A year later.... Lake Stevens 70.3

Wow, it's been a whole year since I last blogged. A brief catch up - after last year's Danskin where I was slammed into during T2 pushing me on top of my bike into the ground , I was injured for awhile and then family crises took over. I gained a ton of weight back and was unable to train for awhile. I got back into it this spring. Ran the Beat the Bridge, the Issy tri run leg, and Ragnar Relay while starting and preparing for Lake Stevens.

Here's the race report:

PRE-RACE - vanilla raisin english muffin with pnb, milk with coffee and sugar. Too full to eat anything else. 2 thermolytes at home, 2 more before the race. Left home super early and found parking at the race without a problem. Back and forth a couple times to my car to set up transition and put my bag back in the car. Couldn't find Jill until the swim start so John's wife helped zip me into my wetsuit! Thanks!

SWIM - They postponed the swim start 10 minutes because of the amount of fog on the water. Unfortunately they had announced to everybody during the race debriefing the local secret of the cable running 5 ft below the buoys. Everyone was on the line. I was pushed, kicked, shoved, and had my feet grabbed many times. Pretty crazy. As a back of the packer the next male waves were swimming over me. YIKES! Two open water swims in my new to me larger wetsuit were definitely not enough despite my pool time. A super slow swim of 54:50. I was grinning as I ran out of the water and saw my bike was one of the only ones left on my rack. I didn't care. I finished the swim - YAHOO! My longest swim in a race ever! I saw Sister Madonna getting ready to bike out which meant that the amazing 79 yo nun started after me and finished before me. Gulp - the humility!

T1 - The gal next to me never set up her transition and was pulling things out of 2 plastic buckets. Odd. I was feeling sort of dizzy and nauseous from drinking lots of lake water. Took me awhile to get myself together. My baggie of thermolytes kept falling out of the legs of my shorts. Threw them down the backside of my shorts where they stayed for the whole bike. 3:22

BIKE - Nutrition: I had two bottles with 5 scoops of carbo-pro and propel powder, one bottle of water, 2 gus up my shorts and a baggie of thermolytes down my backside. I saw John M. right away! He sped past me while cheering me on. I was concentrating on taking it slow and getting my hr down. Then he and another guy crashed right in front of me. The other guy and his bike went down. I didn't know whether to stop or keep going. John stopped so I kept going and he quickly passed me later on! Suddenly I was right behind a guy whose tri shorts were so worn out in the bootie that I could see EVERYTHING. And it wasn't pretty. I had to either pass him to get the sight out of my mind or let him get in front of me. As I was keeping the hr down still, he got a bit in front of me so I didn't have to see that anymore. I kept thinking - you know, your friends are supposed to tell you when you are hanging a boog, have your fly unzipped. Seriously friends. If my bootie is showing through my tri shorts YOU BETTER TELL ME. I later saw him several times on the run, thankfully going opposite directions!. The first loop was pretty fun - watching the pros and the other speedsters pass me while they were doing their second loop. I cheered them on but they were so serious I don't think they ever heard me. I stopped to swap out my water bottle - I just knew that if I tried to do it without stopping that I would drop the bottle. Probably only a :30 - :45 second stop. The second loop was great - you kind of get to know the people around you and I successfully passed lots of people. Was sort of lonely out there at times. Just me and my fellow BOP'ers. People were finishing their race while I was just getting half way through mine! I followed my race plan pretty closely. I was nauseous longer than an hour when I started. I kept taking thermolytes and when my tummy felt better started on the nutrition. Turns out having them in the back of my shorts was really handy! I had to pee really badly on the second loop but didn't want to stop. In my mind, there is no good reason for a back of the packer to pee on the bike :) so I waited until T2 to pee. total time: 3:45, my computer showed 15mph ave. Again - slow, but I knew then I would be able to finish the race before the 8 hour time limit! I was smiling!

T2 - Changed to running gear, honeybucket - aaaaahhh, off to the run. time: 3:57

RUN - Brutal! My legs were toast. I ran the first few miles in 10-11's but that got slower as the run went on. It was fun to run through the crowd. Jill and Mike were cheering me on which helped me keep going and I saw a few of the JFT2 crew as I was on the first lap, finishing their last laps! I finally found my boys fishing on the dock with Dad instead of cheering me on. They made it to the finish line to cheer me on then and my youngest ran through the chute with me. I DID IT! Run time - 2:32:09. My longest half time ever.

TOTAL: 7:19:20.

I can't believe I'm posting my slow time results for the world to see. There comes a time though when the process of training and finishing the race is the goal and the victory. And all humility and competition are thrown out the window. This was it for me. There were so many times when I could have wussed out given the stressors in my life and decided not to do this race. I am so proud that I continued to train and complete this goal that was so important to me. Better yet - I have a time that hopefully will be easy to beat next year!

One day after the race and I'm already thinking about next one. The things I would do differently.... perhaps an earlier summer race so I can train better and longer when the kids are in school on Mondays and Tuesdays when I don't work. I think that getting this extra weight off will gain me at least 30 minutes of time as well! This was a hard race anyway and to do it this heavy was brutal.

FALL/WINTER GOALS:
1) Get the weight back off.
2) Work on the swim and find a master's group.
3) Full marathon? It's gotta be easier than what I did yesterday! :)

Happy training everyone!

Danskin 2008 - our fifth!

4am wake up call. Not pretty. I hadn't slept since 12:30am due to kid problems. I had big bags under my eyes and felt lethargic. I made a banana, raw cacao, stevia smoothie and a soy coffee. Grabbed my bag and was out the door. As I drove into Seattle from the north, there was an amazing array of lightening the whole way in. I wondered if we were going to have another rainy tri. Bring it on! Not much more could get worse after the night I had, I thought.

Hooked up with Tracy and Brad and then saw most of the gals from the team When we got to the transition area I found that someone had put their bike next to the end where my bike clearly was placed yesterday. I politely requested that they swap places with me as my bike was the only bike on the rack when I left it there. Then they proceeded to set up their transition area hanging off the end by about 3 feet directly where I would be needing to run with my bike. Instead of making a big deal, I changed the direction of my transition space so I would enter and exit in a different way and avoid the bucket/transition area they had created in our running space. Last call and we pammed up to put on our wetsuits and ran to the swim.

SWIM: 18:34
If you can call it that.... was a cluster. People everywhere from all 5 waves, swimming backwards, sideways, floating, staying in place. It was crazy! I turned after the first buoy and couldn't see the next one so I tried to follow the canoes. It didn't work to try to draft anyone as I couldn't see anyone swimming a straight line. I didn't see anyone from my wave and got to worrying that they were all in front of me. I'm a super slow swimmer so I knew I wasn't in front of everyone. Managed to pull myself out of the melee in a quicker time then previous Danskins and swam freestyle pretty much the whole way. Still a very slow swim. Clearly I have work to do on the off season. My 400m times are not translating to my 800m times. At all.

T1: 2:35
Long run from the swim to my transition area which was furthest from the swim. I had a choice of a really short T2 or a moderately less long T1. Chose the short T2 and long T1.

BIKE: 33:49 My best bike split ever. Yahoo!
Being a cancer survivor won me a wave #5 this year. There were lots of gals already on the road, but I passed most of them and didn't have anyone stop in front of me on the hill up to I-90 and had the hill down from I-90 to myself. I'm very happy with my bike split and can't wait to work harder to improve this!

T2: 1:23
Disaster in T2. Remember that T2 was to be my fastest transition? My space right next to the run exit was calling my name. I was running with my bike and a swimmer ran into me. First my bike landed on the ground then I landed on the bike. Hard. I couldn't believe my bad luck. She helped me up and I kept running for my spot in transition. I could tell my body was out of whack. My neck and shoulder already hurt. What should have been an amazing :30-:40 second transition ended up being much longer. Plus - I was in the flow after my bike and my flow was rudely interrupted!

RUN: a pathetic 25:34
I just couldn't get myself to run faster! I was running what felt like as hard as I could. Usually when I'm running that hard, it's way under 8's. Not today. Today it was 8:15's. Many things to attempt to attribute to this.... I'd like to blame it on my T2 crash adventure. Or maybe on the fact that my bike split was 5 minutes faster than last year hence busting up my legs more this year. Or maybe even my lack of sleep last night. You know what I think it was... This extra weight I'm carrying around. I've gained at least 10 pounds in the last several months and it's all in my belly. My eating is all messed up right now and I can't seem to reign it back in. GOT TO FIGURE THIS OUT.

TOTAL TIME: 1:21:57
AGE GROUP: 12/427
OVERALL: 83/3710

Notes to self - Stop thinking about how if you hadn't crashed in T2 you would have placed at least 10th.... Stop chastising yourself for gaining this weight as your training has become more intense. Focus instead of the tremendous improvements you've seen and focus on your limiters over the off season.

Current limiters: the swim and my nutrition. I think my run mojo will come back as my nutrition improves.

After the race I ran to back to the swim to try to catch up with my friend Ingrid who was doing her first Danskin. I couldn't find her but found out later that she rocked it and went even faster than she anticipated. I'm hoping I have a new tri convert to play with!

Then we hung out with the JFT2 crew. Nine teammates did this race and three came in first in their age groups. PRETTY AMAZING!

JFT2 rocked the house today! Congratulations to everyone!

Danskin - the day before

We got up early and went the breakfast seminar that promises to get you in line before everyone else for the race packets. That was so sweet! We got to the transition area pretty early to rack our bikes and had our more or less choice of racks in our assigned areas. Home to relieve the babysitter and watch the boys. WHO WERE ANIMALS. Joao broke a glass accidentally while trying to get milk and then stepped in the glass. I was rendering first aid to him when I hear a blood curdling scream from downstairs. Dario had inserted a lego stick thing into his penis. I lubed him up and slowly removed the offending item. Turns out he had put it into the side of his penis but it looked like it was the tip! Scared the heck out of me! I thought I had an ED visit in my future. (Having boys helps me to fully understand my fully male husband a bit better....) They finally settled down and went to bed. Oswaldo went out to a friend's b'day party. I settled in to watch the Olympics and feel asleep quickly. Dario climbed into bed with me at 12:30am and then woke up complaining of foot pain and crying. I massaged his foot for what seemed like forever until I checked to see if Oswaldo was home and put him on kid duty. I switched beds at about 2:30am and didn't sleep the rest of the night. Hello Danskin? Can we postpone until I can get some sleep? Pretty please?

HTFU!!

Stolen shamelessly from Jess - hardpart.blogspot.com

Federal Escape

My very first Olympic distance triathlon. I was SO nervous! The week before I had literally no sleep as my oldest son was sick all week and up and coughing several times a night. I was a zombie! On Thursday and Friday I finally slept 4-5 hours without waking up which probably saved the day.

The alarm went off at 4:40am. Time enough to grab a banana smoothie with hemp protein powder and make myself a coffee. Out the door before 5am for a long drive from Mukilteo to Federal Way. I arrived at the race site in decent time. Picked up my registration packet and found my teammates as I walked into transition. Rachel, Kristin, Judith, Heather and Scott were all there. Tracy and Brad to show up later for the sprint. My friend Laura, the super speedy tri gal was right next to Rachel. It was so fun to see everyone! I found a transition spot on the end near the swim in and got myself set up. We scoped out the swim and run and ran about 10 minutes to warm up. I was getting really nervous about the swim....

The SWIM
If you've know me, you know that I've breast-stroked all my tris until this year. This year I've been freestyling. All my tris until now have only had a 400m super fast easy swim. I have never done 1500 meters in a race much less doing freestyle. The start was on the beach and a run into the water. I waited until all the gals were in front of me until I started. I started swimming and tried to find feet to draft from. I was able to draft only a little (I think because I was swimming so slowly there was nobody to draft from!). I was going a slow steady pace that was keeping my heartrate down. It felt like a pace I could do forever. My main goal for this swim was to finish and to swim it all freestyle. The first lap seemed to finish quickly and I was into the second lap when I realized that I was actually swimming in an Olympic distance race and I wasn't dying! And I was having fun! Once I looked and realized there weren't many people behind me and lots of people in front of me. I did pass a couple of guys though. I made myself not look and told myself to race my own race. I made it through the second loop and felt like I could have done two more! Unfortunately my time showed this.... and when I ran back into transition I realized there weren't many bikes left.
SWIM TIME: 35:07

T1 - Uneventful. Got my wetsuit off pretty fast, no socks, sunglasses, helmet, shoes, and I'm off. TIME: :57

THE BIKE
My instructions were to get my heartrate to 164 and hold for 10 minutes. It was really quite hard to hold back but I forced myself to calm down and go slowly. Again, this is my first oly and I need to pace myself differently than for a sprint. The course was 4 loops of 5.83 miles. After 10 minutes of holding at 164 I upped my heartrate to 169-170 and held. I allowed it to go up on the rollers and when I had a couple people to pass and then back down to hold. I started counting people I passed on the bike and after 20 I stopped counting. I was feeling great and I was LOVING that I could catch some folks after my really slow relaxing swim. One gal whizzed by me on the bike going at least 25mph. I'm sure she ended up being the overall winner. She was FAST. Nobody else passed me until the turn into transition when I slowed to spin and get ready to run. Then a gal I had been playing cat and mouse with passed me. No worries, I got her in transition!
BIKE TIME: 1:14:31

T2 - Bike racked, helmet/shoes off, shoes/hat on, grab the garmin off the bike and grabbed gels for the run. TIME: :44

THE RUN
My instructions for the run were to assess my body the first mile, then get heartrate to 160 and hold the first 5K. Body assessment - feet numb, little hill on the trail hurt, then feeling good. Heartrate check - well above 160. I'm feeling good. I don't want to slow down to hit 160. I decided to keep the heartrate under 170 for the first loop. I felt pretty good on the run. Didn't get passed on the first loop by any gals. The second loop I let my heartrate rise to the high 170's and low 180's. It was hard for me not to look at the pace on the garmin, so I did.... I wasn't running as fast as a standalone 10K (last one ave was 7:45's) but I was keeping it in the 8's. I wasn't dying though. Should I be running faster? Should I be dying? I wasn't sure. In the last 3/4 mile I was passed by two gals. One who did her 10k in 43 min and one her did her 10K in 46 min. I ran a little faster but again, I wasn't dying. I didn't think I could catch them. Maybe I should have...
RUN TIME: 48:34 (definitely wasn't a full 6.2 miles)

TOTAL TIME: 2:39:55

13/16 in Age Group
31/60 overall women
85/126 overall men and women

To say that I'm thrilled would be an understatement. I was grinning the whole time I was racing. I'm so happy to have completed an Olympic distance race and to have completed it decently. After completing this triathlon I am confident that I can do a half ironman next season. Now if I could just take 10 minutes off that swim I'm golden!

5 Mile Lake x 2

Wow, time flies! Just realized I hadn't completed my race reports for both 5 Mile Lake triathlons I completed in June. Here's the short version:

5 Mile Lake #1--------5 Mile Lake #2
swim------7:05------------------7:25
t1-----------:58-------------------:57
bike-----44:42-----------------44:40
t2-----------:57-------------------:33
run------23:23-----------------23:34
total:--1:17:08---------------1:17:11

AG--------4/14-----------------1/32
OA------19/87 (women)-----13/255 (all women)
--------80/223 (men and women)

It just goes to show that it all depends on who shows up to play!

Issaquah Triathlon

Much anticipation led up to my first triathlon of the 2008. I have never done the Issaquah Tri before which always leaves a bit of unknown for me regardless of how many times I've ridden or run the course. My goals for this triathlon were simple - freestyle the whole swim, ride fast, run hard, and have fun. I had lofty super secret goals of hitting 20mph on the bike, under 8's on the run, and finishing in the top 20 in my age group.

I woke up at 4:25 am after a restless night's sleep. I worked until 7pm the night before and my kids didn't settle down to sleep until well after 9pm. I couldn't calm myself down enough to sleep so I tortured myself by reading more about the triathlon online. Finally got to be and asleep after 11pm. I was able to down some coffee but saved the juice I had made for after the race. My tummy was sort of queasy but I knew coffee was the only way to get me rolling. I don't drink much coffee but I do like to have a cup before races. I ate a lara bar in the car on the way to the race. I picked up my race packet and waited around for the transition area to open up. While waiting around I found some fellow JFT2 teammates and chatted with them. Got into the transition area and set up. (BTW, check out my super cute eye catching transition mat! It's the hibiscus pattern in red and white! I love it!) I set myself up right on the end with my mat sticking out toward the running path between transition racks. It was the perfect setup.

Finally it was time to start getting ready. This was my first triathlon using a wetsuit and swimming freestyle. I got on my awesome Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit from Triumph Multisport (that I won in the Body Fat Contest) and meandered towards the water. I had only been swimming twice in Lake Serene in Mukilteo. I hadn't swam at this beach yet and was worried about the cold water temperature. It was really actually quite warm which was a huge relief. I positioned myself near the front on the outside. The swim start was a little odd because there was no identified start. Each wave kept walking out further and further to the buoys as nobody was there to tell them when to stop. This is probably my only complaint about this well run race. A very quiet 'ready set go' and we were off.

THE SWIM: I started off too fast and had to slow myself down to catch my breath. As I made the turn around the first buoy I actually had my first experience panicking in the water. Now I understood what people mean when they tell me about this! I had to stop for a minute and breast stroke 8-10 breaths until I got back in gear. By the time I made it around the last buoy I finally felt like I had my rhythm. Only the swim was over. No rhythm for me! I swam as far as I could while others were wading in and finally got up and ran.

TIME: 8:42 (this was a surprise, I would have guessed at least 10 min)


T1: As I got out of the water I tried unzipping my wetsuit and couldn't get it down! I fumbled as I ran and managed to have it off to my waist by the time I hit my transition area. I easily pulled off the suit, threw on my glasses, helmet, and shoes and ran like crazy. I had a gu in my mouth until I was riding on the bike and could put it in my pocket. (Note to self, put gu in shirt before the swim).

TIME: 1:34


THE BIKE: The ride was amazing. I had SO much fun. My instructions were to keep my hr around 165. I was having a hard time doing that because I was feeling so good and felt like I could ride so much faster. I did try to keep it around 170 which still left me holding back for the turnaround. I passed so many people I lost count. I couldn't believe it was really me racing and passing people. I'm not the one that passes people like that. I'm the one that gets passed about as evenly as I pass others. This time only 2 young guys passed me and one gal (That one pissed me off! I had her in my sights and didn't try to pass her again as I was watching the hr. Seems that she was pacing herself as well and shot ahead of me after the turnaround. I couldn't catch her!) I had lots of difficulty getting held up by people who were in the middle of the lane and not moving after my "On your left". A couple of times I had to slow down because there were cars in the way and I wanted to pass but was worried the officials might think I was drafting. Anyway, I think I could have had a better time without so many people in front of me, but I still pr'd the bike!

TIME: 45:32 (a time of 45:00 would have put me at 20mph dangitall)


T2: I rolled all the way up to the dismount section where I noticed a lot of people stopping at least 10-20 feet before the dismount. I ran into transition and after a little trouble spotted my cute transition mat and dumped the bike. I pulled off my trusty old shoes without undoing them and threw on my running shoes. I had a bit of trouble pulling the garmin off my bike and throwing it on my wrist. I'll need to practice that a bit.

TIME: :55


THE RUN: I ran with another gu in my mouth until I got my garmin set for running and put the gu in my pocket. I never had time to take it. I just ran. As fast as I could on some kinda rough terrain. It was hard passing people because everyone was running single file on the hard packed dirt. To pass I had to run on the rougher uneven part of the trail. Again I found myself passing people like crazy. What the heck? Only two young guys passed me and they didn't have a triathlon number or timing chip so I don't know if they were bandits or running the 5K. Everyone else I passed. Including some hunky triathlete looking guys. One of whom was walking. Slowly. I have no idea what my swim time is, but as I'm running I'm calculating my bike and potential run time and I'm realizing I'm going to surpass my hugest expectations! I get to the section that Jill and I talked about. 400 meters from the finish. I tried to turn it on even more and crossed the finish line gasping for air. I thought I was going to puke. My garmin said 22:19. I knew that I hadn't started it at the beginning of the run but I had no idea how long I was fiddling with it before I started it. My garmin also read 2.78 miles....

TIME: 22:51 As much as I'd love to think that I ran the course in 7:37's, It felt more like 7:50's. I ran a full minute slower on the trail then on the cement!

TOTAL TIME: 1:19:36
12/69 age group
45/337 overall women
202/697 including the men

REVIEW OF GOALS:

Swim - I did freestyle the whole way except for a few strokes when I panicked and swallowed water. I'm calling it a go!
Bike - I was just short of 20mph which bums me out. But I've never come that close before in any previous race. I'll have to examine the data from the garmin to see if I negative split the out and back on the bike. I made a judgement call to keep my hr around 170 the first half instead of 165. Maybe that was a mistake?
Run - I'm going to assume that I ran under 8's. It's still unclear though how long the course actually was!
Fun? Heck ya.

Things to work on:
1) More open water swim time with people around me.
2) Gu taped to the bike or in my shirt pocket before the race.
3) Learn how to pass people more effectively on the bike and not worry as much about drafting.
4) Practice unzipping my wetsuit while running.
5) Practice the garmin transfer from bike to wrist.

Next race - 5 Mile Lake. I've never even driven this course so I have lots of work to do to familiarize myself with this race. Congrats to JFT2 whose amazing athletes kicked some butt in Issaquah this weekend! I view each and everyone of them as an inspiration and I'm so lucky to be a part of this incredible team.

Carnation TT - belated race report

Lots to learn and so much more to go...

The Carnation Time Trial is 12.5 miles of flat, fast as you can, go til you puke riding. This was my second time trial ever. Still riding my Cannondale r500 with fenders etc....

The GOOD:

In the last month I've improved! Here's my pathetic stats:

Carnation TT Icebreaker TT
time: 38:04 32:14
distance: 12.5 miles 10 miles
mph: 19.7 18.6
ave hr: 174 170
max hr: 181 180


So I've increased my speed by over 1mph and I've improved my ave hr!

The BAD

I'm still freaking slow and have a long way to go. My legs still give out on me before my heart does. I'm doing at least one strength workout weekly on the bike to workout my legs and doing hill repeats whenever I can. I think the key for me is more outside time. I'm also looking at getting a better trainer that can give me more resistance.

The UGLY

So, I changed out my tube the night before the tt and wasn't confident that I had done it properly. After all these years you'd think I'd know how to change the dang tube. Turns out it was fine, but to have to even worry about something this trivial is ridiculous! Also, when I took my bike off the trainer to test it on the road before the start, my back wheel came off and I needed help to figure out what was going on! Made me feel like a total noob. Bike maintenance class here I come!!!

Overall a fun time had by all and lots of lessons learned!

Mercer Island Half Marathon

This was a much awaited race. Lots of anticipation prior to the race as I had a lofty goal. My first sub 2:00 half marathon. I trained, I ran long and slow, I did speed intervals, some (but not enough) hill work, I biked and swam as cross training. This was it.

Instructions from my coach:

miles 1-3 run at 8:30
miles 3-9 run at hr of 172
miles 9-10 run at hr of 177
miles 11-13 run above 177 and hold

HOLY CRAP! This sounded impossible to me. First of all starting so fast and then following my heart rate instead of paying attention to pace? Ok Melissa, settle down and listen to your coach. She knows what she's doing.

I lined up in the 8-9 min mile section next to a couple of JFT2 teammates. The countdown and then... nothing. Kind of like the Seattle half - there were so many people it took awhile until we could even run. We finally started running and I couldn't get to my 8:30 pace at first until I dodged enough people and ran on the side of the course. Then I got into my pace and started settling down. It wasn't a hard pace, I had to concentrate to not go too fast. It's amazing what adrenaline and excitement will do for you!

Miles 1,2: 17:04, ave 8:27 pace, I was so excited I forgot to keep track of the first split. I'm on target and thinking - This Is So Much Fun! One more mile before heart rate running.

Mile 3: 8:01, a bit fast. Now it's time to watch hr. I'm thinking I will probably need to slow down..., I hadn't looked at my hr during the first 3 miles, but there's no way I can go faster than this pace at hr.

Mile 4: 8:36, ave hr 172, Right on the money! Holy Cow did I just see a decent split? What the heck is going on? Ok Melissa, don't look at time overall, just look at heartrate and splits. Try not to pay attention to pace. (which for me is like not looking at a car accident on the side of the road...)

Mile 5: 8:18, ave hr 171, one beat off. Should I have gone faster? Wait a minute - look at that split! Damn, my coach must know what she's doing. I'm feeling good! I've got my pacer about 300 feet ahead. He's running smooth, running straight lines, looking like he doesn't have a care in the world. I'm focusing on keeping up with him but not blowing my hr goals. Gu'd at some point after mile 5.

Mile 6: 8:34, hr 172, right on again. This hr thing is kind of cool! I'm realizing it helps so much to focus on hr on these rollers rather than focusing on pace. I would have killed myself on the uphills and not gone fast enough on the down hills. Hmmm. Still chasing my rabbit, er pacer. So far so good. Hope he doesn't go faster than me. I've got one more picked out just in case.

Mile 7: 8:18, hr 173, one beat higher, I'm starting to think about mile 9, will I be able to run consistently at a higher hr? I'm feeling good and I'm starting to think I might meet my dream goal of sub 2:00. I'm still having a blast!

Mile 7.5: Holy Crap..... I'm starting to pass people that have been running with me for awhile. Oh No! I'm passing my rabbit. What am I going to do? Settle down Melissa. This is good. This is fabulous actually. Pick a new rabbit and keep going.

Mile 8: 8:22, hr 172, I'm starting to smile. I'm realizing this is actually happening. I'm feeling really good and the hills aren't totally killing me. More than half way there! New rabbits to pick as I go along.... I should gu but my tummy's a teeny bit queasy (as it was before the race) so I'm going to wait a bit. Feeling good with just water.

Mile 9: 8:17, hr 174, oops, a little high. That's ok because now I'm moving my hr up to 177. The hills are worse and she wants my hr higher? CRAP! Here we go. My mantra throughout the race.... Trust my coach, trust my body. Over and over.

Mile 10: 8:40, hr 173, slowed down to gu and drink water during this mile. Didn't meet hr goal of 177. GO GO GO!

Mile 11: 7:56, hr 175, That's what I'm talking about. Still need to push the hr up higher. Back and forth with a tall gal in a yellow Seattle race shirt. Talking with each other each time one of us passes the other. My new rabbit along with another gal in a pink jacket who's way ahead of me. Then JFT2 teammate Kirsten passed me (was it here or at mile 12?). She's looking amazing! Running as if her legs are totally fresh. Passing people left and right! GO Kirsten!

Mile 12: 8:30, hr 176, Dangit! Why can't I get my hr higher? This is getting harder. My legs are hurting. I'm thinking if I slow down I'll never keep my pace up. Got To Keep Running At HR. Keeping rabbits in sight and making sure I can still keep Kirsten in view.

Mile 13-13.1: 9:10, hr 179. I'm done! I passed my yellow shirt rabbit on the last hill and powered through to the end.

TIME: 1:49:51
PLACE: age group 26/128 by finish time (not chip time)
AVE PACE: 8:20
AVE HR: 172
MAX HR: 186

Sub 2:00 goal accomplished. PR of 23 minutes from my last half. YAHOO!


Now if I could only walk without every muscle in my legs hurting.....

In the groove...

After two weeks of family illness combined with a week vacation visiting family in cold rainy San Diego I'm finally feeling back in the groove. I did my first time trial this week and it was very eye opening. So much for me to learn and so many hills I need to ride to become stronger! And boy are there some hard core cyclists out there! There Tracy and I were out there with our fenders on our older regular road bikes. At least we didn't come in last and for that I'm proud!

My coach had an open time last week at the pool to meet with her athlete's and evaluate our swim. Some of you may know that I am not the greatest swimmer. In fact, I suck! I've done all my tris breaststroke and had never quite gotten comfortable with freestyle. She checked out my stroke and told me I just needed to get in the pool and swim. I need to work on building up my endurance. Instead of paying attention to time, doing 100's, 200's, 300's at a certain time. I just need to swim. So that's what I've done the last couple of days. What a difference it makes to swim without worrying about time. Just swim. Yesterday I swam 1750 meters very easily and had to get out of the pool to pick up the kid. Today in less than 55 minutes I swam 2500 meters broken up into 1000, short rest, 1000, short rest, 500 pull. A record for me! And that was after a hard bike interval workout on the trainer. I'm feeling good. Hopefully this new swim confidence will stick with me and will translate into better times during the tris.

This Sunday is the Mercer Half Marathon. I'm doing a 90 minute bike ride the day before so hopefully it won't screw up my run too much. My goal is under 2:00. I ran the course at AET in 2:11 so I'm hoping I can hit my goal. It sure is hilly though!

I've been struggling bit with maintaining my weight. My truly to die for weight would be 115. I'm not close. I'm maintaining around the same weight but as soon as I lose a bit I spring right back up. I'm playing around with my calories now and might aim for 60/20/20 instead of 80/10/10. I'm also trying to identify trigger foods that shouldn't ever cross my lips. I think this will be a lifetime struggle but I'm grateful to be where I am right now.

Next post - Mercer race report!

Brendan Brazier - Raw Triathlete

Check out this article about Brendan Brazier - a professional raw triathlete. Here's the link I copied this from: http://www.mensjournal.com/healthFitness/0601/nutrition_raw.html

Pretty cool!

Is It Time to Go Raw?
Once just for hippies and Hollywood personal chefs, the raw food diet is becoming the latest adventure performance fuel

As a competitive runner and a hardcore vegan, Brendan Brazier had a pretty good idea what was behind his lethargy and chronic muscle soreness. So he took a radical step: He stopped cooking. Two years later, fueled by a 90 percent uncooked, plant-based diet, the 30-year-old from Vancouver, British Columbia, not only feels great, but is also a top-tier Ironman and blistering 2:29 marathoner. In the process, he's become one of the leaders pushing the boundaries of the raw (or "living") food movement beyond the crunchy realm of hippie communes and into the sweaty world of timed splits, intervals, and anaerobic thresholds. "I haven't used my stove in over a year," says Brazier. "In fact, I'm thinking of selling it." Not ready to give up your microwave just yet? Don't worry. Most of the athletes similarly learning to turn off the heat aren't anywhere near as extreme as Brazier. These guys -- including seven-time Western States 100 ultramarathon champ Scott Jurek and members of the Norwegian national cycling team -- simply try to work more uncooked vegetables, nuts, and seeds into their diets in the same way other jocks might pile on the grilled chicken breasts. "I know plenty of guys who are incorporating aspects of it," says Jurek. "It's a lot easier than you think."

BACK TO YOUR ROOTS
The invention of fire two million years ago may have coincided with the growth of our brains, but it's not like it didn't come with some downsides. Although heating foods to 160 degrees kills bacteria in meat and poultry, it can sap vegetables of vital nutrients and dilute the power of grains. A bowl of raw oats, for example, has seven times the iron and potassium of hot oatmeal. (Iron deficiencies can be a source of fatigue for athletes and potassium is crucial for balancing fluids and preventing muscle cramps.) Kale -- a staple of Brazier's -- loses about half its iron, fiber, and folic acid, another key along with iron for maintaining stamina. In addition, raw veggies, seeds, and nuts are packed with antioxidants that may help reduce muscle and joint inflammation and potentially save you a bunch of money on ibuprofen.

WHAT ABOUT PROTEIN?
You probably wouldn't go on a raw diet if you were big into weight lifting. On the other hand, the evidence suggests that, for endurance athletes at least, a combination of raw beans, nuts, grains, and other plant-based sources of protein might provide a more than adequate alternative to animal and dairy products for muscle strength. And the news on bones is even better. It's a little known fact that uncooked, unprocessed foods tend to be less acidic, which may help bones stay healthy by keeping your body from having to leach as much calcium from them to buffer excess acid in your system. In a study that was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine last year, Washington University scientist Dr. Luigi Fontana found that although raw foodists were leaner and had lower bone mass than the average American, their bones were equally strong and their inflammation was 65 percent lower -- and that's going fully raw. A moderate approach, like the suggestions at right, says Fontana, "has nothing but upside." Marathon runner David Neuman is certainly sold. "When I first met Brendan I wondered, 'How could anyone race at the elite level on plants?' " he says. "Now it's the only way I can think to keep up with him!"

2008 Here I Come!

Holy cow it's been a long time since I've written! Time just flies these days. We spent Christmas with the Mom and gang in Reno. I fell off the exercise wagon for more than a few days and still feel like I'm playing catch up. Oswaldo and I actually got to go out on New Year's Eve for the first time since the kids were born. They spent the night at our friends house and we went out to dinner, salsa dancing, and to another party until 5am. TOTALLY FUN!

I've been planning my races for 2008. I've got most of them figured out, but am still doing some tweaking. My knee has been bugging me again so I'm seeing a pt week after next who specializes in orthotics and sports. I'm feeling pretty slow right now and am low on running miles. I've been trying to swim more and actually swam 2000 yards a few times now. I've always breast stroked my tris and I'm determined not to do that this year. My times are usually 19-20 minutes for a half mile breast stroked. I want to get that down by at least a couple of minutes. So it's freestyle only baby and it feels like it's coming together. I got outside for my first ride last weekend and plan to go out for another tomorrow. I'm determined to get more outside cycling time. That's the only way to improve my bike time and feel more comfortable on the bike. In 2007 I managed to get my sprint bike leg under 40 minutes for the first time. Would love that to be more consistent and under 37 minutes if possible. I hope to complete my first oly this season and I've registered for my first full marathon in November. So hopefully lots of fun firsts this season.

Weight continues to be a balance. I lost weight before the holidays and was down to 121.5. I ate way too much at Mom's house and when I got home and I'm working on getting that off. I would LOVE to get to 115 by the Mercer Island Half. I'm still doing the raw thing and I LOVE IT. I wish everyone would learn about how great raw food makes you feel and how easy it is to lose weight eating this way. Now I've got to get this maintenance thing figured out so when I'm not trying to get to 115, I can maintain easily. I really think 115 is my fighting weight. I think I'll swim, bike, and run faster and better at a bit lower weight.

More race specifics later.

May 2008 be your Best Year Ever!

Seattle Half Marathon

Yesterday was just a comedy of errors! I woke up at 5:30am, got dressed, and made a pear/banana/orange smoothie. I had everything organized ahead of time and made a trip to the car. I left at the perfect time and was set to meet some folks to carpool to the race. I realized about 5-6 miles into the drive that I left my second bag at home. This was the bag with my heart rate monitor, race number, etc in it. I could not race without it! I drove back home and picked it up and headed back towards the race. I called the gang I was meeting up with and let them know that I'd have to park at the race or I wouldn't make it there in time. Well before the exit to the race, there were cars backed up for a couple of miles. Usually we arrive at races 1-1.5 hrs early, why the heck we didn't for this one if beyond me. I waited in line forever and then finally barely found parking. My girlfriend was still on the road due to traffic after I parked. I watched sadly as the half marathon began without us. I explained to her where to park and waited for her at the McDonald's near the Seattle Center. I watched the half marathon walk start without us as well. She finally arrived and we ran to the porta potties for one last trip. We couldn't figure out what to do. Do we wait for the full marathon run start or go ahead on our own? We finally decided to start on our own and ran across the start line at least 20-25 minutes after we were supposed to begin the race.

The first mile into the race, my garmine flashed that it is low on batteries. We were really depending on the watch to keep our pace steady and beat our time from last year. Luckily the watch worked until almost the very end. The run itself was a blast. I was pacing my friend to try to get us a bit faster then last year. It was pretty easy for me which made it even funner. I love talking to all the volunteers on the course and the other runners. I also loved know that were I racing for myself I probably could have done it faster. After each mile we ran, we walked for one minute and did this for most of the course. Towards the end my watch completely stopped working. We were only .5-.75 miles from the finish. We are not completely sure about what time we finished in, but we definitely beat last year's time and might have done so by 7 or so minutes. Official time 2:13:05.

It was SO MUCH FUN! LOT and LOTS of people were walking the half and full marathon and having a blast. The weather was PERFECT which is amazing considering it's been raining and frosty here every morning. The sun was out and it was the perfect running day.

On another note. I'm back to low fat raw for a bit to get the last chunk of weight off. I could stay between 129-133 on higher fat raw with still a bulk of my calories being fruit. But now I want to get into prime race shape and get myself down to 115. First goal for me is 125. I have never hit 125 during this journey and it's the initial goal weight I picked for myself when I thought this was a crazy impossible dream. Now I'm almost there.

What an wonderful trip it's been!

Winter Pineapple Classic

This was such a fun race and I'm so sorry to just now be writing about it! It was our first time running this race. There were tons of people in teams of two's and four's. Everybody was dressed up in different Hawaiian themes or just silly costumes. Each team had to carry a pineapple with them throughout the whole 5K course which was filled with obstacles courses. We climbed, shimmied, and bounced our way through the course carrying our pineapple. Unfortunately, the pineapple met an untimely death when it got tossed up into a tire and never came back down. We did pick up a piece of another pineapple on the ground and ran with that the rest of the race. We ran the course in just under 31 minutes. Then the best for last. An open bar with beer and Myers Rum and pinapple juice. Of course my friends partook of the roasted pig lunch they served. Luckily I had eaten enough fruit before the race that I wasn't starving afterwards. But boy did that rum and pinapple juice taste damn good. It's definitely a race we'll do again. In costume.

Issaquah Salmon Days 10K

Wow - I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted. Sorry for the hiatus! I need to post more regularly!

I met with Jill Fry last week to talk about developing a training plan. I won a free training plan from her after winning the body fat contest sponsored by Triumph Multisport and Jill. It was so amazing to meet her. She is gearing up for Kona this weekend and still has the time to hang out with her athletes and her teammates. She encouraged me to do the Issaquah Salmon Days 10K as a way to determine how I am doing and how to base my training plan. I was already planning on running this race, I just hadn't decided whether to do the 10K or 5K.

I didn't sleep well the night before. I didn't really have the pre-race jitters, just couldn't sleep. I ran out of the house without my garmin and drove 10 miles back home to pick it up. I depend so much on that watch lately to keep tabs on my pace. My girlfriend Tracy arrived at the race before me and signed me up. She ran as a bandit as she was using this run mostly as a training run. Thankfully I got there in time to hit the portapotty and line up!

The weather was perfect running weather. Cool, slightly misty but not raining. There were a lot of people there and it was fun to hang out and breathe in the excitement. I didn't know where to place myself - in the front? in the back? middle? I hung out near the middle and then started to walk forward as I was unsure where to be. Then we were off!

The course was fairly flat and we ran right down the main street in Issaquah. We veered to the right and ran through a beautiful park like setting for a short while. I could tell right away I wasn't feeling it. My heartrate was really high and it felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I didn't have the euphoric feeling that I had at the Run Amuk. I was working hard and my body didn't agree with this plan! I develeped a mantra to get me through the race: Find a rabbit, pick her off, and all day long you'll have good luck. Wierd huh? It helped me get through though. I did just that. I'd pick someone to follow and chase them down and then pick another one. It helped me to not focus on how high my heartrate was. It started sprinkling towards the end of the race which felt wonderful. I run really hot so it was perfect timing. I made it across the mat in 48:17. A new PR! I caught my breath and grabbed some water and went back out on the course to catch up with Tracy. I ran her to the end and she sprinted like nobody's business over the mat.

Here's the splits:

mile 1 - 7:38
mile 2 - 7:46
mile 3 - 8:05
mile 4 - 7:45
mile 5 - 7:36
mile 6 - 7:44
mile 6.2 - 1:41

total - 48:17 7/56 in age group, 46/272

I really think I could have run faster but was stuck at that pace due to my tight chest. For the next couple of days I've been coughing a bit and still have the tight chest. The last time I felt like this while running was during the last Seattle half and I had an upper respiratory infection the whole week afterwards. No fun!

I ended up 7th in my age group which is an amazing feat for me! I can't even believe that I'm capable of landing in the top 20 much less the top 10! It's such an amazing thing to feel like I can run fast! I'm so used to being in the back of the pack that this is a totally new experience for me.

Still training for the Seattle half marathon that I will run with my friend Tracy. We have so much fun training and running together. I may do another race in December near Olympia called the Christmas Marathon (half marathon for me) so I can see if I've improved since last year in a longer race.

That's all for now! Happy training everyone!

Subaru Triathlon

Just a quick check in to tell you about my last triathlon. It was the Subaru in Federal Way at Steel Lake. It was a beautiful day with no rain and lots of sun!

Here's the specs:

swim (half mile) - 19:40
T1 - 2:49
bike (12 miles) - 39:15
T2 - 2:23
run (4 miles) - 34:10

total: 1:38:15, 9/51 in age group and 50/353 overall.

Wait a minute.... 9/51? TOP TEN BABY!
Ok, there were only 51 gals in my age group.... But still a top ten right? Yahoo!

Now on to the Seattle Half Marathon!

More later with updates on the family....

Runamuk 10K race report

Alarm off at 6:10am. Threw my running clothes on and checked to weather to see how much to layer. No rain - yahoo! Made my watermelon juice in the blender and headed out to drive to downtown Mukilteo for the Runamuk 5K/10K local race. I arrived pretty early, registered and walked around for a bit. Chatted with a few people which was fun. Drank a small cup of coffee (I'm experimenting with coffee only for race days). A man on a megaphone was giving updates on when the run would start. The 5K and 10K were now going to start at the same time due to problems with timing. Timing the race were volunteers with black stop watches throughout the race and at the end writing down numbers. Hmmm.

The race director accidentally set off the start before he meant to and made everyone come back to the beginning again. 3-2-1 and we're off! I haven't run a 10K since Irongirl last September. Since that time I've lost 57 pounds, trained like crazy, and somehow gotten faster. I had no idea how to pace myself so I checked a pace calculater. Last 5k was the Danskin - 25:14. According to that 5K time I should aim for 8:30's for a final time of 52 minutes. I thought this was insane. 52 minutes? Me running a 10K in 52 minutes? No way. I should aim for 9 min/miles and be happy with that.

I started running and noticed I'm hovering around a 8 minute mile. I picked a rabbit and chased him for awhile. I seemed to be passing people. What's up with that? Mile 1 - 8:01. I'm pretty happy with this but noticing that there's lots of rolling hills so far. Slight hills, but hills dammit! I haven't done hill repeats more than once this year. I'm going to be in trouble. Mile 2 - 8:24. My rabbit is still in front of me and pulling ahead a bit. Uh-oh, gotta catch up with him. I take advantage of a down hill, still careful to watch my poor knees, and speed up a bit.
I'm not dying my heartrate is not too high I can afford to go faster. 5K - 24:56! Half way there!

Each time I look at the garmin my pace is around 7:50-8:00. 8:30's on some of the hills. Holy Cow! I'm actually doing this! I'm cheering other runners on, thanking the volunteers, trying to breath, can I go faster? I forget to push the lap button on the rest of the race. My rabbit is still in front of me, only this time not too far out. There's a gal behind him who I realize has been in front of me for a while. 5.75 miles - time to put on the speed. I drop the guy who's been chatting with me for a while and then realize we have one last hill to run. I speed up the gentle hill and I pass the gal and try to catch up with my rabbit. I finish only feet behind him. Second 5K split - 24:41. Negative split!

Finishing time ala garmin - 49:37. You know what that translates into? 7:59 min/miles baby! Me, a non-athletic fat girl. I feel like I'm going to pass out and I'm grinning ear to ear. I grab a couple bananas and water and cheer on the rest of the runners. It's small race and done quickly so announcement were made right away for the first place age groupers and top three men and women. I walk away in awe of what my body can do now.

I wonder if someday I'll ever place in my age group. In a tri, a 5K? a 10K? Anything? That. Would. Be. AMAZING. That's my new goal. My new dream. I know placing means top 3 - but my first goal in a bigger race is top 10. Then top 3.

Damn, listen to me talking age group. What's up with that?

Hey! I've come this far. Proof positive that Dreams Do Come True.

Getting serious again

So I've been on a plateau with my weight loss for about 2 months. The great thing is I know what I can eat and maintain my weight. Now it's time to get back on the wagon and get a few more pounds off. For me that means decreasing my fat intake, continuing to eat raw vegan living foods, and continue training. I can't help but look at how much faster I've gotten by releasing 57 pounds. I would like to let go of at least 10 but probably 15 more pounds. I'm 5'3" and today weigh 129. I think I'm actually smaller boned than I ever thought and am not unrealistic about the amount of weight I carry in my midsection. I get that after having babies I'm never gonna have a flat tummy, but I want a chance at getting rid of more rolls!

The last two days I've actually experienced a bit of detox from removing most overt fats and salt from my diet. I did eat a serving of raw hemp seeds today and half serving yesterday. With the amount that I'm working out I need a bit of fat in my diet. If I choose avocados or oil I'll eat too much of it right now so I've got to measure it out and eat something that my body doesn't develop cravings for.

I think I'm still processing the fact that I'm running and biking faster and if I could just get my swim going I would have a chance at placing a lot higher in my age group. I turn 40 next month so I'll be moving up to a new age group which means new opportunity. Shedding some extra pounds would only help me at this point!

I took a rest day on Monday after the triathlon. Last night I ran a slow 3+ miles and had a 1.5 hour karate class. Today at track I ran one mile warm up and did 400's with 1 minute plank in between. Then a one mile cool down. Only did 4 400's but they were fast (for me!) and had me huffing and puffing. And since I'm thinking of racing this weekend (5k or 10k) we thought I should leave it at that.

A HUGE SHOUT OUT to the bloggers out there doing IMC this weekend!

I'll be rooting for you!

Danskin Race Report

I'm DONE! And it was SO MUCH FUN! In the POURING FREEZING RAIN!

I was trembling with chills by the time I made it to my friend's house to shower after being in the rain for 4-5 hours! I was very happy with my race today considering the circumstances. I had a PR in the bike and the run. I can hardly believe it!

Here's the breakdown:

SWIM - 15:35 (only 3/8th mile so this is a really slow time)
T1 - 2:47
BIKE - 38:46 (12 miles)
T2 - 1:36
RUN - 25:14 (5K)

TOTAL - 1:24

Age Group - 26/481
Overall - 124/3496

The swim was so crazy. They doubled the amount of people in each wave and nobody could swim! There were too many people everywhere and I had to weave around everyone to try to move forward. It was horrible! I did not meet my time goal for the swim. Not even close. So much work I need to do to improve my swim.

T1 - It was hard to get to my transition area because there were women running every which way! My feet were so cold I couldn't get my cycling shoes on. There's quite a long run from the water to the transition area. There is no way I could have done it in 1:30. I looked at the gals faster than me and almost all of them had slower transition times so I'm ok with this time.

The bike was interesting because it was POURING rain and I'm scared to death of riding in the rain. In one area you have to go double file up a hill to get on the freeway and the other gals were stopping and walking instead of riding up. I had to stop suddenly or I would have bit the dust. The rest was uneventful. Only one gal passed me and stayed ahead of me during the whole course so that was amazing. I figured the really fast girls were already way ahead of me so that's why nobody was passing me. There were a few times I could have gone faster but couldn't pass the gals who were riding together. But it gave me a good time to lower my heart rate. I also had to slow way down on the down hill from I-90 as it was super slippery and everyone was slowing down.

T2 - Pretty uneventful. I couldn't get my left shoe on at first which killed me!

The run hurt like heck at the beginning. My toes were numb from the bike and my legs felt like lead. It's pretty flat except for one steep hill. These guys play their drums for us every year to help us get up the hill. I yelled thank-you to them and all the volunteers throughout the race. How amazing they all came out in spite of the rain! I was getting excited because it was looking like I might be able to beat my time from last year, but also my run and bike time from the triathlon last month. I did! I finally got my bike time under 40 minutes and I beat my run time from last month by 56 seconds. My splits were 8:02, 8:12, 8:14 (this included the hill), :46. I ended up running 8:08's which is a total PR for me. In the past I've been lucky to do 10 minute miles. Thank you raw food and training!

I think part of my improvement from last month I can attribute to my unintentional taper. I usually workout more than I should before a race. This week I certainly took it easy which has affected my weight. I usually gain weight the week before a race if I taper. But taking it easy made me faster on race day! I've got to remember that! And do it again!

Also I did my nutrition differently. I drank my usual watermelon juice for breakfast. Right before the race I drank 1/2 cup coffee (I haven't drank coffee since 2/07). This used to be a regular part of my race routine and it seemed to do the trick today. I also used gu differently. Gu is totally NOT RAW. But I tried a date paste last race that wasn't cutting it for me. Today I gu'd before the swim, before and during the bike, and at the beginning of the run. I NEVER gu that much but it worked for me today for some reason.

Next stop - Subaru Women's Triathlon in September.

Danskin and Seafair...

Danskin 2006

swim - 19:39
t1 - 1:56
bike -41:02
t2 -2:08
run - 30:31
total= 1:35:17

GOAL FOR DANSKIN 2007

swim - 12:00 (it's shorter this year)
t1 - 1:30 (long run from the start though)
bike 39:59 (I just want to finally hit under 40 minutes!)
t2 - 1:30
run - under 27
total = 1:22

Seafair 2006 and 2007

swim - 21:16 21:01
t1 - 1:49 1:43
bike - 42:56 40:39
t2 - 1:30 1:15
run - 30:03 26:10
total = 1:37:34 1:30:49


So.... hopefully given the Seafair results, I'll be able to improve my Danskin results and PR on Sunday.

Saturdays are the BEST! I'm done with my work week, I get my best workout of the week, and then I get to go to Jamba Juice! (oj and wheatgrass baby!)

Today's workout:

bike intervals with swimming outside 100 meter laps.
bike - 13 miles
swim - .5 miles (all freestyle which is a big deal for this triathlon breaststroker!)
run - 7 miles

Jamba Juice.... priceless.

Then I grabbed the boys to hit the end of a "Raw Family Potluck" not too far away from us.

Fuel for the day so far:

grapes
cantaloupe
peaches
plums
pico de gallo

I should probably get some more greens in me to even out a bit!

One of these days, I might even send my family/friends the link to this blog. Right now it's kinda fun being incognito.

Danskin around the corner!

Danskin is weekend after next. This will be my 4th Danskin and I'm hoping to PR this race. Unfortunately, the swim is going to be shortened by 200 yards, so by default I'll PR but not the way I want to!

My training is coming along. I don't have much outside time between the kids and work. Here's a typical schedule:

Monday - spin class and treadmill run or swim, softball in the pm
Tuesday - spin class and treadmill run or swim, 1.5 hr karate class in the pm
Wednesday - track with workout group, sometimes swim after (8-12 hour work day)
Thursday/Friday - 12+ hour work days, I sometimes sneak in a run before I head home.
Saturday - group workout - usually interval training
(last week swim/bike/swim/bike, etc) then a 5-7 mile run
Sunday - usually an outside run 4-6 miles

I try to do core frequently. Some weeks it's daily, other weeks it's 3-4x weekly. After the tri in September I extend my 'long' runs and train for the Seattle Half Marathon.

My biggest challenge is getting outside to bike. My Sat am group used to do that more. But lately it's been on the trainer. That is where my biggest improvement to go right now.

As far as fuel goes - I mentioned last post that I'm doing low-fat raw vegan diet. I'm still figuring out what to do on race day to replace my beloved gu - but to be honest I used gu for Seafair (it worked better than my date mix...) and it gave me a kick that really helped. Probably since I hadn't used it or any caffeine for so many months. Today has been a watermelon day. I've been eating watermelon all day. Mostly juices in the blender, sometimes green smoothies (watermelon and spinach). I usually take a smoothie/juice to the gym and fuel during workouts with that. Today I added a raw hemp protein powder to the watermelon juice and that worked great.

I would love to learn about other raw athletes and fuel. I've been doing some research and I've read Doug Graham's books and need to re-read and put into action!

The newer and improved raw tri girl.....

I looked today and can't believe I started this thing and didn't finish. So much has happened since then I don't even know where to start.

In December we went to Mexico to visit my in-laws. We stayed in Zihua for almost a week in the most amazing condo on the beach. We spent Xmas and New Year's with the family and then back to Zihua for a couple of days. Fabulous times.

We returned home in January to a house and city plagued by winter! What? you might ask, Winter in Seattlelandia? Yes, we had huge wind and snow storms that terrorized the area. As a result, my kindergartner was in school all the way through the end of June. How much does that suck? Let me count the ways.

In February I was moved to try, once again, a new way of living/eating in an attempt to lose weight. This extra weight I was carrying was making me run slower in triathlons and races and hurting my knees in the process. I discovered an online support group which actually is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. With the support of this group I have finally been able to take off some of this extra weight I've been carrying around. What a relief to be able to buy clothes from a normal store and feel good about how I look. LOVE IT!

I've been training hard since starting my "new lifestyle" on 2/15/07. Running, spinning and occasionally outside cycling, and the pathetic swimming I've been able to fit in. I did my first triathlon of the season in July and improved my last year's time by 7 minutes! My improvement were minimal in the swim/bike and transitions but my run time for a sprint tri went from 30:03 to 26:10. I have never in my life run that fast! Now I can only hope that someday I'll figure out how to swim and bike!

How have I made these changes in my life? The answer is simple and yet hard to believe. It's not something that I ever in my lifetime thought I would say. The answer is .... eating in a low-fat raw vegan way. For me right now that means eating all the fruit and vegies I want. And not a whole lot more. When I am satisfied with my weight I will continue to eat primarily raw foods and add back more fat. The goal ideally is to eat 80/10/10 which means 80% carbs, 10% protein, 10% fats. I've been eating like this for over 5 months. During this time I entered a body fat contest. I started the contest on 3/31/07 after I had already lost 26 pounds. My second body fat test was 3 months later. I went from 33.3% body fat to 18.5% body fat. I increased my lean muscle mass by almost a pound. This blows my mind! I'm so happy with the results. Now my concerns are that I still have 10-15 pounds to lose around my midsection. I worry that I might have some loose skin hanging around taking up space there. I hope that lowering my body fat a bit more and getting a few more pounds off will do the trick.

Sorry for the ridiculously long post. I have decided to start posting again for one simple reason. Accountability. If I tell my story to my friends and family, perhaps I will be more likely to continue this path that has helped me to change my life so drastically. Perhaps I will be able to help someone else like me who doesn't believe they can ever lose weight and feel more confident and strong. I'm renaming myself with the post. My new name is Raw Tri Girl. I may not be the strongest, nor the thinnest, nor the fastest. But I love my new life and I love the process of training for a triathlon that keep me healthy and strong. I may only do 2-3 tris this summer but inside I feel like a tri girl. A raw tri girl.

Rain Rain go away!

Hello! The rain continues for days at a time in Seattlelandia. Many areas are flooded and many have lost their homes and their possessions. The rain is making training for the Seattle half marathon quite a test of my meddle! My friend Tracy and I ran our 12 mile long run on Sunday in the rain. We have less than two more weeks until the race and then I can start looking forward to MEXICO! We are going to visit Los Abuelos in Cacalutla. Before we hook up with the family we'll be spending a few days in Barra de Potosi and Zihuatanejo. Then it's off to see the family and spend Xmas and New Year's with them before returning to dreary rainy Seattle. It's perfect timing for the boys as they are now trying to answer us only in English. We need some Spanish only time to get things back in gear.

We just had a lovely visit with Grandpa Denny and Grandma Anne, Tia Becky, and Anne's son Scott and his wife Denise. It was so great to see everyone again. We are planning a trip to see Grandma Linda and Grandpa Frank the week after Thanksgiving. We'll be using a ski trip I won from the Seattle Times hanging out in Tahoe and hopefully learning to snowboard! Joao really wants to learn to snowboard instead of ski. I, however, am a chickenshit and slightly terrified of both skiing and snowboarding so this will definitely be an exciting learning experience! Last time I tried to ski was in Telluride with brother Andrew and it wasn't until I was fortified with tequila that I could see how MAYBE skiing could be fun. Unfortunately, Oswaldo has to stay home and work since we're taking off three weeks at Xmas too. We'll miss him! Hope everyone is well!

Picures, pictures, and more pictures!

I've posted some pictures so you can see our new house and some new shots of the kidlets. This is our new to us 70's house in the 'burbs! Never thought we'd do the 'suburban flight' thing, but here we are. It's amazing how children can change one's life, huh?


We have a huge lot! Even bigger than the old house in Seattle. The back yard is full of trees, squirrels, birds, and hiding spots. The kids were thrilled to learn they would have a double decker treehouse in the back yard. It's even got a wrap around porch and windows! What a treat!

On the side of the house we have a big space with a firepit. We've already had several weenie and marshmallow roasts. It scares me a bit with as many burns as I see in the ER, so we are extra careful about teaching the kids about fire safety and have learned we can't have Oso running around near us when we have a fire. He could easily knock on the kids into the firepit accidentally. The kids are learning a new respect for fire and are VERY careful!


My big boy Joao learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! The boys ride their bikes in front of the house everyday. It's a quiet dead-end street and they have an oval circle in front of the house that they can ride around where mama can see them from the front porch. They LOVE it. Joao is so proud!


Dario is not about to get beat by his older brother. He learned that he LOVES to scooter around. He was getting frustrated with his old radio flyer scooter because it wouldn't go anywhere fast. He got a new scooter "so I can go fast". It's a really safe kettler scooter with two wheels on the back. Look at him go!


Joao lost his first tooth! In this picture you can see the adult tooth growing in already. The tooth fairy brought him 4 quarters and one dollar bill. What a score! Unfortunately the tooth fairy forgot that part of the deal is taking the tooth with her so Joao put his tooth under his pillow the next night again in case the tooth fairy might come back and give him some more dough. Unfortunately, the tooth fairy had a really good memory and wasn't bamboozled by this smart kid!

Welcome to Our Lives!

So much has happened in the our family that I thought we would try to keep in touch with people online. So here we go!

First things first - we sold our house in the Rainier Valley and fled to the burbs. We now live in a lovely 70's house in unincorporated Lynnwood, WA. We are two blocks from North Edmonds and two blocks from Mukilteo so we don't really feel like we live in Lynnwood proper. We loved our old neighborhood but as the boys were getting older, I was feeling less safe in the hood. The way our house was situated, the boys couldn't play in front of the house and didn't have a place to ride bikes without making a special trip somewhere to do so. I had been looking for almost a year 'unofficially' not thinking I was really looking. Then our neighbor was murdered in his own house. I was at the neighbors two houses down hanging out when right across the street the wailing began. Someone entered our neighbors house and gunned down the 20 something year old in front of his parents and grandparents. The news quickly disappeared and to this day we know nothing about what happened except for a clue from the police who said "If you play with fired you're gonna get burnt." So what does that mean? Drug deal gone bad? Gang stuff? Nothing I want my kids near so the year spent looking for a new house online became a real endeavor. Priorities: Dead end street so kids can safely play, rides bikes, play basketball, great school district. Neighborhood of homeowners who know and take care of each other. Aesthetically pleasing neighborhood. Huge lot (once you have a big lot it's hard to go back!). Thankfully we found just what we were looking for on craigslist. Gotta love craigslist! We sold our house in 12 hours on craigslist! So now we have 4br's, 2.5 baths, a huge yard 1.5x bigger than the old one, and a very sweet, safe neighborhood in the Mukilteo school district. More later!