Pictures from Galveston Olympic!

Thanks for the pictures Diana!

Diana, Me

Diana, Allison, Ellen, Me

Getting ready for the bike start.

Lonestar Olympic Triathlon in Galveston, TX

This race brought out the rebel in me. After a great night's sleep in our hotel, Diana and I headed over to the race site. By the time we had parked, the wind had picked up from 11 mph to 35+ mph. I needed two hands just to keep my bike upright as I was walking to transition. It was so hard to remain positive and optimistic as we were battling this weather just walking!! As we got closer to the transition area we heard the news of the morning. No swim. Bike and run only. My reaction was one of utter disappointment. I love the swim, it's my favorite part and I was really looking forward to the long test swim before TexasMan next month. The rest of the day my attitude about the whole day was just weird. We had about 1.5 hours to just hang around next to our bikes and wait for our time trial bike start. The good part about this was I made two new friends! : ) The bad part was that I just become indifferent about the whole thing.

Once I got on my bike I starting getting my competitive spirit back and had a great time the first 12 miles. However, that's when we had to turn around. Ugh. There was that wind. Not giving any thought to having to run when I was done, I just kept hammering it out. It was exhausting but satisfying. I don't know my exact time yet, but it was a definite PR for me. I think I averaged just over 19 mph. Compared to my 16.9 mph over only 12 miles last month, this was a huge improvement. Dan let me borrow some faster race wheels and his helmet. I think they both really made a difference. Honestly, I just really never let up either. I'm normally too good of an energy conserver, but not today (there's that little rebellion.)

As I sat down to change shoes in transition, I felt so tired! Way more tired than I normally do in T2. Oops, on to the run anyway. The run was a loop that you did twice through Moody Gardens. I thought I really liked it because you were around a lot of people and there was a lot of activity going on. As the day goes on though, I think that this was one of the things that messed with me mentally. I become so bitter and rebellious during the run. I was annoyed with all the people already done and getting to drink beer and the fact that I had to run two laps and that it was so crowded and that we didn't get to swim and it was hot and I was tired and being a big whiny baby! I felt like I could run a little faster, but I didn't want to! Seriously, these are the thoughts going through my head. "I think I could pick up the pace. I don't WANT to pick up the pace. I'm going to regret not going faster. I don't CARE that I'm not going faster. My running friends are going to say I could of done better. I don't CARE! I don't WANT to do better! hahahaha! I was ridiculous!! It must have been the heat, the wind and the dehydration talking.

Well, all the self-pity aside, the fire has been lit under my butt for my 70.3 in 3 weeks. To be honest, I'm pretty confident that my physical self will be ready. My goal for the next 3 weeks though is to figure out how to be stronger mentally. That was without question my biggest barrier today. For that distance I've got to stop thinking about the finish and focus more on being in the moment. 6+ hours is way too long to only be thinking, "Is this almost over? I'm tired."

*Results: 16th out of 55 females age 30-34. Bike Time 1:18:36 (40k) Transition 1:43 Run 54:27 (10k) Overall time 2:14:45. I'm not sure if it will still be a special qualifying race because there wasn't a swim but I did place in the top 33% thereby qualifying for the National Age Group Championships in Alabama! Kinda cool!

*Also, the two girls that I met placed 13th and 14th. We were all only 2 minutes apart! Too bad they live in Corpus Christi and Houston or we could train together! : )

Picture to come!

Seton Soles 5k: Saturday, April 17

This race was sponsored by my parents church and they both planned on running so I thought it would be fun to join them. In the end, it WAS fun to be with them, but I have yet to learn to love the 5k. I got there early to register and then drove to my parents house. We just walked to the church and I did about a 15 minute warm-up. The first mile was at about an 8 minute mile and then I did 4x100 strides to get my legs moving a little quicker.

Thinking we would get rained on the whole morning, it never actually rained at all. My first mile was good, 7:14 and then I freaked out a little and thought, "I can't keep that up, I'm not that fast!!" It's frustrating that I let that negative chatter dominate my actions, I'm working on it. I think the best thing for me in a race is to not wear my watch. If I just focus on how I'm feeling and not let that "watch anxiety" get to me I seem to do better. Anyway, finished in 23:56. Still a dramatic improvement from last year, just not a PR. I was 2nd in my Age Group and 10th Overall Female. Both my parents also ran this race and it was fun to cheer them on!! I feel so incredibly luck to have such active parents.

After the race Dad and I changed into bike gear and biked to Einstein's for a bagel. We did a 20 mile loop together and as he headed back home I headed to the local trail to get in as many miles as I could before it poured. 10 miles later it still hadn't rained (woo hoo!) and so I went out for the longer loop again. I ended up with my planned 45 and didn't experience but a couple drops of rain.

Still not done for the day...ran for 30 minutes when I got off the bike. It had warmed up and the sun had even come out so I was feeling really thirsty. Overall though, I was feeling good and like I could keep a decent pace going. The last three weekends I've had long bricks like this. (Last week was 63 bike/9 run, week before was 45 bike/6 run) The negative self chatter always comes up when I'm running, I start thinking, "13 miles!!! How are you going to finish 13 miles at a decent pace after all that biking???" But...if I really step back and trust my training, I'm stronger than I've ever been and I know when race day comes in 4 weeks, I will finish, and I will meet my time goals. (at least, that's what my daily mantra tells me, lol) After 45 more bike miles today (Sunday) in the rain, I know my motivation is high and I will be ready!

Tour Dallas

This past Saturday was the 30 mile Tour Dallas. It's a friendly, leisurely bike rally that goes through some beautiful Dallas neighborhood's and around White Rock Lake. Mom and Dad were on their tandem and I biked alongside them. We had a great time and it had the be the best weather we've had all year.

Grasslands Half Marathon

The weather was the race this year. March 20 turned out to have freezing temps, hail, pouring rain, snow, red mud, black mud, green mud, gray mud, brown mud, mud, mud, mud. I had done the triathlon the weekend before and then it was spring break which was also a recovery week for my training. By the time Friday night rolled around I was doing push-ups and sit-ups like a crazy woman in my living room I was so antsy and wound-up from the time off. Poor Evan, I was seriously going crazy I had so much energy. Needless to say, no amount of rain or mud was going to stop me from running on Saturday.

Until the last mile (which was hell), I don't know if I've ever had so much fun running. The terrain was just ridiculous. The only way I could figure out how to run uphill in the mud was to pretend I had on cross-country skis and wedge my way up. Going down I would just dig my heels in and go as fast as I could handle. It was so fun. The fact that I had so much energy to expend really helped my optimistic mood and the other runners and volunteers were just amazing. Beth and Diana did this race with me also and everything is just more fun when the two of them are around.

At one point we realized we had gone the wrong way and a group of us helped each other jump barbed wire. I LOVE TRAIL RUNNING!! Man, this crazy race is the epitome of why I love running. I just loved being around all the other runners who didn't think twice about driving in the pitch black early morning, to the middle of nowhere, to run in the freezing mud.

Thanks to the amount of DNS and DNF (did not show, did not finish) participants, Beth, Diana and I all placed in the top 10 women overall for the Half Marathon. I was 7th. I wonder what the weather will be like next year? : )

St Patrick's Day Triathlon

St Patrick's Day Triathlon was put on by Dallas Athletes at the Keller Natatorium on March 14. It was pretty chilly still and my hands froze on the bike. It took me forever to take my helmet off in the second transition because my fingers were numb! My first race of the season ended up how I expected, slower then normal times on the swim and bike and a personal record on the run. Pretty much sums up how I spent my winter...running. : )