It's Like Having a Baby...

Why yes it is, my little Ironman newbie..



That's what I said to my friend Janine this week as we were discussing her final Ironman Louisville plans. She was fairly self-coached through the process of training (and used a book training plan I think), but she did like to call me for moral support, to talk over the taper and how she is feeling, nutrition, and race tips. It's been nice for me because I've got to see a little bit of the coaching side (without having all the pressure) and I've really enjoyed watching her progress and talking her through the tough spots.

I don't have nearly enough experience to coach at this point, but you never know some day. It's pretty rewarding and you do almost feel like you're going to do the race too!



So this weekend is it - Ironman Louisville.. all the training, all the sacrifice..and it's finally here..!



I have to do some shout outs because I am so proud of these wonderful friends for taking on the challenge and getting to the starting line (which as we all know is 90% of the battle!).


A HUGE Good Luck goes out to...



Janine S. (it's just a long training day - that's all!)

Rob

Matty M.

Chad H. (second time this summer is the charm! Go get it!)

Lauren H.(my Kona com padre last year)

Megan K.(It's her first!!)

Lisa S.

Lisa M.(or the other Lisa as I like to call her)

Jim B.(my Michigan Hero in the 65 to Death category)

Cindy (or young grasshopper as she is affectionately known)

Jim (from my gym - can't remember his last name right now)

Jason B.



I know I'm missing people that I am going to kick myself about later. I'm with you all in spirit and I'll be cheering my butt off for you on Sunday. You've done the work - so now just go out there and have fun! It's your day!!

The temperature is going to be great (not nearly as hot as other years) so that should help.



In other news, on Friday afternoon I'm going to see a real dermatologist and I can't wait to just hear that there hasn't been any permanent damage. I stopped workout out as of Wed. because it seemed to be making it worse again. Needless to say, that has NOT made my mental state more calm! Who knows what to do with their whole morning! There is just hours in there from 6am-8:30 where I have already mowed the grass, did my laundry, cleaned my house and what am I supposed to do now!



I'm hoping I get the go-ahead to get back at it tomorrow.

I've signed up for the Nations Triathlon so that will be on September 13th...what better way to bring the next decade of my life (well, the actually B-day is the 14th but close enough).


I hope everyone has a great weekend! Go IM LOUISVILLERS!!

What if...

My Mother's tomato plants which I got to see all weekend at home hanging out with her. Homegrown organic tomatoes - love it!

What if you could just step right into someone else's shoes for awhile without anyone knowing? Wouldn't that be a trip?

Would you do it? Who would it be?

How great would it be to just be one of your favorite pro's for a day? You would get to see how they train, relax, eat and socialize? I think I would try on Chrissy Wellington, our current I.M. World Champion. I'm willing to bet that behind that huge smile on race day lies absolutely jaw dropping, wicked, leg burning, huffing and puffing workouts on a daily basis that would make the rest of us look like we are out for a tiptoe among the tulips! Not to say we aren't working hard out here on the age-group side, just to say that she seems to function at another level that I would love to get a glimpse of for just a day or so! Try it on for size!

The reason I ask is because I got a little trip this past week into a different person. Sounds weird right?! Trust me, it was. Little did I know when I embarked to what I thought was a dermatologist (which was not) my life for a week would be drastically different. As it turned out, I went to see an Optometrist MD that does certain aesthetic procedures (and she doesn't even do them herself - a medical "esthetician" does them!) When I met with her last Tuesday, she made it seem like not such a big deal to get a chemical peel to help with my acne and remove some of the scarring from over the years. Um.. yeah.. not so much.

She did give me the caveat:

- No sun

- No excessive exercise (hummm.. I think that's all I do..wait lady, did you hear me say I'm a triathlete??)

- No peeling the skin off NO MATTER WHAT

Wednesday wasn't so bad..just a shiny face and a strange feeling that my whole face was sucking in on itself. Thursday it started to bubble up and large pieces of skin started turning black. Friday was an all out disaster. My lips were swelled, my face was so tight I couldn't open my mouth very wide (aka..not too much eating..especially of anything over a 1 inch diameter), and I generally looked like I had leprosy or some sort of extreme skin condition.

Going into the office was fun.

I was going up the stairs to avoid as many people as possible. I refused to go anywhere in public..

Because of the starring. Yes, the starring was incredible. I have never experienced starring of such blatant proportions. You would have thought I had two heads.

So, for the past week I got to experience life a little differently. Occasionally, I've seen someone with a massive birthmark on their face, or a burn and I try to be really careful not to make them feel uncomfortable. Well, you know what kids, that's just about impossible. You probably don't even realize you're doing it but the quick look and look away is just as noticeable as the "all out" stare method.

Either way, I think I will be more sensitive about this issue than I ever could be otherwise without this experience. It affected my workouts, my life, my self-esteem and even made me worry it was doing permeant damage because it was not supposed to be that severe.

The good news is I'm seeing a real dermatologist this week to get my very red and blotchy (no more peeling) face seen to be sure this whole experience didn't do damage for life. I hope not. It peeled twice, which was fun and also unexpected by this Medi-spa Doctor as I like to call her. I'm not happy with her, or with the place. I think both severely underestimated my skin, my life and this whole endeavor. They said three days - HA.. try 7 and it's still not over.

I'm finally back to working out and even though I'm as red as a beet, I'm very happy to be mostly back to normal.

So, my suggestion is - DON"T get a chemical peel no matter how good they make it sound. Seriously, just don't do it! It's not worth it.

I have pictures, but I'm not posting them. Just know it was awful.

Although it was a good experience to learn how to be so compassionate to others with these issues, I think I'll pass on trying it again if at all possible.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I spent mine as a hermit, inside and not seeing anyone!

Quick shout out to my friend Beth Shutt who placed third in the 30-34 at age-group nationals! Way to go Beth! Next weekend - Ironman Louisville. There are 25 people from Pittsburgh going down..! I can't wait to watch how things go!

Happy Training from the red-faced girl!

60 Miles in Pictures

On Saturday I hoped once again to hook up with one of my trusted tried and true training partners but to no avail. It was me, myself, and I. Blue was not anxious to get out of bed that morning (I tried to talk her into a 7am start but that wasn't happening) so we both agreed on 7:30am wake up and then out by 8:00am. However, I had some zen and the art of bike maintenance to do and that took longer than expected. Once I was covered in grease it was time to roll out of stone field.

I see you Mr. Ed!

I have a hard time finding training partners. The guys my age are just too darn fast. I would end up blowing my heart rate out of the ballpark for the entire three hours. Some of my other Ironman friends are also riding by heart rate and they are a bit older so their max is lower forcing them to slow down. Once again, I don't want to push them, they don't want to slow me down. It's a tough thing, so sometimes you just have to go solo. That's exactly what I did.

A cute little creek along the ride!

Yep, that's me!

I rode out to my old stomping grounds around Cranberry and 989. This is where a friend taught me to do a big square so I wouldn't get lost. At ever stop I make a right! That, my friends, I can handle!

My bovine friends down home on the farm

I passed hill and dale, cow and chicken alike (and said hi to most as I went by). It was hot, but it was beautiful and my heart rate was perfect. I ended with an average of 145 which for me, is pretty good. During my Ironman training keeping my average above 140 was a real challenge as I was pretty fit and the downhills it would drop easily into the 110's within seconds.

See - 140 Coach (do not attempt this at home)

I ended with a nice transition run of 30 minutes in North Park where I had to keep backing it down because by this point it was well into the high 80's.

It was a great day and I am thankful I'm not afraid to get out there and just go my own way. I miss my TP's, but maybe we will be able to work it out soon.

In other news I went to a dermatologist last night. I have been to see many derms in my day because I've had serious acne issues since I have been about fifteen years old. Sure, you may not see it in some of my pictures, but I have become a master at hiding it (and not posting the bad ones!). It has plagued me for so many years it's just become a part of my life - get up, wash face, get sad when I see a new one, pick at it (because I'm a compulsive picker) and then try to cover it up. I don't get regular acne - like a lot of zits all over. I get one or two really bad cystic acne flare ups at a time. It really makes it hard to deal with because I just can't keep my hands off my face.

Needless to say, with my stress level lately its been out of complete control and last week I actually had someone ask "what happened to your face?" like I had been in a car crash, or fell of my bike or something!! Supposedly this lady does many different types of treatments and her first order of business was a chemical peel. I literally said during it "If I can do an Ironman, I can do this" in order to keep myself in the chair. It hurt so bad!! I made it though and now my entire is face is going to peel off over the next three days.. Sounds fun huh!! Lovely. I spent a gazillion dollars on some products (no seriously - like a new Powertap or something worth -ahhh!) so please Father in heaven, let this be the time that finally works as I have tried EVERYTHING!!!

We'll see. Marit once told me a lot of top triathletes have really bad acne. Humm..I wouldn't say I'm one of those but maybe we all make too much testosterone or something. That's a fun thought right!

Week In Review

Sunset on my San Diego training trip in January

It's been an interesting and productive week around here. Yeah, yeah..boring, boring right!

I don't have many pictures to back that up, but I'm going to get back on the picture taking train soon - I promise!

Training hasn't been in full, full swing. However, it's been resembeling a schedule and I like it. I swam three times this week (an improvement from 0 last week!) and I biked and ran some too.

If I had to write a book about my ride on Wednesday night after counseling, it would go something like this:

I felt lucky to be alive as pulled out of the parking lot on this hot summer evening. Blue and I were off on another adventure and I had high hopes of a wonderful evening in store.

It was hard to believe we were riding in the last throws of summer, but it was just the way I like it, sticky, yet sweet, with the breeze blowing just enough. We took familiar roads and my legs, though tired, were managing the pace just fine. Surprisingly, they resembled rides last year and I wished for a few minutes there were more than two hours on the schedule. Cresting hills outstretched with farmland the waning sun threw golden rays lighting up the fields of wheat. A baby alpaca stood on tiny wobbly legs that took up 3/4'ths of his body, as he strained to see who were and what we we were doing on two wheels. I smiled wildly while yelling "hey cutie!". A couple of times I couldn't help but well up with emotion about how there was nothing I would rather be doing than pushing on my pedals and pulling on my handlebars up a little hill in on this gorgeous summer evening. It made me thankful for this evening, for the chance to feel the weight of this world and my tumultuous life slide right off my shoulders for just a few hours while I squeezed every last drop of happiness out of this moment. As I pulled in beside my car, sweat dripped off my brow and I tasted my life saltiness. The word "bittersweet" came to my mind. "That was what it's all about" I thought. It's not always about fitness, or winning, or making some mileage or beating some time... sometimes it's about life and this little time we have which leaves us in a better state than we would have been if we hadn't clipped in. That's why I love it. People just don't understand, but Lance will surely tell you..it's not about the bike. No Lance, it certainly isn't.

So, that's my little excerpt. If I ever write it, I'll let you know. Even if I write it just for me, I might do that.

Either way, it was a great night and I went home feeling great. I cried less this week than usual so I'd say that's a plus.

Four of the seven packages have left the building and I'm getting some of my thankfulness out which always makes me feel happy. I love thinking about people's faces when they open things. That's fun.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys some good riding and running. I even starting to like swimming a little. Wait..did I just say that.. somebody slap me! I guess the more you do it, the less you dread it. So, four times next week - that's my goal.

Here is a random picture since I don't have any new ones. This is from last weekend when I was doing some wacky pose for Lissa with my "lanyard" on. I guess that is the thing around my neck. I have no idea how to spell lanyard or if it is even a real word. Who knows..

This is a cross between "I think I look cool" and "I'm a big dork and I'm not afraid to show it!" (and yes that is a port-o-pot in the background which I think adds a whole new level of coolness to this picture)

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Week of Thank You's

I've been making this thank you list for ages. It's time to get it done! So, I have officially entitled this week - the week of thank you's. I'm going to pack boxes, send cards and just generally tell the people in my life who have been doing extraordinary things without a thought of what they might receive in return "you're amazing..thank you so much for who you are and what you do for me etc. etc" I realize I couldn't begin to thank most of them enough, but it's worth a try so we'll see how it goes this week. Watch your mail people, there could be something in there by the end of this week! You may or may not know who you are!!

Here I am working the food show last week in Army green "boot camp" attire. If you look closely my shirt says a very appropriately "drop and give me 20!"

In celebration style (the bar exam is over..yipppee!) Liss and I attended a party called "summer showdown" with a live band and lots of food. It was a blast.

They even made their own grape-juice pong table. How clever?! Those boy's love their antioxidants!

Someone got really excited about us taking this picture of Lissa! Rock it!

We decided we would move on from that party about 8pm and go have dinner at a cute place in Shadyside! It was a little garden theme outside. So much fun. Thanks for coming this weekend Lissa. I had a blast and needed it! Oh yeah..and I biked a little and ran a little too. Nothing crazy though. This week, I'm getting back on the horse..or the bike..or in the pool..or whatever. You know what I mean Coach!!

A shout out to my friend and fellow triathlete Heidi who just had a super fantastic comback race at the North Park Triathlon on Sunday! This little sprint draws some pretty fast ladies and she really had a fun day out there swimming, biking and running her way to 5th place overall female! Great job Heidi! You did it!! I'm SOOOO proud of you!

Steelhead Pictures and Busy Week

Beth and I at the start - triathletes, but friends first

Here we Go! I'm somewhere in row two on the left!

Struggling with my wetsuit. I had the hardest time with the cord! Right after this we hit ankle deep sand to run in for 50 yards or so - I was in slow motion!

Coming out of T1

Speeding on Blue! I love you Blue!

What are you looking at!? Ha! I have to hand it to Kyle as not everyone would drive the course to take pictures out the car window. He did a great job at the pictures and being a big support when I was ready to throw in the towel.

Running and not very happy about my legs.. I think this was just pre-breakdown.

Heading into the finish and VERY excited to see it!

My great buddy Jim..you're the best and I hope when I grow up I'm just like you!

Katya Meyers and I at the awards. She was very sweet and is one of my favorite triathletes.

The whole group (Kyle, Jim and I in the front and center, Cindy & Erin in the back) at dinner. It was wonderful and Erin (in the back right) did her first 70.3 that day! We all did a bit cheers to wonderful friends and coming back next year!

I'm still alive. It's been a busy work week, and I only got to log onto my computer a couple of times to attempt to quickly buzz through the most important emails and make sure that no one was going to kill me for forgetting something!

Now it's Friday at 5:45pm and I am seriously wondering what I am doing still at work. I guess it has to do with the fact that I don't have the Internet at home so if I want to blog I have to do it here after hours.

A work counterpart of mine and I attended a food show this week where we exhibited and showed our "healthier" bakery items, as well as, did some continuing education. We were fortunate enough to get to hear a presentation from Keith Harrell, motivation speaker and super fantastic guy! It really was amazing and as of late I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about what I want to do with my life (could it be that I'm turning 30 in a month?). Early mid-life crisis or not, I'm just wondering what the plan is for me and what I might look into to further develop my skill set in certain areas. Seeing speakers like Keith, who can have an impact on so many, really get my mind working about what I do well, could improve upon, and could pursue not just as a hobby but as a career.

I have some thoughts about next steps and I'm going to look into it. On Monday night I did another sports nutrition presentation at California University of PA and I just really felt in my element up there. The kids paid such close attention to every word and afterward low and behold, I got asked for my first autograph (well, my first like 8 autographs). When they stood there with pens and papers I really didn't know what to think??! I was completely dumbfounded until one of them explained it to me. I seriously almost started laughing, I definitely smiled from ear to ear. It was such a gift to be there already, but that right there made me feel like a million bucks. It was cute and thoughtful and I just really enjoyed their questions/comments and the great things I heard about them being interested in triathlon (I showed all my videos - that is always a crowd pleaser).

So, that was my week. I do think God has a way of showing us small pieces of where we are supposed to be or what we are supposed to do. We have to listen closely and really ask to be shown all the time, every day. I hope I will be fortunate enough to see the plan taking shape one day. We'll see.

In the mean time, I've got to get out of here! It's almost 6pm! I've had it!

Have a great weekend everyone.

It Wasn't Pretty...

I always have, and always will love to race. There is just nothing like packing up your stuff, heading out to a new place you've never been, or even an old place that you just love and now have friends to meet up with, to see what happens on any given Saturday (or Sunday).

I love the thrill of standing at the starting line and hearing AC/DC Thunderstruck blare through the speakers with 130 of my closest 30-34 year old friends around me all covered in wetsuits, hearts pounding, breathing hard and then hearing the gun go off as we sprint into the water and dive for position. Seriously, what's not to love!!

Going into Saturday I had a good attitude. I had a few good weeks of training in and a very small taper so I felt pretty optimistic.

This will have to be the short version of race report because I am short on time and I have a busy week traveling for work starting this afternoon.

The swim was like it always is, hitting and kicking and crazy for the first 200 meters and then it calmed down and I can honestly say I swam hard throughout that entire swim. I even attempted to draft for a minute somewhere in there that almost worked! I came out and glanced at my watch - 33:something and change. It was either the current I just had a big PR. I'm not sure which but I'm pretty sure it was the current!

We had a beach run up which was torture as my heart rate of 185 remained so high while running uphill on sand after a 1.2 mile swim! I could have done without that part!

The transition was SUPER long. It was probably the longest I have ever experienced with only three rows so they just lined up what seemed like football fields worth of bikes long ways. I found my bike easily, wrestled with my wetsuit and then grabbed my bike while almost getting run over by the girl behind me. The aisles weren't even wide enough to not worry about nailing the poor other girls trying to get their wetsuits off in my same row. That was definitely not cool. I had to keep yelling so they knew I was coming and could eek forward a bit so they didn't loose a foot or have me crash into a whole bike row on my left.

The bike was interesting. There were three of us that headed out right at the same time of similar abilities and the passing back and forth began almost immediately. She passed and slowed down, I passed, then she passed. You get it. Finally about mile 30 I said enough. My heart rate was hanging on the low side anyway and I said to myself "let's give it ten good minutes and see if these girls decide to stick around." I did, and after ten minutes they were not there so I figured I must have dropped them. I just wanted to ride MY race and not be worrying about drafting constantly dropping back and pushing forward to pass.

Before I knew it we were at 46 miles and the wind picked up immensely. It was a terrible head wind and I just hunkered down in aero and tried to cut through it. I drank two 24 ounce bottles of MAO fluid energizer and had 3 gels. The weather was perfect, not too hot at all, so I was convinced my fluid intake was fine.

My T2 went well and I was off and running. During my first mile I noticed my legs were not feeling so great and I just kept saying "get through this then re-assess, it's just the first mile." I checked my split - 6:55. Ok..a bit fast..slow it down and we'll see how this thing goes. However, by mile two I was already starting to slow down unintentionally. My legs just started to feel achy, sore and just generally not wanting to function. I tried to keep pushing but they just wouldn't. I started going through the aid stations taking everything - Gatorade, water.. I ate another gel to try and bring them around. Nope, nothing. On top of that my stomach was starting to hurt and cramping a little. All around by mile 4 I was a mess. There was a pretty decent hill right at the end of the first loop and I was trying as hard as I could not to give up and walk but I just felt miserable. So, I did..which was a first for me in a race...ever.

As I did other athletes young and old encouraged me and said positive things "one step at a time" they would say as they ran by. I would wave and try to smile and thank them. It was a humbling experience and one that I am actually glad I have to put in the memory bank for when I see someone walking the course the next time. At one point I started to have a major breakdown and felt like quitting. A familiar voice told me not to, one step at a time and to just make it to the finish. It was the right thing to do and in the end I'm glad I did. I shuffled, I walked and I ran a bit through the rest of the race. At one point an older gentlemen said when I started running again (after seeing my small teary breakdown), "that's it, don't let me see you back here again, I'll talk your ear off and you don't want that do you!" It was very cute and made me smile. After the race he found me and I gave him a big hug and thanked him for that smile that helped carry me through the rest of the race.

It became about finishing. Not time, not place, just finishing. I was proud I didn't give into the negative thoughts about not having the race I wanted and just giving up. My motto is if we can go on, if it's not going to hurt us further, then we should.

So, that was Saturday. I have yet to figure out why the legs were so mad, but that's ok. I may never. The point is I love to race and I did it again on Saturday at Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3. Thanks for the support and well-wishes! I appreciate it and love you guys! Thank you sponsors for helping me race once again and even when it's not quite where I want to be, learning from it and coming away a bit stronger. It was good practice for when things aren't going well - what do you do?! I proved to myself that I stay in it and fight even when it's not pretty. I'm thankful for the opportunity to have that chance once again.

I'll post pictures sometime soon hopefully! Great job to Beth (who toughed it out on the run too with serious stomach issues) and my fellow racers - Jim and Cindy! You guys are awesome and it was great to see you! I think I heard Liz cheering! Thanks ELF!