A letter to beginners

One of the girls in a group I train with quite often, has told me a few times that she really enjoyed my Early Days blog post. So much so, that she has recommended other beginner triathletes read it. At masters swim the other day, she asked if I could write a letter to beginners. I thought it was a fantastic idea! So here goes

Dear beginner triathletes,
I am so glad you have decided to take on the sport of triathlon! It will be a fun and crazy journey, probably with some sweat and tears and maybe even a little blood (hopefully no blood), but also with laughter, happy tears and some amazing people. I began my triathlon journey in 2005 with my first sprint triathlon, and if I had known all the amazing things it would bring into my life, I would have started much sooner. Lining up to register for my first triathlon, I confessed to the guy in front of me that I really didn't know how to set my stuff up or what to do. He was very nice, brought me to the transition area and helped me organize my gear. After we parted ways he commented that I would pick things up each race I did and that I would learn along the way. He was so right! Even still, every race, and often every workout, are learning experiences and I am gradually discovering little tricks that work well for me. That brings me to my first piece of advice:

1. Learn as much as you can! That's not to say that you need to use every bit of information you learn. Look at what other people do, read articles, watch how others train, race, set up their gear etc. Take all of this in, and then see what parts of it work well for you. When I first started racing, I wanted nice clean feet in my cycling shoes. I saw someone put out a little dish of water to dip their feet in and then wipe them off on their towel. I thought hmmm that's a nifty idea, but then I modified it to work for me. I'm a clutz and would knock over said dish of water so I used to keep a bottle of water at my T1 to rinse my feet. Now I'm in too much of a hurry so it's often dirty feet into the cycling shoes. That brings me to my next piece of advice:

2. Experiment! Take everything you've learned and start to experiment. Experimenting is going to be the only way you figure out what works for you. Maybe your best training bud swears by this particular type of shorts, but then you go and run in them and find out you hate them. Even my husband and I don't have the same type of training, we don't always use the same gear, and our pre, during and post workout/race nutrition is very different. One of the funniest examples, is that I can eat bananas before workouts but not apples. Brian can eat apples before, but not bananas. Most of this experimenting should be done during all sorts of workouts, but you can also experiment and learn during your races (though maybe not an A race). If you've been trying something new in workouts and its working well, take it to a less important race and test it out. Sometimes the race environment, speed and adrenaline in your system can change how things work.

3. Enjoy the entire experience. This seems like a given right? We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't enjoy it. I'm talking about enjoying everything though, the good, the bad and the ugly. You go out for a run with a group you love, in beautiful weather and you nail your workout. That's a pretty easy experience to enjoy. Learning to enjoy the days when you can't hit your splits, the weather is miserable, and you're all by yourself, that's tough. When it gets tough, remember how fortunate (dare I say blessed Real Starky?! :P) you are to be out there. Not everyone gets to be out testing their limits every day. One of my favorite run workout memories, was a long run with my good running buddy Meghan. We met at the park and it was already down pouring and cold. We gave each other weak smiles and figured we'd just get it done and the coffee after would be worth it. On the run back to our cars, we were soaked to the bone. We had long past given up trying to avoid puddles and some were halfway up our shins. As we plodded along in silence, every once in awhile one of us would let out a little giggle. After a couple minutes this became just full on laughing. We just had to laugh at how ridiculous it was. Afterwards, the coffee tasted even better than usual, and I felt just a little bit tougher. Sometimes the tough workouts become the ones you're most proud of, and those are the workouts you remember getting through on race day when it gets tough. I could have stayed home that day, but it's become one of my favorite memories with Meghan. Side note, finding awesome training buddies helps you get through those tough days. I could give you countless other examples of workouts I didn't want to do, that now stick out in my mind as being awesome, but I guess we'll just have to get coffee someday for that. Enjoy the process, sometimes it will surprise you.

Make the best of a "bad" day

4. Be positive. This is kind of similar to #3, but deserves its own little blurb. It sounds corny, but believe in yourself and what you're capable of. Celebrate your accomplishments, whether that be a good workout or a good race. I don't generally post about my workouts on social media (just my own thing), so my friend Meghan and I have a deal. We are allowed to brag to each other. If I have an awesome run workout and I just have to tell someone, I'll call her up, or I'll come home and tell my husband all about it. When you have a bad day, remind yourself that it happens, it's ok, what did you learn and the next one will be better. I've always said my best training buddies are the ones that celebrate my good days with me, but are also the type of people I can have bad days around. Be positive towards other people. I really believe that by encouraging others you in turn will also be encouraged. You never know just how much an encouraging message, smile or cheer will help someone. Several of the pro women and friends have offered encouraging words to me and it has really helped me, especially when things are getting tough, or not going well. Don't let anything bring you down. I have found that probably 95% of the people I've met in the triathlon community have been awesome, cool, fun, nice people. However, there are always a few that might get you down. Sometimes they can even be downright mean, which I have never really understood. The key is to not let them drag you down. I remember I was upset once about something someone had said about me behind my back and I was complaining about it to my coach. I said "I know I shouldn't be upset about this." She answered "ok that's great that you recognize that, but now we need to work on you not actually being upset about it." She also said "you need to realize that when someone says something to put you down, it has absolutely nothing to do with you, and everything to do with them being insecure." That really hit home, and I realized that not only was I no longer going to let those people get to me, but I wasn't going to sink to that level either. It's a work in progress, but a task I'm really committed to working on.

5. Meet awesome people, talk to everyone. This sport and community has some truly amazing people in it. I could give you so many examples of people we've met over the years that have stayed with us but I'll just give you a few. I got in line to check in at my first Ironman, and the line was about 3 hours long. Standing behind me was a group of Canadian triathletes, and we started chatting. I was all by myself since Brian and a friend wouldn't get there until the next day. They invited me to sit with them at the dinner. I though, yeah I'll never be able to find them. They found me in line that night and invited me over to their table. We high fived on the race course, and Brian, Lawrence and I sat with them for the awards. That was in 2010. They are still great friends of ours and we have been able to get together with them at many races since then. The girl that won my age group that year in Florida had also won our age group at a 70.3 I did earlier that year (we were 1-2 at both races, she bested me both times). I found her on Facebook after, and we are also still friends. The next year Brian and I were getting ready to ride with a group and I noticed a guy by his car in the parking lot also getting ready to ride. I nudged Brian and said, hey I think that's Matt Long. I had just finished reading his book The Long Run (go get it, excellent book). Brian rode with him and the three of us chatted afterwards. Matt then invited Brian to his house to do a training camp in Lake Placid (Brian was racing the Ironman that year and Matt had done it twice). Brian went to the camp, met my now coach at Matt's house and we are still friends with Matt, and obviously my coach and I are still together. I'm telling you all these stories, because it barely scratches the surface with all the people we've met and are now friends with because of triathlon. We have gotten involved with some great local groups, and we are also part of national groups because of Zoot. We've met people from all over the US and all over the world. My advice to you is talk to people, meet people, train with groups, and find awesome training partners. Some of my closest friends are my training buddies.

6. Make your weakness your strength. In grade school and high school, I struggled in math classes. Math was always my lowest grade, I didn't enjoy it, but I knew if I wanted to be a scientist then math was a necessary evil. During high school, I was griping to my dad how hard math was and that I wasn't very good at it. He responded simply "Rachel, you have to turn your worst subject into your best subject. At first I rolled my eyes, as teenagers often do, and then I decided he was right. I began really working on bringing my math grade up. And look at me now, my research involves a fair amount of engineering, which often means math, and I actually enjoy it! In regards to triathlon, I have been really working on my swim, which often means going outside of my comfort zone. I remember one of my first masters swims, I swam with super fast Phil. I came back and wrote in Training Peaks, "got my butt kicked by Phil." Well next week, in my workout plan, coach had written "swim with Phil again!" Go outside your comfort zone, improve your weaknesses and when it gets tough just tell yourself "challenge accepted!"

7. I think I already said this one, but I'm gonna say it again because it's so important. Have fun!!! Enjoy every sore muscle, early morning and crazy weather day because it's pretty awesome that we're able to do this. You're not going to wake up every day being psyched about 6am masters swim, or a rainy run, but just remind yourself, this is awesome and the coffee will taste even better after. Enjoy the people you meet and the experiences you have, and relish every sore muscle because it means you're getting stronger.

Hope you have the greatest triathlon experience :)

Rachel

Ironman Louisville: A lesson in perseverance and perspective

I will fully admit I did not enter this race in the right mindset. Lake Placid was pretty awesome. I always love racing with Brian and friends, I had a great day for myself, and so much of my focus had been on racing well there. This is my first time doing more than two Ironman in a year, and its been a big season so far. I'm extremely grateful to have this big season because I'm definitely growing as an athlete. That being said, I was in a bit of a funk in the weeks leading up to Louisville. I was having trouble getting excited or motivated to do workouts. I was getting frustrated if/when workouts didn't go exactly as I wanted them too. I love the Louisville race and had a great race there last year, so that helped, but I was still being kind of a negative Nancy. In the future, I don't think its a bad idea to do races close together, but I will probably approach it much differently.

While I was gearing up for Louisville, Brian was gearing up for a 24hr time trial, a whole other world of crazy endurance. I really missed him in Louisville, but I was so proud of him and excited to see him crush some serious miles on his bike. It did help that I would be staying with the Adams family again. Brian and I stayed with them last year and have decided that we would like them to adopt us :P I love hanging out with the kiddos and chatting with the adults, it's a very fun and relaxing setting. Little Olivia left me the sweetest little sign on my door on my way to the race and they didn't even seem to mind when I set off the security alarm at 4:30am...  The whole family came down to watch me finish and I was able to get high fives from the boys coming down the chute.

hanging with my homestay pup friend Roxy

my sign from Olivia

Race morning dawned, I was a little nervous about the reports of really hot weather but was confident in my hydration strategy. Brian called me early in the morning while still on his bike. I could tell he was exhausted but had already passed his 400 mile goal and was still going. I jumped in the water with the other pros, splashed around a little and made my way to the line. At the gun I pushed hard and although the first few women got away, I was able to stay with a solid second group the rest of the swim. I was very happy with how I handled the swim both tactically and energetically. I exited the water feeling like I had pushed hard but was not dizzy and disoriented. My Zoot speed suit was comfortable and fast, and very easy to get out of. Running into T1 I was happy to see that I was getting on the bike with some strong ladies. I was even more pleasantly surprised that these ladies didn't completely ride away from me immediately. Molly and Heather did eventually get the jump on me but I am slowly learning how to pace off others and stay with others. I also learned that even small lapses in focus can leave you with a larger gap than you can close, so next race focus, focus, focus! I rode solo the rest of the way, but was reassured that I was not as far back as I thought from some on course splits. I felt as though I gauged my effort well and my legs were not feeling burnt at the end of the bike. I am very happy to report that I mastered peeing on the bike! Three times! Woot Woot! What I was not paying as much attention to, was how hot it was getting. I was hydrating, sucking down my nutrition and getting my salt in, but I wasn't very cognizant about cooling myself. I was also having some issues with stuff coming back up, which should have alerted me that I may be a little too hot.

Coming into T2 I was thinking, ok my legs actually feel pretty good, time to get my running shoes on and do what I know how to do. I love to run, and I love to run hard. However, I felt off from the very start of the run. I started doing a self check to see what the problem was. Dizzy? yes. Stuff still coming up? yes. Head clear? no. Legs ok? yes. Heart rate high? yes. Periodic chills? yes.  I decided I was overheating and needed to really cool myself down or risk some serious heat effects. I decided I would walk every other aid station until I felt better. I slowed my pace a bit and started walking the aid stations, dumping water on myself, ice in the shorts, plenty of salt, coke and sipping as much water as I could. I also took every walking break to take in a little of my Infinit Napalm to stay on top of calories. Walking every other aid station quickly turned into every aid station as the bad feelings weren't going away. Tim Snow was coaching his own athletes on course but was nice enough to encourage me to stick with it and to back off and make sure I was doing everything I could to hydrate and stay cool. A little before the halfway point I started to come around. Thank goodness, because at the halfway mark you run right by the finish line and it is very difficult to then run right by it and head back out for another 13 miles. I kept walking the aid stations, but I was at least starting to run better in between. This is about when the blisters hit me. I've always had problems with blisters, but this race really hammered it home that I need to find a solution. I think my feet get so wet during tris that it becomes easy for the blisters to form. My good friend and ultra marathon heat queen Brenda has given me some really good suggestions to try. She even let me send her gross pictures of my feet to see what the problem was. I could feel the blisters forming along my pinky toes, middle toes, side of my big toe, forefoot and midfoot. I ignored them as best I could...and then they started popping... Every time one would pop, I would whimper along for a few steps and then suck it up and keep running. I got quite a lot of weird looks.

getting patched up afterwards

Once this race really became all about finishing, I saw a much different side of the race. I've never walked during an Ironman, much less walked every aid station. I was actually able to look around a little and see how many others were gritting their teeth just to finish, and I was able to become inspired and pushed by our mutual struggles. I had so many reasons to drop out: I wasn't in the money, I had just done an Ironman 4 weeks ago, I wasn't feeling well, everyone would understand, my feet were chewed up. I thought about how much I love that finish chute, and how I was sure that many other athletes out there were facing the same or worse struggles. Another athlete, an older male, turned to me at an aid station and asked if I was ok, I nodded that I was hanging in there. He then looked at my very intently and said "you must finish," and I repeated "I must finish." We both started running again after that and I didn't see him again. I hope he finished as well. I read more of the signs and appreciated them. A few college students had a sign that said "wave and we'll drink." I laughed a little as I ran by and heard them say "we're counting that one" as they took drinks. Coming into the finish I slapped high fives, I grinned at the people cheering, I soaked in the finish chute and walked across the finish line happy with my little victory of making it there. Beyond the finish line, volunteers and medical workers had lined both sides and were cheering as if I had just won the thing. It was very surreal and awesome.

soaking in a hard fought finish

After the race, I found a nice young guy that at 20 yrs old had just finished his first Ironman in 10:06. I asked if he wanted company to hobble down to collect our bikes. We chatted about the race and he remarked "for a race that wasn't what you expected, you have a sense of humor about it." I think its important to be able to laugh at yourself, or the situation. I ended up leading us completely the wrong direction and was fairly lost. He laughed that even pro athletes mess stuff up. We asked a nice police officer to point us in the right direction and he ended up giving us a ride to transition in his squad car. I love meeting other athletes and hearing about their stories and experiences of the race. Even before the race, I had asked a few guys if I could borrow their bike pump. They ended up inviting me to breakfast. I figured, sure why not, I love meeting new people, and who doesn't like a big plate of pancakes?

While I had been hoping for a different outcome to this race, I recognize that this is my third Ironman in 4 months, with the other two actually going fairly well. This is also the first year I've had such a big season. I like the challenge of this season and feel as though it has really helped me to grow as an athlete. Sometimes you have to break yourself completely down to realize how strong you are and that you can handle more than you expected. I also love that my coach Tara listens to me and really wants to work with me to make sure I'm enjoying this process. I'm now taking a much needed break before tackling, or even thinking about, the rest of the season. And that brings me to Brian and I's bet...

As many of you know Brian and I had a very long standing bet. This bet was inspired by our friends Meghan and Clint, who wanted to see who could go the longest running at least 2 miles every day. Meghan went over 7 years, up until the due date of her first child, Lexie. Brian and I modified the bet for triathlon. We either had to do an 800yd swim, 10 mi (or 30 min) bike, or 2 mile run. We mostly worked out every day anyway, so this doesn't seem like too big a deal. It became most difficult if we were sick or the few days after a big race. We ended up going 3 years, 5 months and 4 days (the bet started March 20, 2011). I called Brian on the way back from Louisville and asked "so are we going to go swim when I get home at 6:30?" (I drove 10+ hrs home the day after Louisville). Brian responded "I dunno, probably not." Me: "so are you going to go for a ride?!" Brian "heck no! I'm not getting back on my bike today." Me: "soooooo you're not going to do a workout?" Brian: "no I was just going to let you win the bet." Me: "I was actually really hoping you wouldn't want to do a workout...let's just call it a tie." After such a long time, it doesn't seem too bad to just go get a 15 min swim in to keep it going right? I think after so long, we were starting to resent that pressure to do something every day. I spoke with Meghan about it on the way home and she admitted she was feeling similarly. Once she removed that pressure, she seemed to appreciate her runs more. I haven't done a workout in two days, and shockingly, nothing crazy has happened! I didn't gain ten pounds, I didn't lose my love of the sport. I'm not sure if I'll even workout this whole week, I may just take that little bit of extra time to take my pups to the park, or enjoy a long relaxing dinner with my husband. I think this was needed for me to refresh my appreciation of the sport.

As always, thank you to my sponsors for supporting me in this sometimes crazy, but always fun journey. Thank you to our family and friends, I really feel as though if I finished 9 hrs or 17 hrs, you would all be behind me. Thank you to my husband for supporting me and keeping me honest.

To Lake Placid and Beyond

To Lake Placid and Beyond

 

The preparation to this year’s Ironman in Lake Placid has been every evolving since participation in my first triathlon back in 2010. Since finding the running group at Running etc. in 2009 to biking with and racing for the folks over at Fat Frogs and most recently our relationship with Final Kick which started at the first of the year it has been a journey in which I have always had high hopes and dreams. Running and triathlon have had such a positive influence in my life. I met my wife in running community and as of June I have been sober for 4 years now. I developed a love for the endurance community and it is a love that I am not yet ready to let go of.

Some know the struggles I had with running last season and it weighed heavy on me leading into last year’s race at Louisville. For those in the long course community you know the time and effort both physically and mentally it takes to try to be competitive in the sport. I put so much of my heart into training but was limited by an injury which is out of my control. I have been having issues with my lower back particularly at L4-L5 and L5-S1. With the nerve involvement on the right side it has made running a constant struggle. I was somewhere in the mid 20’s overall after the bike last year in Louisville but followed that up with a 3:57ish marathon. Triathlon is a balance of all three disciplines so to be so limited in one it is disheartening. I spent the remainder of 2013 off my feet and focused some extra time into swimming and biking. At the start of 2014 I made the decision to find a temporary fix for my back and make one more push towards 2014 Lake Placid. At the start of the year I went to see a few doctors. Got an MRI, a nerve study, biomechanical checks, and so forth. It came down to getting a steroid epidural and seeing if that would relieve any of the discomfort and allow me to get back to running again. It wasn’t a cure all but it allowed me to get back on my feet and start what I felt was going to be a successful season.

Since about this time last year I have kicked around the idea of parting ways with triathlon. I was already signed up for Lake Placid and had some financial obligation to race but more than that I had something to prove to myself. Starting in January I was back out and running if that’s what you want to call it. My long runs were only about 20 mins or so at this time. It was a step in the right direction though. While working with my coach Jessie we kept in constant contact about the situation and were working through it in the best way we found fit. Speed work seemed to be too much of a stress to the body at the time so we worked on building some endurance back and kept everything in check with some tempo sessions. I had a plan to keep racing to a minimum and put focus on the end goal of Lake Placid. I only had 3 races on the schedule an early season Olympic, Rev 3 Williamsburg Half, then the race at Placid. By the time I was ready for the first race of the year swimming was take form, the bike was solid, and we were able to get the long runs back to around 2 hrs. The running was looking good but it was hit or miss, some days I could crush a workout other days if it was tough at work or life was catching up I could barely run. The hit or miss aspect made it mentally challenging this season. There is just something free I love about running, it is something I am truly going to miss in the future. So the first race of the season was upon us it was time to kick it off at Monticello Man Oly. in Charlottesville Va. Chris Stock roped me into showing up here. All in all at the end of the day the race was a success and put me one step closer to goals I had for Palcid. My swim there was solid and I rode what I had on the bike. It is hard for us flat landers to ride the courses of western Va. I came off the bike in a good place and hit the road running. I closed out the run in 38 and some change nothing super-fast but it was a win in my mind and it allowed me to run myself into 4^th overall while holding off Chris Stock until the finish.

Next up was Rev 3 Williamsburg, a few weeks before this race I was able to run an open half at the Marine Corps historic half in Fredericksburg Va. and I just broke 1:20 for the day. Not a PR but with how running has been I was happy. I ran well ran relatively pain free and broke the top 10 for the race. It was my 7^th year in a row up there and is I race I plan to be at every year until I no longer can. This run brought me confidence leading into Willimasburg, the James River is a place we visit for swims and after some weekend rides on the bike course the prep for this race was coming together. On race day the conditions were looking good, I had a good swim split given the conditions and it left me in a good spot to ride sometime into the field, I rode most of the 56 miles back and forth between second and third with another fella. Little did we know we would come into t2 7mins back of first. I was left hoping this first place fella couldn’t run well. Coming out of t2 with 3^rd the race was on, we passed 1^st at mile 9 which meant if things continued like this one of the two of us would win. We ran the better half of 11.5 miles together before I made the decision to see what I had left. In the last 1.5 miles I was able to put around 20secs on 2^nd to hang on for the win. I ran a 1:25 that day which truly wasn’t what I wanted to see but given the situation I was ecstatic with it and it was right where I needed to be for the last push to Placid. Williamsburg was a half PR for me at 4:18 and it is always nice to take the overall win somewhere. We had so much support going into the race and it was great to share the course with some many friends. I also want to mention I was able to hold of Chris Stock again at this race. Good work taking 3^rd though buddy.

I had all my eggs in one basket for Placid this included a 4 day training weekend in Placid over the 4^th of July. I can’t thank JV and Amy Cole enough for having us and being such great training partners. The weekend was 4 days of solid training, getting into town Friday we had a little swim then hit the road for a ride out to and climb up Whiteface Mtn. Little did I know how this ride would put me in the pain cave for tomorrows double loop of the course. Saturday morning we did a double loop of the swim course then hit the road for 112 miles of biking. The great company I had for the day made the ride go by in a hurry. It was Rachel, JV, me and another fella Ryan joined for one loop. We rode the course in 6 hrs that day thinking about riding it an hr. faster on race day was a little discouraging. Sunday led way to a one loop swim and a good long run. Hitting the road on foot today led by the awesome Amy Cole made for a great group run. I ended the day at 18 miles on the course just around race pace and it was one of the better runs I have had in a couple weeks. For the last big push things were looking up. I want to rag on Rachel for a minute this girl rides well now and it is hard to drop her but after riding with the boys and taking advantage of us she decided to attack at mile 109 and I had no answer for her. I can’t wait to see what she can do in this sport the girl is getting strong. One more moderate weekend at the farm for hills then the taper to race day was on. I was in a good place for this race, training has been spot on I was swimming well, riding better than ever and I was back on my feet running over the last 6 months.

Race day, like I mentioned earlier things were in place and all the eggs were in one basket. I knew coming into the day if all things were to work out I was going to have a kick ass race. Little did I know what was in store for me, I seeded myself at the back of the 60min and under group. Hoping to swim 60 flat I felt like this was the group I needed to be with. Little did I know how other would misjudge their abilities, by the second buoy I was swimming over the mass of people and folks were already breast stroking and stopping by this point. It made for a tough swim course the second loop was even harder to work through. At the end on the second lap I exited the water in 1:03 given everything I was happy to see this. By the start of the bike the rain and thunder storms rolled in. I knew what I needed to ride but in the conditions it wasn’t worth pushing too hard and risk crashing out. I rode moderate out of town its way to early in the day to hammer the climb, then onto the descent into Keene I took it conservative but I was still racing the rain was really coming down now and made things pretty sketchy, I knew at the bottom I would turn and had some nice fast rollers to make up time. I pushed the ride into jay pretty good had a couple other strong riders around and I was surprised to see some age groupers really pushing the pace by this point they were riding out of my league. I made the turn to upper jay and now it was a steady solid effort back to town. Coming into 56 miles I was at 2:33 right on where I needed to be I would have loved to see 2:30 even but given the conditions what’s 3mins. Onto the second lap this is where the bike race really starts to go bad for me it was on its way to being over. I flatted on the short descent behind transition, getting to the bottom I made a hasty change of tubes and was on my way I lost time but not so much that I couldn’t ride some of it back. The rain was gone and the roads were drying up by lap two and things were looking good. Well on the climb out of town the tire was feeling low so I hopped off real quick and topped it off with another co2 back on my way or at least I thought so. Going down the first descent boom the tire is flat again. It ended up being a cut tire with a shard of glass in it. I got the course support to call for tech support. I was a sitting duck and at their mercy now. It took them around 20mins to get to me. I truly don’t know how much time I lost on lap two but I do know the total lap time was 3:11. I won’t lie after tech support taking so long I was kind of defeated. I got rolling again and did what I could I still rode the shit out of my bike to finish out the last lap. The day was catching up to me though. The run started with negative thoughts, after the shitty bike ride I didn’t want to continue, to top it off after the turn onto river road my running was shit, after such a strong training block this was the worst day possibly to not be able to get functioning on the run. I thought about calling it quits at this point but there was something in me, I wasn’t going to let my last Tri be a DNF and I was going to do what I could and I was going to finish. I am strong, I love what I do, I love the faith I have in myself, I love the others I share the course with, I love those who have been lost, I am thankful for what I can physically do, for these reasons and many others I continued. I ended the run with a 3:44ish marathon not anywhere close to what I wanted but when I crossed that finish line I heard the words “You Are An Ironman” for this I am grateful. It was an awesome end to an even better journey.

I made the decision earlier this year to walk away from triathlon after racing Placid. I haven’t been extremely vocal about this decision because I wanted my energy focused on the goals at Placid. It is time to close a chapter in life and turn the pages to write another. I’m not gone forever friends I will be back there is just a ? of when. Leaving long course racing will leave a void in my life. I have been kicking around many ideas. I love the endurance community and I am not ready to leave it. I have set my goals on pursuing endurance cycling while trying to refine my swimming with hopes of returning to triathlon on day. In the mean time I am going to start this cycling journey at the Mid-Atlantic 12/24 in the end of August. I have to sign up still but this is the plan. Cycling has no ill physical effects on me so it seems like I can do it. The training volume I am at now is fine so I go into this with the hopes that as I build into longer and longer rides I will hold on physically, only time will tell. I have had year goals of completing Ironman races for the last couple of seasons, so after this year I was looking for what’s next, what is a year away I can set my sights on. This year’s goal is looking like it could be a 4 man team for RAAM I have put some feelers out for riders but there is still a lot to look at before making it a definite. The logistics, the financial obligations, and more are definitely larger than anything I have thought about doing before. So when I get settled back in after getting home from Placid it will be onto the planning stages and seeing if it will be feasible to make happen.

The time up until now could not have been possibly if it weren’t for my lovely wife Rachel Jastresbky and the others in our life. Thanks Jesse Vondracek for the last two years and some change of coaching, I love the friendship we developed and thanks to Amy Cole for being your support and both of y’all for having us over the 4^th of July weekend and for the race. Fat Frogs is where I got my start and I thank y’all for this, Ghent chiropractic for doing what you do to keep us going, Final Kick has been our local support for the 2014 season and it has been great, The support from y’all is awesome thanks for having me, Zoot sports has been the greatest tri team I could ask to be part of, an awesome company and we built great relationships through them, Tara Norton had a large influence on my racing in the first year and I thank you for your support through Lack Placid and Kona in 2011, I also thanks you for your continued support of Rachel. Matt Long you had a larger impact on my decisions probably more than you know, you are an influence for many, I wish you the best in life, “ I Will…….” The triathlon community has been amazing there have been so many new relationships built and many more to come. I’m stepping away but I will be around to support y’all now. I am looking forward to what the future has in store. Congrats to everyone on their performance this past weekend at Placid it was a joy to share the day with y’all, Danny Royce you went against our plan buddy but rest up recover and get back at it, I will be looking for big things at Chattanooga.

#IMLP7th

I’ll get to the 7^th place excitement in a minute, but first wanted to talk about the race. Brian and I have been trying to do at least one race a year together and decided that Lake Placid would be it this year. The past couple months we did some great training together, which I really enjoyed. All the training topped off with two peak weekends, the first in Lake Placid with his coach Jesse Vondracek (and wife Amy Cole) and then a weekend at Brian’s family farm in central VA with our friend Ben. I had been able to train on the course a little and was feeling fit and ready.

I didn’t realize until about 2 months out from the race that there were no homestays for Lake Placid. By then most of the accommodations near town were taken, so Brian and I were scrambling a bit to find somewhere to stay. Luckily, his coach Jesse was staying at the National Sports Academy for a couple months of the summer to train in Lake Placid. He graciously invited us to stay with him in his one bedroom apartment. We brought up an air mattress and though it was a little tight, we both really enjoyed spending race weekend with Jesse.

Dai Roberts group van spotting in Lake Placid!

Weird pre race contests... who can splay their feet the most, Brian won

living large, it actually was pretty comfy though and thank you Jesse for the place to stay

our traditional pre-IM mini golf, this goes back to my first IM when I was so nervous, Brian took me to play mini golf to get my mind off it

he beat me by quite a bit...

hanging out at the Infinit booth, super nice guys, great products

Race day came quickly and my nerves were bubbling away. Quick hug for Jesse who was racing in the pro mens field, and then I lined up with the other women to watch them go off. There were lots of ominous gray clouds over the lake, but I’m not even sure I gave them a second thought. The gun went off and I actually had a pretty good start. I was close to the first group that was breaking away, and then I got dropped… Hmmm not part of my plan but I adapted and hugged the cable and led a second small group until a little after the second turn buoy. At that point the two girls on my feet came around and I jumped on their feet (sweet, free ride!). I then noticed that they were kind of weaving back and forth a lot so I made the decision to just hold the cable line. By the way, the new Zoot Prophet 2.0 wetsuit is really comfortable, I loved the first version of the Prophet but this one is definitely a big improvement. Coming around the dock I was just over 30 min, not too bad. I jumped back in and worked on maintaining my pace and holding my line. I started running into amateurs about halfway down the first leg. No problem I thought, we’re the only ones allowed to swim inside the buoys (until the turns) so I’ll just get clean water there. No such luck, inside the buoys seemed just as chaotic. I take full responsibility that I should have found a way to handle this better, but it was frustrating. I came out of the second lap in 1:06 and couldn’t believe how much time I’d lost on the second loop. Definitely not an ideal swim for me, but it was time to focus on the bike. It had started to downpour just as I was finishing the swim. Running by my bike rack I was slightly relieved to see I wasn’t the only bike left.

There is a fairly steep hill coming out of transition that goes into a left hand turn. I rode the brakes, thinking better to be safe right here then wreck. I was able to get into a groove on the way out of town but remembered coach Tara’s insistence on taking that first climb fairly easy. Going into the descent I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be in the rain. The only thing I found really difficult was seeing through the rain collecting on my glasses. That and rain at 40+ mph is a bit uncomfortable. I hit the paved portion fairly fast and then was slightly more cautious on the rougher section toward the bottom. Left hand turn at Keene and I was onto my favorite portion of the course, the rolling road along the river. Somewhere on this road Brian came by me, and I was happy to see that he must have had a pretty good swim and was looking strong on the bike. I was able to get a look at the pro women at the turn around and thought, ok a few are not out of my reach, I just need to continue to ride strong. I rode pretty consistently up the climb back to town and prepared myself for loop 2. Pre riding the course a few weeks prior, I knew loop 2 would be tough. The volunteers were awesome and had my special needs bottle out of the bag and held out for me coming through town. I also was able to catch a couple shouts of encouragement from friends. The rain had stopped at this point and it was starting to warm up. I went a little harder up the climb out of town and then hit the descent a little faster than the first loop. On the first part of the descent I saw Brian on the side of the road and my heart sank. I asked if he needed anything and he waved me by. I’ll let him elaborate but he ended up on the side of the road for 20-30 minutes with a sliced tire. Once I was out on the out and back section I could start to feel the fatigue creeping in and knew the climb back to town would be tough but manageable. I just kept sucking down my Infinit custom blend to stay topped off. I did see Brian again before turning to climb back and was relieved that he had been able to get back on the bike. I was probably a bit slower than I should be on the climb but I felt like I gauged my effort fairly well. Heading back into town, I was ready to get into my running shoes. If you read my Syracuse report, I have a weird habit of finally being able to pee on the bike right before dismount. This race was no exception, though I had at least gotten out of my shoes first this time. Sorry bike handlers…

coming through town after the first loop

heading into T2, pretty excited to be getting off my bike

The volunteers in the change tents were great and I was in and out of T2 pretty quickly, finally in my Zoot tempos and holding my flask of Infinit napalm. Running out of town was exciting and energizing with all the crowds out cheering. The weird weather didn't appear to keep anyone inside. I wasn't sure what place I was in but I felt confident that I was racing within myself. After the first turn around I was trying to count the women but wasn't sure I was counting right. I passed Brian going the other way and he yelled that I was in 7^th. Hmmm I thought, 7^th is pretty good! But I was still gunning for 6^th or even 5^th if I could make it happen. I was holding my predicted pace pretty well until heading back uphill towards town. I knew this area would be slower and tried to keep my feet light and my legs turning over. There was a DJ in between the two hills and he played my favorite pump up song for me, The Fighter by Gym Class Heroes! Running back into town was fun with all the crowds. I turned toward the shorter out and back and saw a few guys by the brewery waving around a giant check and going nuts. I couldn't help but smile and high fived them. Shortly after that I saw my coach Tara with her little daughter Maya. Tara yelled that my cadence looked good and to keep pushing. I left town feeling newly energized to take on the second loop. That energy carried my all the way to the turn around on River Road, and then it started to get really tough. I was so happy to see that Amber was leading and smiling, she has always been so nice and I know she works really hard. I had seen 6^th place walking and thought there might be a chance to catch her, but if not I at least wanted to fend off 8^th. Coming up the two big hills into town was really tough, I refused to walk though, mostly because I was terrified I wouldn't be able to run again. I don’t think the last two miles of an Ironman have ever been that tough, I was starting to become concerned that my legs would just give out, and I begged them not to. I passed by Tara again and she yelled to hang tough. She told me later that her daughter said “Rachel looks upset” and Tara explained that I was just very focused and maybe hurting but that I would be happy at the finish line. I probably didn't soak in the oval as much as I should have, I was so focused on just making it to the line. I saw the Dark Mark before the finish and high fived him. I’m not 100% sure what happened when I crossed the line but I was told I raised my arms up and then kind of staggered to the side and fell into the finish line arch... Kind of embarrassing, the medical volunteers were great and grabbed me. I kept telling them I needed to wait for my husband to finish and they took one look at me and said no, you’re coming with us.

heading into the final out and back, pretty hurting at this point

When I called my coach once back at the apartment, I said, before you say anything I’m actually really happy with this day. She knew it wasn't the time I wanted and that maybe I hoped to place a little better, but was happy that I recognized my effort on the day. I've said in past reports that my ideal race is one where I have nothing left at the end. I can honestly say that for this race I pushed all day and am not sure I could have gone a step further at the finish line. Being able to push myself to that extent is what I really strive for.

after the race

at the midnight finish

I had about half a beer and was feeling tipsy...

Now this #IMLP7th business. I've been asked a few times if I was shooting for 7^th. All I ever want to do with my racing is go as hard as I possibly can. Whether that’s 1^st or 10^th as long as I know I gave it everything then I’m good. If I had been able to pass 6^th I definitely would have. That being said, I was pretty excited to be 7^th. I received a message from Dark Mark asking me to get to the brewery at 10pm for the “award ceremony.” I have to admit, I was a little nervous to meet Dark Mark and TRS as they are quite the twitter personalities. They were extremely nice and welcoming of me. I was given a Real Starky t-shirt and gluten tolerant wrist band and introduced to many of the people hanging around for the festivities. The award ceremony was really fun and it was really nice to meet and chat with the 7^th place male pro Raymond. When I was able to get to my phone, I had close to 50 Facebook notifications and almost 100 twitter notifications. I was pretty shocked at the huge response, which was 98% positive. I more than doubled my Twitter followers in just 2 days and many of them took a minute to congratulate me! While I recognize that Amber and Kyle are definitely the heroes of the day, it was pretty cool to see the triathlon community, largely amateurs, rally around the pros. I consider this an incredible gift from the triathlon community and wanted everyone to know that I greatly appreciate it. I know I don’t need to tell anyone what I will do with the money, but if I had donated I would be curious. I am a graduate student finishing up my PhD and my husband works a hard manual labor construction job building elevators. We get by fairly well, but money does get tight and I try to have my racing be as little a burden as possible. Currently that means doing races that I can drive to and staying with homestays (which I actually really enjoy). I have no expectations of getting rich from triathlon, and I definitely don’t do it for the money. I know it will take time to work up the ranks and I look forward to that challenge. I don’t necessarily think race organizers owe me anything, but it would be great to have a system in place to develop younger/newer pros. If this kind of support meant pros doing more at races, I would be happy to help out with clinics, kids races, etc. So I’m rambling, I was going to say what will happen with the money. The majority of it is going to make some needed repairs on our home that we have been putting off. I know that many people have much more to worry about than a leaky roof, but we are trying to sell our house and move when I’m done with school so we need to make those repairs. I do want to donate a portion of the money. The triathlon community has given so much to me and I wanted to find a way to thank them. I've been talking to Final Kick Sports about possible ideas to give back a little. I will also donate a little to two charities that are very close to me. I should write an entire blog explaining them, but two of my best high school friends passed away years ago in two separate incidences. Ali’s fund (Ali Sacco) supports cardiac research at the Boston Children’s Hospital. Adam’s fund (AdamTowler Foundation) supports a scholarship fund to a school in Wyoming where he was from, as well as the American Heart Association. They have both been an inspiration to me, and I used to raise more money for their funds through my racing, so I wanted to get back to that a little.

This blog is probably a little too sappy for Dark Mark, TRS and Pay10Deep :P Seriously though guys, I appreciate you bringing pros and amateurs together (IMLP7th video). You made a race that I might have been slightly disappointed with (for not finishing on the podium) really fun and my husband and I will be able to pay some bills and give back a bit. I hope I can thank/repay the community by being a good ambassador for our sport and racing to the absolute best of my ability at the rest of my races this season. I still can't believe I'm doing another IM 4 weeks after Lake Placid, but I'm actually getting pretty excited for Louisville. As always, thank you to all of our friends, family and sponsors for your unending support.

3 seconds

I popped my head into my dad's office in the late afternoon to let him know that I was going to do a loop around the island on my bike.I always told my dad when I was going out for a ride or run by myself, and when I expected to be back. I may have even joked that if I wasn't back in an hour, to send the search party. He just responded that he would see me in a bit. This was pretty routine, the lap around the island (exactly 19.2 miles from our house) was my favorite and most ridden cycling route. I had ridden it so many times that I knew every crack and pothole, and knew exactly what gear I needed to be in at each part.

I set out on my Giant road bike with clip on aero extensions. I had bought the bike used just a year or two before when I started to get into triathlons. It was a beautiful New England July late afternoon. The sun was out and the temperature was warm but fairly mild. I always rode around the island in a counter clockwise direction. This meant heading out towards the northern end, which is more wooded, then making my way towards and around the lighthouse at the southern end, before finishing the last couple miles by a few beaches and through town. The lighthouse was my favorite part. It was mostly uphill to get to the lighthouse, but you were rewarded with amazing views of the island, the cliffs, the lighthouse and waves splashing up on the rocks. I soaked in the sights and then turned around the lighthouse to head home. I had just come down the big hill onto the short narrow causeway between two beaches. I was enjoying the speed but also thinking about the steep uphill that I would hit right after the causeway. My legs felt great, the ride had been going very well and I was in my aero bars enjoying the speedy section by the beach. I was about 2 miles from home. I saw ahead that two cars in the oncoming traffic lane were getting ready to turn left (in front of me) into the beach parking area. The first car had time and made the turn. I remember looking at the next car, a blue Jeep, and then my next coherent memory was my dad standing at the end of a bed in a hospital room.

These next details were mostly filled in by family and friends. I don't remember much for 5 hours after seeing the Jeep. I remember some brief blurry flashes: some sirens in the ambulance, someone trying to cut off my helmet, sticking a needle in my arm.

After the first car turned, the second car turned as well. The lady in the first car acted as the first witness and said it was milliseconds after they began turning that I hit them. My hands had still been in the aero bars, I hadn't even had time to reach for the brakes. My bike and I hit the side/front of the car and I fell backwards. The boy who was driving the car, was actually a friend of my brothers, on his way to the same cross country practice that two of my younger brothers would be attending. Given that it was a late summer afternoon, there was a pretty sizable crowd at the beach, including the whole running team. I am told my brother Nate assisted in holding my head and finding towels. I was out cold for about 15 minutes and had a seizure. I was bleeding from my mouth, but no one knew the exact reason. The EMTs found my phone in my back pocket. My "banner" was my name "Rachel" as this was an old flip Nokia phone, and the first number in my contact list was AAHome. The boy, an 18 year old, then recognized me and apparently lost it, saying he killed his friends sister. Someone had called 911, and then one of the EMTs called my dad. They told him I had been in an accident, that I was unconscious, and to meet them at the location. My dad didn't mention anything to my mom just yet, not wanting to worry her. My youngest brother, Jacob, was also at the beach, and went off on the run. The coach rode up next to him and Jacob said "I hope that girl is ok," and the coach had to tell him it was me.

I was taken to Newport Hospital, across the bridge from Jamestown, about a 15 min drive. Upon arrival, they told my dad to expect me to be airlifted to a different hospital for severe brain damage. They cut off my helmet, one that I had borrowed from my sister. I was given three CT scans, one of my face, my spine and my head. My spine was ok, my head CT showed a bad head injury/concussion but no bleeding and my face CT showed a broken jaw. My lower jaw was broken clean through the middle and displaced so that one side was moved back and down. The condyle on the right side where the jaw meets the skull was gone, completely shattered. Once they had determined that there was no spinal damage or brain bleeding, it was mostly just waiting for me to come around. They had assumed the severe brain damage because of the seizure and how long I was out for. The bleeding ended up being from the break in my lower jaw. The first thing I told the doctor was that I had a half ironman race in September, and asked if I would be able to still do it. He just looked at me, and shook his head. He then explained that they couldn't do anything about my jaw, that I would have to go to a specialist and that I could also see a neurologist about my head injury if problems persisted. They did a few more x-rays to rule out other breaks, but all they found was a bruised sternum and bruised knee. Then I was discharged. I remember the receptionist was amazed that I was walking (albeit on crutches because my knee hurt badly) out of the emergency room. They said that my fitness helped me to absorb the impact. I was still bleeding a little from my mouth and nauseous/dizzy from the head injury. If you have never puked with a broken jaw, hope you never have to.

I had a few friends visit the next day and my dad took them out to show them my bike. The frame was broken cleanly in half where the fork meets the frame and the handlebars were all twisted. If I had been able to get my hands on the brakes, my hand might have been crushed between the bike and car. My dad pointed to the bike and said "now this is the point that took most of the impact." To which I looked at him and said "no dad, my face took most of the impact." I was still a little loopy...





We also went to see the car, I was told I almost totaled it and wanted to see how much damage my little self could inflict. The largest dent was in the passenger side door and the side of the car in front of the door. We assumed that was from my body/bike. I was told I knocked the mirror off and it flew into the open passenger side window. The windshield post is the hardest part on the car and there was a dent in it. At first we thought this was from the helmet, but it makes much more sense that this would be from my chin. My dad liked to play this fun game after the crash about what would have happened if I had hit differently. If I had hit more towards the back of the car, I might have gone through the window and hurt the passenger. If I had hit more forwards, I may have gone over the car and had a host of different injuries. I preferred to not think about it. Overall it was about $2000+ in damage to the car, not quite totaled.



Next we had to do something about my face. I couldn't just keep walking around with my jaw hanging all loosely, might start to freak people out. We went to an orthopedic surgeon and he took a couple x-rays and flat out told us it was out of his league. Luckily, there was another orthopedic surgeon that went to our church that had great reviews. A few days after the accident we went to see him. He took x-rays of his own and came back in and told me that he had never seen a break this bad without cuts all over my face and missing teeth. He also said that any other surgeon would probably put all sort of screws and plates in my face to get it back together. He didn't want me to have to deal with the complications that route can bring, so he told me, you're young and fit, and already doing much better than expected. We're just going to wire it shut to fix the break down the middle and not do anything to the condyle and hope it just gradually grows back in place. If it didn't work, they could always put screws in later. They put me under later that day and wired it shut. I would have it wired shut for a month (any longer and the condyle joint might fuse). This is the wiring process: they put arch bars at the top of your teeth. These are held in by wire wrapped around the very upper/lower part of your teeth/the root. The arch bars have hooks on them. Wire is wrapped from the bottom hooks to the top hooks to keep your mouth wired shut. If your jaw isn't broken on purpose, you don't get a straw, everything you "eat" has to be sucked through your teeth.



We picked up a nice new blender on the way home and I got to work creating liquid masterpieces. Smoothies and Ensure get old really quickly. I found that stuff that was already somewhat blended worked best. My favorite savory recipes were blended pizza, lasagna and chili. Mac and cheese, not so much, it just tasted like liquid cheese. I will admit... I did try to blend a cheeseburger... desperate times call for desperate measures. It did not work out so well, but here is a crazed picture of me attempting:



Probably the most fun I "blended" was teddy grahams and milk. Teddy grahams are my favorite snack and my brother was mean enough to bring them on a road trip. We had fun watching the little bears spinning around the blender and made sound effects. While the diet did suck, the worst part about having my jaw wired shut, was that I was not allowed to raise my heart rate. I also had to be supervised if I was in over a foot of water. Here I had been training for this half ironman triathlon, and now someone had to watch me if I dangled my feet off the dock. It was weird. My dad caught me a few times trying to do lunges in the backyard and warned me not to raise my heart rate. When the wires finally came off I couldn't decide if I wanted to eat first or run first.

Meantime, my cousin Mikey helped me find a replacement for my bike and we got to work getting it put together.





I had the wires removed a month after the accident, but the arch bars stayed on for another couple months. Once the wires were removed, I could only open my mouth a little less than a cm, but it was enough to eat some scrambled eggs, which were amazing. Gradually I was able to open it more and more and had to do exercises in front of a mirror because it would open crooked. It still opens a little crooked, but you can only see it if you're really looking for it. The tooth on the fracture line died while my jaw was wired shut so it looks a little different from my other teeth, but no one has ever noticed without my pointing it out. Getting the arch bars off was the worst part. My doctor was awesome, and called me his miracle patient every time I came in. When he asked me if I felt like I could do it with just a topical numbing agent I said yeah sure I'm tough. Plus I didn't want to go under again. He started to bend one wire and we realized that was definitely not going to work. It was too late to put me under, so I had to have about 20 shots of novacaine in the roof of my mouth and lower mouth. Once my jaw had been unwired, I remember the guy that hit me sent me a message that said something along the lines of, oh great you're fine now, you can go eat cheeseburgers. But I wasn't fine just yet, I had still missed my big race, my jaw would take almost a year for the joint to regrow, and I still had the head injury. After he sent me that message, I blocked him from all further contact. While I did forgive him, I didn't feel like it would be good for my recovery.

A few months after the accident, I was still having problems from my head injury. I would go to the grocery store not realizing my shirt was on inside out and backwards. I would constantly forget the word for something. I would walk into rooms forgetting what I went in there for. I would "space out" during conversations. I was having trouble concentrating. People would tell me that things like this happened to them as well, but I think what they didn't understand, was that this was alllll the time. The worst incident was when I spaced out and went through a red light. After that, my neurologist thought I might be having petit mal seizures so set me up for an EEG. And this is what I looked like for 24 hours:

The EEG came up negative, which was good and bad. Good I wasn't having seizures, bad that the only thing that would help me was time. With head injuries, they often just get better with time. Since I had had several minor concussions (ice hockey) before this, it might take a little extra time. Even now I still have some difficulties with memory and concentration, but it has gotten better year after year.

There was one point when I became angry. For a long time after the accident, I thought he hadn't seen me, that it was an honest accident. He had told the insurance company the sun was in his eyes. Much later, I learned that shortly after my dad arrived at the accident, he ran up to my dad and said "I thought I had enough time." So he did see me, and thought he could make the turn. He then lied to the insurance company. Thankfully they must have seen through the story (the sun wasn't even close to setting at 5pm on a July evening) and assumed full responsibility. I still forgive him, but I do hope he learned something from the incident. My situation, while not very much fun from me, was due to a simple mistake. We all make mistakes and that is why I can let this one go. The harder issue for me to come to terms with, are the displays of hatred towards, and deliberate scaring of cyclists by motorists. I am sad that if any of those folks read this article, the safety concerns may fall on deaf ears.

The crazy thing about this whole story, is that I was very very lucky. This easily could have gone so much worse. These are all the reasons why I was so lucky:
1. I could have had severe brain damage or broken my spine
2. The driver had good insurance
3. I had an excellent surgeon that treated me like he would treat his own daughter
4. I had very supportive family and friends that kept my spirits up
5. My only lasting remnants from the accident are a little TMJ and being a bit forgetful.

I have many friends who have also been in accidents with motorists and came out much worse. Some have lasting disabilities, and are still thankful and feel lucky to still be here. I titled this blog 3 seconds, because that was the approximate amount of time it would have taken for me to go by where the car was turning and be in the clear. How often have we been held up while driving somewhere, or doing something, for 3 seconds. A mail truck, slow moving farm equipment, stop lights, traffic, pedestrian crossings, all typically stop us for more than 3 seconds. 3 seconds will not ruin your day and it won't make you late for an important meeting. Our lives are worth more than 3 seconds, please consider this next time you come across a cyclist or group of cyclists. Be patient. We are often moving quicker than you may think, and often have to move away from the shoulder to avoid debris and potholes. Slow down, assess the situation (many cyclists will often use signals or wave you around when its safe), and pass/turn with care. Cyclists, do your part as well. Use hand signals, watch for vehicles and stop at stop signs. Maybe just as importantly, wave thank you to the motorists that are patient. Maybe if other motorists see us thanking them, then they will realize that we're not so bad after all.

Syracuse 70.3

Heading into Syracuse 70.3 I was feeling pretty good. I had just watched Brian's inspiring come back after injury to win Rev3 Williamsburg. I was excited about taking on a challenging and different course. I would get to catch up with some Canadian friends as well. Training had been going great and I was ready to finally put together this half distance.

In the couple days leading up to the race my stomach was feeling a little iffy, but I just chalked it up to nerves and carried on. In retrospect, once it was feeling off, I could have been more careful about pre race eating/sleeping. Race morning was beautiful, the temps were going to be great, the water was calm and the wind was pretty low.

It was an in-water start and I lined up in the second row and in the middle. We all kind of jumped when the gun went off because there hadn't been the typical 10 sec warning, but we were off. I had an ok start. This sort of triangle formed and I was on the edge of it, which wasn't the best place to be. I tried to sort of break into the triangle and got elbowed in the face (my fault), and then decided to try and go around and that was somewhat effective. Then I ended up being the one with people on my feet and a break to the next group. I had just resigned myself to doing the work on the swim, when a woman came up next to me. Yes! She was moving at a good clip and I slid in behind her. So I was with a little group of 3 for the rest of the swim. I could feel that I was swimming fairly well, and I gotta say, my new Zoot prophet felt awesome. My shoulders didn't get tired and I felt very smooth in the water. On the way back in, my head felt a little fuzzy, and then all of a sudden I puked a little! I thought oh man that's weird but carried on. Getting out of the water, glanced at my watch and saw just under 30 min, sweet! It was going to be a good day. Running up into transition, I felt very sluggish and fuzzy. I figured the good effort on the swim and then all of a sudden going vertical was just going to be an adjustment. I took a little more time in T1 than usual, wanting to make sure I could calm down a little.

The first 2 miles of the bike were fast, and gave me a chance to calm myself a little after the swim. After those two miles, the climbing started, going right into a nice hill out of town. When we turned onto Sweet Rd to start the bulk of the climb, I went to shift and heard the chain fall off. Shoot! Thankfully, I couldn't have done it in a better place, I was literally right in front of the bike support guys. They ran over and immediately started working on it. The chain was stuck pretty badly in between the frame and crank and took a few minutes to get it unstuck. In the meantime, I got to watch a bunch of the women come by. This was frustrating for sure, but I hadn't lost hope. I did get slightly worried when one the bike techs said something about possibly having to get me on a different bike. Finally the chain came out and they did this cool Tour de France type thing where I got on and clipped in and they pushed me until I got going. Thank you awesome bike support guys for your quick work! I made a mental note to be careful shifting gears and carried on up the climb. I took the climb a bit conservatively (maybe too conservatively) knowing that it would get faster later on. The course is beautiful and the descents were fun. I didn't see another rider for a long time, and focused on nutrition, hydration, cadence and power. My nutrition wasn't going down as easily as it usually does. Warning, possibly TMI, I kept burping stuff up and my stomach felt full and gurgly. I took some extra salt in an effort to calm it but it wasn't going down like it usually does after extra salt. Finally about halfway through the bike I saw riders up ahead. Yay, people to chase! I started reeling them in and was having fun chasing people down. I was probably a little too scared of pushing it more on this bike course, I think getting out to ride more hilly routes will be beneficial going into Placid so I know how much I can push it. About 1/2 mile from T2 something weird was happening with my derailleur, I thought oh no just hang in there one more minute! Coming into T2 all of a sudden I was like, whoa I gotta pee, and was actually able to pee on the bike! I was so excited about this that I forgot to get out of my shoes and ran into T2 with one bike shoe on and one off... I gotta tell you, I looked super pro.

I could see a couple of the women and they were close, I thought ok hold it together and you can catch them. I grabbed my stuff and started running. My turnover was good and my legs felt good and not at all over worked from the bike. But my head was feeling fuzzy. I thought ok, start the nutrition, you've got caffeine and salt. My stomach was still feeling gross and the burping up of stuff hadn't stopped, so I popped some more salt and tried to focus on the woman in front of me. My pace was already much slower than I had anticipated, but with the grassy hill coming out of transition I decided to just go with it. There were some rolling smaller hills on the first part of the out and back (you did it twice) and then there was the beast of a hill at the end of each loop. I shortened my stride and kept telling myself, c'mon your legs feel fine, pick it up and keep going. I started to get this weird sensation where I would feel cold for a few minutes, then really hot and thirsty the next couple minutes. I tried more salt, with not much difference. It was frustrating and I'm not going to lie and say that my head space remained super positive. Coming back around for the second loop, I seriously considered dropping. I was already way back and was just not feeling any better. I have never really considered a DNF, it crosses my mind occasionally, but never as a serious option. I thought of the time I'd put in to get there, I thought of the people that support us, and I thought of the kids I was visiting on the way home. I wanted to set a good example, that no matter how bad you feel (unless you're going to get injured), you don't quit. After shuffling up the beast hill the second time, I came back down and saw my Canadian friend Andrea (who had an amazing race after crashing on the bike). She cheered so loudly for me, I was able to get it together a tiny bit. An amateur female had passed me and I was about to pass her back, I tried not to feel bad for myself that a couple of the amateurs were up on me. Instead, I thought well my race is obviously not really going anywhere, but maybe I can help her. I came by and said come on, let's bring this in together, you've got this. We ran in most of the rest of the way together, me getting even a little boost from being able to help someone else. Huge congrats to Andrea winning her AG after crashing on the bike, David for a strong race, Hana for gutting it out on a tough course, Heather for her awesome 4th place pro and the Welch brothers for strong races.

I'm asked sometimes "what is a good race for you?" I consider a good race, a race where I finish with nothing left, my legs full of lactic acid, my heart pounding, just completely exhausted. While I know there may have been other stuff going on, it was heart breaking for me to finish with relatively fresh legs. Yes my stomach and head weren't so fresh, but I still relish that super sore, ran yourself into the ground feeling. Fortunately, I still have 4 more big races this season to capture that feeling. I am especially excited for the next one, Lake Placid, because Brian and some friends are racing. All I can do now is go back to the drawing board and also know that the majority of my remaining season focuses on my strength: the Iron distance. Three out of four of the remaining races are courses I'm somewhat familiar with and have had good results on. I haven't raced Lake Placid before, but we will have a chance to go train on the course. Overall, things are looking good.

So lessons learned:
1. Don't run into peoples elbows in the swim
2. Look into chain stays and practice shifting on climbs
3. Even when excited that you can finally pee on bike, 200m before bike dismount is probably not the best place to practice
4. If feeling sick, suck it up and think about how awesome legs feel
5. If feeling sick, guzzling water and chocolate milk after race will probably result in puking all over yourself...
6. Enjoy the process and think about all the awesome races left in the season

Ironman Texas

I missed writing up my race from Florida 70.3 and this is a little delayed... I've been working on my first manuscript so I felt a little guilty writing anything besides that. But, just submitted the first draft for my advisor to review (eek!) so had a few minutes to catch up.

Florida 70.3 was a mix of highs and lows. I had a good swim, great bike, then fell flat on the run. On one hand you want to be positive and project a positive attitude, and on the other hand you don't want to accept that that's what you can do. I let the race sink in for a few days and then decided I would use it to fuel my fire leading up to Ironman Texas. All we ever want is to put together a race that truly represents what we are capable of and reflects the training we put in.

Going into Ironman Texas, I knew that I had put in some great intensity on the bike and run. I was a little nervous that I hadn't gotten the super long rides in since it was such a cold winter, and I ended up on the trainer quite a bit. The intensity had been there though and I was running well off my training rides.

One of the greatest parts about racing Texas was that so many people I knew would also be racing, AND I would get to see my good friend Meghan. Meghan and I were really good running buddies back in Virginia. We ran together probably 2-3 times a week and she was one of my bridesmaids in my wedding. I remember runs where I would be trying to run tempo pace doubled over because I was laughing so hard. It was really nice to spend a couple relaxing meals with her pre-race so we could get all caught up and I could meet the newest member of her family, 4 mo old Easton. The last time I saw her daughter Lexie, I could barely understand a word from her, and now she is talking in complete sentences! Although I wasn't really up for her games of tag post-race, it was fun to see her again. I also got to catch up, very briefly, with my homestay hosts from Steelhead 70.3. Jan was doing her first Ironman and ended up finishing despite a very challenging run. Sean shaved a huge amount of time off from his previous Texas finish! I also got to catch up with the Zoot guys and some Zoot team mates, Kendra and Christian. Not to mention catching up pre and post race with some cool ladies I met at other races, Caroline and Helen. You just meet the coolest people in triathlon.


Meghan's daughter Lexie, cutest triathlete every


Meghan's 4mo old, Easton

Finally race morning came. I got in the water about 10 min before we were to go off, immediately loved the temperature and was happy to be wearing my Zoot prophet wetsuit. The gun went off and I took off, desperately trying to latch onto some fast feet. After about 200-300m I settled in with a pretty sizable group. I think if my start had been a touch better I could have hung on with a slightly faster group, but I was happy to be swimming with some people. I enjoyed the swim and felt comfortable with my group, although there was quite a bit of shuffling around. Exiting the water, I glanced at my watch and was very excited to see almost exactly an hour. I'm not the strongest swimmer so that was very promising, and its always nice to start the day on a high note. My transition was relatively quick and I was on my bike.


super fun swimming through the canal

The first 30 miles I was flying. I felt great, I was getting calories down, the speed was good. Then at some point after that, my legs just started to feel flat on the bike. I was frustrated because I usually feel great on the bike, and it's really become a strength for me. I tried to remain optimistic. It helped to think about the run, it's been awhile since I was genuinely excited to get off the bike and run, and this time I was. I knew I'd been working on my run and that was where I could make up some of the time I lost on the bike. But would it be enough? I wasn't really sure how much time I was losing, and it ended up being more than I ever expected. I did get down all of my nutrition, which was incredibly easy given how simple it is to mix up my Infinit custom blends. I had one mix for the first half of the bike with only a small amount of caffeine, and a second mix for the second half of the bike with moderate caffeine. All I had to do was mix the separate bottles and labeled them Bike 1 and Bike 2. Easy peezy, and I had gone really light on the flavor so that even with 1500+ calories spread between the two bottles, they still went down really easily. Taping my lower back, as was the suggestion by Ghent Chiropractic, really helped me avoid that late ride lower back fatigue that can happen when in the aero position for 5+ hours. Coming into T2, all I could think was "get me in my running shoes." 

Another quick transition (the volunteers were great in the changing tents) and I was off. Running through transition I glanced at my watch and saw 6:30 pace, figured that would probably be a little overkill for me, so quickly dialed in 7:40-7:45 pace, which was my target range. The first lap felt great, I felt strong and relaxed, I was taking down my Infinit napalm with no problems (even though it had been sitting in the sun all day). I saw Meghan around mile 7 and she was a great pick-me-up. Onto lap 2 I was still feeling good and was able to hold my pace. The last part of lap 2 and first part of lap 3, I hit a low point and slowed a touch. Using the mantras I've been working on helped me come out of it, but losing focus for that brief period of time cost me a bit. I was able to pick the pace back up on the last part of lap 3 and could feel my turnover improving. My new kit is really comfortable and the Zoot tempos felt light and responsive even with the massive amounts of water I was pouring over myself. I came by Meghan for the 3rd time and she yelled "there is a pro female 1 minute up." I had two miles to go, and this felt exactly like Louisville last year. Last year at Louisville I had a good swim, not so great bike and then passed a girl with two miles left. I came up to her much faster than I expected and made the pass, this lifted my spirits and I found I could keep pushing. With half a mile to go I passed another female pro. Coming into the finish chute I could see another one just a couple hundred yards ahead, but I ran out of pavement. I couldn't help but think, if I hadn't hit that low point, how many could I have picked off? But that is a lesson to carry with me to the next race.


A little blurry, but me running along the canal

Having Meghan out there was awesome, the back part of each run lap got lonely, and it helped to think "ok 4 miles until I see them, ok 2 miles until I see them." I also can't say enough good things about the volunteers. They were on point, and I never had a problem getting what I needed, even though a three loop course can get crowded. The spectators were something else too, and I really enjoyed being able to run along the canal each loop. I really loved this course and the race as a whole so I hope to come back. After the race, I really couldn't stomach much solid food, so it was great to have some Infinit nocturne on hand. After a few nights of using it, and then some easy spins and swims, I was raring to go again.

I really enjoyed talking to a few of the other pro women. I feel really blessed to be able to line up with them on race days. I think a few of them can sense I'm a bit impatient to move up the ranks, but they are so encouraging. I'm not sure one of them (not sure if she would want to be named or not) realizes how much it meant to me when she said "you're so young and have such a bright racing career ahead." I just need to trust the process and know that this is a long and difficult road, that's what makes it so wonderful. So excited for Kelly Williamson's win, she is just the nicest person and it will be awesome to follow her racing the rest of the year. Can't wait to see what coach Tara Norton has in store for me leading up to Ironman Lake Placid (and Syracuse 70.3), I've never been so excited to get back to training post-Ironman!