Back from paradise...home to the concrete jungle

Swim course--Race morning.

Im baaaackkkkk to dirty jersey. Was at St. Anthony's this past weekend down in sunny beautiful St. Petersburg Florida. I went down Thursday and returned yesterday. I wasn't racing--went down to train and cheer on the athletes and my good friend, Alex--and his new girlfriend--yet to have a name--but an outstanding crotch rocket with a trade name of GURU. She is friggin hot...and for the first time i am certain that Jackson may have a new girlfriend. Although its a bit of a long distance relationship as she lives in Boston. For those of you that dont know--Jackson is my Cervelo....he is also the light of my life..the twinkle in my eye...and gives me butterflies like no man could. :) Hes been dating "Cadence"--my new beautiful Cyfac....appropriately named after the wonderful folks that helped me adopt her. Jackson and Cadence have been together for the past few months--but the "yet to be named" GURU is stealth about snagging his eye. Okay...enough strangely fun bike talk for now.

Anyway--I went down to get some great training in...and I did for sure!! The swim course was already set up on Thursday. The biking is great with wide open shoulders....the running is fab along the ocean. Typically when i go away to train...its pretty epic. however, I am racing next weekend so i didn't want to go too too crazy. Here is how the past few days have gone--

Thursday--arrived in the eve. I ran a hard 4 miles before i went. After I got there-I ran another 4 miles--fast--sub race pace for sure. TOTAL 8 miles

Friday--Rode 3 hours--from St. Petes to Clearwater Beach. It was hot and very very windy. There were times I couldnt get above 12 mph. It was great seeing clearwater again...i went around the circle and up over the memorial causeway where the 70.3 champs were held...ahhh fond memories. the wind was real bad though...great training in the elements.

Transition run-50 minutes. This was tough. It was very hot and I had no water. Again--great training.

Open water swim-35 minutes. I was exhausted and felt like a whale. its good to feel what that feels like when you are way the hell out in the chop of the ocean. you just keep on swimming.

Saturday-Ran hard. 60 min. 45 min at 6:30 pace. Did this on the treadmill as i wanted a controlled environment. Not such a bad idea as Craig Alexander got on the treadmill next to me. suh-weet!!

Rode-30 min

Got a 1 hour massage at expo

Open water swim 45 min

Got another 1 hour massage at expo (both by same guy--really great with deep tissue and trigger point)

Sunday--Race day....OH SO LONG!!! We were up at 4. Today was active recovery. I would have liked to get in some training...but there was just too much exciting stuff going on! The race was great....as you know-watching a race is no small potatoes!! I was running here and there and everywhere!! out on the course and around transition. SO FUN!! Alex did great!! 3rd in his AG. it was a very competitive field....im really proud of him.

Monday--Ran 40 minutes

Swam--in a BEAUTIFUL outdoor pool--40 min. I was tired. Pretty much a recovery swim.

Then i had to pack up ....grab lunch and head to the airport!

Today Im going to spin for 1:15 hours and do a 25 min transition run--EZ. Im tapering this week. I gotta rest and recover as Im racing the Devilman half IM this sunday. Im ready to kick some butt!!

Im pretty happy with the amount of training I got in--not a lot of hours-but an appropriate amount of quality intensity 1 week before a race.

I got some great pics from the awards ceremony. The mens field was won by Matt Reed followed by Potts, Bennett, and Alexander. The womens field was taken by Sara Haskings, Becca Wassner (a fellow CADENCE athlete!!!) miranda carafree and Sam Mcglone.

Funny story--i took sister Madonna Buder to dinner on Sunday night!! LOL...long story. i'll save it for next time! Here are some pics:

--The line up--Wassner left, Carfrea, McGlone, Lavalle, Dibbins in yellow on right

Haskins was at the podium speaking

---Alexander, Bennett, Potts Then Reed at far Right.

1st race 1st place 1st Overall win!!

well if this isn't a good sign for the season to come...i dont know what is!!!!!!!!!!!! Did a lil race this past Saturday. Called the Great Causeway Challenge--down at the Jersey shore. 30 mile bike and a 10k run. BEAUTIFUL day. I didn't taper obviously...just used it as a training run to get out there on the road and see how all this computrainer stuff has paid off.

well it has paid off. BIG TIME. I rode like a dude. it was awesome. In fact it was so awesome that i was scared that i wasnt going to be able to run. but.....i could. training pays off.

Here is a little race report..short and sweet.

Drove down to the race that morning. Had a bag of pretzels, two diet pepsis, and a tuna sandwich from the gas station. CLEARLY the cornerstone of all nutritious breakfasts. Oh i may have had a sugar free red bull too. The drive was an hour and a half. got there...registered. set up transition---sneakers and a hat. Start line was a mass bike start. was nervous as ive never done that before...my strategy---according to my buddy scott was to shoot off the front like a bat outta hell and ride as hard as i could to break away. i figured i would get mowed down by a zillion men...but i didnt AT ALL. in fact, i was right out in front. i was nervous again cause i was so far out in front that i thought maybe i was going too hard but i felt really good. i was maybe in 4th place overall...when the chase pack caught me. just a few guys....no worries. I rode as hard s i could for the 30 miles and i hung in the whole way. it was great! There wasnt another chic for a few miles. At the turn around the wind kicked in but i just took it down a gear and spun as fast as i could. I came into transition and moved as fast as i could out on to the run course. i didn't find my legs for 1.5 miles and there wasnt any water out there and it was hot. i was keeping a good pace though and just gave it everything i had. the course was kinda hilly in parts and i felt myself really starting to drag toward the end......i just needed to hang on for as long as i could. I did. i gave it everything i had.

Final time: 1:58:02 Splits: Bike: 1:14:56 (24 mph) Run 43:07 (6:58 pace) Now these times include my Transition time...not sure which split is comes from but i think from the bike as i dont recall coming in over a mat.....and i do remember running out over a mat. ???hmmm.... so maybe my bike was just a bit faster.

This time was good enough for a 10th place OVERALL finish. 1st overall female.
http://www.compuscore.com/cs2008/april/causebia.htm

i am also surprised at how depleted i felt after. damn i was sore that night and for sure sunday.

I have to give a big shout out to the GREEN BROOK RACING TEAM!!! SIMON JOE SIMON and the other men...they are just great!!!! thank you for following my blog and being so supportive and sweet. I look forward to kicking your asses in future events. OH and Joe...i let you beat me. :) Damn guy had 9 seconds on me....I decided to be gentle and not hammer his pride. :) just kidding Joe Pa. you had me...fair and square...i honestly couldnt catch you.

as for everything else...i am just so HAPPY it is racing season again! SOOO EXCITING!!!

I am going to ST Anthonys this weekend...to watch and train and support my friend Alex who is racing. I CANT WAIT!!! i need the sunshine and to beat myself up for the weekend. im going thursday to monday. YESSSSSS>>>>>i am going to ride and run and swim myself silly!!!!!

Tried out the new Zenith wetsuit in the endless pool today...shit that suit is fast. i was RIPPING IT!!!! i am pretty excited to race in it....hope it helps...i felt like my legs were hovering over the water....really nice feeling. we'll see!!

GAME ON!!!!

GAME ON!

Okay so a little training update. Ruts are good. This week has been crazy. I dont know where the hell this fitness has come from....but i am scared. haha. I just hope i am not getting ahead of myself. I am pounding out these silly workouts and recovering like a 12 year old. its weird. It goes to show you that time OFF is good. it gives your body a break. it allows you to break through to the next level. I am there. my cycling is scary. i feel so good ....i am so PUMPED to ride on the rode...i haven't gotten outside yet. Its still been cold and nasty...but when i get out there, i am really excited to see how this indoor work has paid off. I dont want to seem cocky-or self absorbed--please dont take it like that. I am just really happy that i have broken through. I was really bummed a few weeks ago...going through that winter rut--and i know you have been there-which is why i am writing about it. i hope that i can give you some hope--if you are there right now--please believe you will work through it. YOU WILL break through too. just keep at it and keep working hard and listen to your body.

Cycling is like my crack. haha. i just love it so much. i love the feeling you get when you feel strong. when you are doing intervals and hammering it out and sweating all over the place and your heart is pumping and i get goose bumps and i feel stronger and stronger with each interval and your cadence is high and you just close your eyes and see the road and see the finish line. i cant explain it. i am weird. i must be. i had this moment today in the heat of my cycling class....mid interval...at my LT...cranking...the music was pumping...and you look around the room and you are there with all these other people and everyone is struggling and sweating and panting and the sound of the wheels spinning on the trainers just resonates through the room and i am just so happy....smiling...singing in my head...rippin it. yes it is beautiful and i dont care if you think i am weird. i am really happy that i have something in my life like that. so many people dont. those moments that i get are what keeps me coming back. its so unexplainable. its like you just keep going because you cant stop. you cant stop until the interval is over. you have to go through it and suffer but its good suffering. i may be a masochist. haha.

oh well. yesterday was speed work on the treadmill. mile repeats. my workout was: 20 min ez warm up. 10 min--alternating every 30 seconds between a 6:30-7:00 pace. (8.5, 9.0) Then 6 x 1 mile repeats at 6:30 pace (9.0) with a full recovery between each repeat.--walk .25 mile or so. then a 10 min ez cool down. it was great.

swimming today went really well. i can say now that ive come a long long way. i am eager to race. i am eager to see what all this endless pool stuff has done for my time. even if my time isnt reduced--i KNOW that ill be more efficient....haha...at least thats what my coach says. lol

okay. i need a nap. thanks for reading. i am sad that i haven't heard from any of you. i feel like ive lost my supporters. please let me know you are still out there. it sucks not hearing from you. i want to know what you are all up to. i want to know how YOUR training is going. please let me know if i can help.

a cry for change

Here goes the paradigm of the “American way”. Graduate from college. Buy a black suit. Get your fancy schmansy resume compiled and contrived with your laundry list of “successful accomplishments”. Get hired by a big swinging corporation with lusty lures of benefit packages and stock options. Decisively spend the rest of your life continually updating your resume with your latest negligible accomplishments and corporate awards so that you may prolong your work for the corporate warlords that have zero appreciation for anything much more than funding the man above--who in turn funds the man above him. You continually invent excuses of why you can’t make it to the gym or why your “bad knee” prevents you from running. How you would love see those last 10lbs dissipate--as you chomp into a Krispy Kreme. How you would love to get back to skiing, playing the piano, or writing poetry, but you just can’t find the time in between your nightly sitcom reruns. How Tuesday comes and you say to yourself, “When I wake up tomorrow…I can say that the day after tomorrow is Friday!”. How you are living each day for your next day away from that office. How you only see your vision, your truth, and your passions in your dreams and in the traps of your mind. Every moment that slips away, those hopes collecting a bit more dust.

I have succumbed to the “American Way”. I have fallen captive. Thank heavens I have found my white flag now before I have lost too much. I have played the fence for some time now. In the eyes of the “men above”, I am the perfect soldier. I am a workhorse. Proactive. I am diligent. Confident. I blow out my sales numbers. I am a leader. I am professional and well put together. I am aggressive and far from obnoxious. My clients love me. I get the job done…well. I am attractive. Fit. Secure. Poignant.
So where in lies the problem?

I am checking my excitement at the door. I am stifling and suffocating. Shame on me. Dirty money is inanimate. To surrender your inner peace is hellacious. To deprive your zeal is corrupt.

I hate that damn black suit. And that blue one. It looks terrible over my tri shorts. My high heels feel like crap on my beautifully blistered feet. How dare I subject my calves to those horrid shoes after ripping 220 watts for nearly 2 hours. My blouses don’t hang very eloquently over my sports bra. Ponytails don’t work well in “Corporate America”. That’s 45 min less training…forfeited to a blow-dryer. The back seats of my Chrysler 300 are inked with chain grease. My trunk littered with cycling shoes, extra tri shorts, goggles, jugs of HEED….packets of Recoverite….and of course my signature cowboy hat and my pop-tent. God help me if my boss decides to come for a “ride in the field”. I’d have to come up with a real good doosie of an excuse as to why Tri gear has taken precedence over medical samples and hospital records. I abhor the dichotomy of it.

I find little solace in lending my brains, sharing my ideas, and teasing out solutions for a cause that I do not believe in. You have to believe. You have to believe in your cause. You have trust that there are many more “American Ways”. That cookie cutters come in a variety of shapes. That is the beauty of it. The freedom. The freedom to change. The freedom to pursue. There are those that lead the company and there are those that work for those leaders. If you invest yourself in an arena that you believe in; if you invest your convictions appropriately, then you will position yourself in nothing less than a position of leadership. If nothing else, you will simply lead by example.
I would like opportunity to embrace the ideas. I want to lend to the cause. I want to spread the word. Fuel is fire. I am in pursuance to ultimately touch the hands, to cultivate a foundation, to strategize and collaborate, to grow with fervor and dedication, and to execute and stretch the breath of my creativity.

“I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice”.
-The Shawshank Redemption

blessing in the Rut!!

So everyone tells you that time off...or unmotivated time ...is a blessing in disguise. That you can't just "hammer" all the time. My buddy Scott called me following my last post--He yelled at me in his thick jersey accent...."You are in a rut cause you just cant keep pushing it all the time...day in and day out!!! you face mental burn out!!!" I believe it but when you are going through that time-its hard to believe. So like my last post indicated--game is ON for Devilman on May4. I think I actually could be ready to race before then --after my training this weekend. I am shocked...and i guess the rut was a good thing. Friday-I Rode 42 miles on the trainer and Ran 11 (hard on the treadmill). I broke it up though into 2--a run (4) bike (42) run (7). I hammered the runs -negative splitting) and felt awesome!!! I finished the workout feeling amazing and my only hesitation was how i was going to feel saturday. Oddly enough, I felt great Sat. I ran to the ferry and took the ferry across the river to the west side highway--ran north to central park-ran 8 miles in the park then ran back. A total of just over 13 miles. My legs felt a bit numb after but after a good meal and some rest-felt fine. Sunday was going to be the true test. But once again, my training was solid! (30 min treadmill, 100 min trainer ride, 45 min treadmill, 30 min trainer ride) I felt great after and I feel great today--it is a recovery day and I will swim and do a short ez run. I am going to take some extra precautions this week as it will be first week back really loading on the training. Precautions meaning --extra sleep, good eating, extra water...etc. all the stuff we should be doing all the time!!

So i'll keep you posted as it unfolds. I am sad I haven't heard from anyone. Have all my wonderful supporters left me? what are you all doing? I want to hear from you!! i want to know what you are doing??!!

okay okay for real this time

Hey HEY!!! HELLLOOOOO!! wow...so i promised last time that i wouldnt be such a dork and wait so long to post. I fibbed. I promise i wont do it again. The truth is...i really have been busy. i know i know...we all are...but dont think for even think for one second that this blog hasn't plagued my mind!! haha..honestly i have felt SO guilty for not writing!! so what the heck is going on in my life....well.....are you ready for more truth???..here goes...i went through a RUT! haha...i think we all do. a training rut for a while! i was really having issues..not really motivational issues- but just tired! i am still searching for the root cause. i dont really care anymore because i did pull out...FINALLY! i was having trouble staying focused...i was tired...and all that spiraled into being mad at myself which doesn't help your training at all! i think if i was to put my finger on it...i would accuse my boyfriend. HA. seriously.....relationships and triathlon just dont work...or at least its a lot of work. he has no idea how much work it takes for me to balance him in my life. damn...i cant believe i am saying this! haha...poor guy! No but seriously--i give you married people CREDIT!! im not even married...just dating and im having issues. late nights...dinners where your calories arent watched...morning workouts--delayed!! no wonder i was in a rut...my whole schedule got messed up--let alone the stressors of personal life stuff just mounting up higher and higher!!
well i put my foot down this week and i took off two days to get caught up on everything!...including my blogging! The good news is this...a friendly reminder...if you are in a rut....you WILL pull through it. if you are reading this and you are in your preseason winter slump...make the change now!!! its not too late to get things back in order. everyone goes through it and even though you may feel like you will never get those lets back..the rest is probably a blessing in disguise and you will bounce back within a few workouts!

so now that we've established that...honestly nothing is too new. i am going to race Devilman on May 4th instead of this April 19 virgina race...that is too soon. my "rut" set me back. im just not ready to race in 2 weeks. no biggie-it is what it is. im going to post my workout plan leading up to the race...ill post it soon--it will give you some insight as to what im doing.

im eager for nice weather. i think i get seasonal depression --always hits me in march...i just cant wait for warmth!! i need to move out of the city...i need to go west. im in the midst of looking for a new gig...i would like to work in the industry--hopefully i'll get to relocate!! i need sunshine or mountains or both....tall buildings are ugly!! :)

so i promise that my posts are going to get more interesting...especially since we are really moving quickly into the season!! FINALLY!! I love it! ALL the hard winter work will finally start to pay off!!

So how are you all? I have missed you! Please let me know that you are still out there! Let me know how your training is going!! What are your races this season??

Okay bye bye for now...i promise this time ill be back soon!