Race Weekend: Kickoff Edition

Happy Friday everyone!

I am pretty pumped about this weekend because it will be my first race since the Rock N Roll Half Marthon in March.  Luray is also special for another reason.  This weekend will kick off what is going to be an exciting and challenging year and half.  I have signed up for IM USA, and hope to be able to sign up for IM Florida in a couple months.  If I one of the lucky folks who can get in to IM Florida, I will be attempting to do 2 full iron distance races in 2013. Like I said above, exciting, but CHALLENGING 2013.  However, I think I am totally up for the challenge.

Not racing in 2012 has made me realize how much I miss doing it.  Not to mention, how much it motivates me. Don't get me wrong, I have been working out.  I am just more inclined to have a 2nd or a 3rd glass of wine on a Saturday night if I know I don't have to bike 100 miles on Sunday morning. I also have developed a nasty habit of turning off my alarm and going back to sleep when I have an early swim practice. This may explain why I haven't been in the pool for 2 months. :P

Ironman training does not start for awhile; however, this weekend is when everything starts for me.  My plan is to start to get back into racing shape.  Translation- starting to train for triathlons again instead of just running. What does my race schedule look like?  Well until late October, I am running. :)  What do you expect? I love running!  So this is what I have coming up. 

1. Ragnar Relay Washington, DC ULTRA: September 21-22
2. Army 10-Miler: October 21
3. Marine Corp Marathon: October 28

After MCM, my #1 focus will be getting to team cycling workouts.  I have the most room for improvement on the bike, so I am really going to capitalize on that this winter.  SPIN, SPIN, SPIN.  As for late fall and winter races, I am not sure yet.  However, I am pretty sure that I do not want to do a marathon this winter.  Because of my profession, the first few months of the year are brutal, so I think it is wise to just focus on getting my workouts in and having fun. More to come on that stuff later though. :)

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Oh and here are my new flashy trainers.  #I<3NewRunningShoes



Sooooo pretty and sooo comfortable.



Three Things Thursday: Running & Surprises

• Working late yesterday prevented me from getting my run in last night.  Instead of getting upset about it I used yesterday as a rest day and did my run this morning and will swim on Friday night.  Who wouldn't want to spend their Friday evening at the HP pool. :) I think I might be getting the hang of this balance thing.  I just have to be a little more creative when it comes to planning.
• I think I have finally settled on a marathon training plan- well kind of.  After looking at a bunch of plans, I wasn't able to find one that gave me exactly what I need. My solution- combined them.  I think this blended plan will give me everything I need to be prepared to run a great race.  What is great you ask?  Well I am not really sure what that means right now. A PR would be nice. A BQ would AWESOME.  What I am really focusing on is enjoying my training and staying healthy. If I PR and/or BQ, that would be fantastic, but I am not putting that kind of pressure on myself.
• Huck's birthday is coming up, and I having been planning his birthday surprise for almost a month. I have no idea how I have managed to keep it from him, but I am pretty sure he is clueless. Well he knows that we have plans on Sunday, but other than that he has no idea.  WOOP WOOP!

Dear Sunday, Please get here as soon as possible! Thanks, Whitney :)

I hope everyone is having a great Thursday!

Race Report: Waterman's Half Edition

Here are the final results:

Swim: 34:23

Bike: 3:23:30

Run 1:57:34

Overall time: 5:55:26

4th in AG

13th in Overall Women

New PR by 13 minutes #PRsMakeMyHeartHappy!

So did I meet my goals??

Goal #1: 

Have fun and remember all the reasons why I love the sport of triathlon. EXCEEDED!

Our team ROCKS!  I am not going to list all the reasons why the team is awesome, but I will say thank you!  Thank you for making my second 70.3 great!  I had so much fun, and cannot wait to race again.

Goal #2

Beat my Eagleman swim.  ACHIEVED-well kind of.

I was out of the water in 38:43 at Eagleman, while I was out of the water on Saturday in 34:23.  Slight improvement time wise, but mentally and technically I would say my EM swim was much stronger.  After rounding the first buoy, I quickly learned that I do not like seaweed.  In fact, I hate seaweed.  We are not friends!  I was so freaked out by the seaweed that I wasn't able to find my rhythm until lap 2.  FAIL! Long story short, I think my time improvement was the result of wearing a wetsuit and not the result of me executing a better swim than I did at EM.  Definitely something to work on before Cozumel.

Goal #3

Nail my mental game! Embrace the the concept of "Pain is weakness leaving the body" - ACHIEVED

Because there were less than 200 people of the course on Saturday, I spent a lot of my bike ride alone.  Riding by myself is definitely not as fun as riding with my friends; however, it did give me lots of time to practice my mental game for IM. I focused on the positives like how delicious my Honey Stinger Waffles were and ignored the thoughts about how much I hated hills. This definitely helped me get through the ride.  The positive ride vibes were carried into the run.  This was huge!  I entered T2 mentally ready to take on a half marathon.  My run split definitely showed this.  Despite the hilly course, my time was faster than EM.  As for overcoming pain and pushing on, I developed some pretty nasty blisters on my feet during the run and I kept going.  What caused the blisters you ask?  Well putting soggy feet into sneakers without socks is a dumb idea.  Now I am not going to talk about why my feet were soggy, but as fellow triathletes, you can probably guess. Enough said on that.  :) 

Overall, I was pretty happy with this race. The only thing I would change about the race is that my heart rate was all over the place during the bike.  Cozumel will not be hilly, but it will be windy! I need to make sure I really dial into my correct zone on the upcoming training rides. Discipline will the key to having a successful ride in Mexico. I have been training in Zone 2, but I need to continue to train AND RACE with that discipline.  As for any other hiccups, I didn't have any real nutrition mishaps or mechanical issues.  I did leave my Uncrustable in T1, but packed extra GU and waffles just in case something like that happened.  Thank goodness I was prepared! 

I hope everyone had a great race!!  Happy Tuesday :)

Race Goals: Waterman's Half Edition

I have really been struggling with this post.  Before getting sick this past weekend, I had big plans for this race, and now I do not know what to expect.  I know- this is not my A race of the session, but I cannot help being a little upset since I do not feel like I am 100%.  My sore throat is better.  Yay!  But I have been dealing with the aftermath all week.  Running nose, sneezing, slight headache and feeling tired all the time. I am not sure if this is aftermath of the whatever I had previously, the weather change or the Q3 reporting craziness at work.  My guess is it is probably a combo of all three.  Regardless, I still want to take full advantage of the last chance I will have to race before IM, so I have changed my mindset.  Tomorrow is going to be fun.  I am going to get an awesome workout and get to spend a little time with my family and friends.  AWESOME!  So enough whining and let's get to my goals.

Goal #1: 
Over the past year I have fallen madly in love with this sport.  So my #1 goal for this weekend is to have fun and remember all the reasons why I love the sport of triathlon.

Goal #2
Beat my Eagleman swim.  I had a strong swim at EM; however, I want to do better tomorrow.  Waterman's will be wetsuit legal, so I would like to take advantage of it. And it's only 1.2 miles- I can do anything for 1.2 miles, right? :)

Goal #3
Nail my mental game!  I allowed myself to get into my head way TOO much at Eagleman, especially on the run!  Ironman is going to be twice as long and probably 10 times as tough.  So it is crucial that I practice staying focused and mentally tough.  I want make sure I bring the same mental game that I had a Luray.  All positive thoughts!  Motto of the race tomorrow- "Pain is weakness leaving the body" -Tom Sobal

Let's get it done! I am coming for you, Mr. Waterman! :) 

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!  Have fun and safe.  Oh and if you see me tomorrow, come say hi!!  :)  Happy Friday!  #OhBoyDoILoveToUseExclamation Points!!!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Ragnar Relay Edition

Happy Hump Day!! I hope everyone had an awesome weekend and your week is going well.  The first 2 days of this week have been pretty crazy, so I apologize for not posting sooner. :)  This past weekend, I ran the Washington DC Ragnar Relay.  Definitely my favorite race to date!  It was awesome.  We finished in 28:44:16 which put us 17th in our division of 115 teams.  Go us!!!  I was also really happy with my splits for my legs of the race.  First leg- 7.84 miles w/ an average pace of 8:30.  Second leg- 4.78 miles with an average pace of 7:38. Thirds leg 6.82 miles with an average pace of 8:16. And now for the pictures...

Van 1 before the start

Yep- that's right, we called ourselves strangers with candy.

Sam loved that we got TP in our survival kit! :)

Bill + Candy + Safety Flag = This

Mike speeding along on his first leg

Before my first leg-  I was super nervous!

Bill kicking to the exchange zone

Jen handled off to Chris

Chris kicking major butt!

What some candy???

AHHHHHHHH! Flasher!!

Post leg 1 refueling- leftover pasta from Olive Garden is even good at 10AM

PB&J Sandwich bar- NOM NOM NOM

Naptime!

The team at the finish.

Yay for medals that are bottle openers!

Bling for being the 3rd runner and having a crazy mountain to climb



Sweet belt buckle, but it would take up half of my tummy if I actually wore it!

 If you haven't done a relay before, DO IT!!! So much fun! I cannot wait for the next one. Special thanks to my teammates for making my first relay an awesome one. :)

Ragnar Lucky Number 3!

So my Ragnar Team Captain just announced who will be running what legs of our relay next weekend, and it looks like I am lucky #3!  I will be running a total of 19.4 miles.  I must say that I am really excited about this race.  It will be my very first relay, so I hope it is everything I have ever dreamed about. :) 

The first leg is going to be really tough.  The total elevation gain during this leg of the race is 1,194ft. YIKES!!  According to the race guide this is the "toughest leg on the entire course".  No pressure or anything.  Hopefully fresh legs and my excitment will get me through the 7.8 miles.

My second leg is going to be my recovery leg.  It is shorter and looks a little easier.  It is only 4.8 miles, and is advertised as being relatively flat.  I will take it!  FLAT= GOOD

My final leg looks like it is going to be pretty similar to leg 2.  It is 6.8 relatively flat miles filled with a few rolling hills.  No biggie!

I am totally pumped and slightly nervous about this race. It is going to be a lot of fun! Is there anything more fun then spending 36 hours with awesome runners?? I think not!

Happy Tuesday!  I hope everyone is having a super day.  :)