St. Anthony's Triathlon Photos

Nautica South Beach Triathlon

Doing the Nautica South Beach Tri-part of the Toyota Cup Race Series- was great! The event was run well and they even had Bob Saget announcing the awards…I mean how cool is that? I felt like I knew him so well from all my days of watching Full House…haha. Anyway, South Beach was quite the place to race. I thought the race venue was neat.( Ross and I took some vacation time to enjoy the Hollywood/ Ft. Lauderdale area after the race. Good times!)This was my first race in the ocean and it was nice and calm the morning of the race, which helped make my experience enjoyable. The bike course went all around town and over causeways. I made sure to look up for a second and enjoy-I was still focused of course.  The run was on a path that was right along the ocean, it was open to the public, which made it a little tricky at times as not everyone was watching out for the racers. I had to do a little dodging.
Well, to give play by play of the race, the pro men and women both started together. I lined up by myself behind a group of men, which seemed to work well. I was able to get right in there and found my groove after doing a few dolphin dives to get out of the shallow water. I was able to settle in nicely and kept doing some surges to see if I could hold a faster pace. I was pretty focused and didn’t see any ocean creatures…darn. Well, I ended up 5th out of the water for the women just seconds behind the 3rd person out. I was pretty happy about this!! I eased into my bike, maybe with a little too much ease. It can be tough sometimes to get that feel back right away since I haven’t raced in a while, but sure enough my body took over and knew what to do. I felt strong on the bike for the most part, but did wonder after I was done if I could have pushed it harder a little sooner. Hmm. I had to do some more dodging through the long and busy transition, but made it out onto the run in 6th. I went out conservatively with the plan to build into the second half. I had a little build, but didn’t seem to be able to find that extra gear to really get there. I got passed by two others and just didn’t have the gear to respond. I stayed strong, thought about my technique, and ended up with a solid 8th place. Overall I am happy with how the race went. I really enjoyed myself. It was fun to look up and see God’s creation through palm trees and the beautiful ocean. I loved it! Now I look forward to entering into a new phase of training and gearing up for St. Anthony’s in St. Petersburg, FL. at the end of April. FL here I come again!

Discount code for Lifetime Fitness Toyota Cup Series Race Entry!

Race to the Toyota Cup- Life Time Triathlon series is asking professional triathletes to help promote its events. I have been given a discount code to share with athletes so they can save 10% off registration! You may have heard of some of their races such as The Chicago Triathlon, Minneapolis, and Dallas, Toyota U.S. Open. I have done each one of these and they are run very well. These races draw a lot of great athletes too! I would highly recommend the The Chicago Triathlon for those from the West Michigan area. If you are interested, please share and use the code below to sign up!

To sign up follow the links and use this code: LTTri907
Minneapolis
http://mplstri.com/
Chicago
www.chicagotriathlon.com
Dallas
http://www.toyotausopentriathlon.com/

Let me know if you have any questions about any of the races or the series!

Clermont Draft Legal Challenge

I raced my "season opener" on saturday in Clermont, FL. Overall, it was a fun trip! I got to meet a couple ironman professional triathletes that stopped by the house I was staying at down there (the lady I stayed with is TYR rep so she talks with a lot of pros). It is so normal to be a professional down there...crazy! Anyway, about the race...First, the race was delayed so instead of already starting crazy late in the afternoon (3:30) we started about 4:00. It was just a busy day full of races so things were a little delayed. That was quite different to have such a big race so late in the day. It was hard to sit around and have the race on my mind for so long. I really prefer to get up and get 'er done! But I managed to entertain myself.
The swim was in Lake Louisa, which was very shallow for a couple hundred meters out from the shore...this made for A LOT of dolphin diving and running in knee deep water (a little challenging for me as I am kinda short!). So the swim was pretty challenging in this way for me. I saw several people pass me as we neared the shore and started to run out of the water. I just had to stay in control and do my best to run fast to catch a bike group! Well, I came out with several girls, but it quickly got divided up into 3 solid packs of riders. I couldn't quite catch the group up the road so I actually ended up riding the race by myself with one other girl who stayed quite close to me the entire time. I was just stuck in a position where I couldn't time trial my way up to the next pack by myself as there were strong bikers in the pack. I managed to stay ahead of the group behind me until the very last stretch coming home. So, it was definately a challenging spot to be in especially since I am not as strong on the run. I also receieved my first penatly ever! Ugh, I made a rookie mistake by mounting before the mount line...I thought I crossed it, but it was a chalk line about 10 feet out of transition. Oops...I know to DOUBLE check that out for the next race...never assume you know where those lines are! So I had to stop for 15" in the run. I tried to use it to my advantage and tell myself I was more fresh for having to stop. :) I actually only got passed by one person so I guess you can say I held my spot, but it made it difficult to run others down of course. So, this race was a pretty big learning experience with the different kind of swim tactics that were needed, my silly bike mistake, and just learning how to manage a draft legal bike with out having the draft!! haha, it was fun though. I also got to attend a clinic with my coach, Barb, so that was great to be down there and see her and learn more about my technique! I know I will be even more ready for my next race...the Nautica South Beach Tri (Miami)-part of the Lifetime Fitness Series. I am excited to do my first olympic non-draft race for the season!

Let the racing begin!

I am getting pumped for my "season opener" next weekend in Clermont, FL. The race is called the Clermont Draft Legal Challege. This is a sprint distance, so it should be short and sweet! I will get to see coach Barb down there and attend her clinics, which is awesome! I always learn a ton from her. Last year I did this same race and had a great time, but unfortunatly I had my injury going into the race (not realizing it)and this was the only race I could do until July last year...boo. I am feeling healthly this time around and look forward to hammering! I get to stay with my best friend, Kattie, while down there so that is another bonus. I'll add a race update soon!

My "Rocky moment"

Ross and I have been going downtown Grand Rapids to use parking ramps to do some greuling stair workouts. What a date huh? Meeting up at the parking ramp to do stairs...so romantic! Anyway, my coach has me doing stairs about once a week to help build strength and power in the off season for running. Double stairs helps with my hip stability too. I have actually enjoyed the intensity stair workouts can offer. Not only does it spike the heart rate, but my legs get pretty shaky by the end! It's been fun and a mental break to mix in different types of workouts instead of straight running all the time. My picture below shows my "Rocky moment" as I ran to the top of the ramp in between stair repeats...gotta have a little fun out there!


Stretching and running

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. :)