Saturday, July 27, 2013

Hello Asphalt!! Meet Speedy Turtle...

 I had been resting and recovering the last week. On Monday, I start back to running and run with the Memphis Women Walk Run group and I had a great run. I kept up with hill repeats and couldn't believe how fast my feet were moving.. On my way back to my car, I roll my ankle and had a sprained ankle. Not too bad.. I have had worse ankle sprains than this. I walked, ran back to the car. I rested, iced, compressed and elevated my leg for the next  day. I was back.. I went swimming and had a great swim..I went on a 3.3 mile run on Thursday and had a great run! My average speed was 12 min/mile.. Yeah!! Speedy Turtle is starting to get faster...

Now come today.. I was going to meet with a few of my turtle friends and  go for a 25 mile ride. I was so excited.. I was ready for a great ride! We started off great! My legs felt great, the weather was great and then I saw a car in front of me.. I yelled back to let my friends know that a car was coming and my front wheel turned into the grass... This is not a good thing.. I tried to straighten out and  knew that wasn't going to happen. I knew I was going to crash... I just didn't know how much it was going to hurt..but I knew it was going to hurt... down I go... Thanks to Elaine and Kat, they were there helping me out, calling a ride and making sure I was ok.. I couldn't have planned a perfect crash.. both Elaine and Kat work in the ER as a PA and NP.. I had the best care ever!!

So, I thought I just laid my bike down.. hit my head and face on the road... NOOOO.... I made decided to make it look good. Kat said I did a flip over my bike and landed acing the opposite direction.. I didn't realize that until she said.. look at your bike... OMG!!! I freaked out inside... You know I could have broken a collarbone, ribs and had a concussion.. I am so glad I have a hard head.. Elaine's husband came and took me back to my car to my car where  I met my husband and son.. Yes, they were called to come get me because I wasn't sure if I could drive home..

I am now home and resting.. I am going to have quite a shiner this week. I am so glad I work from home.
I will be getting back on my bike again this week.. I have a mini sprint tri next weekend.. I am not going to stop me from continuing the change in my lifestyle... In the past, I would have done this, but not this time. Tomorrow is the RRS 5K, if my body is up for it, I will go run it. I will keep on moving forward and I will keep on training..

Thank you to Kat, Elaine, John, Don and Donnie! I am really lucky to have some great friends and family..

Speedy Turtle is on the mend..

Happy Training!
Eling

Monday, July 15, 2013

Ironman 70.3 Muncie 2013 Race Report

Where do I begin???? This was my second half this season and I had an amazing race. Actually this year has been an amazing year for racing for me..I guess I will start at the beginning...

On Thursday morning, we packed up the car and we were off to Munice, IN. This was the first time that we didn't turn back a few times in the neighborhood because one of us forgot something.. maybe this is a good sign. We had an uneventful drive. When we got into Anderson, IN (all of the hotels were booked in April in Muncie). The hotel was amazing! The hotel changed their breakfast to 4:30 am for race day and we  all were given a care package at check-in. The next morning we went to the convention center and got our race packet. Race packet pick-up is pretty much the same for all ironman events. The Expo was really good. I walked around and I was able to sample new products. Just a Disclaimer: My opinions on the products are my opinions only and I have not been endorsed by the companies. I was able to try out Huma Gels and Core Power Nutritional drink.  I will have to say, I LOVED both products. The  Huma Gels tasted like real fruit jelly or preserves, just not as sweet. They tasted very similar to the squeezable applesauce. All I can say is YUM! The Core Power drink was so good. I love the honey milk. I am not a milk drinker and I liked this a lot. I actually drank some after the half and felt really good.. After we picked up our packet, we went to the race venue. This was the first time that I actually rode my bike for 10 minutes and then went for a run. I am glad I did. I got a feel for the roads. The weather the day before was gorgeous! The temperature was in the low 80s and the weather on race day was going to be a low of 66 and a high of 85.. The water temp was 76.0 degrees.. Yes... this was going to be a wetsuit legal race!! Whoo hoo!! I was so excited! I could have a great swim!

The next morning, we got up at 4:45 am. All three of us were doing something with the race. Don and I were going to race and Donnie was going to be a lifeguard on the swim course. I was so happy that he could do this! What a relief to a mom to know that the race officials would ensure my son was looked after.. I know he is 16 but I still worry. He was a great help on race day.. We had breakfast and headed out to the race venue, which was over 30 minutes away... About 15 miles later, I look at Don and said " I forgot to pack my wetsuit!" Panic started to set in. I have never swam a half without a wetsuit. What was I going to do??? I had planned my last few swims with the idea that I would be swimming with a wetsuit... Ughhh!!! I had no one to blame but myself.. Just before I took off in my wave, I told myself, that I would be fine and to just swim and think of Dori... This time, we took off in time and we were off. I was in a wave start and it wasn't as bad as last year's wave start at Hy Vee. The water was great! I was actually warmer than the pool at St. Georges. I put my head down and sang my song.. "Row, Row, Row your boat (breathe) gently down the stream (breathe), merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily (breathe), life is but a dream (breathe)" Each word was a stroke for me. I kept on swimming and made the first turn and then made the second turn. As I was swimming, I took a breath to my right and saw Donnie on the surfboard. That was so cool to see him. He told be good luck and that he loved me.. I don't know if I will ever have that experience again.. I continued to swim toward shore but it was really hard to sight.. we had the sun in our eyes, so I kept hoping that I was swimming straight.. After awhile, the guys behind me started to try to swim over me, kick me and pull my legs. I was getting a little mad when all of a sudden, I get a tap on my shoulder... In the water, there was Don. He caught up to me, spotted me and gave me "I love you" before he swam on.. Now I know that is an experience that I won't ever get to experience. I got to the shore and I encountered my first hill. I had to run up a hill to get to T1..so off I go.

Getting on the bike, I got to my bike and started to take off. As I was about to exit, there were volunteers slathering sunscreen.. I had learned my lesson, I forgot to put on sunscreen, so I asked the volunteers to slather on the sunscreen. I am so glad I did. The bike was amazing.. The course was relatively flat and they even closed down a major highway. My average speed was 16.9 in the first half and 17 mph on the second half. I met my goal for the bike. I was on my way to finishing under 7.5 hours.  Knowing that the run had rolling hills, I made sure I kept up on my hydration and electrolytes.  I came in on the bike into T2 and got ready for the run. Off I went, I tried to make sure I didn't take off too fast because I was going downhill.. So, I held back a little.. only a little because I had a goal of running faster.. There were water stops every mile on the course. It felt like I was running into the next aid station after finally getting into a groove. I was doing great on the first half. I pushed up the hills, like I had learned and gave 100% effort. I didn't beat myself up if my speed was 14 min/mile. I just kept telling myself  keep on running, keep on running.. At the turnaround point, the run started to get hot! The sun was beating down and I was trying to keep cool. I am so glad I brought an endurocool towel. That was a lifesaver and the cold sponges. I was wearing down but I kept on running.. There were times that I would want to walk but I didn't. I actually tried to walk only through the water stops and then shuffled.. As I was coming up the last hill, I felt like I was the Bionic Woman running.. my arms were moving but my legs were going REALLY SLOW... you could almost hear "NANANANANANAA".. I got to the top of the hill and ran down the shoot to the finish line! What a feeling to see the time under 8 hours 30 mins on the overhead clock! I knew I had finished under 7.5 hours and I had a smile on my face..

Looking back on this race, it was one of my best races ever! I saw my son on the course as a lifeguard! I saw my husband on the swim, bike and run! This was a great race! I know we were lucky to have great weather for the race but I, also, know that all of my hard work has finally paid off. Lesley helped me with keeping me motivated and just always being there when I needed her and working Billy on the computrainer just gave me the strenght to maintain my speed on the bike.. This was a great race and I know my triathlons will keep getting better..I have one more mini sprint this year and I will be concentrating on the road runner race series..

Speedy Turtle is starting to get faster!!

Happy Training!
Eling

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Still training... One week to Ironman 70.3 Muncie

Well, it has been over a month since I last posted.. I have been keeping myself really busy.After Memphis in May, I went back to training for another half ironman... I know you are thinking...."ARE YOU CRAZY!!!!" Yes, I am crazy.. but I think I am starting to get addicted to the training... That is a good thing right?! I started to run intervals with the Bartlett Rec Center and I started Computrainer sessions at BioMechaniks.. So... I am busy pretty much everyday of the week. Monday = run, Tues = computrainer, Wed = Swim, Thurs = computrainer, Friday = rest and Saturday and Sunday long rides and run... In between the training, eating a sleeping, I have been stuck playing Candy Crush...
One advice to anyone who reads this...if you have not started playing Candy Crush.... DON'T...  It can consume you.. So, I have made a pact to myself to limit myself on Candy Crush... We will see how far that goes..

Anyway, back to triathlon training... My training has been quite the adventure in Nature.. Today on my last Brick, on my bike ride, I saw a deer.. The deer just stood there and watched me ride by.. What a majestic animal..near the end of my ride, I saw a turtle in the middle of the road.. I had to save the turtle.. I moved the turtle to the other side and made sure it was  safe...finally, while I was running, I saw a baby frog hop past my feet.. It is amazing how much you can see when you stop to enjoy your surroundings and not just trudge through your workout.. I have had some bumps and bruises while riding.. During our 4th of July ride, I lost my balanced and fell.. I fell in front of the whole group... I was more embarrassed than hurt.. I cleaned it with water and had one of the best rides ever..


This looks worse than it really was.. I thought, well... I have a race in a week, so something had to happen.. :).

I am getting nervous about the race in Muncie but it will be fun. I will be doing the race with my husband and my son will be volunteering as a lifeguard.. How  cool is that! My goal is to finish faster than New Orleans (7 hours 29 min) but I will be happy to finish and feel good about my race.. Always need to finish with a smile and know that I did my best.. Who knows... if all goes well, I may look at a full next year.. but that is not a decision to make right now...

Until then... I will be going into my race week... I will know that I have been consistent with my training and I will continue..

Have a great week!

Eling