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.

Toyota Cup Championship Race-Dallas, TX

My final race of my 2010 season was spent just outside of Dallas in Rockwall, TX. It was a really nice area. I had never been to Texas before so it was fun to get to see a little bit of such a big state! Although, my trip was very short...flew in, raced, and flew home the same day so I wouldn't miss work! Wowee. I really didn't have ideal travel conditions as I arrived in Dallas at 1:00 a.m. (the day before the race). That was tough! Thanks to my husband though, who drove an hour from the airport to the hotel in the middle of the night and let me sleep! Let's just say the whole trip there was quite the adventure. I just tried to roll with the punches...ya know? Anyway, the race was fun. The pros went of first thing in the morning, so that meant cool weather! That was so nice since my last few races had been in the 90s! Here's how my race broke down. I had an interesting swim, I got out with a good start, but my feet were yanked on and I had gotten plundered by another swimmer. These two events really threw me off. I had never had either of these things happen in a triathlon before. Were we playing water polo here or what? So, I didn't have the best swim...it actually felt too easy as I felt fairly fresh exiting the water. Since my swim was not up to par, the lead group got away and got a big lead on the bike. I had a fairly strong bike, but didn't gain any ground as the main group was full of power houses up ahead. I tried to stay in the game as I new there were still some individuals behind me yet. I ended up loosing one spot on the bike. The run was very, very hilly coming out of transition. It felt like I wasn't moving as the hill was so steep...at least it seemed that way coming off the bike. I ended up having a solid run, my best of the season. I hung in there and didn't back down despite being toward the back of the "pack." I felt good about my performance, but knew there was more I could have gained in the swim. This race was definately a learning experience for the swim. I was also challenged to not give up even if you are toward the back in a race. You are always racing somebody! I ended up 11th in the pros in a very strong field. I would recommend this race to anyone who qualifies!!