Sometimes, Swimmin Hurts

Like when you slip on the wet tile at the natatorium and land flat on our you-know-what and slam your elbow into the ground. Yeah. And then immediately after that you get in and the coach announces that you'll be doing breath control drills that day. And then you wake up the next day and it feels like someone is digging dull needles into your tricep and shoulder because you banged them on a hard tile floor.

Frustration.

Ok, so it's really not TOO bad, but yesterday's swim was not the best of my life. Before I even got in the water, I managed to slip in a puddle on the tile by the pool and wipe out magnificently, with my left elbow taking a good bit of the force from the fall. Then immediately there are 4-5 middle-aged men in Speedos converging on me to make sure I'm all right, which was really sweet of them, but when your head is at that level and they've got the brief cut on, well, you can see where this is going... yikes. So at first I was just trying to ascertain if I was ok or not, and one of the guys is yelling for ice and the coach is running over and I'm getting embarrassed by all the attention so finally, as Ahmed is coming out of the dressing room, I announce that I'm fine and I just hit my funny bone. No problem.

We get in the water, though, and I can still feel the soreness in my elbow, but I work through it and it keeps feeling a little bit better, so I'm thinking I'm fine. Then the coach announces breath control drills - almost the ENTIRE DAY'S SET is breath control practice. I feel like maybe the swim gods turned their backs on me yesterday. I made it through as much of the set as I could without cheating, but I finally gave up just in time for our set of 100's kicking. Really? REALLY? I was not sad to go when lunch time was up.

I coached later in the evening (just took on a new youth athlete!), then went to see Buck in Mesquite when he got off (he's working a really funky shift right now, it's messing up the Buck and Morgan time, which is no bueno). When I woke up this morning, I could definitely feel the arm. The soreness is stretching all the way through my tricep and up into the shoulder. I can feel it tweaking my back as well. So a massage (like I can afford one of those right now after ordering all my USA gear!) is definitely in order in the near future, if at all possible, but for now I just have to wait it out and hope the soreness goes away quickly. Talked to Aaron and he said no swim today (no reason to push it), and hopefully I'll have a replacement workout later in the evening. Now that I've committed to the size small racing suit for Beijing, there's no missing workouts anymore! A few pounds could mean I don't fit into my suit (those things are tight), and how embarrassing would that be??

So anyways, hopefully my little spill doesn't mess things up too much because I still have a lot of work to do before September, and a wonky arm isn't going to make things easier. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Happy training everybody

The Heat is On...

No, for real, it is HOT outside.

Ok, so I've started seeing this new guy, Buck, and, well, he's amazing. So amazing that even though running isn't really his favorite thing, he still went running with me last week at 5:00 PM, the hottest hour of the day, and didn't even complain about the fact that he was at a total disadvantage, being a man and having body hair while I'm a girl and I... don't. Once I brought it up, of course, he totally agreed - but still. He's a trooper. And I really like him, so if you meet him, be nice.

But back to the heat - we are getting up into the 100's pretty much every day here in Dallas, and it makes training, well, interesting. The phrase "drenched in sweat" seems to be coming up a lot. See, the human body expends a lot of energy, water, and electrolytes to keep itself cool, so the more of those we lose during exercise due to external heat, the more we have to compensate - go slower, drink more water, take salt tablets, etc. And I have been losing a lot of ALL of those three things during exercise in the past couple of weeks. I have constantly had a glass of water with me as I desperately try to stay hydrated, and I am consuming ridiculous amounts of fluid while training outside (and eating ridiculous amounts of icy watermelon after every workout - yum). I'm also ending up with some ridiculous tan lines.

The scary part is... it's not even July yet! It's only June and the temperature is getting up to 102 - what does this bode for the rest of the summer? Am I going to shrivel up due to heat before I even make it to Beijing? Ok, I know, it's melodramatic but geez - just 4 months ago it was like 14 degrees outside and now it's 102!! Come on north Texas, make up your mind! And while you're at it, let's tone down the wind a little bit as well...

In other news, my Team USA sizing kit has shipped and should be at my door today or tomorrow (please let it be there today! pleeeease!), and my mom is following up on our lodging arrangements for the trip. We thought we were all booked and ready to go, buuut... they never charged our card, which is worrisome. So we're looking into that. Better safe than sorry. Tonight, Buck is taking me to the Rangers-Astros game (it's Nelson Cruz bobble-head night! sweet!), and tomorrow I've got work, swimming, coaching... the usual.

Stroke work tomorrow at DAM - everyone make sure to get a ringside seat to watch me attempt the butterfly : )

Happy training everybody!

Mandy Did Kona!

Ok, this is my tribute post to my bff Mandy who did her first 70.3 at the Ford Ironman 70.3 (formerly known as Honu) in Kona, HI two weekends ago.

For those of you who don't know Mandy... she's awesome.

About 3 and a half years ago, things got kind of crazy in my life, and so I got serious about running, so I could keep myself centered. I became competitive very quickly, and started placing in the top three overall at pretty much every race that I did - I was absolutely in love with the sport, but I still wanted something even more adventurous. I had an aquaintance named Tyler who was on the UNT Triathlon Team, and he gave me Mandy's phone number (she was a fellow team member at that time) so that I could have someone to show me the ropes. I called, and even though she couldn't remember my name for the first couple of weeks that we knew each other (if you know Mandy, you know that this isn't weird, it's just Mandy), we bonded very quickly, and next thing I knew I was going on weekly bike rides (followed by long evenings at the bar - hey, we were in college!), and running and swimming, with a whole new group of friends. Mandy and I sort of simultaneously headed up the team the next year, and the rest is history.

We've shared nights at the bar that we only kind of remember (it's just as well), hotel rooms in more states than I could EVER remember (though we were sober, I swear), t-shirts, trisuits, bikes and helmets, and of course lots of good times. If it weren't for Mandy, my life would probably be completely different today, and I would never even have met most of the people who end up reading this post. She is a total rock star and one of my very best friends, and I am so thankful that she is in my life and that she is now a (half) IRONMAN!

Mandy, I lovers you, for serious. Thanks for giving me my start.

Happy training everybody

Tickets, Uniforms, and Second Overall at the Playtri Festival!

Wow! The last two weeks have been CRAZY - work, life, and everything in between, but I have totally been loving it!

Quick catch-up - Playtri Festival was two weekends ago, and after working 12 hour days ahead of time, I managed to take 2nd overall out of the women in the sprint race on Sunday, with a PR 5K pace of 6:29/minute. 1st place beat me by less than two minutes, so I guess I'm just going to have to work a little bit harder next time! It was a rough weekend for a lot of reasons, but somehow, as I was sitting on the edge of the canal, waiting for the swim to begin, I just felt really calm and like I was in the right place, doing what I was supposed to be doing. It was an awesome feeling, and it left me feeling really centered and focused the rest of the race, despite how tired, sore, and mentally exhausted I had been just moments before. I drafted almost the entire swim and definitely PR-ed my open water 750m time, then went on to catch almost every woman in my wave on the bike... and then found the rest of them (except for one, of course!) on the run, where I just felt like I was flying. My Baker's athlete Tim ran the last quarter of a mile in with me (after doing the Oly - he is such a beast!), and encouraged me all the way to the finish - what an awesome client! It was such a great morning and a great day, and I got to spend it with my mom as well, who had come up for the weekend. Totally perfect.

Then last week was crazy as we prepared for the Swim Across America and Dirty Rock events this pask weekend in Rockwall. Lots of manual labor and working outside in the sun, but totally worth it because the Swim Across America event on Saturday raised $350,000 for the Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center right here in Dallas!!!! Lots of participants told me it was one of the smoothest, most relaxed events they had ever been to, and truthfully it did go really well, and it was so great to watch all of the swimmers out there doing their thing.

After that, well, the truth comes out - I actually had a date : )

Yep, and it was totally awesome - very possibly the best first date I have ever been on. No kidding. And then we went out again on Sunday. So that part of the weekend was just awesome. But more details on all that at a later date. Don't get nosy on me.

So, last but not least, today I got to do TWO totally awesome things - book my mom and mine's tickets for Beijing, and order my TEAM USA UNIFORM!!!

I woke up at 6:30 AM this morning, ordered my suit, warm up pants and jacket, parade shirt, personalized polos for my mom and I and my Team USA backpack - OMG I WAS SO FREAKING EXCITED! Then I had a bowl of cereal and went back to bed for an hour.

But this just means... it's real! It's actually happening! I am on Team USA and I'm going to Beijing to compete in a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!

I'm so grateful and excited and just super happy that I actually get to do this - now I just have to keep getting faster so that I can not only go, but also kick lots of butt : )

Thank you everyone for all of your support up to this point. My friends and family are the best.

Happy training everybody!

Austin Tri-Cation (Part 2)

So Sunday was camp day with Ken and Aaron.

Ken and I drove up to meet Aaron at the Deep Eddy Pool just outside downtown for our swim. Deep Eddy Pool is fed by Barton Springs, and is a great place to swim - a little chilly, but you don't notice it after the first few laps! Aaron, after I got warmed up, basically just spent the hour pushing me as hard as he possibly could up until the end. He worked a lot with Ken on his technique, so all in all it was a good session for both of us. The set I did throughout the workout was 25m hard, 100m at 90%, 25m hard, 50m at 90%. Um... ouch. I almost yakked at least twice.

After the swim we headed back south to my folks' neck of the woods, and after grabbing biking gear and running shoes we headed to the intersection of Bee Creek and Thurman Bend for what I will forever more affectionately refer to as The Brick Workout from Hell. To set the stage, it was about 95 degrees and humid outside, with high winds gusting up to and over 40 mph. Our bike/run course made an L shape comprised of the shorter portion being simply a massive hill (Loop 1), and the longer portion (Loop 2) being smooth with easy rollers until ending in a less massive hill than the other section. Aaron's strategy was essentially to send us cycling and running the parts of this course as much as possible for two hours. So we might do Loop 2 twice on the bike, building power throughout, then walking down Loop 1 and running back up, then running Loop 2 training pace out and race pace back before getting back on the bike. I don't know if I have ever sweated that much in my entire life. The heat kept my heart rate high throughout, and by the end we were both just destroyed. Then we all three went to the house and Gail had chicken salad sandwiches and watermelon for us. I love parents.

After our post-camp snack and quick showers, all three of us headed to the Cap Tex expo downtown so Aaron and I could pick up our packets and check in our bike. After a long search for parking, we finally got in, got our packets (which contained the most ridiculous amount of race stickers ever in the history of triathlon), and got our bikes checked in (after fastening the aforementioned stickers to everything in our possession, including ourselves).

Ken and I shot out of the expo pretty quick, because we were heading to Wimberly to join his buddy Cameron at his family's river house for some barbeque. It was the perfect way to end the day - we sat on the deck in rocking chairs overlooking the river, drinking beer and eating barbeque while the sun set. We left fairly early and headed home so that I could write training schedules for the coming week before we hit the hay.

Monday morning dawned hot and windy (shocker), and we got everything packed up to take to the race. We got there around 7:30, and I got my transition set up, checked out the swim course, went to the bathroom, etc., and then we went to catch the pros coming into T2 before I had to start my swim. Got to see Andy Potts (my tri crush) come in off the bike, and saw lots of other familiar faces as well. Anyways, my swim wave started around 9:00, and we hopped in to start right as Dad and Gail were arriving. The swim went pretty well (especially considering the previous day's workout), and I managed to draft for most of it. Final time was about 15 minutes for 750m - that is very solid for me. I was in and out of T1 quickly, and started the bike by getting nearly knocked off my bike by a giant gust of wind while I was crossing the bridge over Town Lake. The bike course was PACKED, and passing was difficult and dangerous in many situations - the gusting wind that kept blowing through the downtown buildings didn't make anything less complicated. I passed a few girls from my AG during the ride, and one girl from my AG passed me - I stuck onto her like a burr and legal drafted the rest of the way into T2. She and I came out of T2 at the same time even though she was slightly ahead of me at the end of the bike. I thought we were the first in our AG (found out later we weren't, but oh well), so I was ready to push it, since my race strategy for the run was HARD. She started off with a fast kick, hoping to drop me at the start, but she wore herself out and after pacing off of her for a slow half mile I decided to go ahead and take off after any other sprint participants. Ran about a 22-and-change 5K despite the heat, and got to see Aaron starting his second lap of the Oly as I was running into the finishers' shoot. Dad and Gail and Ken were all there cheering for me, and it was a great feeling as I wrapped up yet another awesome race. While they weren't able to give out awards (I ended up getting 3rd in my AG out of 50) due to a snafu in the timing, we still hung around for a while and had some pizza and coconut water, and eventually we all headed out - Dad and Gail to go back to the house, and Ken and I to head back to Dallas.

Ken and I stopped at Whole Foods on the way out of a town for a quick lunch before hitting the road. We got back to Dallas in the early evening.

All in all it was an incredible trip that benefitted me greatly physically (due to the camp and race) and mentally (due to the vacation!!!!), and I can't wait for my next one-on-one camp! Hopefully it is coming soon...

Happy training everybody!

Austin Tri-Cation (Part 1)

This post is a little overdue - my first one-on-one camp with coach Aaron Patel has come and gone and was a resounding success.

Last Thursday night, Ken and I left for Austin for our first "tri-cation" (my word, not his, obviously). We got a late start due to some unexpected complications including an over-flowing toilet and a golden retriever with a GI problem (you don't want to know), but by 8:30 we were at Central Market for a late dinner (brisket tacos, gelato, and an espresso for the road), and by 9:00 we were finally headed south on I-35. We rolled into Austin around 1:00 and went straight to bed in our normal room at my dad and step-mom's house (Gail, as usual, had it all laid out with a candle, water pitcher and glasses, and the usual bottle of wine replaced with two personal bottles of Gatorade - she is a hospitality master).

Friday morning, the fun began! We were up early (thank you work for programming our sleep systems), so we sat and had coffee with Dad and Gail while we planned our first day of vacation. We started with a hilly ride out on Bee Creek Road, during which we stopped often to take pictures (and catch our breath). It reminded me that, oh yeah, I need to do more hill workouts... Also that the hills we have in Dallas aren't actually hills. Afterwards, we inhaled about half of a watermelon, showered, and headed out for a little hill country adventure. Our first stop was Mandola's Italian Market to pick up lunch (fresh Italian bread, peccorino cheese, prosciutto, grilled zucchini, asparagus and red peppers, and of course cannoli), then we headed out into the country towards the Bell Springs Winery. We arrived just in time for tasting hours and after an incredibly cheap (and delicious) tasting, we made our picks and took our glasses of wine and food outside to the patio to enjoy. The food and wine were awesome, the scenery was great, even the music they were playing was perfect. Needless to say, we were both in vacation heaven. After we finished eating and bought a couple of bottles of wine for Dad and Gail, we headed west for Hamilton Pool. If you are a true Austinite you are very familiar with Hamilton Pool - if you are not a true Austinite, you probably aren't, but you should definitely put it on the itinerary for your next visit. It is a collapsed grotto, spring-fed, with a beautiful waterfall and lots of great plant life. It's a quarter mile hike to the pool on mildly technical trail, but more than worth it. The Austin heat started to hit us when we got there, so sliding into the 70 degree water after our mini hike was just about perfect. Hamilton Pool limits the number of people who can enter at any one time, so the place wasn't over crowded, and we had plenty of room to spread out our beach towels and alternate between laying in the sun and cooling off in the water. By the time we headed home, we were so relaxed we could have passed out immediately, but we managed to eat the delicious steak dinner Gail had prepared for us. Well, of course, it would have just been rude not to... After dinner, we went straight to bed.

And slept for about 11 hours.

Saturday morning was another relaxing start, and after the requisite coffee and shower, we headed to the Austin farmers market with Gail for some breakfast. Gail loaded up on local produce while we sat around watching all of the Austin people and animals shop, and then we loaded up on tamales - pork with tomatillo, and guava with cinnamon (yu-um) - and agua fresca from the pre-cooked food stands. Ken suffered through lots of picture-taking, but survived to tell the tale. We split ways with Gail after breakfast, and headed across the street to Mellow Johnny's, just in time to watch a youth ride leaving the shop (I was thrilled, of course). We wandered around the store for a while, and Ken bought a couple of new jerseys before we headed to our other favorite Austin shop, Bicycle Sport Shop. We browsed there for a while, too, and then decided to head up the road to Barton Springs (might as well hit both watering holes while we were in town). There was a line to get into the Springs, but it was worth it as soon as we hit that icy water. We alternated between floating and laying in the sun, and as the afternoon wore on and we got hungrier, we decided to hit Shady Grove since we were in the neighborhood. Sitting on the Shady Grove patio, with margaritas, cheese fries, and peach cobbler was about the perfect end to another perfect day of vacation. Of course, we still had dinner at home, which was equally delicious, and then again hit the hay right after dinner...

...Because Sunday was Camp Day!!!

To be continued!