TRX, my new strength tool!

I have been incorporating TRX into my daily strength work for about a month now. TRX is a suspension training tool that uses bodyweight to help build lean muscle. It helps increase stability too because you have balance while doing many of the exercises. Increasing stability in small muscles in the hips is a huge help for me with my running form. Through my recent injury, I learned I was pretty weak through my stabilizer mucles in the hips, which can end up being a big deal for effecient running form and being injury free! So far the TRX has been fun and challenging! I really like doing one leg squats with the TRX (really helps with stabilizing through the hips) and doing plank/core work. Boy, it sure can hurt! Here are a couple of pictures as I was trying out some exercises I learned. I plan to keep learning more from the website and from my physical therapist to be sure I am hitting all areas to become stronger. I will post more about what I learn on how the TRX can help with overall strength! I have to be a student for a little while. :)

Cyclocross!

Kattie and I



I had the opportunity to compete in a couple local cyclocross races in November located in Grand Rapids and in Holland. What fun! I love the laid back atmosphere, fun crowd, and of course the biking through grass, sand, and MUD. These 2 races were full of mud...I have never been so dirty before! Neither has my bike! Anyway, I had a couple falls (gentle though) during the last race at the Hope College stadium. Out of fun, I get pretty competitive at these races. I love racing with a big smile and just trying to fly through the different obstacles!
Here's a couple photos!

Galveston, TX

I recently traveled to Galveston to participate in the 5150 triathlon series. This was my final race for the season. I didn't orginially plan on this being my final race, but the 5150 race in Clearwater, FL to be held in November, was unfortuntaely cancelled. So I took the bull by the horns and decided to make this race a great one! I first have to mention that Galveston was a neat island. It had a tourist type feel...it is always fun for me to see houses on stilts along the shore. It's not everyday that I get to be around this type of scenery!

Anyway, the race course venue was nice and was also fun for me. The run was quite interesting with a lot of turn arounds. It was a 2 lap course, which allowed Ross to see me many times...yay for his cheering!

Well, this race couldn't have gone better. I was very calm leading up to the race, I knew I did all I could to prepare and the rest was in God's hands so all I had to do was stick to my own race targets and execute my plan through what I could control. The swim was great. It was in the Gulf so this was actually my first salt water swim for a triathlon. I kinda liked it-a little extra buoyancy can never hurt. :) I felt strong and calm in the swim and used opportunities to surge to test if I could hold a little faster pace. I came out of the water exactly with 2 other girls so we were 3rd, 4th, and 5th exiting. I had a quick transition and came out of T1 in 3rd. I ended up 4th off the bike, but got caught quickly again in T2. On the start of the run, I was able to keep the girl ahead of me in sight and didn't let her gain ground. I stuck to my race plan and didn't begin surging aggressively in the first run, but I saw I was slowly gaining on the girl right in front of me as well as another up ahead! I think I was in the zone because I continued to keep steady and not make a move too soon-it was like my body just knew what to do. As soon as I rounded the 2nd lap, I began a little build. I wasn't sure how much I would have left, but I took a risk and surged ever so slightly. I continued to gain on the girls in front of me and passed 2 of them! I was really excited. There was the 2nd place girl still a little ahead of me and I wasn't sure if I could catch her. I continued to try slight surges to test what I could do. I ended up passing the 2nd place girl and eventually ran my way into 2nd place. I was just thrilled as this was my first podium finisih as a pro! I had a big smile on my face and felt I raced a smart race. It was such a gift to have ended on such a high note after having a challenging race season having to drop out of races due to my injury and cut back on the run training. Reflecting back on the race, I will definitly take the strategies I used in this race to next season! I later found out that I ran my fastest 10K by over a minute. Wow! How fun!! Ross and I had a great time together and I have to thank him for all his help with such a quick trip down to TX and back. Couldn't have done it without his support. As my season comes to and end, I want to be sure and thank Barb, Shoreline Sport and Spine Phsycial Therapy, Train out Pain Chiropractic, and my sponsors for all their support in helping me have a great season despite its many challenges. And of course the Lord for making this all possible.

Buffalo, NY- Elite Nationals

Ross and I headed to Buffalo last weekend for Elite Nationals ITU race. We had fun driving through Canada and stopping at Niagara Falls for a quick visit. Ross and I did a homestay and were welcomed by a couple who owns Bert's Bike Shop-there are a few stores located throughout Buffalo. Bert's Bikes was a sponsor for the race. Anyway, homestays can be fun as it is always great meeting new people! Everyone around the area seemed very friendly and welcoming. It was also fun to see my coach, Barb, at the race, as well as other athletes I have met at previous races.

Well, three days before the race I ended up with a painful sore throat that prevented me from sleeping well the nights leading up to the race. I had never had a cold come on so close to an important race before so it was quite the challenge to ignore it and to keep on training in preparation for the big day. This took some mental toughness to not let it get in the way of my confidence for the race. I managed my symptoms as best as I could and showed up race morning ready to go! I had my coffee flavored Athlete's Honeymilk (a new addition to my prerace routine) and I knew my body would know what to do despite feeling a little under the weather. This course had 2 swim loops, 8 bike laps, and 4 run laps. Since the race was draft-legal, I knew I needed to be ready to hammer it in the swim and in the bike to get into a good bike pack.

I had a solid swim and ended up about 10th out of the water. I actually had a pretty bad transition as my bike almost fell over, which threw off my timing. Eventhough, I did get in a group with 2 other girls who were right behind me in the swim. We worked our way up and caught a couple other girls to add to our pack. We were just on our way to go and catch the 2nd pack up the road (they were a little down from the 2 leaders) when I all of a sudden hit a big pothole. Oh it was rough! It came up so fast and I was switching in the group, which made me miss seeing it. Right after I hit the pothole, I all of a sudden realized I could not push the same gear I was in and began loosing ground on the group! I just hammered to stay, but there was nothing I could do. I immediately fell back and just lost so much time. I was shocked, confused, and unsure what just happened...why couldn't I hang on all of a sudden? After a couple slow and rather painful laps (painful on the legs), I had to pull off the course. I was so sad...good thing Ross and my coach were there so I could shed a few tears! My coach looked over my bike real quick and realized that my back wheel wasn't spinning hardley at all...the break was rubbing against it! Oh man, that was actually a relief because I thought something was physically wrong with me. I must have had enough of a jolt when I hit the pot hole that it made my break lever move and get pushed to one side of the wheel...talk about tough resistance! I really can't believe I didn't crack my wheels with how hard I hit that big pothole...this is definately a testament about how strong my Rolf Prima TDF-58 wheels are. They have seriously been great wheels for about 2 seasons now. About a lap after I stopped, there was a crash within the group that I was merging with. About 6 people went down...there was a lot of road rash and my one friend was more seriously hurt (compression fracture in her back). I feel as if God spared me from this crash. He also allowed me some more rest on my injured hip that has continued to be a challenge for me yet this season. While this experience was sad and frustrating since I had to stop during the race, I also feel it was a good learning experience. Now I know to be a bit more aware of what could be wrong with my bike during a race-if something strange like this happens again, I will know to check my brakes! I have another chance to try out my skills at a draft-legal race next weekend in Myrtle Beach! I have had a chance to think about some drafting skills that I needed to freshen up on...so I look forward to racing again soon.

Chicago Triathlon

The Chicago Triathlon was last sunday and it went well! It was definately windy in the "windy city." It was so fun to have family and friends there with Ross and I for the race. Thanks for all the cheering...it was so encouraging!

Leading up to the race, I was experiencing some hip issues again, which made me pretty nervous due to my recent stress fracture. Even race morning during my pre race run warm up I had issues with feeling tightness that wasn't going to go away. I said lot of prayers leading up to the race that everything would be okay and that I would be able to get through the run okay. It's amazing how God gives you the strength when it's needed.

Anyway, here's the breakdown of the race: The swim was rough. It was quite wavy and most of the swim was back into the wind so that meant battling those waves. It was one of those swims where I wondered if it was ever going to end! I was able to be with a solid group of girls for the swim, but had to really work hard to stay there with the conditions. Well, besides the conditions there were fast swimmers there too...haha. I felt pretty water logged afterwards and it was challenging to get into a good groove. The swim is pretty neat though because we swim by the yacht club right along the breakwall there so people can walk by you the whole swim. I heard my dad yell, "go abbs!" in the middle...cool! After the swim, I quickly forgot about how hard it felt as I transiioned to the bike. I knew I had a little ground to make up for having a swim that was a little off. I felt strong and solid on the bike though. I was able to pass a few girls, which helped the adrenline rush! I really enjoyed the ride. I ended up having the 5th fastest bike split, which was exciting for me! I came off the bike ready to have a good run. I took a few minutes to establish my form and find my groove. I knew a couple girls were right on my tail so I was going to have to work hard to hold it! I did get passed by a couple girls, but I also passed a girl. It was really windy coming back on the run so that was challenging. I pushed with what I had and used my positive mantras to help me fight through. I could see several girls ahead of me, but didn't end up being able to catch them. I ended up in 9th place and was within 20-40 seconds or so of a few other girls and just over a minute from 5th place. Overall I was pleased with my results, especially with having my hip issue. It was a fun day. Now I have to address my hip issue and if all goes well I wiil be geared up to race locally in the Reed's Lake Triathlon next!

P.S. Congrats to the "Zane" family, Ross, Kattie, and AD for their races too!

The Giant Eagle Triathlon

My first olympic distance pro race back since my injury! I was very excited and nervous to be racing again. It was a little nerve racking as I had no idea how I would feel in my first longer race back. Anyway, leading up to the race I had a nice and relaxing taper week up north in Cheboygan, MI enjoying beautiful Mullet Lake with my family. I had a chance to bike some very hilly routes and train in a clear and wonderful lake with either Ross or my dad kyaking next to me to guide me through my swim workouts. It is fun to switch the training up like that sometimes! Soon, it came time to unpack from vacation to quickly pack up for the trip to Ohio. Ross and I headed down to Columbus for the Giant Eagle Triathlon (a point to point race where we ended up running down town Columbus). We were both so excited to be on the road traveling to a race again. It had been awhile! I felt ready to go as I knew I had prepared well through training, despite my limited run training as I am still in the process of building back to full strength. As race morning came, I was calm and had a quiet mind. I knew my race targets and that was what I needed to focus on. For the swim, it was a really tight beach start (not much room to spread out) so there were a couple of rows of girls, which made it challenging at first to spread out in the swim. I didn't get a great start spot, which I believe slowed me down a bit at the start as I was caught in a mob of girls making it hard to get my stroke settled in. I got kicked in the face pretty hard twice...oops! That hurt! But, I ended up settling in about :10 back from the leaders and worked my way to close the gap as best as I could. I was happy to be within in seconds from the leaders! Getting on the bike, I stuck to my plan of going out conservatively for the first 10-15 minutes (not my usual plan). I surged where I could to see if I could settle at a new pace. I could tell my biking was a tad off yet as I have had to rebuild intensity here in my training as well. I ended up getting passed by 3 girls, but kept one in sight and didn't loose too much ground on her coming into the run. I continued to remain calm and took off on the run. Again, I stuck to my race targets and settled in finding my run form and cadence and then remained steady. I passed a girl on the run and continued to test the limit a little bit by putting in a couple more surges to see if I could setting at a new pace. I wasn't sure what I would have on the run, but felt solid. I ended up having my best 10K time by a minute, which was so cool as I have done very little speed work. I knew I wanted to surge into the finish line and I ended up 6th! I was very happy with this and with how I stuck to my race plan. Again, it felt like such a gift to be racing and running without pain. I enjoyed the Giant Eagle Triathlon and thought the point to point bike made it in an interesting experience with having 2 separate transition areas. Now I am looking forward to my next race, a local sprint race, and then traveling to the Chicago Triathlon at the end of August. I have a lot of work to do in the meantime, but I look forward to being a part of the racing world again!

Overcoming Setbacks

Since my "season-opener" race in Clermont, FL in March, I have been dealing with a significant injury. The week leading up to the March race, I had been dealing with some muscle tightness in the hip flexor area that didn't seem to want to go away despite stretching and massaging. However, the tightness I was feeling still seemed to be muscle related and I assumed that I was ok to continue as long as I kept this area as loose as possible. At least that is what I thought. I completed my race and didn't feel any sort of tightness during-must be all that adrenaline! It wasn't until the next few days when I tried to resume my normal training that I knew there was something significantly going on in my left groin area. I immediately had to stop running as I had difficulty lifting my leg and even walking without a limp. I had several tests done in the meantime to figure out what might be going on. It was thought to be a tendon tear at first, but then an MRI showed a stress fracture in the lesser trochanter (a bony process on the femur where the hip flexor attaches). The pain from this type of injury shows up in the groin area so it was quite painful for a long time (months!). It was most likely caused due to repetitive use. One possiblity for the cause was that I had some muscular imbalance going on that caused one side of my body to be over-working for a time, thus, eventually leading to an injury. Anyway, I was devasted to hear the news of having a stress fracture. I, nor the doctors, had no idea when I would be able to return to normal training and even begin to think about running again. Everyone is different in their healing time so I had to learn what I could tolerate and when. Having to significantly reduce my training time and intensity was very difficult (my bike training had to be reduced as well). Well, I had to learn to rest and be smart in not over stressing the injury area! Almost everything seemed to hurt in the injury location for a couple of months since the hip flexor is involved in so much of the training acitivies done for triathlon. I have been back to running for almost 2 months now! I can say that I did my best to use the extra time I had to grow in other areas. I learned to trust God in his plan for my recovery as I could only control what I could control. I took time to focus on my nutrition and learned how I could best prepare my body to return to training/racing again. I learned to listen to my body in new ways, which I hope will help in preventing future injuries. I also learned how important it is to have a good support team such as an amazing husband who was so encouraging and uplifting, my family, and encouraging friends. In addition, Ryan, my physical therapist from Shoreline Sport and Spine, Metro Health Sport's Doctor, Dr. Kornoelje, Train out Pain Chiropractor, Jason Ross (who performs active release therapy), and my coach, Barb Lindquist, were all so important in my recovery process as they helped educate and guide me. Through their efforts, they guided me in what types of training and excercises I could do before building back my running to prepare my body to come back stronger through targeting weaknesses! They helped me learn patterns of weaknesses in my body, which I am so thankful I am more aware of now. Further, those involved in my training and recovery encouraged me to use my extra time to grow in the ways I could control, which was great advice. Looking back, I am realizing blessings through the injury process even though it was tough to sit back and have to cancel race after race as I was still recovering. I thank God for his blessings and teachings through this recovery process. I was able to compete in a local race, July 16 (Tri del sol), as a way to test the run and put a race together again. I won the race, which was so exciting. I enjoyed myself and felt really solid despite my limited run training. It truly felt like a gift to be able run again pain free! My next race, 2 weeks later, was the The Giant Eagle Triathlon in Columbus, OH on July 31st. My first Olympic distance and pro race back.

Draft Legal Challenge (Sprint distance)- Clermont, FL

My first race of the season was a success in many ways. To begin, I had a lot of fun, had a great homestay experience, and reunited with fun people! As far as the race goes, I enjoyed myself here as well. The swim was in a lake that was the color of tea(red/orange looking), which was...interesting. The lake was also shallow for quite a ways out so this meant I had to really work on the high knee running and dolphin dives to get myself speed to get in with the swim pack. I felt like I had a decent start on race morning, my dolphin dives were timed well, and I came out of the swim in the middle of the pack. I had a successful run up to the transition area where I was able to catch the main chase pack on the bike. There was about a group of 15 girls in this pack, which seemed tight for such a short course! This was quite the experience as bike handling skills really came into play! I felt really strong on the bike and was able to hang with the pack the entire way. As I transitioned to the run, I could tell I was up against some amazing contenders as they really reved up the pace! While I didn't have the strongest run amongst the competitors, I am very happy as I set a new PR for my own 5K time by over a minute! My race experience gave me confidence that my training is right on track. I was also encouraged to have had a second draft legal experience that allowed me to "test the waters" with an early season race where I could really be aggressive and get in the competitive mode. I look forward to my next race in Miami in April!

Training update and The value of physical therapy

So I have been in training mode for quite awhile over the winter months. Ahh, my training has consisted of many bike rides in my basement on the ole trainer (woo hoo?), long rides with great people at Strider's spining group, running on the treadmill, and of course putting the yards in the pool. Training has been going well as I feel much more controlled and stronger than where I was at this time from last year. I like this! Well, I am coming up on first race of the season. A draft legal sprint race in Clermont, FL. I am really looking forward to this experience. This will be my first race I am traveling to without Ross, which will feel quite strange. I know I will prefer to have him there. :)

Anyway, leading up to my first race, I have been learning more and more about the ways my body is vulnerable to injuries and the things I can do to help prevent further injuries. I was pondering my understanding of my body as I ramp up training. I have been working closely with physical therapists, primarily Ryan Tanis, from Shoreline Sport and Spine over the past few years. As I have grown as an athlete, I have learned valuable information about how my body functions as a whole system with the help of my physical therapist. I did not realize the extent of the effects from even subtle off balances in the body. As my physical therapist explained, my body is like a Ferrari meaning I am a fairly fine tuned "machine" due to my level of training. When there is one glitch (e.g., like the hip joint is not performing with as much flexibility as it should be), the whole system can be impacted in some way even if it is a subtle glitch. Many people wouldn't necessarily notice a slight balance difference on their foot plant or that there is a slightly uneven hip tightness occuring. But when you are putting your body to the limits, you tend to notice many slight "discrepencies" that could impede performance. I have had to learn to listen to my body and have learned the hard way in the past as I have suffered from stress fractures and hip bursitis. It has been a process (as I am still learning) for me to understand when I might need to ask my physical therapist for help with new stretches or other avenues of keeping the body functioning in a way that allows for the best performance to prevent injury. I cannot tell you how helpful having a physical therapist to work with has been. What a blessing! I really appreciate the perspective and understanding that if one muscule group, joint, etc. is not functioning properly, that there might be a connection or cause somewhere else in the body preventing another structure to do its job. Therefore, it seems like the "root" of the problem is more likely to be addressed, thus, keep the body performing in the best possible systematic way. I have gained a new understanding of the body as a muscular system, which is important for an athlete who wants to keep pushing their body.