, I would have pushed harder and not saved myself up. But alas, hindsight is great isn't it? I went a 9:19 pace, which was around the same as last year, so I suppose its ok.

Overall, I thought I would do better. I compared it to trying to drop time in the 50 free, though. Its hard to drop significant time in a short race. I think I'll see much more of a difference during Memphis in May. But, at least I FELT better and more confident during this race. I only dropped 17 seconds from last year, but its hard to compare due to the course changes (additional 1.5 mile bike, and .6 mile less run). I also realize I enjoy olympic distances better because you are not going all out, HR not less than 170, for over an hour. That just HURTS.

Also, something I would have done differently....NOT sign up for the collegiate division. Those chicks are good, and I finished 15/20. I wish I would have signed up for age group, because if I did, I would have been 3rd!! Man!

Seth and I demolished about 3-4 pieces of pizza at the race, then more pizza for dinner, followed by ice cream. That's the best part about race day :)

In other news, training resumes this week and I'm looking forward to getting back in significant training time. Now if spring would just hurry up and get here, and more importantly, STAY HERE!