My Self-Supported Half-Iron Distance Triathlon

Hey, phew it's been a while, sorry for no update. The last few months have been extremely busy and eventful for sure.
I kicked my rear-end into gear and spent 2 months since August building myself up to the half-iron distances. I have a video but I'll go a bit into what went on that day. Oh by the way this was a reverse triathlon, the pool didn't open till noon and I did not want to start that late. The weather...well about 65 degrees but windy beyond all belief 20-30 mph with gusts higher than that. Made it very challenging indeed.

Run- I hadn't run 13 miles since April, my longest run in the summer was 7 or 8 miles. The 3 weeks before my "race" I did 13 miles at least 3 times. I had to build my mileage quickly which isn't always a good idea but I did it anyway. The run was fine and I held an 8:30-9:00 min per mile pace, i faced some serious stomach cramping though but pushed on.

Bike- oh man, extremely windy and quite hilly for being in southern Illinois. It took me a while to finish but I was just happy not to get hit by a car and make it back in one piece. Oh within the last 15 miles I had such a severe leg cramp in my left quad I thought I was tearing the muscle out of my knee, I didn't realize it was a cramp because I don't cramp in my legs ever. That would plague me in the swim. I took my endurolytes, but I had been training in 50 degree weather so that 15-20 degree difference really increased my sweat rate more than I had planned. Plus the weird thing was I had Hammer heed and water, but all I wanted was water for the most part.

Swim-My leg would not help for pushing off the swimming pool wall, it locked up with even the slightest pressure, so you can see in the video I had issues with pushing off the wall because I look like an idiot who can't swim in a pool. :-) Overall I swam what I had in practice months before the race day and it worked out fine except for the intense leg pain.

I was happy to say I did the distance and I was extremely suprised that I recovered in two days. I did it on Sunday and on Wednesday I was at the gym working out. I am planning my off season workouts now and will maintain the fitness I gained the past few months, I feel like my oldself again. :-) You know, these are fun to do and it seems like Ironman brand is making it more difficult to get into their races, I hope to see more non m-dot races coming up so everyone can challenge themselves, the distance is the distance the pain is the same, no matter where you are doing it. I know they are opening up more 70.3's, but registration is just crazy, you need a lottery just to sign up for a regular IM North America. Well, I hope when I am ready to do the distance I can choose the race that is right for me. If you go the 140.6, you're an ironman, hands down.

Announcing...

Hey whoa it's been a little while since I've posted. Well a lot has happened.
Starting with me having a swollen lymph node or cyst type thing the size of your thumb tip growing the whole summer in my groin region. I was really worried, I was tired all the time, felt horrible. So I went to see a doctor and had to get some second opinions, I had no clue as to what it was. So I start worrying a bit needless to say, and I was finally going to get it biopsied a few days after school began. Well I really hadn't looked at it much and then when I went to see the general surgeon, it was gone or at least mostly shrunk. It was the most unexplainable thing I have ever encountered. It really defied all logic, but I guess you don't need to ask questions and just move on. So now I feel a lot better, but the rest of my season really went down the drain in August. Yet, I am finding some fun races to do just to redeem myself. I am trying to drop some weight (like 20 pounds) so I can rock next year. I have felt a lot better about training now that the pool is closed and I am not guarding right now. So between school and everything else, I am planning on a self-supported (well my family will help :-) ) half-iron distance "race" against myself. I am currently planning routes and nutrition plans. It will be a great thing for me, and if I keep my running up I will try to run a half marathon somewhere warm in the winter so I can get a better time than I did this year. I really feel like this year is serving as motivation for the rest of '07 and 2008. I don't want to be the person I was earlier this year, it wasn't me and it won't ever be again. It's time to get serious, have fun, and make my the rest of my triathlon career the best it can be. I have all I need now it's time to make it happen.

Triathlon Dreamin'

Ever um...dream about triathlon, specifically racing? I do, in fact last night I had a dream about a half-iron, except I remember only the bike and that it was too fast and I thought I didn't go the correct distance (which actually happened in a race this year to me) and then every time I dream about the run it ends up in some completely ridiculous place, like a house or a school. I think it's interesting how I don't dream about triathlon training, only racing. Maybe because racing is much more of a highly emotional/ impressionable event so my mind tries to recreate different scenarios within the dream realm.

Well on another note, I have had to learn a tough lesson as a teenage triathlete this year. I guess with me going off to college next year I feel like I will be limited with what I will be able to do triathlon wise, more specifically long distance race wise in the following four years. Yet, I have to remember that there is time, I have many seasons to come and have time to improve and get better and learn, most importantly never stop learning and always strive to set the bar higher...so there is hope for me after all.

How the rest of the year looks...

Well it was not easy for me to just give up my dream of doing another half-ironman this year, it's just not in the cards right now, I didn't train the way I needed to and it's no one's fault but my own. So this is what I have planned for the rest of the year...

Early September- A biathlon not too far from where I live, something like a 5mi run and 20 mi bikw, mostly for fun but should get some competition legs back into me.


October 7- St. Peters Rec-Plex Fall Triathlon 500 meter pool swim, 21 mi bike mostly flat, 5 mi run.

October 13- Midwest Long course duathlon championship 5mi run 40mi bike 5 mi run (Also the day of my senior homecoming but I'm not letting that stop me)

November 11- 50.5 Tri One o One course in The Woodlands Texas .93 mi swim, 40.3 mi bike, 9.3 mi run should be the coolest race I have done, I really wanted a race in my senior year that was out of the midwest and this one will be great

After that or in between I may find something else, and then it's going to be offseason work time and this year it's not getting away from me

FRS-Free Radical Scavenger

Hey...do you need some energy before you go workout? If you are anything like me, you do. So I ventured into my local GNC, tried some different stuff and then came upon FRS, I've tried every version they offer, chews, cans, and concentrate bottles. I prefer the concentrate, because it's cheaper when you buy more and easy, and takes up less space in my fridge. Plus, if this is your first order you can get a free week's worth trial and just pay shipping. It really does work, I take it 30-60 minutes before I work out and it tastes good ( I've tried so many things that taste like a science experiment) but this is different, I love the orange, the low cal kind. I really can feel a difference in my energy levels and how I feel the rest of the day even. I use one dose before workouts, and later in the afternoon if I am working out again or plan on some sort of activity late in the day. This is the only amount of caffinated items I use so I do not have issues sleeping at night. If you need any other selling points check out what Lance Armstrong has to say about it. :-)

Check it out at www.frs.com

My Return

Hey,


Remember me? I've kinda been M.I.A for a while, but it's been an interesting year 2007. Starting with the end of my '06 season, I got my wisdom teeth extracted...didn't go so great... and I still had racing plans after that september...well it got easier and easier to take time off and not train. Not a good idea. Then later I got really sick starting with sinius issues and it turned into bronchitis stuff, again it was easier to take time off and not get back into a normal training regime. Well that led to not training properly in the off season, I pretty much lost the drive I had to train and race like the previous year. I got a job as a lifeguard this summer so 7 and half hours at a pool kinda put a damper on my training, but it's just something I have to work around. So I raced a 10k in Feb., it went okay but the next time I raced, a half-marathon I barely made it to the finish line. Infact i was 18 minutes slower than my 'o6 race time for a similar course. It was a wakeup call basically. I raced the Terre Haute Triathlon and actually posted a PR, and then I almost won a short sprint triathlon but got caught by a 30 year old with a mile and half left to go. Then I did my local triathlon and it was very disorganized this year, not really my fault but my run pretty much sucked it up. The next race was .60 mi swim, 28 bike, and 6.5 mi run. It was seriously hot that day, and I did great on the bike, but the run completely demoralized me. I had to my humble myself and actually walk the water stops, definately not me, it was not easy to do. That was the last time I raced this year...okay so 2007 hasn't been exactly what I hoped for. If the last year version of me met this year's version of me, she'd be pretty disappointed. Yet, I have found a race I think I can do and have enough time to train for. So now starts a new time...I think things sorted out, and now it's time to be more optimistic, stop feeling bad for myself, and move on. I can't be thinking about the 5 hours I put in everyday last year and the few hours I scrap together a day this year, I just have to accept it and move on. So now this will serve as a daily log as to what's going on in the junior tri life of AeroMandy. Until next time, tri hard and live free. ;-)