Shortly after arriving home from camp, I was contacted by a Team Timex sponsor; Nathan Sports . They sponsor triathlons around the country and occasionally do hydration presentations for the athletes. I had done this previously in Tempe, AZ last September and Nathan was looking to do one in Miami. Well, the calender was open.. and I’ve never been to Miami, so I jumped at the opportunity.

When I arrived into Miami yesterday afternoon, I thought how funny that the day before I was snowshoe racing above 11,000 feet and now I’m about ready to combust in my jeans with the heat and humidity. I didn’t know if I was going to make it to the hotel alive with the way my taxi driver was driving… but I was hoping I would so I could get those jeans off!

I arrived at Footworks for the event and met a lot of really nice people; Bob, JP, Tachi and many others. They called on me to lead the 60+ runners in a warm-up prior to our 5k fun run… that was fun! We then headed out for a run. THIS WAS CRAZY… I thought the taxi ride was bad?! I truly feel it is a hazard to ones health.. or LIFE to run in Miami. I think drivers try to hit runners… it was the craziest thing I have ever experienced in my life!

Upon our return to the shop, I presented on hydration to the group and afterward we had a great Q & A sesson. Teaching athletes the important role that hydration and nutrition play into training and racing is critical.  It helps us make the most of the investment we make in ourselves.

Enjoy your training =)

www.tristafrancis.com

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-friends

-the color red

-calamari for LUNCH!

-teaching international athletes how to play football (Jerzy!)

-testing on the Woodward

-Hodge’s fat lips and football

-meeting my mate Kirill who has a VO2max of 85 on the bike

-Meeker’s tackle

-daily shuttles

-Herbie as Quarterback

-underwater treadmills

-unlimited amount of hot cocoa

-Alex’s Wet Willy’s

-watching team movies

-interview with Schuler

-Newark Airport Security

-Rachel as the Statue of Liberty

-chatting with Kevin Boothe #77 and security at the TPC

-Timex Tap in BLACK, WS4 in WHITE,  and the Global Trainer hitting the Market in May!

Enjoy your training =) www.tristafrancis.com

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I am so excited to write about my first ever snow shoe race!  For the past couple of years, I have wanted to try this but didn’t have snow shoes to just drop in whenever.  So for Christmas, the big box under the tree… was a pair of running snow shoes! 

I registered for the Beaver Creek Snow Shoe Series which is the largest snow shoe series in the world!  It is about a 2 hour drive from Denver.  Well, registering was the easy part.  I needed to get my running shoes mounted and the person I found to do this was at Pedal Power in Vail.  So I trekked up there 5 days before the race to get my shoes mounted.  I had planned on trying them out afterward, but I wasn’t able too because of the mounting process.  I thought oh well, I guess I’ll be trying them out on race day!

Race day came and as I was packing up to head out, I mentioned to my Sister and Bro-in-law, “Don’t try anything new on race day!” as I chuckled.  I had yet to be on these snow shoes let alone attempt running in them.  After heading over to Beaver Creek, I got my number and got over to the start.  I started about 1/3 of the way back as to not get in the way of anyone “more experienced”!  The gun blew and we were off.  It took me about 2 miles to get comfortable in my shoes… to the point where at some times, I looked down just to make sure they were still on my feet!  These Northern Lites Elite Racers are amazing! The thought kept crossing my mind.. this is like the mountain biking of running!  I loved it!!!  My lungs felt like they were going to explode then my legs would feel like they were going to collapse; just a darn good workout!! 

I was about 4 miles into the race when a 13 yr veteran of the series, Tom Moorhead, turned around and yelled at me.. “Is anyone behind you?” I said that I thought so… and he said “Nope, I think we took a wrong turn… we are heading back in”.  I thought, there is no way!  I saw the blue flags and arrows.  He stopped, came back past me, and was confident we had headed the wrong direction.  Well, honestly, at this point, having never been to this resort, I had NO IDEA where I was or even where I needed to go.  I figured I better follow! Sure enough, Tom had figured out where we had made the error and we were back on track.  I must say, the wind was taken out of my sails a bit.  I couldn’t eat my frozen power bar and for my first time out… it was turning into a long adventure.

When I finally crossed the finishline, I had logged 7.25 miles running in snow shoes with 1,864 elevation gain for my first Snow Shoe race.. (yes, they had a 5k race too but I didn’t feel that was long enough).  I was sooo happy to be finished and am so excited to PR my next race!! ;-) 

I am hooked! Get out there and try something new! www.tristafrancis.com

Enjoy your training =)

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I live in Highlands Ranch, a suburb of Denver.  It is a community just under 100,000 people now.  I first raced this Turkey Day 5k in 2006.  There was a pretty good turnout and I remember wondering “how many of these people have their turkey cooking right now and how many are going to someone elses home for the big feast”.  I can’t actually say how many participated but my guess was about 600-700 people.  In 2007 and 2008 I didn’t do the this race as we spent Thanksgiving in the mountains skiing with family and cooking our turkey at 9200 feet. (That was an adventure in and of itself!)

Thanksgiving Day 2009 kept us closer to home and so my family decided it would be a fun way to spend the morning together.  I had anticipated a larger crowd as that is just what happens with time, but I could not believe my eyes when we arrived to the race.  This year there were over 1200 entrants and finishers!  The race had probably doubled in size since 2006.  This was very exciting to me as I looked around at participants that were all shapes and sizes from the very youngest to the very oldest.  I think it is absolutely spectacular that more people are adopting a more active lifestyle and participating in these events!  See you at the races! www.tristafrancis.com

Enjoy your training =)

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As most of you know, shortly after qualifying for the 70.3 World Championships in June, I went down during an easy run and tore my Hamstring.  My first handful of races started out with a bang and I was set to have an awesome rest of the season… until.  I spent the rest of the summer learning how to run again (literally) and doing drills until I couldn’t see straight.  I would go out for runs with my girls and they would have to wait for ME, and encourage ME to keep going.  It was a long road to Clearwater knowing that the odds were against me in being able to complete 70.3 only 4 months post tear.  I would get really nervous for my run sessions, knowing I needed to have success building my mileage to be able to finish the day.  I’ll be honest, this is the hardest challenge I have ever had to overcome in my training.  There was one day where I thought… “I am working so hard, the progress is minimal if any, is this all worth it? I just might be done as a triathlete”.  Well, some one was looking out for me as I had a huge breakthrough run the next day which encouraged me to keep plugging away and reminded me of the passion I have for the sport.

About two weeks out to the race, I was looking back at my training.  I knew I had enough training under my belt to finish.. But considering the distance, and the volume/intensity I can tolerate for 70.3, the training was way down due to the responsiveness of my leg.  With all this and knowing the goal was to just ‘finish’ not ‘race’, I set some goals for myself.  1. Have a great time… ‘you’re racing again!’ 2. Run the whole run; pay no attention to pace. 3. Please oh please, let my body be able to come in under the 6 hr mark!

WOOT WOOT! I had a blast, I PR’d my swim and my Bike, and I ran the whole 13.1 miles which is the first time to cover that distance in 5 months (pre-injury). AND, I finished in 5:47:47.  All goals accomplished and then some!  I love Clearwater, and this race continues to be my favorite!  This was the perfect comeback race for me.  I have missed racing and getting out there again has fueled my motivation to continue to train hard through the winter months in regaining what was lost. www.tristafrancis.com

Enjoy your training =)

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