So, why do YOU do triathlon?

I read an interesting article recently in Triathlete Magazine. The topic up for discussion was what motivated people to train for and race triathlons. Training, especially for the long stuff, can be time consuming. Any time that you're not at work or sleeping is often spent swimming, biking, or running. Trips to the bar with friends and sleeping in on weekends are usually non-occurrences during triathlon season. So - what would motivate people to devote so much of their time to the sport? Like the article said, there are the artificial reasons - look good in a bathing suit, gives you carte blanche to eat whatever you want in huge quantities (hooray!), and gives you a feeling of satisfaction, etc. The usual reasons any normal person would give when asked that question. But the article was convinced that there were deeper motivations underlying the aforementioned surface ones; and after reading the article and thinking about the question in relation to myself and my life, I tend to agree. These underlying motivations aren't usually something that's admitted, even to oneself - in fact, you may not even be aware of it. There's something bigger than just looking good and feeling satisfied that makes me train and race. I love the feeling of accomplishment, yes, but I think I love it so much because, it's one of the places I feel like I actually excel in my life. I don't feel inadequate, like I do in other things that I do. Growing up, I was never one of those kids that stood out, I was always average. And maybe I'm average when compared to other triathletes and their accomplishments - but I feel above average because I'm doing stuff that the vast majority of America can't/chooses not to do - swim, bike, and run for inordinately long periods of time over and over and over again. Here's a secret - it's really not that hard to swim, bike, and run - you just have to have something that motivates you!

Feeling Good

This past weekend was a big boost in my confidence for Ironman Florida. I had more than enough hours for the week by Thursday so I took Friday off and did my 90 mile bike ride on Friday (I had the IronGirl triathlon on Sunday, my normal bike day). I stuck around on the bike trails in the DC area - I rode out to Mt Vernon and back, took the Capital Crescent Trail up to Bethesda and back, went up into Rock Creek Park and then zipped around Hain's Point 4 times before heading back into Arlington up the Custis Trail and onto the W&OD trail. The last few miles of the bike, I noticed that the storm clouds were gathering. Storms weren't supposed to start until three and it was only a little after 2 so I figured I could beat the rain and finish my ride. Unfortunately, at mile 88.5, Mother Nature proved me wrong and I got caught in a ridiculous rain storm. I was soaked within one minute of the rain starting - it was windy too! Made it home, squelched down the hall to the apartment, and in the time it took for me to change into my running clothes, it stopped raining and I zipped out for a 5 mile run. I was tired at the end of the day, but I felt great! I could've kept on running if I needed to. Mark and I ate gnocci for dinner with pesto - perfect!

Saturday morning I went running with Karen - I love running with her because we are so close in pace, we're both really competitive, and we push each other. And I love doing racing with her for those same reasons - you never know which one of us will cross the finish line first. And I'm motivated to try to catch her when she's in front of me and vice versa - and I'm so happy for her when she has a great race and finishes before me. I don't think I'd be as good a racer if I didn't have Karen to train and race with. And running with her makes the time fly. Before we knew it, my 20 mile run and her 14 mile run were finished. We did the hilly Military Road route, kept a great pace, drank copious amounts of water, and I looked like I had gone swimming by the time I finished running. After the run, I tried icing myself in our cooler (didn't work too well, my legs are too big), put on my compression socks, and ate lots of food. I had a PB&J sandwhich, then went up to my aunt Amy's house and had another lunch (yummy) and then went out to Columbia, MD to drop of my bike and pick up my packet for Sunday's IronGirl race. Had gnocci again for dinner (yummy!), scrounged around for newspaper to help dry out my running shoes (soaked with sweat) and biking shoes (still soaked with rainwater) because it's no fun to race in wet, smelly shoes. The only newspapers I found were my Wall Street Journal Commemorative Inauguration issues for Barack Obama's inauguration. And I fully support Obama and was thrilled he was elected, but I didn't want to race in wet shoes, so I pulled out the sections that didn't have Obama articles, and stuffed them in my shoes.

Race day was great! IronGirl 2007 was my first road triathlon so I was eager to see if I had improved these past two years. I rode up with Leighton and it was soooooo great to spend the day with her; we're both so busy that we don't see each other nearly enough. We got an awesome parking spot right by the park exit AND the bike transition (we got to watch the pro women fly by on the start of their bike legs), the race official let Leighton rack her bike that morning, and the weather was PERFECT! Leighton and I were in the second to last wave, the first women finished the race while I was treading water waiting for the start. My goal for the swim (1000m) was to keep as straight a line as possible and not swim off course. I literally hit every buoy as I swam, so I definitely met that goal. I had hoped to swim it in 20 minutes, but finished in 22 minutes (44th fastest in my age group), still two minutes faster than two years ago. I felt strong on the swim, so I guess that's what matters most. And I didn't drown, also a bonus.

The bike was pretty good - a hilly course and I passed a fair number of people, both in and not in my age group. Half of my age group started 8 minutes ahead of me so I didn't know if these girls were in my wave or in the wave in front of me. But it didn't matter, my race strategy was just to go hard for as long as possible. Hardly anyone passed me on the bike (yay! I think my biking is finally improving) and it took me 56:16 to do the 17.5 mile bike course (averaging 18.7 mph, 7th fastest in my age group). And the run seemed to come together too; I started off feeling strong, I didn't love the hills and there were times I just wished the finish line was just in front of me, but I wanted to catch as many girls in my age group as possible and I didn't want anyone to catch me. Nobody passed me and I felt like I kept a consistent pace over the 3.4 mile course. My time was 25:32 for the run, a pace of 7:31/mile and the 4th fastest in the age group. My overall time was 1:49:09, fifth place in my age group (out of 181 girls) and 39th overall (out of 1600+ girls). My time was over two minutes faster than the 2007 IronGirl and I didn't do a 90 mile bike ride, 5 mile run, and 20 mile run in the 48 hours preceding the 2007 race so I'm pretty happy with the results.

Highlight of the day, going on an impromptu movie date with Mark on Sunday afternoon (Harry Potter) and then getting some Birthday Cake Remix from ColdStone (best ice cream flavor!) Then early to bed because I was tired.

Recovery week was never so welcome!

Happy Training!

Ironman Training Has Begun!

This past weekend was the first weekend since last year's ironman training that I just felt physically drained by the end of it. I did the Luray International Distance triathlon on Saturday morning - great race venue (bonus points that I had already run most of the roads back in January when we rented a house down there for New Years) and even more awesome was the fact that we could show up race morning, pick up our packets, set up our bikes, and just race. My swim was slow, like always, 33 minutes to do 1500 meters - I am terrible at sighting. Bike was good, 1h24min for a 25 mile ride, ate my power bar and hardly touched the brakes on the downhills. I'm also happy with my run, it was 46 minutes for 6.2 miles but I felt good during the whole thing and it was hilly and hot. The lowest point mentally on the run was coming back on the first loop up the hills (hills that didn't seem all the big and long on the way out on the first loop). Finished the race feeling good - 26th overall and 8th in my age group with a time of 2:48. I also realized this is the shortest triathlon (besides the sprint I did with Chelsea) that I've done all year - the other 4 have been half ironmans. It was great to be done in less than three hours as opposed to almost 6 hours. When we got home that afternoon I did a 14 mile run (note to self- don't eat ice cream before running, no matter how tempting...) since I wouldn't be able to do a long run on Sunday because I needed to bike. I felt good all the way until the last 2-3 miles and then I just wanted it to be over. I took my first ice bath of the season and wore compression tights and ate copious amounts of gnocci and passed out on the couch by 9 - awesome! Sunday was a 30 mile bike ride on the W&OD trail; I left the apartment at 7:30am and was home by 9:30 and felt very accomplished. Then I ran 8 miles this morning, fast mile/slow mile. Tomorrow I hope to wake up in time to go swimming - we'll see if that happens... Have to go to bed soon! But it feels good to be fully back into training! IMFL is going to be fun!

Oh, Nepal!

I had the most amazing trip to Nepal from 15 June - 4 July. The purpose of the trip was to assess the Dalit Rights Movement in Nepal through visiting Dalit villages, meeting with various organizations and government officials, and through first-hand observations. Me and the nine other people on the trip became fast friends with each other and with our wonderful drivers/translators/guides. It's hard not to get to know each other when sharing a 16-person van for three weeks. The above picture was taken in the village of Laghuwa in the Palpa district of Nepal, about an hour away from the town of Tansen. This village was in a valley surrounded by mountains (the drive out to this village from Kathmandu took two days and was actually loads of fun - and gorgeous - a subject for another posting when it's not so late!). Laghuwa was DB's village and we were visiting the primary/secondary school he used to attend as a child. As you can see from the picture, we received an amazing greeting from everyone in the village - this was probably the most memorable moment for every single person on this trip. I lost count of how many Namastes I said and how many flowers I received. Many of us hope to return to that village and help out at the school, whether it's through teaching English or doing supply drives from back here in the States. Until I visited Nepal, I took daily life in the US for granted. I still have a tendency to revert back to taking everything for granted, but that's a habit that needs to stop because most people in most other countries would never take for granted the things I have and the things I get to do.

The Perfect Day - A good friend, a race, a dinner date, and gelato!

I had the honor to do a sprint triathlon today with my friend Chelsea - it was her first race and she loved it - yaaaay a new triathlete! She was smiling during the race, make it through without drowning, falling off the bike, or feeling like death on the run! I finished first in my age group out of 27 girls and 4th overall with a time of 1:00:06 - just 7 seconds off from sub-1 hour. That was my best finish ever in a triathlon - I've never won my age group before or come within the top 5 overall. The splits aren't posted yet, but my run was 21-something and my bike average was around 19mph. The swim was a really nice 400m - I didn't use a wetsuit and the water was perfect. I felt like I kept a good line and I tried to swim aggressively. The bike was good - only 8 miles so I pedaled as hard as I could. It was hilly and I mainly caught people on the uphills and I stayed aero on the downhills. I ate two honey stingers and drank a sip of water and that was it. T2 was slow because I forgot my race belt (I forgot alot of things today - my SPF85 sunscreen, my good goggles, race number belt) so I had to pin the number on my shorts - boo. My legs felt tired - it was obvious that I have been skipping my weekly speedwork sessions far too much. I kept a low 7 min per mile pace, even though it was hilly. I passed a few people on the run and overall I was really happy that I was doing the sprint race, not the international race. I think I'm a little tired from doing two halfs one week apart. I shouldn't kid myself, I am not Hillary Biscay and will not be doing full ironmans back to back anytime soon. But I'm really happy with the race and I'm looking forward to taking the next three weeks off from training since I will be in Nepal starting early next week!

Chelsea and I had a great day together - I'm going to miss her when she moves to Mississippi. Mark and I had a great date night with an early dinner at Faccia Luna in Clarendon and then we topped it off with gelato - it reminded me of Nice. I love this straight up thug town of Arlington!

Two days in a row!

Tomorrow my friend Chelsea is doing her first ever triathlon - wohoo! We're getting up before the sun to drive two+ hours into Maryland to do a sprint triathlon together - it's going to be really fun! 400m swim, 8 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I'd like to get as close to an hour as possible. It's at a race venue that I love, Rocky Gap State Park - the site of my first ever triathlon four years ago (that one was an off-road tri that I was woefully unprepared for). I came back and did the same race two years later and shaved an hour off my time and I was hooked.

Watched a really funny video on YouTube - Arlington Rap. I really am from the straight up thug town of Arlington.

Mooseman 1/2 Ironman 2009 - Maybe I should do more 1/2 Ironmans back-to-back?

I ran the perfect race at the Mooseman Half Ironman this past weekend up in New Hampshire. I did this race last year as my first half and I absolutely fell apart - it was really hot last year, really humid, and I'd never done a race lasting more than 4 hours. During the run (death crawl, really), I remember thinking to myself that there was no way I wanted to do a full ironman if a half was this painful. I seriously considered dropping out of Beach2Battleship. But thankfully, I did not! And this year's race was so much better!

We rented a house with Luke, Leighton, Scott, Amber, Mel, and Iwan right on the lake - we weren't as close to the race site as last year, but that was okay. Mark did his first outdoor triathlon on Saturday and he ENJOYED it, so I was thrilled. While he was doing his race, I spectated for the first time (I never realized how exhausting spectating could be!). It was great to hang out at the Team Z tent with everyone - such fun!

I raced on Sunday - the weather was perfect, cool with low humdity. I started in the last wave, actually got in the water 15 minutes before my wave went off to acclimate to the chilly water, and made a conscious effort to properly sight and stay on track - and was rewarded with my fastest 1/2 iron swim time of 36:47. The water was even feeling rather nice by the end of the swim, though I was glad I had a neoprene cap. Transition was slow, as usual, but I didn't forget anything when I went out on the bike.

I again made an effort to concentrate on my race - eating every 10 minutes for the first 45 minutes of the race and 15 minutes thereafter and alternating plain water with NUUN when I ate. I enjoyed a nice meal of fritos, power bars, and power balls (not the lottery kind, unfortunately). I never felt bloated or over-full like I normally do when I eat on the bike so I worried that I didn't take in enough calories, but it turned out to be perfect. I also concentrated on keeping a steady cadence and pace - I really wanted to average over 17 mph for the bike portion. It was a hilly course, but I managed to do it. Final bike time was 3:13:39 - about 11 minutes faster than last year, I think.

Then I started the run, after a slightly faster transition. I took my NUUN with me, planning on ditching it with Mark on the second loop. I planned on starting off slow and conservative so I didn't burn out, trying to stay in low zone 3. The run this year felt awesome, especially in comparison to last year - it absolutely flew by so quickly, I only walked when I took water three times (I'm not good at drinking while running) and it was fine. I probably ate too much at the beginning of the run, but felt better once I backed off. I really don't need to drink as much as other people need to - I usually feel pretty bad when I drink too much water. Anyway, I finished my run under an hour and fifty minutes, with 1:49:41 and I was thrilled. I felt great during the whole run, kept a steady pace, and even picked off a girl in my age group near the finish.

My overall time was 5:47:08 - a PR by almost 30 minutes. It was a stacked age group - I finished 14/27 and 62/214 women overall. I far exceeded my expectations - I did want to break 6 but didn't know if that would be possible this time because I raced a really hilly half ironman the weekend before (Black Bear up in PA). I think the weather was really helpful, but I also feel like I was trained and pretty ready. I was so much happier this year after the race than I was last year.

I'm going to take about three weeks off from training starting on Monday next week because I'm leaving for Nepal that day!! I'll be back on the 4th of July and I plan on starting up my Ironman Training in full force for Ironman Florida. I'll do a few smaller races in July and August, as well as the Calgary Half Ironman (where I also get to see Christine and Ryan!).

On another note, I also found out that I was chosen to be a Sugoi Brand Champion - I need to get on their website and update my information and order the gear. I was pretty happy to come home from Mooseman to that news.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading!