With Hurricane Ike fast approaching the area, I figured that NOW is a perfect time to update things on our Team Timex Blog. I mean, what else is there to do except sit and wait for the inevitable to happen…

Brief Racing Update: My last race was mid-August in DeGray Lake, Arkansas. I decided to make the trip to race the Half Iron Distance because I heard the course was a tough, rolling bike course (nobody seemed to mention to me that there were a couple of small hills on the run as well!) and I needed to redeem myself from my awful swim at Lifetime Fitness. We had ideal race day conditions for August and lucked out with partly cloudy conditions and cooler weather (which only means it didn’t hit 95 degrees and 90% humidity). I think the most astonishing part of this race was the fact that I FINALLY had a decent swim. I actually made a wise decision as far as where to position myself at the start and it paid off…Sharpie would have been left speechless (has she ever been speechless?…oh, yeah…that’s right…when that one certain male cyclist stopped to help her)…I was actually the first female from the Half Iron distance out of the water. Miracles do happen.

Brief Training Update: With Clearwater 70.3 Championships and Ironman Arizona approaching, training had been going quite well. Physically I was doing pretty good and was excited for the upcoming races…when…I was rear-ended by an SUV! OH, and did I mention…I was on MY BIKE! Amazing how in a split second you go from being able to handle those long rides and runs to struggling with your daily errands. Instead of spending hours training and hanging out with my kiddos, I’m spending hours at the doctors office and PT. Sorry…if you sense a tone of anger…there is…I’m just a bit frustrated.

But there is never a dull moment down here in Texas…no time to throw much of a pity-party because we have bigger issues to deal with as Hurricane Ike is about to make landfall. Since I have gone almost a week without training, I have been missing my endorphins and grumpiness has set in. Poor hubby and kids…to think that we might be hunkered down in small quarters for several hours must frighten them. Good thing I purchased a camping stove (to make hot water) and a french press so I can keep my Starbucks caffeine intake regular just in case we lose power.

Last week we made our usual summer trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit family, water-ski and get out of TEXAS! Every year I seem to grow more weary of the oppressive heat and humidity we have here in the Houston area, so a trip up north is a welcome reprieve. Unfortunately, this trip was shorter than in years past due to my girls’ activities, but nonetheless, still enjoyable. I even managed to fit in a race while visiting…the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon.

My last OLY was nearly 3 years ago. I do not race OLYs often because it is brutal distance for me, but I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to have a ‘legitimate’ reason to take my bike with me on this brief trip. The race is well-run, on a beautiful course (the fact that I could tell you more about the homes along the bike route would indicate a lack of race day focus on my part), with awesome volunteers and spectator support. I was quite impressed. The race experience itself was a reminder to me as to why I do not race this distance often and why I prefer the longer distances.

The best part of the trip was heading to the theme park inside the MOA the day after the race. Hanna and I hung out all afternoon and it was nice Mommy-Daughter time. I think riding on some of those theme-park rides is more ‘painful’ than training! The fearless wonder-child I used to be has turned into a fearFUL-I-think-I-am-going-to-puke-37-year-old. Every ride I went on I kept thinking “I sure hope the engineers knew what they were doing when they designed this ride” and after awhile I just couldn’t ride any more because my head was spinning and my stomach was churning and I felt like I had drank a little too much red wine! However, the priceless memory of having my 7 year-old tell me, “Mommy, let go of me you are squeezing my hand too tight” is now something I will never be able to live down.

Enjoy your summer.

Kansas 70.3…non-stop rollers & wind, but hey, at least the heat held off!

First, I am just so thankful to be out racing triathlons again, as it has been a long year. My coach told me to go into the race with no time expectations. Just embrace the race. And, I did just that. I was anxious to get back out and race, even if I was a little rusty. I had the pre-race nerves and jitters I remember having a few years back, prior to settling into that over-trained mantra of “I really don’t want to be doing this anymore.” My goal for this race was to find out where my heart was with respect to racing and recapture the joy I once experienced when racing.

A quick recap of the race:

Swim-My first time swimming with my new Blue Seventy Helix and while I was initially concerned I was stretching out the T I M E X lettering a bit too much, it was an ideal fit. Not a single mark on my neck, I had freedom of movement in the shoulders, and an overall very comfortable fit. You cannot really look at the swim times at Kansas 70.3 to determine if it was a good swim or not, but I was pleased with where I came out of the water with respect to my division.

T1-Hello…I forgot that the clock kept running during the transitions. This is where my ‘out of practice’ really showed. My story is that I was being methodical. :)

Bike-Ok, here I was a bit unprepared. Finding these kinds of rollers week in and out when training in Houston is just impossible (and I do not have the time to drive to Austin or elsewhere for training trips). The day prior to the race somebody described the course as ‘you are either going up or coming down.’ But, since I cannot train in the rolling hills, I may as well race in them. I see enough of the boring flatlands, so the terrain was a nice change. My new Madone was comfortable but I think I probably road too ‘comfortable’ with respect to my effort. I was so afraid of blowing up, and while sometimes we need to push our limits to reach our potential, I really did not want a DNF in this race. For today, I was ok with finishing with something left in the tank.

T2-Yes, I know…a ‘needs improvement’ mark.

Run-What has usually been my strength ended up being my nemesis today. It was mentally and physically tough for me. My nutrition must have been off some because I basically felt like throwing up. I was disoriented for the first part of the course, but not sure if that had more to do with nutrition being off, or the course itself. I didn’t expect the rocky-gravel portion and I got hung up on that for a bit…until I convinced myself that whining is for losers. I pretty much had to go to that ’spot’ where I just put my head down and focus on the people ahead of me, trying to run them down, and taking things one mile at a time. I kept repeating “I CAN do this.”

Finish-When I knew I was in the clear and going to finish (about 200 meters from the finish) I began thinking to myself that I would get a finish and NOT have to visit the med tent. I doubt this is something anybody else thinks of while racing, but I think I have seen more med tents than finish lines in my triathlon career. Well, I started celebrating a bit too early because about 2 feet from the finish line I went face down. Yep, right as the announcer was mentioning my name I did a face-plant into the ground. And, this wasn’t something I could just roll out of and pretend to do the Blazeman roll…no, this was anything but graceful. Thankfully I got back up, crossed the line, and then headed to the tent for some ice. I was so obsessed about my bum knee (hoping that all that PT had not gone to waste) that it did not dawn on me that my wrist was quite sore. Everything turned out ok, and it did not take me too long before I was laughing at myself.

Good news: Nothing broken, made it to the finish line
Bad news: I am afraid what my finishers photos might look like, typing by hen-pecking is slow

Thanks to Timex, Trek, Bontrager, Profile Design, Blue Seventy, hubby, Team STRIVE, Coach Clint and Tektonics for getting me to the start and finish line this past Sunday.

Keep Striving!

Happy Mother’s Day!

My wish for Mother’s Day-my 2 girls do not argue with each other for this one day (yeah, right!)

The homemade gifts children make for their moms on Mother’s Day can be quite revealing.  Since I have a 13 y/o I know that my years of receiving these special homemade gifts from my 7 y/o are limited…and while Hallmark cards can be quite nice, they just don’t make the ones that say things like this…

 My Special Mom: by Hanna

My mother’s name is Kim.  I call her Mummy.  She is 8 feet tall.  She looks pretty when she wears dresses (and not her workout clothes).  The thing my mom cooks best is CHICKEN NUGGETS.  My mom likes to run, bike, and swim.  My mom does not like to do dishes.  My mom is the queen of the world!

Have a good one Moms! 

She finally arrived…my new Trek Madone WSD 6.5 (http://www.trekbikes.com/women/wsd_products/bikes/) and she is light and comfortable.  The engine is in need of some repair-work, but the bike is ready to race.

Last year I took most of the year off for health reasons.  That was the easiest way for me to focus purely on recovering.  I see too many people, including myself, rush through recovery and compete at 75% of their best effort instead of just taking some time off so they can come back and compete at 100%, and I was going to change this pattern for me.  

So, once I took care of my health, I decided to tackle some ongoing issues I have been having since my knee surgery in 2005.  Well, and to be fully-honest here, the decision to address my knee was really instigated by Kyle’s remark at our Team Timex Camp earlier this year when he point-blank told me that I ”run like a duck.” 

I rushed through my rehab post-knee surgery because I was so focused on RACING rather than being patient.  Following knee surgery I had some swelling that impinged a nerve and my VMO basically shut-down.  I could NOT get a full extension with my left knee.  After many weeks of therapy and a LOT of atrophy, I just got frustrated and figured that ’eventually’ my leg muscles would start working properly.  I mean…at least I could swim, bike and run, yes? 

Fast forward 2 years and well…we all know what happens when there is a discrepancy in leg strength.  Other muscles soon start taking over and doing the job others should do, injuries begin to occur because one leg is working more than the other, the run gait is causing a problem with knee tracking, and performances always remain sub-par. 

I promised myself a ‘no-excuse’ triathlon season this year, and Kyle’s remark prompted me to seek help.  I recently went to Tektonic Sports and began working with Dr. Sutton and had a Wingate test, a VO2/LT test for both the bike and the run, in addition to receiving sports-performance rehab on my knee.  The test results have not been pretty but at least I know what needs to be corrected!  My Wingate test came back at…I am almost embarrassed to say this…a leg discrepancy of 65% vs. 35%.  I was also videotaped running and cycling and that has really helped me to actually see what I was (or was NOT) doing.  I have had to have some thick skin when analyzing all these results, and I know I have some work to do to get this engine back into form, but I finally feel like I am on the right path. 

The Powertap (http://www.saris.com/) is an invaluable training tool for me as I work on rebuilding this engine.  The Powertap in conjunction with my Timex Bodylink help keep me honest when training on my bike.  I am really a work in progress but I am hoping I will no longer be running like a duck.  Until then, waddle-on!  :)