"Mom, why are you racing?"

EDIT:  Was checking the results online and I'm a little embarrassed it turns out I got 2nd in my AG not 1st even though that's what they announced at the awards ceremony.  I've emailed the race director and hope to get the trophy to the rightful owner. 

That was the question I got when I spoke to my son minutes before transition closed.  He is use to being with me at these races and all those other times racing didn't seem to cause him to stop and question.  But this time it meant I wasn't with him so he asked, "Mom, why are you racing?" Son:  YOU ARE MY WHY!!  He of course doesn't realize that just the night before I was sitting on the floor of my garage crying over that same freakin' question!  Because it was his first night away from home without me and while I know he needs it because all children if in a safe environment deserve to spend time with both parents.  But I felt like my heart was missing and because of that felt like I had no heart for this race.  Without heart what's the point right?  Alas there is a happy ending to this

Old Blue

story.

Friday Night:
1. Ate a HUGE burrito as my "carb loading" New Mexico style
2. Met with a contractor because my son walked up to me earlier that week with a chunk of the stucco in his hand asking "what is this mom?" so I decided it was finally time to give in and break the bank getting the house re - stuccoed.
3. Finally got around to putting my race wheels on my bike.
4. Struggled switching the breaks out but finally got them only to realize the back break wasn't working and I thought I broke it!  I couldn't get the cable to reattach!!!!
5. Texted people in a panic just to vent!  My dad was 3 flights and 2 days away, my brother was at the dojo and wouldn't be out until past my bedtime.  The friend I new was an expert on my type of bike turns out I never hit SEND on that message.  The friend who offered to help I refused to let help me because at this point it wasn't about the bike!  It was about me being angry at myself for waiting until the night before to do this, about not being able to do it on my own or figure it out on my own, about my heart being broken because my son wasn't in the garage with me asking me the millions of questions he loves to ask like why are you changing the wheels mom, how do the breaks work, why are they broken.
6.  Cops came over to the neighbors house and I'm their emergency contact in case their alarm goes off but I didn't remember where I put their password so even though I had been in the garage the whole evening and knew no one was in their house I couldn't tell them not to send the cops without the password.
7. Dog ran out the door while I was speaking to the cops.
8. Recovered my dog.
9. Switched my bike seat to my old bike "Old BLUE" and decided to race on my old bike and just keep fingers crossed that it held up.
10. Packed my tri gear. exhausted went straight to bed.  Fell asleep 1 hour later. Nightmares about my brakes failing on the course all night.
11.  Woke up bright and early and car pooled with a friend to the race.  Forget he had his dog in the backseat and left my bagel on the seat when we ran into the gas station so back in I went to buy a granola bar since my breakfast had been eaten.
12. At this point I was laughing at the hilarity of the entire situation.
13.  Remembered my WHY!  Son you will never see your mom give up!  Even if I fail I will fail trying.

So the race.  Super small race which makes me a little sad as it was getting to be a decent sized race for NM standards anyway.  I've been doing this race for over 10 years on and off.  I don't want to see all the races I grew up with fade away so I hope this one sticks around even after switching who runs it.
About the race: Socorro Chile Harvest Triathlon
1. Seeded swim start.
2. Actually stuck to the time I put down.  Had to fight a few crowds in the lane due to those who didn't stick to the time they put down.
3. Bike switched the bike course this year which added a few bumps and a little hill on the course but over all was super happy with it, I mean it was 12 miles so my plan was simple just go all out and worry about the snot and slobber after wards. Averaged 19.43 mph on good old BLUE!!  My trusty bike held up.  I only missed my new bike on the downhill.
4. I could feel it getting a little hot and I was slightly dehydrated since I'm not smart and usually don't drink or eat during any sprint.
5. Sipped some Gatorade and poured water on my head for the run.
6. Transitions were super slow this time! over 1 min. each
7.  Pretty flat run some on dirt.  Found someone to talk and run with the last mile and a half and we pushed each other.
8. Finished strong and happy.

I managed to pull off first in my AG which doesn't really mean much in the sense of triathlon racing because it was a small race and the fast women I am use to seeing in my AG weren't there.  BUT I will take what I can get.  What made me the happiest is I had a trophy to take home to my son as it helps for him to have something tangible to see and understand that I did do a race.  I gave him my trophy and told him this is for you, I won this for you, so you know your mom is strong even when she doesn't want to be.  He was only interested in the fact that the trophy was shiny and he could make faces in it which made him laugh! :-)

Post race dinner with my favorite guy!

My new trisuit was so COMFY I loved it.  Not to mention I got lots of comments on how it looked people love the design.  Thanks Team LC!!!! and Santini!!!

Oh and the bike, easy fix, thanks to my friend for pointing this out when he saw the bike.  Obviously I wasn't thinking straight the night before!  So note to self: prep bike at least a week before race next time and NO PANICKING!!!  Must remain calm!

HAPPY TRAINING!!!

I think I've been converted...

So I have to say I'm one of those people that when I go to a restaurant I like I usually order the same thing every time.  Because if I know I like it and it's good why mess with it? Right?  Well I have been wearing the same brand of tennis shoes for over 15 years!!  Yes, a few times I tried to switch to a different type maybe because they were on sale or I finally found a women's shoe that wasn't in pink but every time I'd go running back to my old shoes in pain! 

Being a part of Team LC has taken me out of my comfort zone and in a good way!  One of our great sponsors is Hoka One One sent us not one but TWO pairs of shoes to try out.  I will admit I was a skeptic at first as I have always found myself in pain and my parents had bought some and I kept saying "I think I'd trip with those" the soles looked thick.  BUT I have tried both of them out on the treadmill and the road and it was AMAZING!  I couldn't believe it!  For the record there was no tripping involved.


One of the first things I noticed is the bigger toe box which was perfect for me.  My other shoes my pinky toe was always the first thing to wear through the shoe.  The bigger toe box on these gives me the room I need without having to buy a bigger size than I need.  Also the appearance of the sole on the outside is just that appearance.  The inside is actually a lot lower than it appears.  There was a lot of cushion while being a very light shoe.  I'm really digging these shoes and can't wait to get some more miles on them.  So I got out of my comfort zone, tried something new, and was pleasantly surprised.  Now I just need to add some elastic laces and I'll be race ready!

Happy Training!!!

It's getting hot in here!

It's getting hot and as much as I would like to take off all my clothes I tend to stick to social norms so sorry no peep show!  How does heat affect training?  Well I've been thinking about that a lot lately.  While I'm not proposing a scientific look at this right now I just wanted to know the basics for myself.  (this is where I tell you to go to talk to your doctor or nutritionist for advice).  My doc said something interesting that got me thinking.  When I said I was drinking electrolyte drinks he mentioned that was not enough to make up for the salt loss during sweating.  He said I'm only helping to partially replenish the salt and water that comes along with these drinks further dilutes the salt in my system.  So that is why for the first time in all my years of triathlon training I decided I needed to seriously consider salt tablets.  Someone finally got the point across in a way that made sense to me.  So my dizziness might mean I need salt!

Here are some things that affect me:

• I'm vegetarian and don't eat too many processed foods which means the amount of daily salt consumption is already pretty low for me.  (maybe this explains why I now have to hide the soy sauce in my fridge to keep my son from grabbing it and chugging it straight from the bottle?  he's begging me for more salt?? no just a toddler thing?)
• I've had heat exhaustion several times in the past which might make me predisposed to becoming a victim again. 
• I hate water and don't drink enough during the day as it is so I need to make it a point to force it on myself (I say as I'm getting up now to go fill up my 32 oz bottle as I just realized I have only had caffeinated drinks so far today!!!)
• So for me my fueling issues seem to be more towards salt and hydration problems not fuel and calories.  Which the light headedness had me fooled.

Your body always has to work a lot harder in the heat to pump blood since a lot of energy is being expended on sweating and keeping cool.  This is why I love winter sports it feels easier!

So I'm going to try and focus on these things and see how it helps me this summer.  Now I just need to look up ratios for salt intake vs how long I'm working out for in the heat.  I'm thinking my new partners at Pacific Health Labs might be able to help in this department!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!  Happy Independence Day!!  We had some fun with a run and the heat was staved off by some nice cool watermelon at the finish!  I ran his one for fun and was so excited when my son decided to sprint it in with me to the finish!  He got a little distracted by some ducks but then started chasing me down again once I reminded him what we were doing!  My dad was out there and finished strong so proud of him, he hates running but keeps doing it so he can continue to tri!  My mom got her walk in after helping me take care of my son during the race.  We like to stay active!

Happy Training!

Torpedo water bottle review

Ok so I wasn't going to indulge in getting an aero friendly water bottle thinking my half iron distance in May would be my last long race for a while.  I plan on concentrating on sprints until my son gets older and I have more time.  But thanks to being part of my ambassador team for Team LC  I get to experiment a little.  Besides every once in a while I will still have time for a long ride.  I'll be the first to tell you staying hydrated is the hardest part of training for me to remember especially in the hotter months.  So I ordered the Xlab Torpedo from TriSports which by the way they have very speedy delivery.

First impression, it was very easy to install and I didn't have to read a manual or anything for it.  It has 4 Velcro tabs that lets you secure it around your aero bars.  It sits sideways hence the torpedo name which allows for use with the narrower aero bars that can't fit the older version of the bottle that sits in between. 

So within 5 minutes of opening the package I was ready to roll!  The bottle can come out of the cage without having to take the 4 velcro straps off in between rides.  The straw is very long and you have the choice of two holes to use it with depending on how close you need it to your mouth.  Since this was just a test ride with it I had the pleasure of being slapped around by the straw on my ride.  But I will be cutting it down so that it is the right length for me.  There is a stopper for the extra hole and a plug for where you pour the water in.  Neither of these leaked for me on the entire ride which is nicer than the other version because even with the sponge that one use to splash on me quite a bit.

The issues I had with the bottle seem to be due to the aero bars that I have on my bike.  They are kind of short so with the water bottle on there I can't wrap my hands completely around the aero bars which lead to my shoulder hurting.  So for my next ride I'm going to see if there's any way to push the cage back.  Also as I was going down a hill I'm not sure if it was a combination of the speed (45mph) and hitting a bump at that speed but the water bottle flew right out of the cage into the middle of the road!  So I'm not calling that a malfunction yet and will give it another try.  I was only going that fast because of silly pride.  A guy got pissed that he got chicked and decided to pass me and you should have seen the ridiculous aero position he was trying to hold in order to stay ahead of me.  So silly me wanted to show him I had no problem keeping up.  It's like dude it's just my bike it's meant to go fast down the hill chill out!  :-)  For half a second I thought about not stopping to pick up my water bottle but in the end I did because at a $50 price point for this cage and bottle it's not something to bat my eyes at that easily.


Photos from my ride, not relevant to the review but hey a day outdoors is a good day!

Tri Team LC

So I have announced that I was lucky enough to be chosen to be part of this year's Tri Team LC ambassador team but I haven't really given much details about it.  Why?  Because I wanted to take some time to process it and write down what it meant to me.  Let me just start by saying the timing couldn't have been better.  But let me back up a bit.

A little (ok a lot) about my triathlon history

From Ironkid to Ironman and beyond!  My dad was doing this tri thing before anyone really knew who they were.  Back when Bud (the beer) use to sponsor all the races and people looked at us weird when we'd borrow one of his bags with the Bud logo all over it to carry around our school stuff or toys.  At the time I never thought anything about it you mean not everyone's dad does these?  Then he started us off by entering us in our first running race when I was about 7 and my brother was 5.  Then Ironkids came along and at the time I didn't really get why I had to do them but I went along with it.  I even remember placing 3rd in my age group and thinking darn it that means I have to go to nationals.  My brother was always having fun making faces at the camera, singing, not a care in the world.  See my brother has what I call natural talent.  He was doing adult tri's by the time he was 11 (not sure they let you do that now) but I remember a kayak having to follow him to make sure the current didn't get crazy.

Well triathlon welcomed me into womanhood in way that could rival any little girls worst nightmare about it.  I was crossing the finish line of a race, didn't know that that time of month had started in the middle of the race, a nice woman came up to me and asked where my parents were (they were looking for my brother who was also doing the race and I don't think they knew I had finished) then she said we needed to find them and a change of clothes.  I looked down and of course entered into instant panic mode!  She calmly found them for me and helped me handle the situation.  Yes, I still kept doing them after that!  I did a triathlon in Cartagena, Colombia with my dad and my brother and I don't remember much about it but now looking back I'm not sure how the heck we did it there thinking the roads are crazy but come to find out they are starting an IM 70.3 event there soon I believe.  I don't think my family in Colombia really realize what I do.  The younger generations get it and are starting to get into it but the older generations call everything from a 1 mile run and on a marathon. :-)  I remember my grandmother asking me why I lift weights I was a girl after all but somehow I knew she was still proud of me. 

After doing these for a little while I took a little break probably to show my rebeloious streak but we were always a very active family.  That had stayed instilled in me from a very young age.  Then in college I saw a triathlon PE class and told my brother he had to sign up for it with me.  I used my dads old time trial bike to see if I really wanted to get back into it which meant my front wheel was lower than the back and the gear shift in the down bar between the legs petrified me so I did the whole race in the hardest gear, thank goodness it was a sprint.  My brother did it on an old mountain bike and still placed.  Well, while in that class the instructor showed us one of the IM Championship videos.  I bawled like a little baby, until the lights came back on of course, and decided two things.  I wanted to get back into this thing called triathlon and I have to do this for those who can't and inspire those who can.  Little did I know at the time IM would be in my future.  So I got my first tri bike and was off.

Triathlon has been such a big part of every stage of my life that it has truly helped to mold me into the person I am today.  I have my parents to thank for showing me this sport and that an active lifestyle is essential.  But I know not everyone has that kind of support in their lives.  So anytime I have the opportunity to talk someone who is hesitant to do their first tri I get so excited!  I plot and plan each time someone shows even a little bit of interest.  As we speak I have planned a lunch with a friend at my house to watch the IM Championship re-airing and she said she hasn't done a tri yet just tried the duathlon but was thinking about it!

I remember driving to a race with my dad when my mom called me and told me my grandfather had just passed away.  I was very close to him and this had me on the verge of a breakdown.  But she said

I'm telling you not to make you sad but so you can do this race in his name.  So I went out there and pushed myself the hardest I had ever pushed myself and still have the bib hanging with my others that have on the back who I dedicated that race to.  Another year I was really struggling with trying to figure out who the heck I was you know graduating from college finding a real job, now what.  I did about 13-15 races that year in the local circuit and placed third in my AG for the Southwest challenge series and felt so proud because I knew how hard I had worked to get there.  See I'm not one with natural talent I have to work very hard to be average.

The first time I decided to do a full IM I decided to raise funds and awareness for Toxoplasmosis which affected my family very closely so it meant so much to me to hand over that check to the research institution that I had picked and still get letters from them every year on their progress.  I also received a very kind email from a mom who's baby was just dealing with the same thing and thanking me.  I also said never again to IM!  I had proved it to myself.  But when my at the time 65 year old father who had been out of the sport for a while said you've inspired me please do my first IM with me how do you say no?  So I did another one. This time I found out that I was about a month pregnant after the fact.  So I have a little ironbaby!

After having my son triathlon slowly got me back to feeling like my old self and like I hadn't completely lost all of me and who I am.  Now going through single momhood and being concerned about my son's cough that we just can't seem to figure out triathlon has helped me stay strong and know that I can survive this chapter in my life too because if there's one thing I know I will keep putting one foot in front of the other and making forward progress for as long as I am allowed.  I will never remain stagnant and watch life pass me by or pity myself for anything that life throws at me.  My son thinks his mom is strong and I will prove him right!!!  He tells me I still coughing mom but I get better soon!  Now when I'm out there training I make every workout count because when I spend any time away from my son I know I want it to be for something that will make me be a better mom and this does in every way imaginable!  When he sees me lace up he asks if I'm going for a run and when I say yes he says OK mom have fun I love you see you later!

So 2 half iron distances 2 full iron distances and over 70 sprint and olympic triathlons later spanning 25 years of my life I am proud to say I'm a triathlete and am so happy for the people this sport has brought into my life and the strength it has given me.  I find courage and pull from that to apply to that job I think I don't have a chance at or swim across that like I'm terrified of, confront my fears, embrace the good and know that no matter how hard something feels right at that moment we have it in us to get past it.  To dig deep push on and excel.  See you on the other side!

When I did this last half I guess to prove to myself that I still had it in me even after my body had forever been changed by becoming a mom I was completely spent, deflated and downtrodden with how that tri had gone and just thought it figures it's pretty much a metaphor for how my life was currently going.  Then just as my trashed race brain was trying to convince me to give up or at least give it a rest for a while that I was no longer cut out for this tri thing, that very same weekend I got the magical email saying I had been selected as part of Team LC and that I would have to agree to enter at least 4 races that season.  Tri was not done with me and I'm so happy for that!

A little bit about Tri Team LC and the athlete behind it Leanda Cave and her foundation

What sticks out the most for me is the idea of empowering women through triathlon.  Because that's exactly what it did for me.  To help even in just a little way to help spread this message makes me happy!

"Spearheaded by Four Time Triathlon World Champion, Leanda Cave. TEAM LC was created as an women’s ambassadorship program for both elite as well as amateur age groupers."  By the way Leanda is amazing not only as a triathlete but as a human being!  

Just a few of the What we believe in:

• Creating opportunities for achievement
• Creating a supportive environment to help realize personal and professional goals
• Increasing women participation in sport and female leadership in the business world

"The Leanda Cave Foundation is a non-profit, organization dedicated to creating new opportunities for women of all ages in sport through triathlon."

So please take a moment to visit the webpage and like their FB page!

http://www.triteamlc.com/foundation-1/

https://www.facebook.com/Team-LC-982248718489581/?fref=ts

Thank you to our sponsors! This wouldn't be happening without you
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