Swim Challenge Week and TRISWIM to the Rescue!

The Bat Cap! Team BSC!

I have some friends who do a big swim block challenge week - also known as The Bat Cap Challenge! Michelle has done big yardage, 45-50K over 8 days. Krista just finished one of over 30K in 7 days (I think she finished off day 8 with an added 51x100 Birthday Swim for a friend of hers). I know these girls from the Recovery e21 race team that we were all on several years ago.

Team Recovery e21 at the Crawfishman Triathlon!

The pool where I swim is closed on Sundays so I’m going to go for the 30K in 6 days. (Maybe sneak in an open water swim on Day 7). I’ve recruited Margaret, a friend of mine who is on the Alabama Triathlon Team. And a couple other girls, Averi, and Jessica (also Alabama Triathletes) who may make it for all or some of the challenge!

Margaret and Me at Tri It On triathlon several years ago!

Some of the workouts I got from Krista’s challenge week, some from Tower 26 Be Race Ready Podcasts, and some of my own.

Please feel free to join us!!

Here are the workouts!


6 DAY SWIM CHALLENGE 


Day 1:  5000
1000 w/u negative split
10x50 @1:00 25 fast/25 ez

Main:
2x (200 @3:00 FAST
       300 @5:30 cruise
       500 @7:45 FAST
       300 @5:30 cruise)
200 @3:00 FAST

500 PBB ez c/d (Paddles, Buoy, Band)
100 ez kick


Day 2:  5100
700 ez
8x100 @ Progressive by 2, :20 rest (fins) 50 kick/50 swim
                 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%

Pre Main:
5x100 @75% with :10 rest
5x75 @80% with :15 rest
5x50 @85% with :15 rest
5x25 @90% with :20 rest

150ez

Main:
6 x (1x100 Max Effort :15 rest
        1x200 @65% Recover with :45 rest)

100 ez


Day 3:  4500
400 ez
300 25 kick/75 swim
4x75 @1:20 desc 1-4

Main:
4x150 @2:40 (paddles 2:30)
6X100 @1:50
3x150 @2:40
5x100 @1:45
2x150 @2:40
4x100 @1:40
1x150 @2:40
3x100 @1:35


200 cd


Day 4:  6400
1000 wu
8x50 kick fins @Progressive
8x50 swim fins ez/fast by 25
200 ez

10x400 @6:30 Hold Pace

2x200 ez


Day 5:  4000
1000 ez 75 free/ 25 non-free

Main:
2x ( 3x100 @1:40 FAST
        300 @5:00 ez
        2x150 @2:30 – 50 FAST / 100 ez)
*round 2 PPB

1000 Locomotor straight swim
25/25, 50/50, 75/75, 100/100, 75/75, 50/50, 25/25 (FAST/EZ)

200 ez


Day 6:  5000
500 ez
6X100 Kick @Progressive with :20 rest (Snorkel, Fins, Board)
1x400 Swim @70% (Snorkel, Fins)

Main:
5x (200 @3:30 <3:05
      100 @1:50  <1:26
1500
     500 paddles, buoy, band
     500 paddles, buoy
     500 paddles

3x100 (50 kick / 50 swim)

200 ez

Thank goodness that I was accepted to be an Ambassador for SBR Sports! The makers of a really amazing line of products, including TRISWIM. The shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion were developed with swimmers in mind, they remove chlorine/salt water from your hair and skin. Not only does TRISWIM have more ingredients to remove Chlorine/Salt water than the competitors, it rebuilds with mega vitamins, chamomile, watercress, and Keratin. If you're a swimmer you really need to use this!

SBR Sports, Inc. also makes FOGGIES, TRISLIDE, SKIN SLICK, DIVE SLIDE, and DERMASPORT. Click on each product and it will take you to a link so you can read more about each one! I have a discount code to share with you for 10% off! Use the code: "AMBFRND17" on the www.sbrsportsinc.com site!!

I did my first open water swim last weekend with the Alabama Triathletes, and brought them all samples of FOGGIES, and SKIN SLICK. Gave them a little OWS coaching before we all headed out at Lake Tuscaloosa for an awesome swim!! They're all racing the month at USAT Collegiate Nationals which is being held here in Tuscaloosa! I'm volunteering for the race, working Transition so I can see the circus!!

Alabama Triathlon Team

Roll Tri Roll!

End of The Year - Beginning of The Year

How was your 2016? I’ve read a lot of people claiming “good riddance” to the end of last year. Glass half empty people? Of course in every year there will be the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s try to concentrate on the good.

2016

I found a fantastic Podcast called “Tower 26 - Be Race Ready”. Gerry Rodriguez has been a swim coach for many years, and coaches a triathlon masters in California. These podcasts are amazing! I listened to them while I was running and then came home and wrote down the “workout of the day” that he outlined. If you’re a triathlete, whether or not you swim with a master’s swim program, do yourself a favor and check it out. A mass of valuable information!

Here is one of my favorite workouts from the Podcasts. I named it the” Foundational Swim” because he outlined it in that particular Phase of the year – here is the main set of the swim, it doesn’t include the warm up, drills, cool down, etc.

                                                EZ      ½ IM      EZ       Fast

                                                100      100       100       100

                                                100      200       100       100   

                                                100      300       100       100

                                                100      400       100       100 

The intervals you want to use for this base from your typical 100. For instance, for me I swim my 100’s on 1:30, this give me anywhere from 5-10 seconds of rest (bringing my 100 in on the 1:20-1:25). The EZ 100s would be your 100 interval plus 20 seconds. Using these numbers, the EZ send offs would be 1:50, and the ½ IM pace and the Fast on 1:30. On round two the ½ IM pace increased to 200 – 3:00. Round three 300 @4:30 etc. If you’re training for an Ironman as the season progresses you could build this to 600. Making the entire main set 3,900.


Okay… next thing that I discovered this past year. This one is very uncomplicated. Blue Dawn dish washing liquid for your hair. WHAT???? Wash my hair in Dawn? Yep… about every 3-4 months I wash my hair in Dawn. It deep cleans your hair, takes out all of the built up product and leaves your hair silky smooth. Of course use your favorite deep conditioner after you wash, leave it on for about 5 minutes. (word of caution for color treated hair – it will lighten your hair).

Speaking of hair, another discovery was TRISWIM shampoo and conditioner. I got some in a race packet and at also at the Masters Coaching Swim Certification that I did a couple months ago. THIS STUFF ROCKS!! If you haven’t tried it you’re missing out. If you’re a Masters Swimmer you get a discount code when you renew or sign up for USMS for the SBR products, which include the TRISWIM shampoo, conditioner, body wash, TRISLIDE, and FOGGIES.

I get a rash on my neck sometimes from the chlorine levels in the pool, and this seems to really help! It detoxifies, hydrates, and nourishes the skin! "Chlorine Out... Nutrients In!"




I mentioned getting my USMS Masters Coaching Certification!  Coaching adults vs. kids – one of pieces of advice that they gave us in the clinic… “Masters swimmers get up in the middle of the night to come and swim, make sure that every day you make a connection with each and every swimmer. It may be a correction in technique, or a simple recognition of a good job, and a Good Morning”. The quickest way to lose adult swimmers is for them to think no one cares that they are there.” Hey… we all need an “at a boy” (or girl). The thing I like the absolute least about a swim coach is when they write a workout on the board and say nothing else during the entire workout. I’m probably on the opposite extreme of this, my swimmers would probably tell me to leave them alone! So whenever the Masters Coach no shows at our practice I get my chance to write the workout! I really miss coaching!! Oh… the other bonus of getting certified is that the folks at TRISWIM reached out to me (as a coach) and asked if I wanted samples for the team!!! Heck yeah! So I was able to get some product for my friends!! BONUS!

ZOGGS Goggles would be on the list of favorite things. I bought two pair, the Athena and the Podium. The Athena is a soft frame, one-piece goggle (meaning the nose piece isn’t adjustable). I didn’t care for these so much, I have a small nose bridge and haven’t had the best of luck with getting a good seal with goggles that don’t come with various nose pieces. I gave them a good try, but they’re living in my swim bag as emergency goggles. But then I tried the Podium goggles!!! They come with 3 nose pieces so you can get the perfect nosebridge width.

These are AWESOME!!! The lenses are super clear (as is with all the Zoggs products – it’s one of the things they’re known for), but the best part is that the nose piece. The ends that snap into the lens are round like a ball, so they swivel almost 180 degrees which means they really contour to the shape of your face. I just love them!



2017

2017 ZOGGS Ambassador!!

So when I saw that ZoggsUSA opened applications for Ambassadors I took a chance and sent it in! And got selected! Sweet!! We haven’t received our Ambassador package yet and they haven’t told us what is expected of us but I am excited to be involved in something related to swim! Ironically, their office is located in Northridge, California. I looked up the address…it is about a mile and a half from our old house in California! We actually used to ride our bikes as kids over to the little strip center where the office is! Go figure!



More good news – I’m back for year 4 with The COBB MOBB!! Most people in the triathlon world have heard of John Cobb and Cobb Cycling. If you’ve followed my blog you’ve seen me post photos at racing in the kit. I refer to him as the GURU of bike aerodynamics! I had the honor of being named The 2016 Cobb Mobb Top Female Performer last year, and I am very excited to be welcomed back for another year with this great team! I got my friend, Jenn to apply and she was selected, too! But… she is moving to Wisconsin this month…. (insert extremely sad face here). So my training partner is gone, this is definitely not good news. I was really looking forward to us representing the Cobb Mobb and representing at the local races.

I’ve ridden on a Cobb saddle from way back in the day when I bought my Javelin bike from him in 1999. Back then he was taking an existing saddle and custom cutting the wings off the back of it, so the hamstrings would not come in contact with the saddle at the back of the pedal stroke. The result was a narrow saddle and you can see it in the original V-Flow. I read people’s questions in tri forums and Facebook pages talking about the width of their sit bones and how they need a wider saddle. In actuality, when you’re in the aero position, your sit bones are not in contact with the saddle – you are rotated forward and you don’t need a wide saddle. In fact, on every pedal revolution if your hamstring at the glute insertion is coming in contact with the saddle it can inflame and irritate the sciatic nerve. Saddle comfort is very individualized, at Cobb Cycling they have a number of different saddles, experts to help you find the best one for you, and a 60 day comfort guarantee.

V-Flow

This past year I finally took the advice and ditched my usual cycling shorts and rode only in my Cobb tri shorts. I’ve suffered with saddle sores for the entire time I’ve been riding, were talking 31 years! Voila, no more saddle sores for me! The bunching of the thick material on regular shorts was the culprit in my case. Cobb Saddle + Cobb Shorts = Pain free riding! If you’re having issues with comfort on your bike you should do yourself a favor and reach out to Cobb Cycling. And if you’re a female they even employ a Women’s Expert so you don’t have to discuss our specific issues with a guy. (903) 253-8555 - ask for Rachel! Check out the website for contact information as well as a lot of great articles about fit and comfort that may help you!


I was also picked to represent HERevolution for 2017. This company has a great backstory. I think Darcy, the owner and founder of HERev says it best:

“Today, HERevolution is solely online offering exclusive HERevolution Apparel. Our focus is to offer you bold, bright designs, maintaining high quality, supporting American made and sizing, while embracing eco friendly choices. Our fabulous partner, Zoca Gear, employs and manufactures here in San Diego, California, uses eco-friendly water base ink, and adheres to true American sizing. This is very important to us at HERevolution. I believe the slight extra cost is worth supporting these ideas.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is a routine we strive to implement. Every garment is shipped to you in the original packaging from our manufacturer. We use minimal recyclable packaging.

HERevolution celebrates women in sport and every goose bump, tear of joy and adrenaline rush we experience from both our own accomplishments and others. We have a sport that every woman can participate in and it is our heart and soul that brings us together to find camaraderie, friendship, growth and empowerment.

We embrace women sharing the love of our sport, on and off the course. Supporting others' endeavors makes them feel good which makes us feel good. Believe me when I say you will feel “the Love” when you wear HERevolution Gear. So, represent well, and share the love."

#RevItUp Ladies

Major Tom

And last, but not least for 2016… another knee surgery. #groan. In November I sat cross legged painting our deck and the floor of our screened porch. I actually remember thinking that I hadn’t been able to sit like that in a long time. Tiny bit of history – micro-fracture knee surgeries on both knees, the left in 2002, and the right in 2008. I don’t know if I did something to my left knee by sitting like that or not, but the day or so later I felt it buckle, and then swell up. Long story short, the doc found a loose body in my knee, a torn meniscus, and a lot of junk in there from all the years of running and racing. On December 30th I had arthroscopic surgery to debride, do a partial removal of the meniscus, and remove Waldo from my knee. It will be two weeks tomorrow, and I am happy to report that the recovery from this surgery (compared to the micro-fractures) has been a breeze! Hope to be in the pool, and on the bike in the next few days. Running in another week or so! Gotta get ready for the season!!

                           So cheers to 2017! Hope to see you at the races!!

Bye Jenn! :(

Hub City Hustle Triathlon Resurrected!

I've been negligent about posting about my last triathlon of the season, The Hub City Hustle. This race was my friend, Denise Joplin's first foray into race directing, and she did a really nice job. It was held on the same course as the old Mighty Magnolia Tri. The guy who used to put that race on decided not to do it anymore so Denise stepped up and took over the challenge. Long ago there was a race in Hattiesburg called the Hub City Hustle, I always wanted to go back and race it. It was held in the Canebrake Subdivision but once the neighborhood got developed and had too many homes it was moved.

I was in redemption race mode because of my fiasco at Meat Pie and wanted to do well. I drove down the day before, went by Belk to see the team there. Bill used to manage that store and I spent a lot of time with the staff there working on merchandising and helping out when Bill needed me. It was so great to see them all! 

Race Shirt!!

Then I drove out to the race site to pick up my packet, we were going to get our chips and swim caps in the morning.... There was going to be a *little surprise with the caps, I'll get to that later.  Passed out some race packets and then put the numbers on the bike racks. Got a volunteer t-shirt for helping!  Cool green shirt with the race logo.

Stopped by Corner Market grocery and grabbed some sushi (and saw that they carry Eternal Water - why can't we get it in Shreveport?) and went to the hotel to relax. I stayed at a Microtel by Windham... it didn't occur to me until I unlocked the door about the name of the hotel... Micro. The room was tiny, it felt like a European hotel, but it was perfect size for me! 

Race Morning:  

Drove out to the race, plenty of time in advance, as usual. Race announced that it was going to be wetsuit legal. Hmmm... should I or shouldn't I? I went ahead and opted to wear it since there was money on the line for the first 3 males and females. Rode the run course with Brinn and could tell that my legs were a little flat from the long drive down the day before. Whenever you have a long drive to a race it's a good idea to get in a spin on the bike or an easy jog after you arrive. I did neither, and I forgot to wear my compression socks for the drive. After the ride Brinn, Elizabeth, and I did an easy run out toward the finish of the run. Measured out a half mile and gave the girls some landmarks. Did a few pick ups on the way in and then finished getting ready for the race. 

Swim:

Warmed up with Brinn as we swam across the lake to the start. The race has a point to point swim in a crescent shape along the shoreline. We did a few sprints on the swim on the way over. I typically do 20 strokes hard (about the distance of 25 yards). In masters swim, Kyle has us do 75's a day or two out from a race. He times each 25 and they go like this - first 25 like you would go at the start of the race, and then a 50 at race pace (settle in). So we did a few of these instead.

Denise offered an amateur/elite swim wave at the race so we could choose to go head to head with our competition instead of the time trial start that is typical at this race and how the rest of the age groupers would start. I decided to go ahead and go off in this wave. I kept my mind calm and didn't have any wetsuit issues. The best thing for me is to just not think about it. What I usually do is get it in my head that I'm going to have a panic and then it consumes my thoughts and gets me freaked. Sometimes singing a song in my head will help. Just before the start I said something out loud about needing a song and one guy said "Or you can always fall back on Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming." Used that one and it worked. Came out of the water just behind Brinn, I saw her hitting the beach. Stephanie was way up there ahead of both of us. 4th fastest female swim. 8:15.

*I forgot completely to talk about the swim caps!! So, from what I understand the logo caps that were ordered for the race arrived, but in kid's size!! So thinking last minute instead of just ordering a bunch of plain swim caps Denise thought outside the box and ordered a bunch of "Grab Bag Caps"! These would be the extra caps printed for a custom order by other teams or companies. We got to grab what cap we wanted and they were all different! I grabbed this one, because I love to swim butterfly!! I think it is a great idea and apparently I wasn't the only one. The Grab Bag Caps were a big hit! Love this idea! Good work, Denise!!

Bike: 

No issues in transition. Onto the bike where I quickly made up some ground and passed 2 girls who were ahead of me coming out of the swim.  

Our friend, Geneva!!! Miss you!

One of the people that I went to Belk specifically to see was our friend, Geneva! And when I told her that I was racing and showed her the course she said that it went really close by her house. She said that she and her girls would come out and cheer for me on the bike course! I saw them and waved like a happy child!!

I never felt like I really had the bike speed that I had earlier in the year, and I've pretty much come to the conclusion that it is because I hadn't been able to ride with the fast triathletes on Saturday's. I'm telling you, riding with them really helped my speed. 50-70 miles at 21+ will do that. *Note to self - ride long with the fast folks next year. Bike average, 20.6 - better than last year but rather pathetic.

Run:

Zipped into transition and had some fumbling putting on my running shoes. I use the Saucony Kinvara for my racing shoes. It's not a true racing flat, but I feel that I still want a little cushion for my knees. The downside of these is that they are kind of flimsy around the tongue and heel so they are hard to get on. Tri running shoes have the same little loop at the back of them like tri cycling shoes and I've had thoughts of sewing a loop of some kind on the back of them to make them easier to pull on. Oh, and putting some glide in the back to keep from rubbing makes them that much harder to grab. I heard Kyle (our Masters Swim Coach and Denise's husband) say, "hurry Ginger". Like I'm not tying to hurry....

Running out of transition I hear Kyle again on the loud speaker. "Stephanie is about 10 minutes ahead." - like I could catch her - hahaha!  If you knew him you'd know that he has a really dry sense of humor, this was his attempt at being funny. And then he said, "First Old Lady", another humorous comment. I thought it was pretty funny. I know that he is just joking and realizes that I may be old but I'm still pretty fast. Oh, and a volunteer said "second female". Now this was some good information! Was hoping for a top 3 finish and this was good news!

I decided to race "old school" which for me meant no watch and was trying the no hat also. Voting for the no hat? Nope, going back to the hat. My sunglasses were moving all over the place, I usually adjust the earpieces to be on the hat and it keeps them in place better. Learned that lesson. As far as the watch, no big deal because when I'm running hard I can't really see the numbers anyway to see my pace. I just ran hard, but it felt slow and mushy. I felt like I was running in slow motion on some of the punchy little hills on the course. I was surprised to see the results that said I averaged 7:33 miles. I didn't mind not wearing a watch, the only thing I missed was being able to look at the data afterwards. I find that I can learn a lot about what went right and wrong by seeing the numbers - especially the run splits. 

Results:

Now... since we all went first in a wave and the rest of the competitors went time trial style going every 5 seconds apart there was no way to know how you did until the last person is finished. And that is almost exactly what happened. Brinn and I went out onto the run course to cool down and cheer on the people finishing and we saw a girl that she told me had been her nemesis. She had registered the day before and I believe went off last. 

Cobb Mobb! Brinn and I after the race!

I placed 2nd overall by just 3 SECONDS! It was Brinn's nemesis that placed 3rd. We were really hoping to both be in the top 3. A little disappointing. And if you chose to race in the elite/amateur wave you weren't eligible for age group awards. (See my posting on Rose City where I discuss this policy.) 

Awards and Friends:

I got to see so many great people from Hattiesburg! Lots of friends turn out for this race. But there were a bunch missing too that I was looking forward to seeing. :(  Geneva showed up at the finish area with her girls, Alison and Stephi, so I got to see them all again!! 

Geneva's girls!!

Really cool awards that were custom made for the race, lucite and wood looking like a crank set! And a nice race logo etched pint glass... AND a check for $200 for coming in 2nd Overall Female. It almost paid for my travel (hotel and petrol)! 

Top 3 Females!

Awards!

All in all a great trip! Getting to support my friend Denise at her venture into race directing - a good thing! Seeing old friends - bonus! 

Katie!!

Tracey!!

My girls at Clinique and Connie!

Is There An Off Season?? Not This Year!

I am linking a post that I wrote for ICEdot Athletes on training during the off season! Enjoy!

Is There An Off Season? Not This Year!

How do you handle the off season?  I usually take it pretty easy after my last triathlon of the season.  Last year I was a complete slacker and only swam for about two months and completely ignored my running shoes and my bike.  This year, however there is a different plan in mind.

My goal is to try and maintain the fitness that I had at the end of the season.  Honestly, I ‘m not off to a great start because a month ago I got my flu shot and then promptly came down with a really bad cold.  It wasn’t the flu, according to the test they did at the doc’s office 12 days into my sickness, but what ever it was it was the worst I’ve felt in pretty much as long as I can remember.  5 days of 101 fever, and weeks of coughing and really colorful stuff coming out of my head. Ugh…

But putting that aside let me get back to the fitness maintenance!  You see I have probably the most important race of my life in 2014.  I went to Milwaukee this past August and competed in USAT Age Group Nationals and qualified for TEAM USA and am going to the World’s Short Course Championships in Edmonton, Canada next year!!

Me and Becky at Nationals!

I have always been self coached.  After 28 years of racing I have a pretty good grip on what works for me in training.  But for this race I’m actually going to do something different.

I’m going to work with a Coach!  Kyle Joplin, owner of Tri Optimum Performance , was my Masters Swim Coach in Hattiesburg, MS.  He and his wife, Denise, own Runner’s High - Hattiesburg’s Specialty Running Shop.  Kyle’s resume for producing top athletes is impressive.  Not only is he a really good coach but has the component that makes a “good coach” a GREAT coach – and that is he really wants you to improve, pushing you to achieve your very best.  I witnessed this when I was swimming with the YHubFins Masters.

Me, Denise, and Brinn on my last ride in Hattiesburg!

You might argue that all coaches want this, but in swimming I have only had two coaches that did this.  Steve Panzram with Crawfish Aquatics in Tibodaux, LA was the coach with HubFins when I first moved to Hattiesburg and he took my swimming to a new level by completely changing my technique.  Kyle took it to the next level with his coaching – driving us harder and harder and pushing us in every workout with triathlon specific workouts.  The thing I miss most about Hattiesburg is those 5:30 am swims with Denise and Brinn (also coached by Kyle).  Denise and I did about 50% of our workouts together, she is an up and coming triathlete and one that you should watch!  She also writes a blog – “I May Be Short…but I TRI Hard!”

Denise and Kyle Joplin
Tri Optimum Performance 

The plan this year is not to be a slacker over the off season.  My typical training is 3 x 3 workouts per week. 3 swims, 3 rides, and 3 runs.  The swims are with Masters and are somewhat dictated by the workout of the day – but I do have some specific instruction about sets within the workouts.  I coach with COSST – The City Of Shreveport Swim Team and our Head Coach, Butch Jordan has told me that he will help me here get ready for Worlds and allow me to swim with the Varsity Swimmers!  In Hattiesburg Kyle runs his Masters workouts more like an Age Group Program so this will be right up my alley.

On the bike I typically have two shorter rides during the week averaging 30-40 miles and a longer ride on the weekend.  One of the rides may be tempo or an interval ride, the weekend is a easier paced ride focusing on distance and consistency.  Running workouts are somewhat similar.  Now… this is what I have done in the past and it has worked for me, I have yet to see what my Coach has in store!

The plan is to schedule an Olympic distance triathlon in April or May – this will be the test race to see where the holes are in the training.  I’ll be racing a bunch of Sprint distance races throughout the season too – haven’t cemented the schedule yet but will plan to meet up with Denise and Kyle at some races.

So after my 4 week hiatus from training because I was so sick I did my first run yesterday, nice and easy to get my legs back under me.  A whopping 2.59 miles – this morning my legs are sore!  2.59 miles.

This is why there is no off season!

Team Aquaphor December Fitness Challenge!

The Movers Are Here.

We made it two whole years in Hattiesburg. It's moving time again. My husband keeps getting promoted and relocated - he's doing too good of a job! This time to Shreveport, Louisiana as a Regional VP with Belk stores.

I've been trying to organize my house for this move a little better than in the last three. Putting "Like Animals Together". I don't know if it makes it any easier for the packers but I'm thinking it might help when it comes time to unpack everything. It's so weird unpacking and finding things like a single light bulb wrapped up like it is a priceless antique mixed in with clothing or something random like that.

Hattiesburg has been good to us. I made a lot of really good friends quickly here and will miss them a lot. From my first swim when a nice girl named Deanna said hello and introduced me to Judy and Lesley, the two other girls that she trained with to my newest training partners Denise and Brinn. I will miss them all. Thankfully I will see them at some races! I'll see Denise in a couple weeks at Indian Creek. Brinn, Deanna, Lesley, and Judy at River Cities in August. And all of them at Mighty Magnolia in October.

Denise had asked me if I would like to have dinner with her and her husband Kyle (Masters Swim Coach)  before I left and she surprised me by inviting a bunch of the HubFins Masters swimmers to join us! Makes you feel foolish that we weren't going out and having fun like that the entire time I was here. Fun time!

I'm hoping things will go well in Shreveport. I've already lined up a coaching position with COSST - The City of Shreveport Swim Team. I'm going to be coaching the Jr Varsity swimmers; I'm looking forward to it!

I'm also hoping to be working for the Sportspectrum . It is an awesome specialty sporting goods store - running and triathlon products! I know I'll fit right in there! Sportspectrum and Matt Brown have been putting on the River Cities Triathlon (my absolute most favorite race of all time) for years and years.

I've already joined the Sunrise Triathlon Club and they have the Red River Masters Swim Team so hopefully I will be meeting some people to train with in Shreveport.

And I will be able to continue working as an Associate Consultant with Clinique. It is really a fun job and I'm glad that I will stay with the company.

So things are shaping up, just need to get through the next couple days with the packers and movers. I made sure to get in a good ride yesterday with Denise and Brinn, and went to swim this morning for the last time. Kyle had me do what we call a Birthday Swim for the kids, only for me it was a Goodbye Swim.  Everyone on the team lines up at the edge of the lane next to the wall holding kickboards. They proceed to push the water back and forth in the last lane creating basically a giant ocean storm. Then you get to swim a 50 of fly starting and finishing in the waves. It was fun!  I'd do it again. It was a nice way to say farewell.

Good bye Hattiesburg. Thank you everyone, I'll miss you!

Austin 70.3 Almost Here!!

Just over a week until my Half Ironman in Austin, TX!!  I am nervous but I think I'm ready. Fighting some little plaguing injuries.  My plantar fasciitis isn't any better and now my right knee has jumped onto the injury band wagon.  It's really warm and there is some swelling.  I've been taping it with the Rock Tape.  A brand of Kinesio Tape that was recommended to my by one of my ICEdot teammates.

Rock Tape makes an H2O version for triathletes and swimmers and this stuff is great!!!  I would recommend it to anyone using Kinesio Taping techniques.

I raced last weekend at the Mighty Magnolia Triathlon here in my hometown of Hattiesburg, MS.  It was two weeks out from the 70.3 so I wasn't expecting anything amazing as far as speed.  All the long distance training for the Half had me pretty tired.  So I didn't have high expectations.  But I had a GREAT race!!!  I never pushed the pace to the point where I was breathing hard at any time during the race.  Averaged 20.5 miles per hour on the bike (an improvement from last year) and ran 7:27 average pace for the run.  My run splits were 7:41, 7:35, 7:26!!  My Garmin clocked the run course at 2.95 miles, a little short of the advertised 3 mile run - so my watch had me at a 7:34 mile pace.  I'm happy with that too!  I placed 4th Overall Female and won the Masters Women's Division.

This is a great little race, only a few problems encountered.  The run course has two little out and back dog leg sections and when looking at some of the run times there were some athletes who didn't complete the entire course.  There should have been a volunteer at each little section directing the runners.   Hopefully next year the race director will have someone there.

See the two "Heartbeats"?

I was really happy to receive our second batch of Aquaphor Samples a few days before the race!!  I had run out before the Alabama Coastal race and didn't get to pass out any samples at all there.  Had the usual "I love this stuff" reception when I handed out over 50 samples to the triathletes after the race!!

All my friends did really well at the race!  It was a great day and hopefully we'll all have the same in Austin!!

Judy and I warmed up by swimming across the
fog covered lake! 

Nice easy swim - 5th Female swim time.

Finishing controlled.

Deanna - 3rd Masters Female
Lesley - 1st Age Group
Ginger - 1st Masters Female
Judy - 1st Age Group

And I just couldn't resist holding this adorable 8 week old
Golden Retriever puppy that I saw at the race!!

What a Difference a Year Makes - Crawfishman Triathlon

One year ago Bill and I were driving from our home in Sunset Beach, North Carolina to New Orleans for a vacation to see family and for me to race in the Crawfishman Triathlon in Covington, Louisiana.  Little did we know at that time that in a month or so we would be moving to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 

Fast forward one year and it's time to race the Crawfishman Triathlon again this coming weekend.  How quickly life can change in a year.

I am so lucky to have met a great group of triathletes and runners in Hattiesburg.  I feel like I've known the three girls that I am fortunate to call friends as well as training partners, for years.  They (whoever "they" is) say that it is extremely difficult for women over 40 to make friend.  Aquaintences yes, but not good friends.  Life here would be very different if I hadn't met Deanna that day at Masters Swim practice last June.

A triathlete that I knew years ago (he used to manage the Champs Sporting Goods store across the mall from the Victoria's Secret that I ran in Cortana Mall, Baton Rouge, LA), Chris Boyd happened to live in Hattiesburg where he teaches Exercise Physiology at the University of Southern Mississippi - he is now Dr. Boyd.  He introduced me to Deanna and told me that I should ride with her.  He said that she was just getting into triathlons and was very competitive (big time understatement - Deanna consistently kicks my you know what on the bike).  Through Deanna I met Judy and Lesley.  I am proud to know these women - they are kind, they are smart and they are also fiercely competitive athletes.  Deanna played basketball on a scholarship in college, Judy swam at Auburn on a swimming scholarship and Lesley is a lifetime athlete and the Athletic Director and Coach at Laurel Christian School.  They've all been competing in triathlons for several years and this year we're all planning a lot of races together. We all train together several times a weeks with coffee following up a lot of our workouts.

I've raced at Crawfishman a bunch of times, with a lot of different distances including when it was a Half Ironman (I think it may have actually been my first Half).  In keeping with Louisiana tradition the post race festivities at this race are awesome!!!  Lots of great food, beer and frozen margaritas made on the spot!!  The awards are tasteful and something you'd like to have in your home.  Last year it was a signed and framed print from artist, Jose Balli who lives on the race course.  (Check out the Art link on his page.)

This is a really great race and I would recommend it to anyone.  It didn't take much convincing to get Lesley, Judy and Deanna to sign up for it!  We've got several others from Hattiesburg racing on Sunday there too, including Judy's husband Sam who was 3rd Overall last year and Chris Boyd.  We're hoping to make a good showing for the Hub City!

The swim is always long, it is advertised as .6 mile, but is usually longer - Judy and I are really happy about that!  A hilly (it felt really hilly last year coming from the beach in North Carolina) 18 mile bike and a hilly 4 mile run.  I remember last year being really worried about my knee, it was the longest run race distance I'd done since my knee surgery at the end of 2009.  I also raced this one on my road bike with the aerobars.  I got the Felt just before we moved, so I'm also looking forward to seeing if there is a difference. 

I'll let you know how it goes!!

From the website:
The race was founded in 1983 by Charlie Hoolihan, Mark Salvetti and Rick Ramirez. We started with a three-race series 1983 and along the past 26 years we have received numerous awards and recognition for putting on a quality race in South Louisiana. We've come a long way since the first year.....the introduction of clipless pedals....aero bars....heck, we used to put up "changing rooms" for transitions!!!
A little known fact is that in 1985 the race was twice as long as today, at that race the very first Scott DH Aero bars were used by Andrew McNaughton to defeat Mike Pigg in a classic battle. Mike Pigg went on to clean house that summer and become known as one of the fastest time trialists in triathlon history.

The race was run continuously from 1983 until 1993, it slept until the brash trio of Steve Sperier, Tom Holland and Donnie Jarrell re-created the event in 1996 then again in 1997. In 1998 Mark and Kirsty Salvetti moved back to the Northshore to form the core with Steve and Lori Sperier. Tommy Holland still heads South from the Mason Dixon line to help out every year, and Charlie Hoolihan comes out race day to help with logistics and race announcing. Charlie is kind of like the "Nash Roberts" of Triathlons.......no school like old school.....!

The Brain Trust: Steve and Lori Sperier, Mark and Kirsty Salvetti.......Fun....Fitness....it's all good. We're not shy....We put on a great race !!!!!!

Our race has always made efforts to assist the community monetarily, to that end we are always pleased to donate to Denise Gutnisky of the Have A Heart Thru Art Foundation. We have also made monetary contributions to the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Donnie Jarrell fund, American Red Cross, Kids Connection, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Office, Franco's Fins Swim Team, Mandeville Police Department and the Mandeville Wrestling Team. Our race is put on by the efforts of great race volunteers and generous sponsors. Next time you come across either one, say thank you.

Got any questions? Email us at kiwishark@msn.com.

"Spanish Moss in my Hand, turn me into Crawfishman!"