Forrest is much like me, so he demanded we be at the race site by 7:30 (hour early) which led to goofing off and taking ridiculous pics trying to kill time.  We even saw someone w/a mullet wig, only in the south…

My original plan for the day was to do a 1:45.  A girl can dream right?  I reassessed the situation when I got up and still felt crummy but decided to still go out w/those hopes and just see how I feel.  Susan, a friend of mine, and I both had the same goal so we were going to hang together until one of us died off.  Once the gun went off we started running, and the 8 minute pace didn’t seem so bad…really.  Even Regina and Scottie who had slower goals hung w/us the first two miles just chatting away.  I’d hoped to see Jeff around mile 3 or 4 and kind of “hang on” to him as he gets faster the longer he goes, but even his start was much faster than normal and he caught us around mile 2.5.  It was hard to pace off anyone around us as everyone was being very inconsistent, so I just tried to base my pace off feel as that normally works very well for me and I can normally “feel” my pace and stay consistent.  Around mile 4 Jeff became just a speck in front of me. 

I was still keeping pace, even did under 8 mins. on one of those miles but mile 6 I started to feel like I was going uphill.  The time was getting a little slower, and I couldn’t figure it out.  I felt like I was working just as hard, if not harder, but the time was slowly getting worse mile by mile.  Mile 9 actually was a few seconds better, but I felt HORRIBLE.  I literally thought I was going to pass out, I even dry heaved a couple times.  I even asked Susan if it was worth all this effort when I knew I’d no longer make goal. Mile 10 approached, and I had to stop and walk.  I told Susan to go on, I just had to rest for a few.  I walked fast for probably 15-20 seconds  when another girl passed me and my ego got in the wayJ. 

About the time she passed me, I had a realization that I’d forgotten what I ALWAYS say…NEVER EVER give up.  Even if you think you are defeated.  I sucked it up and decided to HTFU for 3 more miles.  Every mile was a goal, just make it to the next one and the next one.  Mile 12 I passed Heath, and it was great seeing him out there spectating.  He knew I was hurting.  I could still see Susan in the distance, and just hoped I could stay steady behind her.  I put my head down and just ran, I didn’t look behind me, I didn’t look in front of me, I just gave it what last bit I had.  My watch went off indicating I was at mile 13, and I finally looked up hoping this last .10 of a mile would go quickly.  It didn’t, but I kept running as if it was.  I crossed the finish line at 1:49:22, 20^th overall female, and 3^rd in my age group.  I was proud of what I did even though it wasn’t the time I’d hoped for.  The never give up attitude paid off, especially after I realized that 9 seconds behind me was 4^th place in my age group.  Talk about proving a point. 

Everyone except Jeff suffered that day.  I’m not sure if it was the unusual 70 degree muggy weather, or if it was just one of those days.  Jeff managed to PR by breaking 1:45 barrier for the first time.  Susan also may have PR’d doing a 1:48:35.  While we all suffered, we all persevered and Regina, Scottie, Cherry, and I all placed in our age groups. 

The rest of the weekend was a blast.  I couldn’t ask for better friends, food, weather or accommodations.  We had 8 people, 5 dogs, and a baby all in one house and didn’t manage to kill eachother.  Poker was played, Regina’s birthday was celebrated, and cupcakes were eaten.  I think that was the best part of the race weekend, enjoying time relaxing and laughing.  My abs are still sore. 

The crew (Jeff, Sarah, Krista, Britain-my cousin/babysitter, and Addison) all met for our drive to Myrtle Beach, and on the way we played a game. The game is guess your times….I like to quiz everyone to see what they think they can do. My turn came and here’s what I wanted, swim 38 to 41 mins., bike 2:53, run 1:50 and a finish time of 5:30 or better. I have a PR at Macon BakinJ of 5:26 so that’s kind of where I got the finish from. I have high goals. I knew the run would be a push.

I’ll skip all the fun stuff prior to the race, but let’s just say we saw someone doing a practice swim the night before the race and he kept stroking but didn’t appear to be going anywhere….that current was strong! Morning of the race I tried to focus, I went over the race in my mind and told myself to take the swim easy…real easy and to concentrate on my stroke. I didn’t want my shoulder/arm to be a factor like it was in Macon. As the swim is about to start I’m standing on the edge of the dock freezing! So I wait 20 seconds before they blow the horn and then jump in and get ready. I have to say the first 1/3 of the swim wasn’t too bad, other than a goggle malfunction, especially since it was w/the current. The rest of the swim just sucked. The current, the sighting, just everything about the swim blew chunks. I even got a little, shall I say….tiredL. I guess swimming once a week isn’t enough. I finally reach the end, get out of the water, look at my watch and am satisfied w/a 40:30 swim. My heartrate (HR) on the other hand was WAY too high. 

My transition is over quickly, and I’m looking forward to the bike and just being out of the water. As I start the bike I realize that if I don’t get this HR down I’m going to be hating life. I also realize the flags are erect, which means this bike is going to be rough. I get my HR down from 172 to 160, but this head wind is making me rethink where I need to keep my max at. I make a game decision to let my max be 160 and to try to keep it below 150 when I have a tailwind. The bike was a 2 loop “T” shape so I’d push and then get a little recovery. I’d see Jeff on the turnarounds, I’d look at my watch and time him to see how far behind me he was. I was well aware I was being chased. It’s all about “beat the girl”, which he has done in 2 ironmen but that’s it. I finish the 1st loop at exactly 1:30, and rather than give up and succumb to not meeting my goal I focused. I had full on conversations out loud. I told myself NEVER give up, focus, it’s your race and no one elses. Everytime things got tough I went back to my conversations of focus, it’s your race, no one elses, this is all about you. The focusing worked. I hit the transition area at 2:55 much to my surprise.

I exit transition and take a look at my watch and quickly do the math to realize if I do 1:50 on this run I could still make my goal, but it’d be right on the money. The run is a 3 loop out and back so I start it thinking, take it one loop at a time. Mile 1 and 2 feel good, I look at my Garmin only once and see the avg. is 8:15. I decide at that point not to look at the Garmin again. This run is going to be about pushing and it doesn’t matter how fast or slow I’m going b/c no matter what I’m giving it my all. I hit the turnaround on the run and it was like running into a brick wall. The wind that was such a factor on the bike is becoming even more of a factor on the run. I see Jeff and let him know that the turnaround point isn’t where we thought and then get back to pushing. I finish the 1st loop just keep thinking positive reinforcement. I’m repeating, I’m meaner than I think and tougher than I know. I get to the turnaround point again and see Sarah walking. I’m hurting at this point, and when I see her, she’s defeated. She’s giving up and its only into her 1st loop, I’m so mad. What do I do? What do I say? I guess the meanness I’d been telling myself about just comes out. I told her this is too early to be giving up, she can run 4 mins and walk 30 seconds but she needed to quit that walking and go. NOW! As I’m running by her I yell NEVER EVER GIVE UP. Little did she know that was as much for my benefit as hers. Some girl said, boy she’s mean….can I run w/you guysJ? I snickered. The run back to finish the 2nd loop was the hardest, the wind was brutal but I just kept telling myself the 3rd would be easier. I finally make it to the start of the 3rd loop and am really digging deep. I’m trying to make it from aid station to aid station, the heat has come and I really didn’t factor it being this hot. I take in as much fluid as I can at every station, salt tabs, ice, the works. Finally, I hit the turnaround. Although the wind is worse, I know that I can do ANYTHING for 2 miles. I see Jeff, he’s gained a little on me but not much. Neither one of us can even speak at this point. He’s literally pushing as hard as I’ve ever seen him push. The last couple miles are a sufferfest, there are times when I literally think my legs may just give up. I’m thinking to myself it’s mind over matter b/c your mind doesn’t matter. The last mile I made it through by reminding myself that the hours spent away from Addison needed to be worth it. I didn’t do all this training and give up all this time to walk and fail myself. I round the corner to see Britain and Addison cheering me on, and am relieved. I cross the finish line, look down at my watch, and see 5:42. 

I don’t care that I didn’t make my time goal. I met a completely different goal, I didn’t give up on myself. I didn’t give in to my temptations or my body, and I pushed to every limit I had. I could not have done anything more at this race. I left my heart and soul on that course and couldn’t have had a prouder moment.

This year has been the most difficult year of racing I have ever had. I have new priorities, new challenges, and a completely different mindset. I got a little glimpse of the old Nicole out on that race course though, and she will appear more often and a little more determined next year. 

Jeff had a PR and finished in a time of 5:31 beating the girl. Sarah had a tough race facing her own battles, but proved she was tough enough to finish and squeaked out 3rd place Athena! Krista had a PR on her run taking 9 mins. Off her run time. Britain learned that chasing a 1 year old is like an endurance event.

I was nervous race morning, I had high expectations and a little trepidation going into this race since it’d been two years since I’d gone this distance. Oh, and don’t forget the heat. I mean, I like the heat, but this was a little extreme for even me. Sarah was trying to keep me positive, and I knew I’d get the day done regardless of what happened, but I wanted to do well. I have a PR for the half distance (5:27) at this race. I line up to enter the swim, find a friendly face (thx Amy!!), and we’re both pretty anxious to get this started. First time I’ve done this race (out of 5) that wetsuits aren’t allowed, I’ve always gotten lucky w/a rain the night before. I tell myself to get it done and just take this swim strong and steady, but not hard. The swim doesn’t feel too bad, I’m focusing on my stroke and just making it buoy to buoy. I’m a little disappointed that I can’t seem to get a good draft, so I just try to find my own groove and make it work. The shoulder/arm is holding up well, but by the last turn buoy I can feel the legs tightening and wanting to cramp. The waters just too warm. When I finally reach the beach, I’m just relieved. I’m right at my slowest time (41:18) for the swim at this race, but I’ll take it b/c I’ve always worn a wetsuit and I haven’t been focusing on swimming as much.

I get in and out of transition, and am excited to start the bike. Forrest warned me to take this bike easier than normal since the heat was going to be so extreme so I just kept telling myself to push but not push too hard. I really thought I could be conservative and still be under 3 hours, but reminded myself that it wasn’t going to payoff to hammer this bike. Halfway through I’m still on pace to be under 3 hours, but this course doesn’t get any easier on the 2nd half and my time showed it. I rolled into transition @ 3:04, but feeling great. I really felt like I’d done exactly the right thing on the bike to have a good run.

Sarah, Addison, and Scottie are all out there spectating and cheering so that gave me an added boost of energy. I run out of transition knowing that this is going to be all HTFU. I’d forgotten to turn my garmin on in transition so the satellites won’t locate. Very frustrating, but I told myself it didn’t matter and just turned it off. Miles 1-5 literally didn’t feel so bad. They weren’t great, but i was making it from aid station to aid station w/o stopping in b/w and that was my goal. Aid stations were stops to gel, ice water, ice towels, and alternate water w/salt tabs and then coke. Around mile 5.5 it just got to me, the heat, it was just starting to seem that a mile was too far for an aid station to be. Let the walking begin. I limited myself for sure, but the air was so thick and the heat so hot that running consistently wasn’t working. I cheered other people on, tried to jog when I could, and poured lots of water over myself while drinking what I swear seemed like a 2 liter of coke in all. One girl passed me and she hit the nail on the head, it felt like I was doing an Ironman, not a half. I manage to get to mile 11 still in one piece, and all I want is to be done. I know this course and know that I can jog the last 2 miles. I make it to the last aide station, and I know I’m almost there. I walked through it doing the usual, and then told myself its on. About a half a mile left you have a hill then long stretch to the finish, I literally sprinted the last half mile. I couldn’t feel my legs so it didn’t really matter, and I really just wanted to be done. The time I finished in was only 1 minute faster than my first half ever (which was this race) 6 hours 8 minutes.

Absolutely not the time I’d hoped for, nowhere near it. Truth be told, I was happy though. This race wasn’t the toughest thing I’ve ever done, but it was a day of survival not of racing. I managed each obstacle as it came up as best I could. Some people had some great times out there. Some people didn’t. 25% of the womens field didn’t finish, the mens was more like 15%. I managed to still get 2nd in my age group 21st overall female and earn another guitar. Better yet, I had the best thing that’s ever happened to me at a race happen. A woman came up to me at awards and said I was such an inspiration. I didn’t know what she was talking about at first, but she said that it was just amazing that I had just done this race and here I am taking care of Addison feeding him and acting like I’ve done nothing all day. She told me I was proof, proof that you can be a mom and still succeed in this sport while not forgetting about your family. You can, you can, you can! Like anything else in life that’s great, it doesn’t come easy but you can do anything you put your mind to. It’s been a hard road over the last year, and this race didn’t have the outcome I wanted but I’m ready to embrace my next goal and work even harder at keeping balance but still achieve my goals.

Sarah and Scottie, big props to you girls for standing out in the heat for 8+ hours specatating and babysitting. You guys are awesome! Jeff, I KNOW you lied when you said you’d never do this race again! Are you ready for next year?!! Thanks tons to the support that each of my sponsors gives, I couldn’t do it w/o you guys. Heath, thanks for dealing w/not just my race schedule but also AddisonsJ, I know you miss him when we’re away.

The race wasn’t going to be an easy one, it’s actually the shortest race I’ve ever done. The tri consisted of a 300 yard swim, 9 mile bike, and 5k run. This distance equals complete and utter suffer fest. The morning of goes pretty smoothly considering I get to the race site before they even open. I get my bike racked, and transition set up. My swim time I put in was a little slow so I was told I could start a little earlier, and get in line w/Sarah the swimmer. I just hope I can hang onJ. Then I see that there will be no drafting help at all, they are giving each person enough time that this will truly be an all out effort w/no extra help. I loved the clear water w/no backup, I was neither passed nor did any passing. I tried to go as hard as I could, and it probably hurt me in the long run. If I’d had taken things a little smoother my time surely would have been better, but shoulda woulda coulda. I don’t remember what my watch said, but I remember being disappointed. 5:23 was the mat time. I’ve got some catching up to do is all I could think of.

The bike was 3 loops and 9 miles long. The loops aren’t easy. I just remember telling myself this is going to hurt. The hills weren’t short enough to stand up and power through, but not so long you wanted to spin them out. I wound up just working as hard as I could for as long as I could. I played cat and mouse w/one girl and managed to keep her at bay, but my heartrate was through the roof. Either my bike computer was off, or I was maxed like never before on the bike. My time was 25:29 and I’ve never been so happy to be done. I have no idea what my legs will do after that bike or my missed workouts but I’m willing to give it all I’ve got.

I head out on the run still suffering from the jacked up h/r and of course you start out on a long gradual climb. I just wanted to keep that same girl behind me, but am convinced that she will pass me soon. I feel like I’m going all out, but refuse to look at my watch to see what the pace is. Finally I hit a straight away and then downhill, I pass this guy in a Clemson outfit (shocking I know!) and then see Sarah’s mom. It was seriously like I was having an out of body moment, I haven’t seen her since last year and I had no idea she was going to be out there. Seeing her gave me a little motivation to keep on going though. The downhill turned into another somewhat flat stretch, but I feel horrible. I feel like I’m maxed yet my time I finally look at indicates something else. I’m doing an 8 min. mile and am not even halfway through. I finally get to mile 2 and seriously feel like my shoulder is going to rip the next time my arm goes back. I go back and forth trying to decide what to do and finally walk. I did that a couple more times for 10 seconds or so and make it to the last .25 mile. I’m running, but completely done and then that guy in the Clemson outfit passes me. Ugh, Katie and others start yelling for me not to let him go. I give it a good effort, but I know I can’t keep the pace to the finish. I just can’t catch him. I get to the finish line dry heaving and thinking someone’s going to have some puke to clean up. My run was 24:52, and my total finish time was 57:21.

I finished the race 6th overall female and 2nd in my age group. I like that this race was in my hometown, but this race was far from easy. Probably one of the hardest things I’ve done and also the shortest. I was so happy to see Heath and Addison at the finish, and thanks to my hubby for understanding and postponing our anniversary celebrations a day. We’ve been married a magical 11 years, and it never gets easier but it always gets better as the years pass. Special thanks to Sarah Parker and her family for watching Addison for the day and night while Heath and I got to spend some much needed one on one time.

The day before the race is busy at work, my day gets away from me, and I don’t get home until almost 8:30. I get everything packed and ready so the next morning can go smoothly. I manage to get Addison out of the house on time and to the race site early. Some Team in Training athletes Sarah and I are coaching decided to do this race as their first tri so we both wanted to get there early to get our stuff done. The morning completely gets away from me. Literally minutes before my wave goes off I’m just getting my wetsuit on, oh well. 

I’d taken a look at some past times, but this is a sprint so it is an all out suffer fest for me and the results will be what they will be. The swim at Clemson always seems to be tougher than most as far as getting beat up. I never get into a good groove, but try to keep a steady tempo w/moderate effort. I finally see the swim exit, and am happy to be there. I run out of the water and attempt to take my wetsuit off b/c the run to transition is up a hill and long. I manage to take way too much time and get covered in sand in the process, but atleast the wetsuits off! I don’t have my watch on so I have no idea how well I did, but I’m happy b/c Sarah the swimmer is right there with me and she typically beats me out of the water. I had a tough time in T1 due to some wise triathlete putting their helmet right under my back wheel, so I couldn’t get the darn bike off my rack. 

I exit T1 ready to hurt and embrace the hurt. The Clemson course is anything but flat, the hills can be short and steep or long and steady but hills they are. I’m working and working hard well aware that this is my strength and I will have to use it. Every hill hurts, every downhill feels good, and every short flat stretch is a welcome break. I hit the halfway point right on target w/my time from 09. All I can hope is to maintain that speed. I yo yo back and forth w/some guys and one UF girl. My main thoughts going into this race were to not focus on the times I’m putting out, but just don’t give up. I knew/thought my time would be off, but if I could conquer the mental battles I’d been having then I’d be happy. I roll into transition ready for the real hard effort, the run.

T2 goes a little better, and I exit reminding myself it’s a sprint and its supposed to hurt. The first mile is a downhill, so I try to take advantage of that by falling forward and conserving my energy for the ugliness to come. I hit mile one and grab some water to rinse off that sand from my wetsuit debacle, and instantly feel refreshed. The “hill of hell” or the “wall” is what’s up next, and I keep repeating just don’t give up. I fought that hill, it wasn’t fast and it wasn’t pretty but I didn’t give up. I hit the turnaround and really just try to increase my speed since its flat then downhill for the next .5 mile. I see friendly faces everywhere. Susan spouts mean things at me, as usualJ, and I just grin to myself. I see Sarah about to suffer the hill and looking like she’s really going to have to dig deep. The last aide station comes and goes and the mile to the finish is all uphill. I’ve walked part of this hill before, and I want no part of the walking. Never give up, shorten your stride, lean forward, I’m telling myself all these things and I’m almost there. 2 more turns, that’s it. I hear a cough behind me, and it’s a girl. I instantly increase my speed hoping she can’t hang on. I’d say about 20 feet from the finish line, not one, but 2 girls are right there with me. They are on both sides of me, and they’re struggling but aren’t going to give up anything. I’m still sprinting, giving it my all, and trying to outsprint these 2 college girls. I’m literally ready to barf, but I’d rather die than roll over and give someone a second. I finish w/everything I have. The results showed it as a tie, and either way, I’d been okay b/c I haven’t worked that hard for a finish in a really long time. My finish time was 1:13:56, 2nd place age group and 10th overall female. The time was over a minute slower than 2009, but I was satisfied. 

Major kudos for Team in Training athletes Sommer, Suzy, Erin, Bruce, and Kimberly! You guys did awesome, and what you do for LLS is truly amazing. Sarah, Susan, and Forrest had some stellar age group placings. Lynne helped Addison ring cowbell for mommy. This race was a ton of fun, seeing all the Greenville peeps and spending time w/friends makes it much more than racing. I heart all of you!

Thanks to all my sponsors, family, and friends who help me out all the time!!!

St. Anthony’s race is an Olympic distance race held in St. Petersburg, FL with about 5,000 of your closest friends. I love this race. I’m not sure why, but I do. I don’t do a ton of really big races, but it’s nice to throw a couple in every year just as a reminder of how much better your competition really is. This race was a 1500 meter swim, 24.6 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run. I did this race back in 09 but the weather was so bad they cancelled the swim, so I had numbers to go off of but wasn’t sure how’d they translate adding a swim to it. The weather a couple days prior was hot humid and the sun was shining, so I figured it was going to be that way race day. I felt okay coming into this race hoping for great results, yet prepared for whatever God threw my way. 

The morning of was like déjà vu, I literally walk out of the hotel and the flags were erect and the wind was howling. All I could really do is laugh, I mean really??? I look out at the water to see the white caps and swells that greeted me on the practice swim the day before, and just told myself everyone else had to do the same course so suck it up. As I’m walking to transition I overhear the announcer mention that the swim has been moved and shortened. I laugh some more. This is how I handle uncomfortable situations. I laugh, hysterically. Really they were making the best decision, but the 1/3 of a mile run from the swim to transition was less then appealing. I get transition set up, check out the in’s and out’s of transition, and then head over to meet Heath and Addison. Once I meet up with them Heath check’s out the water and informs me I have lost my mind. I laugh some more and tell him that atleast I’m with 5,000 other crazy people. We make our way over to the swim start, and the wind was just unbelievable. After doing my warm up I kiss the hubby and kid and take off to join my age group. I remember standing on the beach just waiting and ready. Ready to give it my all. The horn blows, and I’m off. The first couple of buoys come pretty quickly. The water we were in was shallow and from time to time you would swim through seaweed which is never fun when you have to remind yourself that’s all it is. I find my stroke in b/w being pummeled by the waves, and am so thankful when I see the last buoy. I make the turn and just have to angle it back into the shore since the current pushes you away from the swim exit. I get on the beach and look at my watch ever so satisfied I’m under the 18 min. (17:45) mark for tough 1000 meter ocean water swim. Now onto the next challenge, hustle as fast as possible to transition and hope my bike rack isn’t empty. It only took me 4:37 to get to transition and back out, ugh! I was quick too! 

I hit the bike a little winded yet ready to see what the Cervelo could do on this course. The wind had not died down any, and it felt like it was coming from every direction. I concentrated on my cadence and effort trying not to focus on speed. I pass people left and right, and really just hope I can catch up w/the people who finished before me in the swim. I go back and forth w/one girl in my age group for most of my ride, not ever willing to give up my position. I fought hard for each person I passed. I hit the halfway point on target to have the same bike split as 09, but well aware that the wind could change and possibly slow me down. I know of atleast 3 girls ahead of me on the bike, one of which I have tried to

Race morning went a little fast, I had Addison with me and my partner in crime (Sarah) was meeting me there to watch him. Sarah showed up just in time for me to steal her quick tie shoelaces and get a warmup in. Susan and I went out for a little jog just to see where the “hill” started and finish ended. I was feeling a little off, my hamstring was achey just doing the warmup. …I started to worry how’d it feel racing. I got back to transition, met Addison and Sarah, and headed over to the swim start forcing all negative thoughts out. 

I positioned myself a little to the front not quite sure where that’d put me on this time trial type start. It turns out no one else knew what to do when the word “go” was said, so as everyone stood there looking at each other. I figured I might as well jump in feet first and get this party started. I got a party started alright, and it wasn’t the good kind. When I jumped in the shallow murky water I jumped right on what used to be the edge of a cement pier. Ouch! Ok, I’ll be honest . . .that wasn’t what I really said. After the shock of what felt like a jab of lightning into my foot I decided to hurry up and swim and get this over with. I’m sure that swim was way past anaerobic unlike where I spend most of my swims. I finally reach shore, and realize swimming was much better than trying to run to transition on this bum foot.

I hobble out of transition muttering ugly things to myself and become very aware that my foot is NOT okay. I think I spent the first 4-5 miles of the bike trying to decide what to do. Literally every pedal stroke is excruciating. I begin to wonder if all the sogginess in my shoe is blood. I’m convinced that the right side is much soggier then the left and finally decide to stop and check it out. I take my foot out of my shoe, and much to my relief don’t find a blood soaked sock. Time to HTFU. I put my shoe back on and finally commit. I can now quit struggling w/the “what to do’s” that I kept repeating and get to racing. About this time is when I truly started to race and tune everything else out. I think what was getting me through it all was how incredibly pissed I was. Thankfully the anger fueled me just in time to hit the 2.2 mile 1100 foot climb. I tried to go hard but stay steady b/c the race wasn’t over after this, not only did I still have half the bike left but I still had to do the same climb on the run. I stayed steady and rode hard trying not to think about anything but this ride. I felt good with my effort as a I came into transition, but started to dread my next task ahead.

I roll into transition attempting to not think about how bad just putting my shoes on is going to be much less the running in them. I try to grin and bear it, but I’m pretty sure I might have cried at that point. . .or maybe something just got in my eye. Anyway, the run starts out as a gradual uphill for about a mile. Mile 1.5 is where it gets fun, the gradual uphill turns into a 12% grade and you climb almost 600 feet in a mile. The spot where I hit my foot was right in the middle where the arch is, so the extension that happens when you run uphill wasn’t delightful AT ALL. I alternated jogging for a few mins. or maybe one, and then trying to fast walk. Nothing was comfortable and I just wanted to be done. Finally after what seems like a million switchbacks I reach the top, now I just have downhill on the trails. I’m hoping I can make up some time, but I know that the impact of running downhill paired w/being on the trail isn’t going to be pretty. I pass a few people and just keep repeating to myself, the faster I’m done the faster I can sit down, the faster I’m done the faster I can sit down. After what feels like an eternity I see the end to the trails, now just about 1/3 of a mile around a corner and up a short hill. I hear my friends cheering, they yell at me to hustle. . . they tell me surely I have more to give…I may have given them the finger, but I’d plead the 5th in court to that. I cross the finish line and hear them announce that I’m the first female to finish. All I wanted was medical, I could have cared less. 

I see one of my docs and told him what happened. They take my shoe off and look at the bottom of my foot, it was ugly. The color had already turned blue and the knot was the width of an orange. They put some ice on it and tell me to get some xrays just to be sure nothing is broken. Everyone was beyond helpful. Sarah was great, as always, with Addison and Jeff even helped feed him his cheese puffs. Susan did a great job cheering for me, and even took 1st overall in the sprint. I finished 2nd overall female and 1st in my age group, I can’t complain about the placing. 

Addison and I went straight to MD360 and got xrays, and much to my relief nothing was broken. The day didn’t go as planned, I did pout and sulk, but I never gave up.

The morning of the race was spent racing around and packing for me and for Addison. Raly had agreed to watch Addison for me while I race, which is such a HUGE favor since she already has twins the same age as Addison and a 5 year old. Just call her superwoman. I had to work on Saturday so it was really nice to be able to atleast have Addison w/me on Sunday. The morning was dreary and wet, and the afternoon didn’t get any better. I had virtually no warmup as I didn’t want get on the bike in the rain and be cold, and the same thing with the pool. I had no urge to get in the pool to warmup to only have to get out and freeze standing in line to start. It was nice to look up in the bleachers and see my little man as I anxiously stood in line waiting to start the swim.

The swim was long course, and they were sending 2 off at a time. The guy that went off w/me was nice, he pretty much passed me in the first 10 meters. There’s a boost to my ego:) I just told myself to remain calm, use it as a warmup, and gradually get into a groove. I did exactly that. Not one more person passed me, and I did a ton of passing other people. I was even more happy with my new Hydrobat Barracuda goggles, they didn’t leak one bit and made for a great swim. I felt good as I came out of the water, and was pleasantly surprised to see a 9:10 on my watch. That was a 10 second improvement on the week priors swim (out of pool time), and I’ll take all I can get! The mat time was slower than last week, but that’s just b/c we had to run farther to get to the mat. 

My transition went accordingly and I didn’t fumble as much as the previous week. I ran out w/my bike praying I was in the appropriate gear to start . . . instant hill at the beginning. Sarah had ridden the bike course and had warned me that it wasn’t flattening out after we turned off that hill, so I just tried to spin it out until I could see the stop sign for the next turn. I reminded myself that it was a sprint and supposed to hurt, but truthfully, this bike was all technical. The turns weren’t bad, but b/w the traffic that didn’t listen to the police and the pedestrians that decided to play frogger it was all about not hitting things. Or being hit. I was so happy to have my new Zeal Slingshot sunglasses on, they were perfect for the overcast rainy day. I’d hoped to have around the same bike time as the week prior, and as I hit the 3rd loop I knew it was going to be close. I pushed as hard as I could and tried to ride aggressively yet safe since the roads were wet. I slowed as I saw transition and looked down at my watch, I came in a good 25 seconds faster than last week!! Now here’s the true test, rolling hills on the run. 

The 2nd transition went well, and I just tried to be quick. I headed out on the run telling myself to really work, but don’t take the first hill too fast since it was a longer incline. I really tried to focus on my form and put all my effort into it. Mile 1 seemed to take forever, and I refused to look at my time. Go off effort, that’s all that matters. That’s what I kept repeating hoping that I’d just give it my all. The 2nd mile didn’t seem so bad probably b/c part of it was downhill, but I was dying. I hoped the last mile would be easier, but as we climbed stairs and had another incline I realized I just needed to dig deep. Thankfully, the last part was downhill. I crossed the line at 1:03, a minute faster than the week prior. 

I ended up placing 7th overall female and 2nd in my age group. I’ll take it! A good hard effort on a course I wasn’t sure these legs could really work with is a great day. I think Forrest has a lot to do with that, he has given me back some consistency in training that I desperately needed. Thanks again to Raly for watching AJ!

The drive to Parris Island the night before went smoothly. The conversation b/w Sarah, Jeff, and I was random and some subjects not meant to be repeated on paper. I really don’t think there is a filter b/w us, maybe sometimes there should be! I’m not 100% sure but I don’t think any of us had the prerace jitters we typically do. I’d pulled a muscle in my back a couple days prior, so that was my only concern and by Friday it was feeling better. I really just hoped to go out there and really get into the “hurt zone” and keep myself there the entire race. This was my main goal, no major time goals, just make it hurt.

The morning of was full of the typical nervous laughter. I have to say, I’m just not all that good at being serious sometimes. I don’t think I got my “game face” on until I was actually swimming! Speaking of swim, last year I had a horrible swim and just let other people get to me. This year I tried to remember what my old swim coach, Jim Keogh, used to tell me. He used to say that I just needed to used the swim as a warmup and get into my zone. Build, don’t hammer it, and just kind of ease your way into comfortable harder effort. I really went over those words multiple times in my head as a reminder, and it worked. I had one guy pass me by lap 2 or 3, and after that I just tried to stay as close to him as possible for the draft advantage. I lost him around 6 or 7 due to us passing a ton of people, but his pace helped keep me in check. By the time the last lap came, I was feeling strong but not spent which was exactly what I’d hoped for. I got out of the pool @ 9:20 (9:36 mat time), a minute off of last year. 

Transitions are normally pretty quick for me, but a year off w/o practice showed. Atleast I got my socks on, one was just sideways and had rocks in it. The bike was where I planned on starting the hurt zone. I gradually pushed the first few minutes and built up to a good hard effort. The only thing I would look at was my cadence for guidance. I didn’t care how fast I was going b/c I knew I was pushing as hard as I could. I hear my timer go off for 15 minutes and I know I’m almost half way through, just push a little longer. The 2nd half went fairly quickly and as I approach transition I go to take my gel and my flask is gone. Oh well, good thing it’s a short race! I round one last corner and hear my 2nd timer go off, which means I’m coming in a little over 30 minutes for 10 miles (officially 30:56). 

My 2nd transition went a little smoother. I saw some of the girls that started earlier and they were already done. I wanted to hurt them, I still had a run to do! The cheered for me as I headed out, and now was the true test. My running isn’t up to pre baby standards yet, so I just wanted to make it hurt and see what results I could get. About a ¼ of a mile into the run this girl that’s a Novice passes me, and I immediately fall in behind her and use her as to pace off of. Finally I hear the beep of my Garmin indicating the 1st mile is done. All I think of at this point is another ½ mile and I get to turn around. I make it to the turnaround and the girl I was pacing off starts to slow. I make a decision to pass her. I keep pushing and just tell myself this is a test. If I can prove to myself that I still have that drive and ability to push, then I will know its all worth it. I here the 2nd mile indicator go off, and am thankful for just one more mile. A few seconds later the Novice girl passes me. It takes all I have to hang on to her as we finish out our last mile. I see her slowly move away as we approach the finish. I sprinted to the finish and left it all out there. My run time was 22 minutes, I truly didn’t know if I could even break 24 so I was definitely satisfied with the time.

I managed to squeak out an 8th overall female finish and 1st place age group with a time of 1:04. I’m really happy with my effort, I couldn’t have done anything more than what I did out on that course. Now on Sunday at my next race it will be a little different since it’s a hilly course, but I plan to give it that same effort. 

Thank you to Atlanta Bread Co., Gault Properties, Powerbar, Skyline NW, Zeal Optics, RS LED Group, and Trisports.com. Please click on their icons on the left hand side of the page and support the people that give back and help our triathlon community! It’s a work in progress, but thanks to my hubby for trying to work out schedules so I still have time to train.

The week of Thrill in the Hills trail marathon seemed like any other week, oh I mean birthday week:). Maybe that was part of the problem. I ate worse than I typically do, but really didn’t think much of it until the night before. For some reason it dawned on me that I had a marathon to do, and hadn’t really given the week of the race the preparation it deserves. Maybe the laid back feel of trails had something to do with it, but for some reason I didn’t really give this race as much thought or stress as I typically would. 

The morning of was nice and relaxed since I was riding w/friends Mike and Ashley. We kidded about Mikes Kit Kat for breakfast and my Diet Code Red Mtn Dew. Picture of nutrition! We got to the race site in plenty of time to stretch pee and get our registration. It’s never a good sign when you go to pick up your packet and the line is five deep in four different lines for the half and the full marathon has no line at all. I just kept telling myself it was just going to be a long day of one foot in front of the other. No worries. I mean, I didn’t have to worry about speed. Thats always a nice thought when I can just hit cruise control. I saw three different friends in the bathroom line, it was so comforting to know there were familiar people that’d be there. Lisa and Scotty even brought me brownies! BTW, their brownies are AWESOME! 

Scotty and I start out together and the crowd does not thin out. I’ve never done a trail run where it took 3, yes THREE, miles to be able to pass and get into your groove. The first two miles were 12 minutes! A little annoying, yet I try not to care since i have 26 to do. I really couldn’t sight see at all, just tried to focus on the trail ahead of me. Mile after mile I start to feel better. I think mile 7 was when we hit the power line . . . up a hill. Mike had warned me about it. What I didn’t know was that when you came down the hill you’d wind up going up another power line. Ugh. I just grunted it out trying not to max my heart rate out. Around mile 10 I was just thankful to know I was over a 1/3 of the way done. The run at this point was kind of around the lake and not too hilly. The turns were great b/c they’d distract you and give you something to focus on. I was nutritioning pretty well, I’d taken a gel so far and my fluid intake was good. I make it to the half way point just thankful to be half way done (2:12). Lisa was there cheering and waiting for Scotty so her yelling and support was so nice. As I jogged away from that aide station I remember thinking to myself the hard part is over now. I’ve passed the point where the majority of people were finishing and I’ve kept going! The rest should be easy, right? Atleast mentally easier. I know when I stopped at that station I took water b/c my tummy didn’t want sports drink. The problem was they only had aide stations every 3.5 miles or so. I jogged about a half a mile and thats when it started. You know, the jostling that can happen. Well, if you think its bad on the road you should hit the trails. Literally I’d only jog the semi flat parts b/c coming down hills and going up hills I’d get sick at all the tossing and turning. Around mile 14 I lose all my gps. I guesstimate around mile 15 I see Jackie and Ashley up on the road doing their cool down run. I yelled a few obscenities that included telling them they should be suffering with me. Ash said I looked good, I fake it well. Here I am barfing, running only the flat spots (on a trail run!), can’t take any sports drink or gel, have no concept of time or distance and I haven’t seen a soul since the half way point. I alternate walking/jogging and just hope to make it to the next aide station. Mile 16.5, I think I stood there trying to decide how I was going to go on for a good 5 minutes. I was frustrated but HTFU, that’s what you do . . .right? I decide to keep moving. Walk/jog continues, trying to mentally get myself right. I get teary eyed at one point questioning where my toughness has gone. Then I get mad b/c I’m feeling sorry for myself. I see a sign for mile 18, and all the sudden I begin to wonder when the “fun” factor went. I’ve loved every trail run up to this point that I’ve done, and like my previous race which should have been “easy” pace and day I was not having the fun I normally do. I know getting sick sucks, I know suffering is part of racing, what I also came to realize by mile 20 was that on this particular day it was not worth it. I’d been walking the past 2 miles b/c jogging made me dizzy. I couldn’t keep any nutrition down. I knew I could walk the rest of it, but it just plain wasn’t worth it to me. I’ve never felt this way before.

My husband says maybe I’m just smarter. Truthfully, I just felt weak. My body was weak, my mind beat down. The ends just didn’t justify the means at that particular point. Of course I’m filled with all kinds of self doubt at this point. I’ve assessed where my training was at, but truth be told that truly didn’t even have a chance to come into play on Saturday. The nutrition part killed me. This wasn’t my first problem w/puking in the past few months. I’ve heard of a few tricks I plan to try for long training days and racing. Another thing I have to work on is my confidence, especially after quitting. My fun factor isn’t forever lost, and the negativity I let get the best of me won’t win again. 

Thank you to all my friends who have sent words of encouragement, and to my husband who is always there to support my race day woes. I just hope next time he makes 100% sure the chicken is fully cooked, I guess he didn’t feel too well saturday morning either….

Things aren’t as easy as they used to be, but that will just make the great days even more special.