Challenge Knoxville Olympic Triathlon Relay Race Recap {and a special guest co-author!}

Challenge Knoxville Olympic Distance Triathlon Relay - 5.17.15

Race Morning!

Stats -
Swim:  Me (30:44)
T1: Me (3:14)
Bike: Me (1:27:32)
T2: R+C (1:06)
Run: C (38:30)
Total: R+C (2:41:07)
Place: 4th of 10 relays

See Clint's side of the story/his run recap at the end of my recap!

I have been excited about this event, Challenge Knoxville, for the past few months.  Challenge Family recently merged with Rev3 and all Rev3 triathlon events became Challenge Family events starting in 2015. Knoxville was to be the very first Rev3-turned-Challenge Family event and expectations were high all around for a great event. I raced Rev3 Knoxville the past two years and actually my very first Rev3 event ever was Knoxville in 2013 (where I subsequently fell in love with Rev3 events!). I did the 70.3 relay in 2013 (I did the very frigid 1.2 mile swim in 55 degree water!) and did the individual Olympic distance race in 2014. I love the city of Knoxville (from these race experiences) and was eager to return....and to bring Clint along for the adventure!

In addition to being on the Challenge Family age group team and looking forward to seeing my teammates at the race, I was excited to get to spend time with another group of Tri-friends. This seemingly-random group of friends was birthed in the fall of 2012 when my friend from graduate school, Dave Cravotta sent me a facebook message asking if I would do a 70.3 with him. I had just completed my first 70.3 (Ironman Branson) in September of 2012 and he had decided he wanted to give one a whirl as well. From there, our group of two snowballed and became a group of about a dozen...and now we all get together at various races. Last year a group of us met up in Knoxville and stayed together in a great condo in the downtown square area (Shout out to Mr. Knuth for the great discovery!!) and we planned to do the same thing this year.

Clint and I each had a long day on Friday:  I spent about an hour at work in the morning and then drove to Peoria for the state track meet where one of our stellar track athletes competed in the long jump and Clint worked until 8. We ate a quick dinner together after he got off of work and hit the road by 9. While we drove, we chatted about the fact that my darn right foot is still being less than cooperative. A few days prior to this, Clint had already told me that he thought I should compete in the aquabike division instead of doing the whole triathlon so as not to run more and risk hurting my foot even more substantially. Though this sucked to hear (running is my "love" as far as the three tri legs go!), I knew he was right. As we talked, though, it hit me that Challenge also has relay divisions for all distances...I asked Clint if he would be down to relay it up with me. He said that he would and seemed excited about the prospect...if he could find some racing flats in Knoxville once we arrived (all he had packed were trainers). A quick e-mail to a Challenge teammate who lives in Knoxville (Lana, you are the BOMB!!!) resulted in a recommendation of a great local shop, Runners Marker. I became more excited...the thought of doing a relay with Clint was awesome!

We drove a few hours and stayed at a crappy Ramada somewhere outside of Indianapolis. Saturday morning we drove the rest of the way to Knoxville...through lots of torrential rain that unfortunately hindered our ability to admire the beautiful scenery (not to mention made it hard to see the road in general!). Thankfully Clint took on most of the driving that day so we arrived in one piece ;). 

A dreary drive!

The rain let up about 20 miles outside of Knoxville which was great and meant that we could walk around the expo without getting soaked.

We both walked around the expo a bit and changed my individual Olympic entry to the relay division with no issues (THANK YOU to the Challenge staff for their flexibility and helpfulness!). I had signed up to use some demo Profile Design racing wheels (a special free service Profile Design offered at this race!) and brought my bike to their tent to get the wheels installed on my bike. Clint headed out to find Runners Market (we split up as we were on a bit of a time crunch...it was already late in the afternoon and the running shop closed at 6!). When the wheels were installed, I brought my bike to transition and racked it for the night.

I then wandered down to the beautiful Tennessee Boathouse (where the U of Tennessee's women's rowing team works out) next to the swim start to scope out the water. It was a beautiful day and I was hopeful that the next morning would be beautiful as well (HAHA!). 

A BEAUTIFUL afternoon in Knoxville!

Soon, Clint returned with some sweet Brooks flats and striped shorts (and a singlet that ended up being too big) and picked me up. We then headed out in search of dinner...to one of our favorite places that is unfortunately not available in BloNo- Whole Foods!

After finding some dinner (hooray for the Whole Foods yummy food bar!) and food for the rest of the weekend, we headed back to our rented condo where we were greeted by my friends Chuck, Colleen, Richelle, Gina and Esteban. We hung out for a bit and got our things settled...and then Clint and I went for a walk around the Market Square area where we were staying so I could show him around this cute part of the city and we could scope out some restaurants to eat at later on in the weekend. This area of Knoxville is a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to travel to the area!

After our walk (which included purchasing some dark chocolate covered espresso beans at a local chocolate shop...YUM!) we headed back to the condo to put on our race number tattoos and to get everything ready for the morning. The race number tattoos always end up being not as easy as they seem they should be and we ended up with a few mistakes...oh well.  In addition, some of them were incredibly sticky once applied...causing anything and everything to become stuck to them. I had a long black hair stuck in my arm tattoo the next morning. Interesting...

Sunday morning we woke up nice and early and ate breakfast. My breakfast of choice:  a yummy sweet potato we baked the night before, mixed up in a cold mush with almond milk + figs + walnuts. Don't knock it til you try it...it's one of my favorite breakfasts...YUM!! Chuck had left the condo before I was even up (he did the 70.3 division and had an earlier start time). The rest of us started wandering down toward transition a little after 6am. HOORAY for early mornings! NOT...

Transition was about a mile away from our condo which was not bad. The walk was more than worth it for the convenience of having our own kitchen in the condo and lots of space to spread out and hang out with friends. Once we arrived, I busied myself with the typical tri-duties of making sure my transition area was set up with everything I needed. It had been a while since my last tri...so there were a few things I forgot (like flip flops), but nothing that was crucial. I had the big things...you know...a bike, helmet, goggles, bike shoes ;).

Me and Mr. Wells before the race

Transition closed at 7:30 for oly athletes, so around that time we made our way to the porta-potties for my final visit and then with a vigorous application of TriSlide + Clint's help, I wrastled on the rubber beast that is my wetsuit. UGH! I hadn't worn the thing since June...thankfully it actually fit a bit better than I had remembered since I am down a few pounds since this time last year so at least I had that going for me.

As we walked down to the swim start, it started drizzling. The day was ugly and overcast, not at all like the beautiful blue skies that were present the day before. I danced around nervously in my wetsuit and slurped down a cold brew coffee energy packet for some helpful caffeine. Soon it was time for the orange caps (the last heat!) to meander down to the end of the dock and jump in...so Clint told me goodbye and good luck with a kiss and I was off! I walked down to the edge of the dock and hesitated for just a moment before jumping in. I had heard the water temp was great...around 72 degrees or so and indeed it felt pretty great. I had gone back and forth regarding the decision to wear a wetsuit (in general I think I am more comfortable without one because they make me a bit claustrophobic) but I ended up feeling really good in the suit and was glad I had it (honestly, like I said previously, I think the better fit now has something to do with that!).

Me? Nervous?!

I did a few practice strokes and before long it was time to get situated for the start. We treaded water for a bit...and with the blast of an air horn, we were off! The beginning of a tri swim is always a slightly uncomfortable endeavor. Bodies thrashing around to find their rhythm and people swimming in less-than-straight lines makes for a hazardous environment. I am not a strong swimmer (frankly, I have never put for the time and effort necessary in order to become one!) and this was only my fourth swim of the year (and first open water swim). Going into it, I didn't even know if I would be able to swim the entire 0.9 mile course without pausing! Within the first hundred meters or so, some woman behind me to my left literally hit me in the head with her open hand. It made me see stars and I responded with some strong kicks to get away and to let her know that there was indeed another swimmer in the water (sorry I'm not sorry!).

The loop course had us swimming to the left of the start, taking a right turn after a few hundred meters, going straight for about a third of the length of the first portion, and then turning right again for the final long straight shot down the river to the swim out. By the first turn, I had found my own place and rhythm somewhere in the middle of the pack and settled in. After the second turn I wondered if I was going a little slow and reminded myself that Clint was waiting at the end of the swim and I didn't want to be TOO embarrassingly slow! So, I buckled down and made myself put forth a bit more effort. Though I know little to nothing about truly GOOD swimming form, I tried to concentrate on keeping my body on top of the water with my legs straight and did my best to produce some trunk rotation. My self-perception was that I did start moving a bit faster at this point and settled in to this new, "better" rhythm as I soldiered on to the end. As I swam, I picked out orange caps to pass and counted at least 5 that I passed. I also passed a fair number of yellow caps (from the previous heat) which made me feel a bit more confident.

Soon the dock where we were to exit the water was well within my sights so I cranked out a few last strokes and pulled myself out of the water (silently congratulating myself for making it through the swim without pausing!). I turned to the left to run up the dock and saw Clint, smiling. Turns out he was taking a video of my ever-graceful exit ;). Nice. 

I ran into the boathouse where a kind woman waiting there helped me pull off my wetsuit (I thought there weren't wetsuit strippers...but I was grateful for the help!) and then continued on my way up the dock, across the road and into transition. I hit lap on my watch and tried to get my bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses secured as soon as possible. I grabbed a PowerBar performance energy blast (one of the fruit puree things...love them!) and ran with my bike to the bike out where Clint was standing. With a smile and a, "go get it Matyasse" I was off!

Mmmmm...slurping down some PowerBar fruity goodness before setting out on the bike!

Looking back at the results, somehow I was out of the water in 30:44. I really don't know how this is possible, but I managed to shave some considerable time off of my time from the same race last year which was 35:36.  I don't remember how much swim training I did prior to last year's event, but I am fairly certain it was more than this year's. The last time I did a swim of any meaningful distance was in June of 2014 when I did the 1.2 mile swim at the Rev3 Dells event. Following that race, I didn't do another complete triathlon all year (I did a relay at Rev3 Cedar Point, but just did the bike leg).  I have been in the pool 3 times since January.  Three.  I was almost 5 full minutes faster on the swim this year and managed to keep a 2:08/100m pace which is pretty decent for me. It didn't feel like there was much of a current....but maybe there was!  After the swim leg, our relay team was 8th out of 10.  Well...we weren't last!! ;)

I passed a few bikes right away as I started mile 1 and made my way up a highway ramp.  Within the first two miles or so, I saw someone by the side of the road fixing a flat. Wow, that sucks, I thought. I noticed as I passed that the person helping out with the flat was actually my friend Esteban! I smiled as I continued on my way...it was no surprise that this guy was helping another athlete in need. Last year he came to hang out for the weekend even though he was injured and could only do the swim (he swam and then DNF'ed as he planned) yet still brought along an entire arsenal of gear and tools to help everyone else out! He's a stand-up guy, that Esteban!

Around mile 2, I accidentally hit one of the buttons on my still-new Garmin and ended up sending the timer into "transition two" (it was in tri mode). Darn it! I flipped through and just re-started it in "bike" mode, but was slightly disappointed that I wouldn't have accurate times for the race on the watch. Oh well ;). 

It wasn't long into the ride when I realized Wow! This course is a lot hillier than I remembered!  Similar to how some women say they forget the trauma and pain of childbirth (ok, clearly I wouldn't REALLY know! ;)) I had apparently wiped from my memory the fact that the Knoxville bike course is a hilly beast! It is really never flat...rather it's a series of pretty constant climbs and descents. Not long into the bike leg, it started raining harder and frankly it made me kinda paranoid. I am not the strongest cyclist regardless, but this was just my 3rd real bike ride off the trainer of the season (I had ridden the 12k Tuesday Night Time Trial in our town the week of the race and the week prior to the race...in addition to that, I rode 7 miles alongside Clint in the country as he ran after the Lake Run a few weeks back...and I did a few 1-4 mile rides leading my track distance kids...other than that, my winter + spring bike training was limited to sporadic trainer rides!). Additionally, I was riding on new-to-me wheels and tires. I was white-knuckling it down most of the {scary} descents just hoping and praying I would stay upright!

As I neared mile 11 (or so?) I came across a man who was standing alongside the road warning cyclists to slow down because there were two wrecks ahead. I heeded his caution and carefully made my way down the next curvy hill. At the bottom, I saw an ambulance with a female in the back on some sort of body board with a neck brace on. This induced moderate panic within me and I felt my breathing start to intensify...clearly conditions were dangerous and I didn't want to see myself be part of the casualties! It also brought back an icky memory of a ride Memorial Day weekend in 2012. I had just purchased my shiny new Trek Madone road bike and was excited to bring it home to show my parents. My dad was excited to go on a bike ride with me on his hybrid Trek and to show me the 10-mile route that he enjoyed riding near their home. It had rained earlier that day, so the roads were slick. I let him lead because I knew my bike was faster than his and I didn't want to accidentally go too quickly. We carried along at a reasonably gentle pace and came to a hill in a neighborhood. The hill was pretty steep and curved to the right toward the bottom. He took off down the hill with reckless abandon and when he turned to the right to go with the curve, wiped out pretty darn hard. Let me tell you, I can still see that entire scene playing out in my head to this day. Long story short, my mom came to the rescue and carted him (and his bike) to the ER. I followed on my bike. He was fine...aside from basically superficial wounds that were just painful enough to be annoying but not serious. But...I am still a giant chicken on wet road conditions now because of that day (well, mostly because of that anyway ;)).

Shortly after seeing that girl in the back of an ambulance, I mentally talked myself down from my pseudo-panic attack and slowed my breathing. Soon afterwards, I saw a guy who had crashed being helped by a group of people. Other than these two significant crashes, I saw more than 5 people dealing with flat tires or other mechanical issues. Not a good day on the bike course! I was relieved to make it back to transition with NO mishaps.  I saw Clint right next to Bike In and was so happy to see him!  We hurried together to our transition area where I racked my bike and he took the timing chip from my ankle, I stole a kiss...and he was off!  I started a run timer on my watch so that I could be sure to be in place to finish the run with him by 35 minutes or so (he was shooting to finish in under 40 minutes).  I cleaned up my transition area a bit...UGH!  Nothing like some nice rain to make everything a soggy mess.  Triathlon is a disgusting, high-maintenance sport ;).  After a few minutes I headed up to the finish line and watched finishers run in.

Ready to run...always!

And he's off!

Again, this split was somehow quite a bit faster than last year's when I finished in 1:33:05 with an average pace of 16.11 mph. This year's finishing time was 1:27:32 (or about 5.5 minutes faster!) with an average pace of 17.14 mph. I was using better wheels than my own this year (the demo Profile Design wheels), however the course conditions this year were FAR worse due to the weather. So, I would think that those two variables (better wheels and worse weather this year compared to less awesome wheels and more awesome weather) would kinda cancel each other out...and the improved performance this year is likely due to better all-around fitness (in spite of limited bike-specific training!). Who knows though. Also of note, I managed to pass one relay competitor during the bike to bring our relay team up to 7th of 10.

A really fun part of Rev3-now-Challenge events is the fact that they allow you to have family members, friends, relay teammates...whomever!...cross the finish line with you. I waited for a few minutes and soon enough...saw my shirtless wonder booking it toward me and the finish line. I threw off my sweat shirt and crossed my fingers and prayed that my foot would allow me to finish off the final 0.1 mile at Clint's blistering pace ;). As he approached, I started running and he quickly appeared by my side. We ran together, me grinning of course, and finished together in a total time of 2:41:07...faster than I could do an Oly tri on my own for sure!

Big Finish!

 With my Swim+T1+Bike+T2 combined time of 2 hours, 2 minutes and 36 seconds...if I were to have completed the run leg in what I ran last year's 10k run leg in (56:55 with a pace of 9:11)...I would've gotten a time of about 2:59:31 (my PR is 2:59:39, set in 2013). If I were healthy (read: no foot injury!) I would've been fully capable of pulling off a far faster 10k than last year...meaning I am (when healthy) in oly-distance PR shape! Encouraging!! I'm excited about TriShark (sprint distance tri on June 6...just under 3 weeks away) and hope I can be healthy enough to power through for a PR.

After we finished, we spent some time at the finish cheering on other finishers. The finish line of a race is always one of my favorite places to hang out! We saw some pretty inspirational finishers (like the pro who had crashed yet still finished the race with tri shorts that had big holes in the front and back and big bandages covering up some pretty significant road rash!). We also saw our friend Chuck finish his 70.3 with a PR!  Way to go Chuck!!

Pretty sure he was darn relieved to be done!

Later we celebrated our awesome race experience with a late-afternoon meal at the fabulous Tupelo Honey Cafe. 

Shrimp + Goat Cheese Grits? When in the south...

THANK YOU to Challenge Family for putting on an AMAZING race and for the privilege of being on the Challenge Triathlon Team! THANK YOU to my teammates for being all-around awesome people and inspirational athletes. 

Me with some of my Challenge Teammates and the Overall Winner, Cameron Dye

THANK YOU to my friends and weekend roomies for the FUN and support!! Chuck, Richelle, Colleen, Gina and Esteban...you guys are awesome and I hope to see you again (and race with you again!) SOON! {Special thanks to Chuck for setting up the accommodations!!}

THANK YOU to Often Running + Mitch for allowing my teammate + partner Clint to accompany me on this adventure so that he could ultimately become my last-minute relay partner! THANK YOU to the Often Running Racing Team for the constant support and camaraderie. THANK YOU to Clint for being a great relay teammate and for stepping up at the last minute to do the run leg for me in my broken state! {I also SO appreciate Clint's patience and support of me...if he had a relay partner with skills that were more comparable to his, the relay's finishing time + place would've been far more impressive. However, he never makes me feel like I am less than an equal with him in spite of my lesser skills...and for that I am grateful!} Last but not least, THANK YOU to another area team, the Grim Reapers, for the camaraderie before, during and after the race! It is SO awesome to see familiar faces at races...especially when they are far from home! I do so love this sometimes crazy sport and am grateful for all of the lessons it has taught me, the fun I have had as a result and for the people it has brought into my life.

Next Up - Tri Shark Sprint Triathlon in Hudson on June 6 and then the Steamboat Classic in Peoria on June 20.  I am doing my best to be a good girl and to rest + roll + ice + stretch so that I can be up and running again ASAP!  The early season races have really gotten me excited about this season and I hope not to be sidelined from running for much longer! {Someone has a marathon PR to set this year!! Come on, foot!!}

Keep on keepin' on!

~Rachel

{CLINT'S PERSPECTIVE} -

Friday night after work Rachel and I ate dinner, packed, and got on the road for Knoxville, Tennessee. She is a member of the Challenge Family Triathlon Age Group team. As part of her team requirements, she has to complete in a couple of their events during the course of the year. There are really only two events that are logistically "easy" to do (read - within reasonable driving distance): Challenge Knoxville and Cedar Point. Challenge Knoxville has a few different races to choose from; Half iron-distance, Olympic, and aqua bike in either distance. There was also a Championship distance for people that qualified based on last year's race performances. Anyway, we drove about 3 hours Friday night and stayed in a dank and dingy Ramada inn. The air conditioner in the room wouldn't work and was only spitting out slightly cool moist air. We had two beds in the room; one of the beds was clean and the other had a wide array of stains and markings on the comforter.

Saturday morning we left the hotel and drove the last 5 hours to Knoxville. During that drive it popped into our heads that we could do the race as a relay. Rachel has been dealing with a pretty nasty case of plantar fasciitis and hasn't been running. I thought that would be a pretty great idea but I had no racing flats and nothing to race in. After a few quick emails we get the name of a local run shop so that I could try and get a pair of flats. We arrived at the race site and got everything situated-- we changed her entry and switched it up to the Olympic relay--. As she was getting her bike racked I drove over to Runner's Market. The sales people were awesome and I bought a pair of Brooks Racing flats and a pair of Brooks split shorts. I tried my best to get something Adidas but they quit carrying Adidas. Shoes secure, bike in transition, we made our way to the condo.

Race morning
Woke up at 5am to get coffee and breakfast situated. We gathered our gear and headed down to transition to set up everything. Rachel grabbed her goggles and wet suit and we made our way down to the swim start. It was raining the entire walk down to the race start and continued to rain through the swim. I snapped a few pictures of Rachel and she got out of the water and as she got onto the bike. I don't think the rain really let up much at all during her entire bike ride.

As I was waiting for her to get done with the bike portion, I set out to get a warm up mile in. My legs were totally unresponsive. After three weekends in a row of racing my legs were in strict protest. I jogged about a half mile before I just gave up and headed to transition. I waited for her to come in, and while doing so, saw many people being brought in off the course. The rain had caused some dangerous conditions and people were wiping out on the course. One was pretty bad (I heard) and had to be carted away on a stretcher. I was a bit nervous but as if on cue, she pulled into transition. I grabbed the timing chip from her ankle, threw my shirt off, and hit the run course.

Mile 1: 6:10
I told Rachel that I was going to go out at 6:10 pace and see what happened. If I averaged close to that for the entire run I'd be happy. The run course is an out and back with a few rolling hills. Shortly before receiving the timing chip, the rain had stopped. At this point, the weather started to warm up and the humidity was creeping steadily up. My legs felt pretty awesome at this point as I clicked off my goal pace for the first mile.

Mile 2: 6:10
This mile was a bit more of a struggle than the first but still manageable. I was passing people left and right and I made it a game to continue passing as many people as possible. I felt remotely bad since I was doing a relay and most of them were doing the entire swim-bike-run.

Mile 3: 6:18
A bit off the mark. I had started grabbing water right from the start. I'm pretty sure all of that travel had left me a bit dehydrated. I was still passing people so I was good there.

Mile 4: 6:06
I hit the turn around and started gunning it for home. I passed a few of our roommates and some Grim Reaper fitness athletes. Still sucking down water, the humidity was becoming stifling. I was now taking two cups at a time; one cup to drink and another to throw on my head. When the watch heaped and showed my time I knew I had hit it a bit too fast

Mile 5: 6:26
I definitely paid for the last mile. The heat, the hill on this mile, and the humidity were starting to suck.

Mile 6: 6:27
It was a struggle to keep this pace. The past few weekends of hard races and the Thursday workouts were taking their toll.

The last .2
I knew I would be seeing Rachel soon so  right around the 5.9 mile mark I started upping the pace. With .1 left to go Rachel joined me. We sprinted into the finish together with my run being 38:31 (a 6:13 per mile average pace. We ended up being 4th out of the relays after adding in her swim and bike efforts.

Normally I would thank Often Running and Adidas but this time due to unforeseen circumstances (not knowing I was going to race) I have to thank Runner's Market and Brooks for having some pretty awesome gear. If any of you are in Knoxville, Tennessee check out their store. It definitely had an Often Running vibe to it. Thanks to Rachel for letting me do the relay with you and introducing me to some pretty awesome people.

SAYONARA, Knoxville!  ...Until next year! :)

The Incredible PowerBar Performance Energy Blends

Fueling while training can be complicated and there are many opinions out there on what products are the very best for achieving particular desired outcomes. Personally, I lovelovelove me some PowerBar Performance Energy Blends.  These little delicious gems are 3.17 ounces of joy...and here are the top ten reasons WHY I love these delightful fruity snacks.

10.  They're just plain delicious. There are four flavors to choose from:  Apple Mango Strawberry, Banana Blueberry, Pear Apple Peach and the newest awesome flavor (introduced just a few months ago!) Pear Blackberry. With the variety of flavors that are all tasty, I don't ever get "burnt out" on a flavor. Frankly, I like them all and my "favorite" tends to change day-to-day. 

9.  They're easy to store.  I currently have boxes of them stacked in my pantry. However, a friend and training buddy introduced me to the fabulous idea of keeping them refrigerated. They are SUPER refreshing to come home to after a long run or ride. Another fun idea is keeping them in a small cooler in your car for after an event. YUM!

8.  The individual pouches are resealable. If you only want a small quick hit, you can easily screw the lid back on (I can even easily do this while cycling using my mouth and one hand) and you have the rest ready to enjoy later. 

7.  Performance Energy Blends can be a great food option pre-, during, and post- activity. The package states "Take 1 pouch 30-60 minutes before training or competition to top off your energy stores, and/or as part of your refueling plan during activity."  I personally also enjoy them after a workout or event as well. They're quite refreshing!

6.  They make a great "emergency" food option.  Since they are so portable and easy to consume, I keep some all over the place for a quick and easy snack option. I typically have some in my purse...in my car...and in each of my gym bags...you never know when you might need a quick, energizing snack!

5.  They're easy and quick to consume.  I was quickly able to master taking the lid off with my teeth while cycling.  Once the lid is off, it's very easy to suck the fruit purée from the package. I like the hands-free aspect of the package once the lid is off...great for speedy transitions as well!

4.  Performance Energy Blends are free of all major allergens (a must for me)!  They contain NO gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish or shellfish!  Hooray!

3. They are SUPER portable when cycling....they fit nicely into a cycling jersey and/or bicycle frame bag (in a pinch I've also shoved one in my sports bra).

2.  Cat-approved:  Kitties like them too!  Seriously.

During one of my solo training rides this summer, I came across a teeny-tiny, sad and injured kitten shaking in the ditch next to a cornfield (I hail from the Midwest).  I stopped and was instantly smitten with the little guy.  He wouldn't drink any water (I tried to squirt some in his little mouth to no avail) so I had the "bright" idea to see if he had any interest in the PowerBar Performance Energy Blend I had tucked into my cycling jersey.  He LOVED it!

After his little snack, I ended up carrying him in my cycling jersey back to where I had parked...Here he is, nestled next to more Performance Energy Blends:

When we arrived safely back to where my car was parked, I gave him another snack. 

 

Later, I had him checked out by a vet...and after a few minor medical procedures, gave him to my sister and niece who adopted him (he STILL loves his Performance Energy Blends by the way!).

1.  In my opinion, the BEST thing about Performance Energy Blends is the fact that are made with real fruit...read the ingredients yourself if you don't believe me. 

(Apple Mango Strawberry:  Dual Source Energy Blend (Apples, Mango Puree [Mango Puree Concentrate, Water], Dextrose, Strawberry Puree), and less than 2% of: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol Acetate).)

Actual fruit is pureed to make these products.  I don't know about you, but I do my best to eat real food at all times.  Some sports nutrition products tend to upset my stomach, but these awesome fruity products have never done so and I actually can feel good about putting them into my body.

Naturally, writing this blog post made me crave a yummy Performance Energy Blend...so this Banana Blueberry one made its way into my body to power me through writing...yum!

Check them out--you won't be sorry. Happy training!
 

Sweet Summertime

Ahhhh.....Summer!!

Life has been busy, as usual (not complaining, and I know everyone can relate...just sayin' :)).  Again I find myself lamenting the fact that I don't blog/record details of my races and training as much as I would like.  C'est la vie...  Therefore, this post is going to just be a whole lot of word vomit as I do my best to record the highlights of my past few months.

The name of my game this year has been "having fun."  Last year was very structured as I trained from December 2012-September of 2013 for my first full 140.6.  Nearly each and every day revolved around training.  My afternoon kids at school were used to seeing me with wet hair, rings around my eyes from goggles and the aroma of chlorine emanating from my pores (this was in my pre-TriSwim product days!) because of my lunch-dates with the student rec center pool.  Every "spare" minute was spent uploading data into Training Peaks, packing workout attire bags, washing sinks full of water bottles, doing endless loads of stanky laundry, having a backseat and trunk full of miscellaneous tri gear items (wait...this is still the case!) and watching YouTube videos of swim drills (not to mention the actual acts of swim-bike-running...and somehow managing to run 5 marathons in like 53 weeks).  I don't regret a second of it...but it's not how I personally want to constantly structure my life.

After I finished IMWI in September, I crashed...hard.  After a few fall events (including the NYC Marathon) I was mentally done with the constant training-and-racing cycle.  I slowly got moving again in the spring, but vowed to let myself take it easy and just do what I felt like I wanted to do...without being super crazy-regimented about my training.  Obviously this means I won't be breaking any speed records or anything like that...but when all of "this" starts to become "work" and not "fun," what's the point?  I realize this means different things to different people...and the trick is finding your own personal happy place in it all.  I've been having a lot of fun this season so far...mission accomplished.

"Quick" re-cap of some highlights from this year thus far...

1.  Mother's Day weekend I was home in the Quad City area visiting my family, so I ran the half marathon at the Quad Cities Distance Classic on May 11 with my friend Aaron who ran the 5k at the same event.  Why?  Why not.  I hadn't run further than 7 or 8 miles since the fall, but felt like running a half.  So I did.  It was my first time getting to run a race with this newbie-runner!  Aaron is KILLING his training...as a first-time-EVER runner, he is regularly logging 5+ mile runs at an 8-8:30 pace.  I'm bragging for him, because he would never do it for himself.  I ran my 13.1 mile race in 1:57 or something (if I cared more, I would look it up)...totally satisfactory to me.

Me with Aaron prior to the race...hanging out in Carver and reminiscing about college days

2.  The weekend of May 16-19 I traveled to Knoxville, TN for my first Rev3 event of the season.  Last year, this event was my first-ever Rev3 event...and this year's event was my first Rev3 race as a member of Team Rev3.  It was awesome seeing some teammates I met in March at our Team Summit, as well as meeting some new faces. I LOVE this crazyawesome team!

I had a great time....

...At the Glow Run Friday night.....



yeah....this guy had glow sticks stuck into his epic beard...I couldn't resist snapping a pic (and I asked permission ;))

....Volunteering at the Kids Revvie Saturday morning....

Hanging out with Chuck and Esteban, serious as always, in the kids' transition area.

Giving our final finisher a Rev3-style welcome to the finish line!

....at the practice swim with Kelly....

....at the expo/setting up transition...

....in our amazing condo with fun friends Esteban, Chuck, Richelle and Colleen...

Esteban made us dinner the night before the race (including GF pasta for Richelle and me!)...he's quite the chef!

...during the race...

...and post-race!

Enjoying time in the sun with Kelly after a fun race

I completed the Olympic Distance, and in staying true to my current theme of just having fun...had no real time-related goals for myself other than finishing.  Here are my stats...
Swim:  35:36
T1:  3:32
Bike: 1:33.05
T2: 1:54
Run:  56:55.44
Total:  3:11:03

3.   Saturday, May 31 I completed my first-ever Tri-Shark Classic sprint-distance triathlon.  I did participate in this event last season, however it was changed last-minute to a duathlon (run-swim-run) to eliminate the swimming portion due to some awful levels of nasty crap in the water.  My good friends Dave and Chuck came to visit and completed the race with me...we had a great time!  Love the friends this sport has brought into my life. 

Chuck and Dave were great roomies-for-a-night...we had a great time at the race!

It's no secret that I slacked a lot this winter, so I didn't do as well as I would have liked...but I did get what I deserved :). 

Swim:  12:13.7
T1:  1:44.4
Bike:  40:45.7
T2:  1:22.5
Run:  25:30.7
7th/16 in my age group (F 30-34)

A few weeks after the event, I investigated the results and saw that I had gotten 17th out of 118 women.  So...maybe I am in better shape than I thought.  Encouraging!

My friend Kelly is quite the talented photographer...and gifts us with amazing photos at events she spectates.  She took the following picture:

I think this picture fits with my current goal of "having fun" and not taking this stuff too seriously

4. A week and a half ago I spent the weekend in the Wisconsin Dells with my family, with the Rev3 Dells event being the focus of our visit.  My sister, Megan, and I made plans months prior to complete the 70.3 distance triathlon at the event as a relay team:  I would swim and bike and she would run.

The morning prior to the event, I attended the practice swim with some of my Rev3 teammates.  We handed out samples of TriSlide, Foggies and TriSwim products and took turns making a few rounds around the practice course ourselves.  

Team Rev3 members ready to lube ya up!

I swam a leisurely sixth of a mile to calm my nerves....I hadn't been in the water for a week and a half (at a Wednesday Open Water Swim with my area tri club) and prior to that had been in the water only a handful of times this season. 

 

After the swim, I took my bike out for a bit to run through the gears and spin my legs out a bit...and I'm so grateful I did!  After only a few minutes it became apparent that my chain would not move from the front small ring to the large ring. After fighting with it for a few miles, I turned around and brought it to the bike repair tent at the expo. Some nice gentlemen looked it over and made some adjustments...things seemed better after that. I took it for a few parking lot laps and ran through the gears without issues.  Whew!  After I felt like everything was in working order, I got my transition area situated....love Rev3's personalized transition area tags!

I grabbed a nice solo lunch at Sprecher and then met up with my family who had just gotten into town. My sister had gotten us a condo not far from the area of town where the race was. It was great to have them there to share the race weekend, as well as some other vacation-y activities, with. I took Megan down to the expo and transition areas to show her where everything was. 

Of course we had to take one of the goofy Rev3 VIP pictures at the expo...

Saturday night we ate an early dinner and went back to the condo where Megan and I prepared for race morning before heading to bed relatively early.   

Race morning...we woke up before the sun and prepared for a day of fun. Side note...I find it interesting that on average days I hit snooze 6-7 times before rolling out. Race mornings...I can somehow manage to get up right away or after only 1-2 snoozes.  

We ate some breakfast and got our last-minute things in order. We had a little debacle with the application of race tattoos, but nothing a big black marker one of the staff members brought to the transition area couldn't fix later ;-).

We headed down to transition about 90 minutes before the start, made sure everything was just-so, and did our usual race-morning-porta-potty song and dance. We then walked down to the swim start. The swim at Rev3 Dells is held at the Tommy Bartlett Show area, which is pretty neat. It's very spectator-friendly, as there is stadium seating available...also nice for the time before the race start. 

My fav race buddy

I saw my friend Kelly who wasn't feeling very well. She had re-injured an old back injury and was stressing about her role as the swim leg of a relay team. She decided to go ahead and swim in spite of the injury/pain...and did really well. Spoiler alert:  her relay team got first!

Kelly with me before our swim start

The swim was a time-trial start. We lined up two-by-two within our assigned waves and they had swimmers start every few seconds by jumping off a small dock.  Kelly and I started toward the back of our wave due to her apprehensions regarding the status of her back. Shortly after we jumped in, I lost her as she swam off much more strongly than I am currently capable off. I sent her silent wishes for a strong and incident-free swim and settled into my own rhythm. 

I'm not a strong swimmer, I never have been. I'm very average and very okay with that. I was a bit fearful about the swim at Dells seeing as I hadn't swam anything at or near 1.2 miles since IMWI in November. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the way that I fairly quickly was able to find a rhythm and moved into my mental swimming zone. 

I kept things steady (and slow!) and had no issues. I didn't once feel the need to stop/grab a kayak/flip over/breaststroke...anything. I hung onto my slow and steady front crawl for those 1.2 miles and was astounded to exit the water to see "46" shining at me from my watch. Somehow I managed to swim in 46:09 (pace of 2:23/100s) This is not a "fast" time...but it's certainly decent, especially for someone who has swam only a handful of times in the past 7 months. I was expecting something more in the 50-minute range. I'll take it!  It was a definite confidence boost to be able to do a swim of that distance without any issues after very little recent preparation. 

I ran up a hilly paved area to the transition area where my sister was waiting. She helped strip my wetsuit...I have this uncanny ability to get the darn thing stuck on my ankles and have spent many minutes in transition areas fighting with it. I sat down and she grabbed ahold of it and tugged. Instead of it sliding off nicely, she managed to drag me 10 feet across the grass, still attached to my wetsuit. More TriSlide next time?!

Once that slippery beast was off of my body, I gathered my bike gear and slurped down a Black Raspberry Pear PowerBar Performance Energy Blend (YUM!). I felt great, mentally and physically, as I exited the transition area after 3:48 (clearly I wasn't in any sort of hurry...that's basically enough time to have a quick picnic!).

For the first few miles, I mentally prepared myself for what I knew awaited me on the bike course. This was my third time out on the course. I rode the course last year at the Rev3 Dells 2013 event. I participated in the run on a relay team on race day, however the day before the race I rode the 56 mile bike course solo for training. That was INTENSE. This course is no joke!  It's freaking HILLY!  I have no idea if this is perfectly accurate, so don't quite this as gospel or anything...but I've heard a number of people state that the course had more elevation gain in 56 miles than the entire 112-mile Ironman Wisconsin course (which is known for being hilly and terrible).  Regardless of what the numbers specifically say, the Rev3 Dells bike course is tough...ask anyone who has done it!  My second experience with the course had been just a few weeks prior on Memorial Day at our Rev3 course preview day...so the torturous hills were fresh in my mind.

The weather was pretty nice...not too hot at the beginning of the ride, which was helpful.  I ended up dropping my chain a total of four stinking times on the course.  The first was after only 5 miles or so.  After the second time, I became rather irritated.  After three times...I was borderline mad.  On the fourth time I may have yelled a choice word or two and flipped my bike over so quickly and carelessly that I ended up cutting the knuckle on my right thumb with the cassette.  OUCH!  I finished the course covered in bike grease and a bit of dried blood from that debacle.  (I ended up taking the bike in to a local bike shop immediately upon my return to town on Tuesday and discovered that the derailleur had almost come off of the bike.  Scary!  However, everything is now in excellent working order thanks to the lovely Adam at Vitesse Cycle Shop).

Other than the chain issue, I did enjoy the my time on the bike.  Well...as much as you can enjoy climbing your butt off I guess ;).  On what I consider to be the worst/most difficult portion of the course, I actually (very slowly!) passed three guys who were walking their bikes up the very steep ascent.  I was proud that I never got off the bike and walked on any of the crazy hills...but I would be lying if I said that it never went through my mind!

After 3 hours, 50 minutes and 48 seconds...I rolled into the transition area, more than happy to be done and ready to pass the timing chip to Megan.  However, it had started getting rather hot...so I was also feeling a little guilty about "making" her do her work through the hottest part of the day.

While she set off, I cleaned up my gear in the transition area.  I chatted with fellow Rev3 teammates Nicole, Ron, Tim and Jeff. 

After a bit, I made my way to the finish line where I met up with my parents, Megan's husband and my niece Macy.  We had planned to meet up in the finish chute area where Megan would be running by toward her big finish...and then Macy and I would join Megan and all finish together (one of the coolest things about Rev3 races is the fact that anyone you want can run across the finish with you...it's such a cool experience to watch families finishing together!).  Megan had estimated that she would finish in 1:50 or so, so we were ready to go at the finish about 1:45 after she had started running.

I started run/walking backwards on the course to meet up with her.  After a bit, it became apparent that the heat of the day had likely gotten to her because it took longer to meet up with her than estimated.  When I saw her, she did NOT look pleased.  In fact, she may have informed me that she hated me...or something along those lines ;).  I ran with her about a mile or so to the finish and tried to chat a bit to give her something other than her suffering to think about.

Soon, the finish line was in sight.  My mom handed Macy to me (Megan informed me that she was too worn out to hold her) and Macy immediately began freaking out.  As we made our way to the finish line, Macy's freaking out became a full-on wail.  After we crossed the finish line and got our medals (and awesome cold/wet towels!), it took a while to calm her down...poor thing!  I felt kind of mean for traumatizing her, but the whole experience made for a funny finisher photo:

 

Our final time was 6:51:36...and we ended up scoring sweet medals for getting 3rd in the relay division.  It was a really fun day...and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to share the experience of racing with my sister and family.

After spending some time at the post-race festivities, my family headed back to the condo. I stuck around to cheer on more finishers...including our awesome and inspirational 70-year-old final finisher. To add some excitement to the day, everyone left at the finish line helped to hurriedly tear down the expo as a big storm rolled in!

The rest of the day following the race, I layed low. We ate at Sprecher (again for me!) and I crashed early...then later woke up around 1am still wearing jeans and my contact lenses were disgustingly suction-cupped to my eyeballs. Nice.  However, I woke up in the morning the next day feeling fresh and great.  Basking in that post-race glow is a goooood feeling :).

Monday was spent participating in decidedly non-athletic endeavors with my family. We enjoyed some of the many cliche/touristy attractions the Dells area has to offer...Paul Bunyan's Lumberjack Meals was met by mixed reviews by our group (but was definitely a "won't forget" experience)...the Wisconsin Ducks ride was pretty awesome and offered beautiful views of the area...and Wizard Quest was a unique experience as well (an interactive mystery/game).

My mom, sister and I went on a late-night hunt for some ice cream to commemorate our last evening in the Dells

...and then Tuesday mid-morning we all headed to our respective homes.  It was a great trip!  It was so much fun to share my love of triathlon and Rev3 with my family, and to get some quality Macy Jo time in of course!  I'm thinking we should make Rev3 Dells a yearly family tradition...
 

5.  I had spoken to some friends about my curiosity regarding the Main Street Mile in Peoria, IL.  I decided to go and give it a whirl...why not?  I had NO idea what kind of pace I could hold for "just" a mile and had heard the course was mostly downhill and the event was fun and festive...this event definitely piqued my interest.

I seldom do any real speed work (seldom = never) was hoping to run in under 7 minutes.  My "pie in the sky" time was 6:40.  Somehow I managed to pound out a 6:17.  I was pretty astounded by myself....as were my legs.  I can safely say they've never moved that fast.  A few days later, my shins were still reminding me of my efforts.  Lots of foam rolling, massage and yoga have been the recipe for recovery this week!

Before the race, I saw a man in an Easter Seals shirt that I suspected was Mark Scott.  I decided to be gutsy and introduced myself...it turned out I was correct!  Mark Scott is currently on a mission to run 50 races in 50 weeks and raise $50,000 (though he is really on track to raise $100,000!) for Easter Seals to celebrate turning 50 years old!  Here I am with Mark after the race. What a great guy and a neat idea!

Sooo...what's in store for the rest of my summer?

LOTS!

1.  July 4th is just around the corner, bringing with it races in communities all over our country.  Past summers have brought me home to the Quad Cities and to Peoria for races, but this year I will be staying here in BloNo and participating in Park2Park, a fabulous 5 mile race between two parks in our town.

2.  The following weekend, Clint and I have the crazy idea to run three races...all on the same day (Saturday, July 12).  I'm not sure exactly how this idea was birthed...I think I suggested two, and he countered with three.  Makes sense.  Regardless of how the plan transpired, the agenda is:  8am- Fisher Fair 5k; 6pm- Dog Days 5k and 9pm Moonlight Chase 4 Mile.  This will be a first for me...I once ran two 5ks on the same day here in town (with start times about 2 hours apart or so) and ended up with a stress fracture after that....here's hoping this isn't a repeat of that glorious performance (pretty sure that mishap had more to do with my footwear...ahem vibram 5 fingers ahem....than the mileage ;)).  This hair-brained idea is going to require quite a bit of drama and driving, but is bound to be unforgettable...so I am looking forward to it.

3.  After that, on Saturday, July 19 I will be walking and volunteering at the Walk With Me event supporting Easter Seals of Central IL.  I'm looking forward to a fun day with co-workers (including fellow pediatric therapists) and many of the kiddos and families I have had the privilege of working with over the years. Apparently there's also a dunk tank slated to be present...and I may or may not personally know some of the pediatric therapists who will be "doing time" sitting in it...

4.  That brings us to Bix weekend!  The Bix 7 is hands-down my favorite event of the year.  This will be my eleventh consecutive year running in it...and it is the event that I credit with transmitting the running disease to me.  Love it!  Megan, Clint and Aaron will all be running this year...in addition to thousands of other crazies. Can't wait!

5.  August....is currently wide open.  I should probably think about adding a tri or two (three?) because I am doing the 70.3 at Rev3 Cedar Point on September 7 and I am bound and determined to finish in under 6 hours.  My last 70.3 was Ironman Racine in July last summer and I finished in 6:00:51.  I have no real reason to not finish under 6 hours (aside from slacking off, that is ;)).

6.  The week after that I will be joining my good friend Jillian in Iowa for her grand return to triathlon...we are doing an Olympic-distance race together at the Best Dam Triathlon on September 14 as her first triathlon post baby number two!  This race will be two years almost to the day that Jillian and I completed our first half-iron distance tris together.  I also did my first-ever triathlon with this girl back in May of 2011 (I just re-read my post regarding this experience, "Confessions of a First-Time 'Triathlete'," and was very entertained by the musings and reflections of my three-years-ago self).

7.  October brings my second-favorite race of the year:  Run the Woods.  This trail run offers 5k and 8k distances and is a gorgeous, well-run event.  Ok...truth be told, I am on the committee so I am a little biased ;).  But really...if you're close enough to check it out, do so.  Trail running is so much fun, and the pancake breakfast (boasting GF pancakes as well!) afterwards is stellar!  Ok...end shameless plug ;)!!

8.  My 'A'-Race...The Chicago Marathon.  I'll save the details for another post, but I have high-HIGH hopes for this race.  It is going to be my 11th marathon on the 5th anniversary of my first-ever marathon (which was also in Chicago...back in 2009).  I'm running for my Easter Seals kids again, much more on that later as well.  I think it's high-time for a marathon PR.  We'll see...

Anyway, as per usual I will likely throw in a race or two (or seven) more...but that's how my year is shaking out so far.  I'm excited to see how it all plays out.  Love me some summer...and lots of running (and biking...and occasional swimming ;)).

Happy training...ENJOY this beautiful summer!