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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Morton Plant Sprint Tri report

Ok, for the record, I'm over the inclimate weather for races! I'm the gal who, if it's raining, I don't ride outdoors (unless I get caught out in it). I went into Florida 70.3 on May 15th 100% healthy and came out of it banged up and totally psyched out by the early morning bad weather. I managed to reinjure the bad hammy a bit so had to lay low for several weeks to get over this. I swam mostly, ran a little bit and bike very little going into today's race. I knew it was going to be torture and a great workout for sure! We planned this mini summer break to recover from a ton of early year racing but I took it to the extreme! Anyhow, figured I was about 90% healthy now so decided to give it a go in my unprepared state! The forecast was typical for Florida's west coast, 50% chance of rain...........which usually comes later in the day. Got up early and it was dry but the radar was not as optimistic. Rode the bikes the 10K to the race (one of the WONDERFUL bonuses of this race) for a little extra warm up (or training, I thought!) which was dry but lot's of lightning in the sky! Racked the bikes, got transition set up and waited......in multiple downpours! We were shepherded out to the beach in the rain and lightning and waited. And waited. The race officials were totally top shelf here in keeping us totally updated on conditions and ultimately had to decide the bike course wasn't safe enough to ride. It was totally the right call on the day. The race became a swim/run competition and I, not so secretly, was very happy! I felt good about my recent swim training so it became a bigger weapon for me. We finally got going, the gun went off and I went out very hard. Too hard! Got around the first turn buoy and dropped the hammer and got into the lead of my wave (women 40 and over and athenas). I decided even if I was coming off a break and jumping in this race that I was going to go full gas! Out of the warm Gulf, onto the longish run to T1 and getting to put on run shoes was fun! I did have to dump the rain water out of them but this is part of the adventure of the day! I had an uneventful run, just tried to press the pace as much as I could. I was just catching some of the athletes from the previous wave and encouraging them in the ongoing downpour! First part of the run was in the sand and the latter part on pavement so not a fast course. Ended up winning Masters which I was very happy about! The Dane won his age group as well so good result all around. Our friend Linda, who rode to the race with us, won her age group....again. Val represented in the Athena group without her strength, the bike, so great result for her! All around, fun time. I am very happy that we got to race despite the horrid conditions, lots of credit to the superb race directors!! Thanks! Our next triathlon is likely going to be Top Gun Sprint tri which is a super fun race and great prep for Hy-Vee in Sept. Hoping for better weather in the late season races! I will, for sure, be in better shape!
KAMAU

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Oldsmar Taphouse 5K "report"

Das Boot....aka Fruits of our labor (empty)!


This is a fun beer run, plain and simple. Friday night run after a full work day/week and full swim 5AM in the morning so there are no goals here. Finish the race and have a few beers with friends. Sounds fun to me! I, personally, had zero goals. In fact, I couldn't even run the week prior due to tweeking my stupid hammy at Florida 70.3. I have been able to jog a bit but nothing with any stride or pace, hurt too much. This is our month "off" technically before we start to train for HyVee so it's important to be healthy and it's ok to lose some fitness, which I have certainly done! I started in the middle of the masses which is a different feel, a bit crowded for sure! I didn't want to start fast as this seems to be what nags my hammy the most. So, jog across the start line and weave through the masses and the leg held up well. I was able to hold pace the entire run and ended up 7th which was a huge surprise as I had only hoped to get top 50! Top 50 men and women in this race get a giant boot from which you consume the beer reward, best swag for sure! Got my boot, ran much better than I expected and the hammy held up well which is good. The Dane snuck under 20 minutes and got a boot as well! It gets harder and harder every year to go top 50 here as the field grows and gets faster! If you haven't done this race, definitely put it on your calendar for next year! The next race in our "off" month will be Morton Plant sprint tri at the end of June. I did the first edition of this race in '06 but haven't been back for various reasons and am looking forward to racing in our backyard again! I won't be in great form but it will certainly be a great workout and a super fun challenge! So, until then just looking to getting/stay healthy to train for HyVee 5150 US Champs in Sept (my new Kona, as I call it!). Cheers!

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Still alive

Yup, still here, just on a mid-year training/racing break which was planned after Florida 70.3. Didn't expect it but I my old body got a bit torn up from that race. I went in to it 100% healthy and came out of it with an issue with my left leg too close to my hamstring. I have done my own evaluation and don't think it is my hammy but it's too close for comfort. I did do some slow running two weeks out from the race and it wasn't bad but last week it really kicked up so stopped and now just swimming and riding (which, let's face it, is what I need to be doing anyway). So, I don't think it's major but I'm mindful and doing home PT stuff. Otherwise, swimming is good and just really started back on the bike which is never easy for me! We went mountain bike riding for the first time yesterday in Flatwoods and that was a complete blast! I, thanks to Val at Outspokin, got my hands/legs on a sweet Giant XTC 29'r and it's like riding a bulldozer! Sand, what sand! There is actually method to the madness here. We are considering an Xterra race in July in Jacksonville so guess we should see if we can even ride the damn bike first! Just want to do something different and that would definitely be different! I don't ride so well but it is a lot of fun. To be continued. I have some video from our ride that I'm trying to edit for viewing, stay tuned.
Cheers.