Apple Strudel and Peach Cobbler

Sorry for the Inconvenience, but...

2010-10-28T19:36:00.005-04:00

Something has been bugging me for a while... This blog's name! It's too long, too complicated and misleading in terms of what to expect on this channel.

So after trying a gazillion different blog names, the one that was available and that I liked was:

BARK LESS TRI MORE

After a little bit of research, it turns out, that redirecting over blogger is a pain in the butt and therefore I would like to ask you, my dear readers, to head over to the new address and while you are at it, please update your bookmarks, RSS feeds, Google Readers, Blogger Follower etc.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but I hope to see you over at "Bark Less Tri More" in the future for more of the same... All the old posts and comments and such are already there, along with a brand new post to get things going.

Thank you once again for following along so far.

Kathrin

Those last 5 lbs - again

2010-10-26T20:21:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist, just sharing some thoughts and actions of mine.

It's not the time to push the panic button quite yet, but it was time to make (once again) a better effort concerning my nutrition.

In the summer, I hardly wear jeans or pants for that matter... Skirts and dresses and a couple of shorts... Workout gear is made out of spandex and therefore is pretty forgiving plus/minus 10 pounds. Anyways, it's not summer anymore and while I was mostly ignoring the number on the scale for several months now, the "Jeans Test" can not be fooled. They still kinda/sorta fit, but some of them were not comfy anymore.... think "Muffin Top".

Another big motivator to loose a couple of pounds was my upcoming half marathon this Saturday.... Weight loss means, less weight to haul over a 13.1 mile course... If that's not motivating then I don't know what is.

In order to keep my goal in sight and track able, I signed up (for free) at an online calorie count website, I found over a blog post from Laura. My experience with food logs are pretty limited, but what I found appealing at first was their recipe analyzer tool. Basically, you can type in any recipe you have sitting at home and it gives you the nutrition information per serving.

The site gives you a log for food, activities and weight. First you have to define your weight loss goal (mine was 6 lbs) and the time frame in which you want to accomplish this goal (for me: by race day, which was around 5 weeks). It won't let you enter a weight loss goal that is too aggressive... Max I think is 2 lbs a week.

Then you choose your activity level and your daily calorie intake target. I chose a sedentary activity level, since I sit at my desk most of the day which results to a little under 2,000 calories per day need for a female my age and body composition to stay at the same weight. I chose my intake target at 2,000 per day which means that I shouldn't gain any weight on days I stay within that target and don't to any workouts. My weight loss opportunity should arise for days where I hit my eat target and burn more calories, so I would have a calorie gap!

So much for the theory. The reality unfortunately looks a little different. We are just a couple of days away from my target date to have lost those 6 lbs and all I did loose was one measly lbs. To say I am frustrated, doesn't really describe the situation... And of course, I am not expecting any weight loss miracles during taper week. It's especially weird/funny/comical, because according to my food and activity log, I had an average calorie gap of 500 per day since I started logging.

This only leads me to one conclusion: My food tracking isn't especially accurate. I have a high confidence in the accuracy of the activity log, because that one is pretty straight forward. But the food log... I must be underestimating my intake... A LOT! Especially, since I don't cook most of my meals (I know, it's bad!) myself, it's sometimes hard to guess. A small factor also is (I think), that I started back up with weight training around the same time and while the scale hasn't moved much, my pants fit me better again.

But not all is lost! I will certainly keep this up over the winter because it makes me more conscious about my food consumption, not only in quantity, but also in quality.

The food quality aspect has been especially interesting, because it gives you an analysis based on nutrients and vitamins in your diet. After a couple of weeks of tracking my food, I noticed that I didn't take in enough calcium. On the one hand, it's a complete no brainer, because I stopped drinking milk months ago (swapped with almond milk) and also have little dairy in my diet to start with. On the other hand, it just never occurred to me, that I am not giving my body all it needs... Too little calcium equals weak bones... For an endurance athlete, that is a stress fracture waiting to happen! So I started taking calcium supplements to balance this out. I also have a deficiency in potassium... And still need to find a solution for that... And don't say bananas, tomatoes, potatoes... I eat that on an almost daily basis and it's still not enough.

Feel free to weigh in on the topic! ;-)

On a high note... And not so high note!

2010-10-24T11:55:00.000-04:00

This morning was my last long run before the Spinx Half Marathon this coming Saturday.

I ended up with 9 miles in 1:30 hours. Fairly speedy for me and I am very happy with the run and feel like I ended this training cycle on a high note.

For the run, I joined a group with tons of speedy athletes and of course, I got spit out at the end of the pack which is alright, since I expected it. Until around mile 4, I still had a running partner, but after that I was on my own.... Doesn't look like it hurt the pace hmmm??? ;-)

The not so high note was the instant soreness I felt right after stopping.... I hadn't noticed it until then, but my 7 mile hike up and down Table Rock yesterday left me SORE!!! I assume, that the coming down the mountain, dragged by a 50 lbs dog has a little something to do with that.

The hike was beautiful, but I didn't take one single picture, but one of my co-worker snapped pics all the time and hopefully, I will be able to share a couple of them over the next couple of days.

We also have family from Terry's side in town over the weekend and once I sorted through those pictures, I will share some here as well.

So long! ;-)

Barn Quilts in North Carolina

2010-10-20T18:41:00.010-04:00

Okay, this post is totally coming out of the left corner... Bear with me! ;-)

Last month while traveling through North Carolina for the Blue Ridge Relay, I noticed "signs" on barns... After a while, I started to take pictures of them, when I wasn't too slow. When getting back home, I did some online research and found the Quilt Trail.

Here are the couple of barn quilts, I was able to capture.

So long! ;-)

The Hybrid's Third Season

2010-10-19T18:02:00.003-04:00

When I started to work out again, I got back on the bike that I bought a couple of years earlier back in Germany. After getting my road bike last year in spring, the hybrid was really not being used anymore. Poor thing. Until last Sunday... I think I found it's calling today.... It turns out, that I have a decent mountain bike on my hands.

I thought about trying out mountain biking for a while now, but never found the right place and time to do so until now. Somebody posted a "low key" mountain bike ride at the Palmetto Trail Croft Passage in Spartanburg and I decided to come along, after checking that "low key" translates into beginner friendly.

Not only was it beginner friendly, I also got a quick introduction into mountain biking... use back brakes, keep your weight on your back wheel, keep your cadence high etc... Very helpful. The ride leader knew the trail like the back of his hand and there also were a lot of on the go instruction like how to take an upcoming turn and so on.

At the beginning, I thought they were joking of the trail not being technical, but really I have nothing to compare it to. After a while I got a little more used to it and on the way back, I thought it wasn't that bad anymore. Of course, I still was super cautious, especially on the downhills... Only one time I threw all caution in the wind... I couldn't see the ride leader anymore and the trail forked. I was just hoping that I picked the right trail and charged after the group!

I think mountain biking could become a real alternative for me during the winter months, when cycling on the road in the cold just doesn't sound appealing.

And one thing I learned: Socks are not optional on a mountain bike. Within minutes my shoes were filled with sand and it was rubbing against my skin with each pedal stroke.

You may excuse the absence of a pedicure! ;-)

Party! Diaper Party!

2010-10-18T18:44:00.001-04:00

I learned something new recently.... The baby shower is for girls only and if boys are at the party as well, it's called a "Diaper Party". Last Saturday I was invited to one of those for one of my closest friends and Maid of Honor.

It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself and spending time with the parents to be and their friends, that I haven't met before. All around, a great evening.

The baby is a German/ British production, which showed in the table decoration.

The parents to be unwrapping their gifts.

One half of the party guests/ hosts.

And here is the other half of guests/ hosts.

And this is all for the first couple of months for baby Jonathan.

I am glad I ran 13 miles earlier that day, because I basically ate half of the food on the table.... Well, maybe not half, but a quarter.... It was all so yummie! I thought I would never be hungry ever again, I felt so stuffed that night! ;-)

Good times!

Putting the SLOW between Long and Distance

2010-10-17T18:27:00.003-04:00

After my last post, I ended up doing.... Nothing. I just couldn't get myself to do anything and by the time I almost mustered up the courage to roll from the couch, I started having a headache. I still had that headache waking up the next morning. Don't know what is going on there... Too many headaches lately.

Anyways, I finally took some Advil and when the pain was gone, I headed out for my run. It was 10.30am by then already. But since it has cooled down by now, that wasn't a problem.

I wanted to clock my last 13 miler before the race in two weeks and that's what I ended up doing, but it sure was boring this time! Recently, I always had a plan for my long runs and most of the time, they were broken up in 20 to 30 minutes increments with a goal for each part. Or like last weekend when I did my long run with a group and we basically chatted the miles away. This time, I was keeping it VERY EASY on purpose... the whole time... SLOW!

Needless to say, I was on the road forever for these 13 miles and I was bored out of my mind. Also, I felt more tired at the end of the whole thing than I can remember having been after my previous long runs.

But all is good.... I feel ready to finally conquer the 13.1 mile distance in a race and become an official half marathoner.

Also, some Swamp Rabbit trail news, in case you are planning on traveling on the trail in the next couple of weeks. There is a section locked down now north of the Furman campus until December 2nd (according to the signs). They posted a detour on roads, that I marked greenish on the map.

Edit to add: They have this area locked down, because the ground is polluted with asbestos and who knows what else. That short part never got paved because of this and now they are trying to fix it.... and pave it.

How was your weekend? Anything fun happened?

So long! ;-)

Quick Note

2010-10-15T17:03:00.000-04:00

This must be a new record! No posting since Sunday.

Okay, let me recap last week:

recovered alright from my Sunday ride disaster
worked long hours
was still able to squeeze in an evening workout most days
blogging, kind of took a back seat

I was off today for an immigration appointment and spend the rest of the day running errands. Finally back at the house now and about to head out for something.... or stay in for something.... It's going to be either a trainer ride or a swim. We'll see.

In the meantime, I will spend some time with the hubs, since I will be on the road over the weekend.

Hopefully, things are going to return to somewhat normal over the next two weeks and things are going to get more regular in blog world too! ;-)

Happy weekend everyone!

Dehydration Station

2010-10-10T20:23:00.001-04:00

Today's post could have several different titles:

"Back to old stomping grounds"

"Ridus Interuptus"

"Laterne Rouge"

.... But yes, "Dehydration Station" probably describes it best.

Alright then, let's try to put a little bit of sense behind those bullet points.

I wanted to ride my bike today and I felt like joining a group. When I still lived out in Duncan, I joined the Great Escape (in Spartanburg) afternoon ride almost every Sunday, but I haven't been back since I moved. There used to be an 30 mile option, but that one isn't done anymore, so I joined the 40 mile group with an advertised speed of 15-17 mph.

Right off the bat, I thought this group might be a little to speedy for me, but the first 10 miles weren't all that bad... The rolling downhill might have helped with that. Around mile 15, I really felt pushed to my limits and kind of decided that I will turnaround. I am very familiar with the area and didn't think twice about it. But the ride leader and one of the guys that were close to the back talked me out of it. So my mental turnaround point came and went and I still tagged along.

From then on, I actually had some company in the back and got to talk to a couple of people which made me forget the struggle for a while. Besides, the guys let me draft a lot. But still, I carried the "Laterne Rouge" most of the time. If it wasn't for one of the guys, I would have lost the group several times, but he always reeled me back in... gave me pep talk to not get too frustrated.

Once we hit the 35 mile mark, everyone was off at their own pace and I definitely dropped off the back by then. My pep talking friend left the group earlier to take a short cut home, but the ride leader stuck with me. At one stop light, we had to stop for a couple of seconds and I felt a little light headed, but once I got rolling again, it wasn't too bad.... other than not having any juice in my legs left. A little after the stop light, I saw a runner on the side of the road and recognized a training buddy that had a cycling accident a couple of months ago. So I stopped to say hi and then the $h!t hit the fan. I felt so light headed, that I had to sit down on the side of the road. It took a while until the ride leader noticed that I wasn't behind her anymore and she turned around to check on me. Between my training buddy and the ride leader, it was decided that I won't get back on the bike. So she rode back to the shop (fortunately not far away anymore) while my buddy stayed with me while I curled into a ball on the ground. Several times, I thought I would pass out.... Getting in the car of the ride leader was the roughest part and for a moment I thought I am done... passing out... hurling... something. Once back at the shop, I still had an audience. I was hoping that everyone would be gone by then, but no such luck.... They fed me chips and coke and after sitting in the shade for half an hour ago, I felt pretty back to normal again.... What a ride.

Today, I learned a lesson or two about hydration.... Hope that is not going to happen anymore, because the whole trip was pretty scary.

Before I left, the ride leader asked me to join them again and not get discouraged by this episode.

We'll see. In general, this was a fun ride and with better preparation and maybe not a long workout on the day before in my legs... cooler temps.... and more bike fitness.... I should be golden! ;-)

Here are the stats... Witness my steady decline! ;-)

What the cool Kids do!

2010-10-09T19:15:00.001-04:00

This morning, I finally figured out what the cool kids do on a Saturday morning! THEY RUN... DOWNTOWN! What was I thinking, running on the Swamp Rabbit Trail all the time, when the party obviously is on Greenville's sidewalks??

Seriously now, this morning, I had a running date with three running buddies. The plan was to run the Spinx Half course in order to prepare for the race in three weeks and we said we are going to meet at the starting line which is located at the Baseball stadium. In that area, there is the Baseball stadium, a couple of bars/restaurants and shops... Nothing that is open at 7.30am in the morning, but still there were tons of cars.... from runners... the cool kids! ;-)

We took off a little after 7.30am at a good clip. I was planning on shooting for a 10.30 minute/ mile average for the run, since I did my previous long runs at 10.45 minute/ mile.... You know, pushing it a little. Well, I am glad I was running with a group today, because that made me push myself so much more... Funny enough, I felt really good for the first 8 miles, even though we clocked several sub 10 minute miles. I would have never done that on my own. After mile 8, things got a little more difficult and I started struggling a little. Around mile 10, I told the girls to keep on going without me, because I needed some walk breaks.... But somewhere on mile 11, I was able to catch up with them again and we finished together. Total time 2 hours 13 minutes... A 10:11 minute/mile average. Good run... Very happy about it!

After the run, we got a little bit of rest in (Terry ran 26 miles this morning) and then took off for some running shoe shopping. As I mentioned last week, it was time to retire the two pairs that I had in rotation for the last year. I have two spare pairs of the Adidas, but I wanted to keep rotating the Adidas with something else and ended up getting the new version of the shoe I was using in the past... The Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10. For the last week, I tried to find a closeout pair of the 8's or 9's online, but no luck. Terry also found some new shoes and hopefully, that'll make and end to his blister issues that he is struggling with lately.

And since the day wasn't sporty enough yet, we then headed up to Tryon NC for an open water swim at Lake Lanier.... It worked out beautifully, that I got my wetsuit a couple of days ago and was able to try it out right away. Coach Katie organized the swim for her athletes that prepare for the Beach to Battleship Iron Distance triathlon in November and I able to join them... I didn't do the whole distance though, just haven't been swimming enough lately. I ended up with around 2,000 yards... goody goody. And yes, I LOVE the wetsuit. It's comfortable and it kept me toasty borderline a little too warm. I actually managed to get into the suit without help, after last night's wrestle, I didn't think that was possible.

Here we are about to head out. We ran a little late and everyone else already took off. Katie is on the board, just pulling one of her dogs on the board for a ride.

About to start back up, after taking a little breast stroke and chit chat break.

And this is on our way back.... What a gorgeous day and a beautiful place to spend your afternoon!

So long! ;-)

Look, what the Mailman brought!

2010-10-08T20:13:00.001-04:00

This week was LONG! But one evening I got home and there it was.... my birthday present!!! Sweet!

A Wetsuit!

I know... It's kind of silly to get a wetsuit now, since I haven't planned any triathlons this year anymore... But my b-day is in the fall and not in the spring... Nothing I can do about this! ;-)

That thing looks mighty small, doesn't it?

It also took a mighty long time until I finally got myself squeezed in and zipped up... I actually needed a little help... No pictures... Nobody wants to see that! ;-)

Impossible to look cute in that thing.

No matter, how much I try to strike a pose.

Well, I guess that means, I can might as well goof off! ;-)

Hope that everybody has a fantastic weekend!

Hakuna Matata

2010-10-06T20:09:00.001-04:00

As to be expected, this week is NUTS... Even more than last week already was.

So when I finally got home last night from work, the planned trainer workout was not even an option anymore... Instead, I curled up in bed and watched "Biggest Loser" and let others "move it, move it".

At work right now, I feel like this a lot:

I still try to keep a positive vibe.... After all... Stress kills.

HAKUNA MATATA!

A Whole Lot Of Orange

2010-10-04T18:51:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday, I was at my very first football game. We went to see the Clemson Tigers play Miami.

The team colors of the Tigers are orange and purple... In clothing, orange was predominant.

So far, I have only seen football games on TV and only heard about "tailgating", but really didn't have a clue what it was all about.

We got there a little after 9am and the rest of the group already started up. We had a tent and we had food and beverages (adult and regular)... Unfortunately, our grill plan fell through, so we were a little short fuel. Fortunately, some of us brought out stuff that didn't need grilling.

We also saw the band practice.

This is a view over one of the tailgaiting areas from the stadium.

The stadium at Clemson seats around 80,000 people and it was SOLD out!

We were all the way up (second to last row) and could see to Lake Hartwell. Saturday was also a really hot day and we got slow roasted on the stands.

Celebrations after a touchdown for Clemson.

During half-time, the band performed on the field with choreography.

In the end Clemson lost. But all in all it was a good day with a great group of people, enjoying the last warm days of summer.

Would I go back? Tailgating maybe, but the game... Seriously, I don't have the patience to watch sports for 4 hours... Granted, people tell me, that the game dragged along unusually long.

So long! ;-)

Sweet Relieve

2010-10-03T16:26:00.001-04:00

Fall... It seems like fall has finally arrived here. Believe it or not, but I didn't really started to sweat a whole lot until half way through my run this morning and I slept in and didn't even get on the trail until 8.30am!!!

I got another long run in today and it was basically a repeat from my long run from three weeks ago... Complete repeat... Down to the average pace. Only.... It felt easier today and the course was a little more challenging as well. I guess, it wasn't a complete repeat over all then! ;-)

All in all, I continue to be really pleased in how the preparation for the Spinx Half is coming along.

Lately, I had some foot and calf soreness going on. I just couldn't figure out why those things came up all of a sudden. Until I read an article in the Triathlete Magazine (the Kona edition) named: "A Guide to Gear Replacement". For shoes it says: "Every three months or 300 miles. Racing shoes every 200 miles".

Well, this is no news for me.... Well, only 300 miles were kind of new to me, but for things like that, everyone has a different opinion. Anyways, it at least started to make me think about how long I am using me current shoes. I am rotating between a pair of Adidas Kanadia TR and Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8 for the past.... wait... here is comes.... YEAR! I am running in the same shoes for a complete year now! And I am surprised that my feet are sore.... Kinda funny, don't you think?

I love love love the Kanadia TR shoes and actually had 2 pairs sitting in the closet for several months now. So finally today, I switched to a new pair and it sure is a complete different feeling right away. For kicks, I put on a new shoe on my left and an old one on my right and yes, it was certainly time to retire the old pair. The arch support was basically non existent in the old shoe.

And no, I didn't go out for a run in one old and one new shoes. I just walked around a little in the house! ;-)

Now that I started using a new pair, I also started to use the equipment tracker that the training log on Beginner Triathlete offers. This way, I am not going to run in long overdue shoes anymore.

Now I just need to get a new pair of the Brooks and I am all set again. Rotating between those two pairs has really worked for me and you know... never change a winning team.

So long! ;-)

Ride The Divide - Free Presentation

2010-10-01T21:10:00.000-04:00

Crazy week.... My brain is all mushy and I am just happy it's Friday evening.

Of course there is NOTHING on TV worth watching. Luckily, there is a free presentation of the award winning documentary "Ride The Divide" available on YouTube until tomorrow (Saturday) evening.

The "Tour Divide" is a 2,745 mile mountain bike race along the spine of the Continental Divide.

People do some crazy stuff.... Because they can! ;-)

ENJOY!

Surprises... Good Ones! ;-)

2010-09-29T20:10:00.000-04:00

It's my birthday... My Facebook page went crazy today with all the birthday wishes... That was pretty cool!

Thanks to everyone for the calls, text messages, wall posts, e-mails and and and....

Since today is in the middle of the week, Terry surprised me with a 3-course dinner last Friday... yes, he cooks!

Surprise! First course!

Second course.... yummie!

Third course... With sprinkles!

Of course it's my favorite! ;-)

There was also a package in the mail from Germany... with chocolate! ;-)

So long!

Race Report: 2010 Blue Ridge Relay Pt Three

2010-09-28T12:38:00.001-04:00

This is part three of my 2010 Blue Ridge Relay race report. Click here if you missed part one or two.

3. Rotation for Van1

The third rotation in relays tend to be the ones, when things fall apart. People run on a couple of hours of sleep, a generally a little under-fueled and have already several miles in their legs. But you just have to keep on plucking along... Despite the odor levels in the van which one of my team mates tried to cure with a royal pine air freshener. That thing smelled so intense, it made me feel queasy. Fortunately, that was enough to convince my van mates to take that thing down.

Back to the running:

When Alex took over from van 2 at the Bakerville Fire Department... Where I skipped the baked potatoes... Not the pancakes as stated in the last report. Moving on. Alex took over and had to run 4.3 moderate mile. The run starts out with rolling downhills, only to have a nasty 7% grade climb in the last mile. I never ran this leg, but drove it twice by now and I personally think that leg stinks. It's a along one of the busier roads (but better at night) and it's just spooky!

Alex passed the wrist band to Christina and with this, we had the first runner in the van that was done! That's good for the runner and everyone else just looks at them in envy... Changing into... regular clothes... gasp! Moving on... Christina had 4.5 moderate miles on tap next. Again, it was a fairly busy roads and on top of that, her leg also had a fair bit of turns... Oh and did I mention the fog? Spooky.

I was waiting for Christina at the next exchange zone and I just looked at my watch saying something in the lines of "according to schedule, she should be here any minute" and there she was and I was on for my longest leg.... 9 hard miles starting with a 2 mile downhill and then rolling uphills for the remainders of the leg. Maybe 30 seconds before I started running, a runner from another team took off and I saw his blinky lights ahead of me, which makes you feel not as alone in the dark. I made him my rabbit and wanted to make sure to at least keep him in sight. The first two miles ticked by fast, but my quads sure weren't happy with more downhill running. Once I hit the bottom of the hill, it really felt like the wheels came off a little. But then I saw that my rabbit was gaining on another runner and eventually passed him, which gave me the drive to keep pushing. I passed that runner maybe at mile 2.5 and we chatted a little. My crappy fueling started to catch up with me. The turkey sandwich in the middle of the night just didn't hold me over and since I passed on the baked potato, I kinda got a little in trouble. Fortunately, I packed some Powerbar gel blasts and started eating those, when feeling hungry. I also drank a ton of water. My team was passing me around the half way point and they topped off my water bottle. Shortly after that, I passed a girl on one of those rolling uphills that she hiked up, while I ran/jogged/shuffled up the hills. It was the same girl, I passed during my night leg! In the meantime, it finally dawned... Nothing better than hearing a rooster crow when you are sick and tired of running in the dark. My rabbit was still in front of me, but he started fading on the rollers. I finally passed him around mile 7 on a hill, only to get passed back on the downhill... But I held on to my consistent pace and on the next hill I passed him for good. The remainders of the leg was pretty uneventful. Oh yes and of course I got passed by runners... 4 in total. The last one passed me in the last quarter mile of the leg. All of the runners that passed me, basically just zipped by me, I hardly ever knew somebody was there until they were right next to me. Oh well.

Jeff was off for his last leg. 7.4 hard miles that are basically all uphill. Yikes! What sticks out in my mind about this leg was, that you turn on Highway 19 and there is a parking lot to your left that may look like an exchange zone at the first glance. Only to find out that you have another 0.7 miles to run. But once again, Jeff clocked an awesome time for his leg and was done as well.

Our van really had some long legs in the last rotation. Once Jeff handed off to Ken, he was on the road for a 7.5 hard miles that had some juicy rollers going on. The first mile he was running through the town of Burnsville. When we passed him in the van we handed him his water bottle that he forgot to take and this way also had the chance to help him out with some equipment issues... That needed a little more attention later on, but after that, he was ready to roll.

Right about then, I also started to take pictures again.

For example of Joel, waiting to finally get on the road... Ready to get it done!

And the fog that I mentioned earlier was still there when our last runner (of van1) hit the road, but by the time he was done, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

After Ken handed over to Joel, he and van1 were only 4.4 easy miles from being done. 4.4 miles with no turn, along a river with beautiful scenery. But all of a sudden, it also started to get back hot. But Mr. Joel brought it home for van1 in a great time!

Resting and waiting to cross the Finish Line

Van1 did a little happy dance and then left the transition area to head to Asheville NC for pizza and beer! We did drive the Mountain Goat leg, so that Ken could see what all the fuss is about when we talk about that particular part.

Once we parked and got some food (and beer) into us, it was time to relax and rest at the finish line.

It was pretty warm outside, so after a while we headed into a bar/restaurant right next to the finish line... for more food (and beer) until van2 arrived!

Over 33 hours and 207 miles after we started in the Grayson Highlands State Park, our last runner crossed the finish line in downtown Asheville NC.

I honestly have to say, that the more relays I do (this was number 3), the more I think that it is about the journey and not about the finish line. Relay finish lines, just seem very anti-climatic... Everybody is just tired and ready to be done with it and go home. For me it's all about the team meetings before and after, the smack talk e-mail going back and forth between team members, the actual time traveling and running and reminiscing about how your run was... Basically the whole social aspect of the experience. Of course it's also a physical challenge and I am always amazed to see what our bodies are capable of, even after you sleep deprived them and didn't fuel them properly!

We'll see team DNR is up to next! ;-)

Gnarly

2010-09-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

Here is a little gnarly filler post.

This is a video collage from fellow blogger TriTawn to show the rough and raw moments of endurance sports for a school project. This is stuff that make you wonder, why people would ever do something like this to themselves.

WARNING! This is graphic stuff, so brace yourself!!

Oh yes and I make an appearance too... It's one of the more tame pictures... Lucky me, since there are some really bad injuries shown! Once again, if you have a weak stomach, this might not the right video for you to watch. For all others... ENJOY... And feel free to shake your head at the crazy people! ;-)

Race Report: 2010 Blue Ridge Relay Pt Two

2010-09-24T19:18:00.001-04:00

This is part two of my 2010 Blue Ridge Relay race report. If you missed part one, you can find it here.

2. Rotation for Van1

Van 1 took over around 6.30 Friday evening. This post is going to have much less pictures than the one before, because taking pictures at night doesn't really work with that camera and my abilities. Also, because I tend to take less pictures the more tired I get. Same goes for general reporting, since things get a little fuzzy in my memory starting in the second rotation, I can hardly keep the rotations apart basically, but I'll try my best.

So Alex took over in Blowing Rock for his second leg. He was about to embark on 7.1 miles rated "hard" for distance and elevation changes. It was also routed along a very busy road and we were loosing light fast. Certainly not the safest conditions, but equipped with blinky lights, safety vest and last year's team t-shirt in neon yellow, it was the safest way possible. While we were waiting for Alex to come to the "Blue Moon Station", we saw this cowboy getting ready to run as well. He was part of an ultra team that ended post a 7 something minute mile for the whole course. This guy took off for a 10 mile leg with a pace that most people run a 5K.

When Christina took over the wristband, it was almost dark. So no pictures anymore. She was about to head out for the Grandfather Mountain Leg from the Blue Moon Station to the entrance of Grandfather Mountain State Park... 10 hard miles with a total of over 800 feet climbing, through the woods in the dark with last year's report of bats still in our ears. Do I need to say more? We decided that we are going to wait 45 minutes before we are going to drive the leg, so we could see how things are going and support her with water and whatever else. By the time we finally caught her, she was much further along than we thought she would and even better, she was in great spirits and feeling good. So we just took one additional cheer stop and then went ahead to the next exchange zone.

80% of the elevation that Christina climbed over her 10 mile leg, I was about to loose in my next leg over 2.3 miles. ALL DOWNHILL! I got staffed out in my blinking safety vest, that I bought specifically for this relay, and soon was glad that it was a short leg because the safety vest was too big and moving around too much. Luckily, I brought my cheap safety vest with me for my long leg later on. Anyways, I was running downhill for 2.3 miles. I got passed once and I passed on girl. Other than that, I didn't see anybody around. I was just plucking along, trying to keep a high cadence. The leg was over before it really started and I was done in under 18 minutes, clocking a 7:45 minute mile... I never run under 8... But this was probably the first time ever that I was running downhill for that kind of distance! My quads got a serious beating and I was basically instantly sore... Not bad (yet), but I definitely felt the burn.

And now things start to get really fuzzy.

I handed off to Jeff and he took off for a short and sweet 3.4 mile run that in total didn't gain or loose a lot of elevation, but he had one quarter mile 9% grade to climb not even a mile into his run. But in usual Jeff performance he plowed through that leg like a champ and handed off to Ken.

Ken was about to do a 4.9 mile "moderate" leg. Which is kind of not really moderate considering that he had to climb for 1.5 miles half way through his leg. It was also one of those spookier ones.... Kinda dark, in the woods etc etc... yikes.... Oh yes and of course he was sandbagging again when giving us his projected time for the clip board! ;-)

Last one up for that rotation was Joel. Close to 6 miles and basically one rolling downhill. Well, there was one juicy climb too!

I don't have much memory of this leg, because we headed out right after Joel left and traveled to the next transition zone to meet up with the other half of the team and also to grab some of the turkey sandwiches that the volunteers at the Plumtree Presbyterian Church exchange sell.

2. Break for Van1

Pretty much all of us grabbed one of these sandwiches and then we chatted some with the other van until Joel came in. Actually, I might have left the group early and took a little cat nap in the van until Joel was done with his run.

After we wrapped things up at the Plumtree exchange, we moved ahead to the next transition zone at the Bakersville Fire Department. They sell pancakes there, but I just had the turkey sandwich and wanted to sleep more than I wanted to eat. So we found a spot at the back of the parking lot and Alex set-up his tent, Christina and Ken an air mattress, I pulled out my camping mattress and the remainders of the group set-up shop in the van. After maybe two glorious hours of sleep on the soft and mushy grass, I woke up and the first thing that I saw was a big fat old spider crawling over the grass maybe two feet away from my face. I am glad that happened after I woke up and not before I feel asleep, otherwise, sleep would have been impossible... at least outside.

We got our stuff together and waited for the last runner from van 2 coming in.

I skipped the pancakes again... Not a good idea if you are planning on running a 9-miler in a couple of hours.

To be continued...

Race Report: 2010 Blue Ridge Relay Pt One

2010-09-22T18:49:00.097-04:00

This is part one of my Blue Ridge Relay race report.

207.1 miles from Grayson Highland State Park VA to Asheville NC
Team "Do Not Resuscitate"

Total Time: 33h 03m 09s (9:32 minute/mile)

Open Category: 41/44
Overall: 87/99

Pre-Race:

Last year, we stayed in Boone NC in the night before the race, which made for a very early wake-up call. This year, things were a little more relaxed since our hotel was just half an hour away from the start line.... theoretically... 45 minutes including a couple of detours.

Van2 decided to sleep in (can't really blame them), so van1 was on it's own. We signed in with the race officials and took our starting line picture with half of the team. The other half is going to be photo-shopped into this pic! ;-)

The sequence in Van1 was: Alex, Christina, me, Jeff, Ken and Joel

A disclaimer for the following "leg reports": I didn't interview my van mates about their legs, so please keep in mind that all of this is basically what I saw or what they mentioned after their run. Some descriptions will be more detailed and some less detailed... Depending on what stuck in my head. Each of my team mates is encouraged to add their opinion or set me straight where necessary.

1. Rotation Van1

As our first runner, Alex took the show on the road for team DNR. His first leg was downhill and the goal was to beat Joel's time from last year... and even more important, not to get passed by Fred Flintstone again, which was a no show this year, so no threat there. The van handbook mentioned to watch for wild ponies, but I don't believe there were any sightings. His 4 mile leg was done and over quick (at least for the one's waiting) and the wristband was handed over to Christina.

Christina's 7.5 mile leg was also mostly downhill on narrow gravel roads. It actually took our van forever to navigate those roads, but the views were nice and there was almost no traffic, except the team vans. She made it in to the exchange zone pretty much at her projected time and looked strong when she handed over the wristband to me.

My first leg was 5.2 miles with the second mile being a nice steep uphill (up to 8% grade) on gravel roads. The first mile, I did faster than I thought I did and still felt good. The uphill mile was a little more work, but I kept plugging along... slowly. Mile 2 according to the Garmin was around a 12 minute/ mile. But once I was done with that hill, it was all downhill to the next exchange zone - first on gravel, but then the last 2.5 miles on the road. The gravel made for some insecure footing and even though I was wearing trail running shoes (as usual), I felt several rocks poking in my feet. The van traffic also caused some dust which didn't feel to good. I good passed by several people during this leg and passed one runner. The people that passed, didn't just pass me, but they flew by me and most of them were out of my sight quickly. I tried to not get discouraged by this and just kept on running based on my abilities, trusting in my faster team mates to make some ground on their legs. I ended up with 10 minutes/mile as average for this leg and I feel good about it... It also felt good to pass the baton to Jeff.

Jeff had a 6.9 mile leg on tap as first run. He actually was the only team mate that chose to return to his legs from last year (to re-live the glory? ;-), so he knew what he was about to run through from own experience and not just watching other team mates. He also had to run on one of the first bigger roads with heavy traffic. But in true Jeff fashion, he had a fast leg despite the long nasty climb between mile 3.5 and 5.5... Carrying NO WATER... Fascinating! Time to hand over the wristband to Ken.

Ken's leg routed him through the town of West Jefferson. A lot of the time, there were sidewalks available, but at one of the craziest spots there was none. Of course. He also had tons of turns on his run, but not a problem for Special K. There was this one quarter mile 7% grade climb in the last mile of the run. Yikes. He came in way under his projected time, so Ken really has to stop sandbagging! ;-)

Time for Joel and the last leg of the first rotation for van1. Joel had two nice hills on his first leg over a total of 5.2 miles. The first mile was all hill topping out at a 6% grade and then the other hill was between mile 2.5 and 4.5 topping out at 8% grade. The handbook says to enjoy the views of the mountain and the waterfalls on the first big descent, but I kinda doubt that anyone has the nerve for that kind of thing on a gravel road while trying to recover from climbing a big ole hill. But like the trooper that his is, he brought it home and handed the baton to the first runner of van2.

1. Break for Van1

Now it was time to get some rest for van1. We drove to the Tanger Outlets in Blowing Rock and set up camp at the second transition zone where we would start up again in a couple of hours. We got there around lunch time, so we hit up the same spot we did last year and stuffed our faces with burgers/wraps and fries/ sweet potato fries (onion rings for the people with the iron stomachs). After feeling sufficiently full, we got back to the van to nap. Some of us napped or tried to nap in the van, some of us where laying out on the grass like so many other runners from other teams too. I maybe got in 1.5 hours of sleep, which is pretty darn good for me in.

Funny side story from the transition zone: After we were already parked there for several hours, two police cars visited us with sirens and blue lights and stuff. From what we hear, a "concerned customer" called the cops because our van had "Do Not Resuscitate" written on them and there are people laying in the grass. Hmmm... For whatever reason they completely ignored the writing on the next van window saying "This time it's not serious... again!". Anyways, the police officers were pretty cool after we explained what was going on and they of course also had to notice all the other decorated vans in the parking lot. Weird weird story.

Stay tuned for the next part of the relay race report coming up tomorrow... maybe... We'll see! ;-)

First run post BRR2 update: It was ugly and I just made it to 3.5 miles before giving in and walking back to the Y. I still feel pretty crappy now and will call it an early night. Hopefully things feel better tomorrow.

Too Soon?

2010-09-21T19:15:00.000-04:00

Monday morning, I received this e-mail from one of my team mates:

Since Team DNR has become Do Not Return to the BRR. Here are some details for the 2011 Bourbon Chase:
Date is 10/7/2011.
Field size is limited to 200 teams.
Cost is $1,200 if registered by Thanksgiving. A $400 deposit is required; the balance is not due until July, 2011.
The race goes from Jim Beam to downtown Lexington.
I have not looked at all the legs, but several of the "Difficult" rated ones had hills with 3% grades, 100' over a mile or so. Those would be rated Easy or Moderate on the BRR!
The starting line is about 6-1/2 hours from Greenville.
I'm in! Who's with me?
Too soon?

Looks like a lot of people on the team are ready to make plans for next year already! ;-)

***********************
In other news:

There will be a local relay on November 13th benefiting the Project HOPE Foundation.

The relay is for teams of five and every runner has two legs and course is 42.5 miles in total. The start line is in the Paris Mountain State Park and the finish line in downtown Greenville SC.

Here is the race information.

This sounds like so much fun, but I am already signed up for the Camp Croft Trail Half on the same day, so I guess that means I am out for this one. Dang.

***********************

And I am still working on my race report for the Blue Ridge Relay and just give you a couple more pictures (thanks, Brian) from the weekend in the meantime:

Carbo loading in the hotel room... Yes.... It's really water in my hand! ;-)

Van1 and Van2 reunited at the first transition zone.

Another reunion at the second transition zone.

And the third and last transition zone.

In the meantime, the recovery is coming along. I can walk down stairs again and I made it to the pool this morning for an hour of easy swimming. Tomorrow morning, I will attempt my first run post BRR2 and can only hope that my running partner is going to take it easy on me! ;-)

So long.

All Over The Place

2010-09-20T12:46:00.001-04:00

Brace yourself, because this post is going to be all over the place.

To follow-up on my yoga post from last week, I have to confess that I didn't make it... Zipp, zero, nada and nothing at all on Thursday other than working, traveling to Jefferson NC and have a ball with my van1 team members at the local pizza joint. But due that post, Lindsay gave me this great link for some 10 minute yoga videos. Can't wait to try those out, once I can move again.

Which brings me to the next topic: Yes, I am still sore... Of course my quads are still trashed (thanks downhills), but even worse are my ankles. This is the weirdest thing, I don't think I ever had sore ankles in my life!! I just hope that what I feel is actually soreness not something more serious going on.

Due to all that, I am going to skip my planned workout for tonight and will give my body another full day of rest. That frees up the evening to go to the monthly Greenville Track Club meeting and listen to guest speaker Jeff Galloway! Can't wait!

When I posted yesterday morning, I still had high hopes that I would get in a swim, but honestly I was just too tired for it and couldn't get myself to do anything. I also planned to head downtown in the late afternoon to see the finish of the USA Cycling Pro Championship, but even for that I couldn't get my butt off the couch.

I tried to follow the race over the live stream on the official website, but that thing was a nightmare! After getting really frustrated, I finally grabbed the dog and headed towards Old Buncomb Road which was part of the course. That's not even a mile from the house and since I should be doing at least a little bit of physical activity to loosen up those muscles, a little walk sure wouldn't harm. Half way there, I heard the helicopter and police sirens and I was worried that I would miss the cyclists by a couple of minutes, so Karma and I started a little shuffle (yes, quite painful). We made it just in time to see Ben King (the winner) leading with around a 10 minute gap to the peloton. I also scored a water bottle that one cyclist tossed away close to where I was at. Once the peloton passed me, I made it back to the house and rest up some... 20 minutes of walking is ROUGH! ;-)

So long! ;-)

First BRR Pics

2010-09-19T07:16:00.004-04:00

WE ARE BAAAACK! I caught up on some sleep in the meantime and now I am ready to look at the first pictures from the relay.

We had tons of fun as usual and there are so many stories that need to be told, once it's all sorted out in my head. If I remember correctly, we ended up under 33 hours in total for 207.1 miles from the Grayson Highlands State Park VA to Asheville NC. I ran 16 miles out of that distance and am happy with them. The soreness settled in as soon as I finished my last leg and has just gotten worse from there. I can't remember the last time I was this sore. My ankles (????) and quads are killing me right now. So the plan for today is to do some walking and maybe some swimming, to shake things out.

Here are the first couple of pictures off my camera and I hope to have tons more as soon as everyone has uploaded their stuff in Facebook.

Some people in Van1 thought it was a good idea to have pizza pre race... Actually, not the two on the pic.... Not me either! ;-)

We made sure, that everyone knows our van means business!

Van2 decided to sleep in, so Van1 represented team DNR at the start line... There will be some photo-shopping!

Some people warm-up with push-ups, they are so hard core! ;-)

Parts of Van1 and Van2 at the transition area in Blowing Rock. Van1 about to take over for the second time.

Van1 right before we send our last runner on the road. Ready to be done!

Team Do Not Resuscitate at the finish line in Asheville NC. GO TEAM!!

Keep The Yoga Going

2010-09-17T11:00:00.014-04:00

My inspiration.

My execution... Rocking the Recovery Socks.

A couple of weeks ago, I put myself on a challenge to do Yoga once a week for the rest of the year. I stuck to it so far. Today, I missed my regular "Sunrise Yoga" class at the Caine Halter YMCA, because I am somewhere between the Grayson Highlands State Park (Virginia) and Asheville (North Carolina) to run the Blue Ridge Relay with team D.N.R.! This is a scheduled post, so while I type this, I still have a question mark about if I was able to squeeze in some yoga moves on Thursday to relax a little after our drive up to Jefferson where we stayed the night.

Have a great weekend everyone and I should be back tomorrow with a quick update from the finish line... If I am able to keep my eyes open that long. Otherwise, I will work on the race report a.s.a.p.

So long! ;-)

Packed And Ready To Roll

2010-09-16T13:30:00.059-04:00

This post is schedule to be published around the same time as "van one" is planning to pick me up at the house.

On the road again and super excited. The only thing that sucks about this little trip is the fact that my dear husband decided not to join in the fun this year and with that, I lost my personalized and customized pillow.

I just finish packing a couple of minutes ago and ended up with a huge bag that normally Terry hauls around. But really, with the van rentals, I didn't worry about packing more conservatively.

What I think I need for this relay:

three running outfits including socks, arm and leg warmers to make quick long sleeves and pants in case it's getting cold at night
2 safety vest with blinky lights, 1 regular safety vest, 2 head lamps and 1 red rear lamp (Christmas in September)
two pairs of running shoes, 1 pair of sandals
compression sleeves and recovery socks for in between the runs
big towel, so I don't have to sweat into the car seat this time (it's just a rental... yummie)
TOMS (tons of more stuff)

My biggest "innovation" for this relay is having three string bags (race goodies) in my big bag. One for all the safety related gear, one for all running gear (Garmin, glasses, headbands, Road ID*, nutrition) and one for "medical" needs (tape, nail clippers, aspercreme, biofreeze, sunscreen, tums)... Hopefully, this approach will save some time and nerves.

*reminds me, that I have to update my insurance information in my RoadID profile

After I got all my stuff together, I did a little photo series about Karma and me:

My fellow "model" obviously was a little distracted.

Here we go!

And here another pic with some crazy eye action.

Every time the flash went off, Ms Karma was going into a little frenzy, jumping all over the place and on top of me... She's lucky, that she's cute.

And here is a Runner's World's "Daily Kick In The Butt" quote from a couple of weeks ago:

I think there is too much emphasis placed on the distinction between the people in the front and the people in the back. I happen to feel that the sensations are exactly the same for all of us.
Kenny Moore, marathoner and writer

In that sense, I expect for team D.N.R. to rule the 9 minute/mile division at the BRR!

So long! ;-)

Tuesday Tidbits Vol 10

2010-09-14T18:30:00.062-04:00

Since I was all about gear love in last Sunday's post, I completely forgot to mentioned that we tried out a completely new route for us... It was all back country roads with wonderful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Paris Mountain, that came at the price of having tons of climbs on the roads. There was hardly any traffic and on several stretches not even a lot of signs of civilization. A wonderful route, that I would do again, but I wouldn't try on my own, because it's just so far away from anything.
Seriously, I think I start forgetting some of my German. Especially when talking about the running and stuff, since I didn't do any of this when I lived over there... I sometimes, just don't know the German word for it or it sounds really really weird. I am worried.
I skipped my run last night. I just felt tired and judging from how the ride was on Sunday, it was probably for the better, especially with the relay coming up.
Instead of running, I took the doggy out for a longer walk. I really have to start taking a camera on those walks, now that the leaves are going to start turning colors any day.
Recovery socks are really tight! My compression sleeves are really tight too... Why do I have monster calves?
This morning marked the return to the pool after over a month of absence. I took it easy and the shoulder was only mildly irritated.
I was in a lane next to the water aerobic class and the only thing those ladies seemed to exercise was their mouth... The instructor had the hardest time to break up the chatter! ;-)
It was downright chilly when I left the house at 5am this morning.... Goody goody... Hopefully it's going to be the same tomorrow morning for my run!
Just two more days of work until we take off for the Blue Ridge Relay.... I am very excited. The thing I am looking forward to most are the post-race beers at the Mellow Mushroom in Asheville while we are waiting for van two to finish up the race... Of course we are going to interrupt our MM session for a quick crossing over the finish line with the team!
I haven't packed a thing yet and I should really check the weather forecast. The night run might get really cold and the day runs probably blazing hot... Are they calling for rain? Oh well, anything can happen in those mountains I guess.
It is amazing to see pictures from races in other parts of the country and the people a clothes in long sleeves and pants... I can't even remember what long sleeves and pants are when I am outside. Inside it's another story, I have been using the heater under my desk throughout the summer, because that stupid A/C is keeping the room at temps under 70. I know I am the only one complaining here since I am sharing the office with boys and they are always warm. Men are from Mars etc etc etc.

So long!

Oh and don't forget to smile! ;-)

Upgrades

2010-09-12T20:45:00.000-04:00

I had a packet in the mail yesterday with my amazon order of my new cycling shoes. It's a pair of Pearl Izumi's TriFlyIII.... SWEET! And the timing was perfect too, since I just got some Speedplay pedals and a new cycling helmet earlier that day! DOUBLE SWEET! Especially, since I have some birthday cash to spend that I actually don't have yet, because it's not quite my birthday yet, but the shoes were too much of a deal to let that one pass. And of course I didn't want to wait with all the other stuff then.

When I started back cycling on my hybrid a couple of years ago, I eventually wanted to get some clipless pedals. Because I didn't know, if this cycling thing is going to stick with me, I ended up with SPD cleats and mountain bike shoes. It was a simple more bang for the buck type deal, because shoes with SPD cleats could double as my spinning shoes and seriously, the mountain bike shoes I got were so much cheaper than any regular cycling shoe I saw.

Now that it's two years later and that cycling thing seems to really stick with me, I thought it was time for an upgrade and BAM! here we are... New shoes, new cleats and new helmet... Oh the helmet was actually really due, because you are not supposed to use a helmet longer than two years... At least that's what I read somewhere.

It took us a little while to get the new pedals on the bike and the new cleats on the shoes, but eventually we made it out on the road. And then had to stop again to make some additional adjustments to make it easier for me to clip in and out... So that I won't tip over at the first stop sign.

We headed out for a 30 mile ride and it took us a little longer than usual. There was a lot of wind and I picked a really really hilly route... On top of all that, my legs just felt dead. But we got out there and that's the important thing.

First impression of the shoes/cleats/pedals/helmet:

Shoes: I think I like them, but I think it's going to take my feet a while to get used to them. Those shoes are so much stiffer than my mtn bike shoes. A big plus in comfort is that I picked a larger size for those shoes. My old ones are really snug and in the winter, I wasn't able to wear a good pair of socks without cutting of the circulation to my shoes. Oh and they are soooo light.... so sweet and light.

Speedplay: I just hope I figure it out really fast! But I do enjoy the 15 degree float. Unfortunately, the way we set them up currently, gives me full range on my left foot and pretty much none on my right. Gotta fix that before I hop on the bike the next time.

Helmet: It's worth spending a little more to get a helmet with sizes and not one of the universal size type helmets. All the helmets are just as safe as the next, but having a sized helmet, just fits so much better and feels so much better. It's also lighter than my previous one and has more airflow... All good so far.

Looks like the weekend is almost over.... I hope you all had a great weekend. For me, it's just 3.5 days of work and then team D.N.R. is back in action at he Blue Ridge Relay... YAY!

Confidence Builder

2010-09-11T21:00:00.000-04:00

Some runs are trying to break you and some runs are going to build your confidence. Today, I had a total confidence builder on my hands.

I started out in Greenville on the Swamp Rabbit Trail close to that Children Park and went all the way up to
Furman and back for a total of 13.1 miles. Yes that's right, I ran a half marathon today. And on top of everything, I wasn't exhausted afterward! I did the whole distance in 2h 20mins and I am very confident that I am able to pull this off in 2:10h come race day - at least.

The run was based on heart rate zones and after a 20 minutes warm-up in Z2, I did two Z3 and two Z4 efforts for each 25 minutes. I know I should be able to at least sustain Z3 for the whole distance, if not even Z4! Seriously, I am totally pumped with today's run... So excited!!

*********************

After the run, there wasn't much rest for this weary soul. I got back to the house, grabbed a shower and something small to eat and off I went again to go to the Relay for Life Corporate Event at the BMW Performance Center. DRX was invited to join them this year and the company (it's employees) ended up raising around 10,000 USD in a couple of weeks... What an accomplishment!

I stayed until the opening activities (survivor lap, care giver lap and team lap) were over and then took off to run a couple of errands.

I will post a couple of pictures from the events once I downloaded them. Our team tent looked AWESOME, you'll see! ;-)

So long! ;-)

Still Alive And Kicking

2010-09-10T12:32:00.001-04:00

Even though it has been mighty silent around here, I am still alive and kicking.

Work has taken over some this week which made for longer evenings and by the time I got my workout done and had something to eat, it was almost bedtime again. Something's gotta give and this week it was the blogging. Oh well! Right now, I am just having lunch at my desk (rice and beans leftovers, no picture because it really looked like... well... not good) and will keep it short anyways, I just wanted to type out what was going on this week.

Since my labor day 9-miler for the Blue Ridge, I did two more 6-milers, one on Wednesday and one yesterday. Same distance, very different runs.

Wednesday I didn't get back home until 6.30pm and by the time I finally started running it was after 7pm and we all know that it's getting dark so much sooner now. Anyways, Terry decided to tag along with me and since I didn't wanted to aggravate him with my heart rate zone training (Garmin beeps around a lot), I just went out and ran with him. That gave us one hour of uninterrupted couple time. We went out and back on the Swamp Rabbit Trail between Furman Lake and Sunrift Adventures in TR. By the time we got back to the car, it was pretty dark already.

For yesterday's run, I was a little more proactive and packed my running gear to go to the Caine Halter Y right after work instead of going home. Firstly, this way I really start running right away because there is nothing to distract me (dish washer, laundry etc) and secondly, in the case I got out of work really really late, I am not worried about running in the well lit roads around the Y... That's also my morning run territory when I am on my own. I actually got there and out running my 6.30PM! SCORE! I did the heart rate zone run that I skipped the day before and have to say that things went really well. Of course the lower temps do wonders for my running performance. But on top of that, slowly but surely I see my pace increase in the same heart rate zone. SWEET!

I hope to keep my "running momentum" going on the 2h 15m endurance run planned for tomorrow.

On Tuesday, I wasn't lazy either. I ended up doing a one hour trainer ride with some nice intervals. Here the same thing, I seemed to have to pedal more to get my heart rate were it's supposed to me. Well, for the first round of intervals... The second round, not so much a problem anymore.

I am so glad, I broke down last year and got myself a trainer... It was certainly a good investment in my training. When I first got the trainer, I thought I am just going to use it during the winter months, but it has been in use over the whole summer as well. Whenever the downpour started or when I lost daylight or when I had some time constraint that had me go for quality over quantity*.

*a trainer ride is more efficient than riding on the road, because you will have no rest, no cruising, no stop lights

Ooops... I guess, I had more to say than I thought... Anyways... Lunch break is over!

Happy weekend everyone! ;-)

Where Carbo Loading Is Yummie!

2010-09-07T18:46:00.001-04:00

I haven't featured a restaurant review in a while, but I actually wanted to talk about this place and kept on postponing it.

Brioso Fresh Pasta is one of the new places in the Cherrydale area and I what I heard about it, said that they have really good food. Looking at "urbanspoon", the reviews have been very mixed. Not many people complained about the food, but several people about the service.

The first time I had something from there, we actually just ordered to go. If my memory serves me right, I had the portobello mushroom ravioli with the marinara sauce and I loved it! But of course, I couldn't quite get the full picture if I never actually ate there.

So last Sunday, we finally made it. The set-up of the place is a little funny, since you order your food and drinks on the register. If you have never eaten there before, things can get a little confusing, but the staff on the register was very helpful.

We placed our orders and then got a table in the outside patio area... Got our beverages, water refill bottle, olive oil and herb bread to start us up....

The food was there fast.

My choice was the spinach gemelli with the siciliana sauce (eggplant, mozzarella, and basil in tomato sauce topped with shredded ricotta cheese). I enjoyed every single bite of my bowl!

Terry was so hungry, I couldn't wait for me to take the picture! ;-) He had spaghetti with bolognese sauce (classic Italian meat sauce) and some meat balls (meat with a side of meat ;-). He said he really like the spaghetti and sauce, but didn't care so much about the meat balls (bland).

The great thing about this place is that you can combine any pasta they have with any sauce. They also offer gluten-free pasta options and with all the different sauces, there is plenty of choice for the vegetarians too.

The place is super cosy and the interior design is very Mediterranean without being kitschy. I think it's odd to order at the register in a place that looks like so inviting to just hang out. But the food is great and I will certainly go back.

Thumbs up!

Dress Rehearsal for the BRR

2010-09-06T15:11:00.001-04:00

Happy Labor Day!

This blog post comes to you from my bed and was written while watching silly series on TV. Yes, I know the weather is beautiful and such, but you know what.... I have the house to myself today and I will just take it easy. Besides, the weather is beautiful for around five months now... At one point, one just needs to curl up in bed.

Oh and yes, I already ran 9 miles today, so I think I am alright.

I used the long weekend to do my usual relay dress rehearsal. The Blue Ridge Relay is in two weeks, so this was my last chance anyways! ;-) My sequence in legs is 5.2, 2.3 and 9 miles and that's also what I was planning on running for the rehearsal.

For the last couple of months, the only thing I did was long slow distances with a couple of intervals sprinkled in and a race here and there. So my goal for all of these rehearsal runs, was just to run them... Not paying attention to heart rate and just get them done.

The five miler was done Sunday morning around the neighborhood. It is going to be the hilliest out of my three legs and our neighborhood is hilly.... Perfect. Thanks to the cool temps, this run felt great and it was faster than anything I have done since... I don't know how long. Success.

After the run, I failed to hydrate properly which resulted in a nasty dehydration headache that I just wasn't able to shake for the rest of the day... No matter how much water I had after the headache already started.

Due to that headache, I bagged my second run for the day. Especially since it was just a two miler and I didn't think it was worth the hassle. But I took the dog for a longer walk, doing that two mile loop that I was planning on running. This way, I at least spend that distance on my feet and got a good upper body workout in, since Miss Karma is just incapable of walking civilized on the leash and kept dragging me along.

I spent a good chunk out of my Labor Day morning just being lazy and of course got a late start on my 9 miler. Actually, such a late start, that the swim after the run wasn't going to happen, because the Y closes at 1PM on holidays. I still drove to the Y and ran from there for a little change in scenery and it was totally worth it. Even though the trail sometimes was very crowded with all the people out... But this way, things never got boring, because there were always things to look at. 9 miler done and done and at a decent pace too, even with the day already warming up again.

Well, I guess I am ready for the relay now. ;-)

Export Routes From Bikely, Import Courses To Garmin Training Center

2010-09-05T16:21:00.081-04:00

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I struggled to get the the bikely route into the my Garmin Forerunner 305 to try out the "course" function. Let's do a little tutorial here.

First of all, bikely is a GREAT resource for bike rides in and around Greenville, since the Greenville Spinners seemed to utilize this page a lot. But you can search for routes all over the world and the data base grows daily. I like it more than mapmyride, because there is no advertising floating through the maps and the site also seems to load faster. Another plus point for me on bikely is, that cue sheets can be attached to routes... ready to print.

But let's get going with the "tutorial".

Step 1: Pick a route or draw your own route on bikely.

So just assume for a minute that I am in France and happen to have my bike with me....

In the map view, you can see the elevation profile of the course. If there is a cue sheet maintained with the route, you can just click on "cue sheet". As mentioned yesterday, I recommend having a back-up to the Garmin along for the ride.

Step 2: Download route to your computer.

While in the map view, click on "Share" an select option "Download .GPX".

So far, this is pretty straight forward. The problem now is, that you can only download .GPX and .KML out of bikely, but Garmin only understands .TCX and .CRS files.

Step 3: Convert GPX download to TCX file

Visit GPSies.com Convert site and upload your GPX from the route that you downloaded earlier. Then choose TCX format and click convert and save the new file on your computer again.

Step 4: Upload TCX file to Garmin Training Center.

File> Import> Courses and select your course file.

Step 5: Upload route from Garmin Training Center to your FR305

Of course you have to connect your Forerunner to your computer first and then send course to device in the training center software.

DONE! All that is left to do now:

Step 6: Get on your bike and ride the course!

Garmin FR305> Training> Courses> Select your course> Select "Do Course"
In order to switch between the data fields and the map press the "mode" button a couple of times.

Happy riding! ;-)

Riding Along a Breadcrumb Trail

2010-09-04T20:15:00.008-04:00

Always riding the same route with the bike can get pretty boring... So every now and then, I will venture out.

My partner in crime for a new route adventure was Stacy (tri buddy). The route was picked out on bikely.com and I typed out a cue sheet. But then I remembered the "course" function for the Garmin Forerunner 305.

It took me about an hour to figure out how to get the route off bikely (that was the easy part) and then into a format that the Garmin can understand. I will write a quick "how to" so that you guys don't have to go through this yourself. With the route in the Garmin, we were ready to roll this morning at 7.30am.

The route was listed at 50 miles, but we ended up having to do a little detour due to road construction.... It was about half an hour drive for me to get to the meet up point, but having "only" 1,700 feet of climbing over this distance, really sounded like taking a nice break from the foothills around here.

Oh and can we just say what a sweet relief a high in the 80s is, especially since we haven't seen temps like this since.... ummmm... April. For a split second, I actually thought I should have packed some arm warmers, but really, that would have been complete overkill.

Once on the road, I picked out the course and clicked "do course" and thought I would be done then. Well, since I didn't read the manual, I kind of was in state of trial and error for the first two miles until I finally ended up with this screen.

Or something resembling this screen. As you, see the display is a far cry from a car GPS and there is definitely no voice telling you to "turn left" etc. It's more like following a breadcrumb trail and I was really glad that I had a paper cue sheet with me... just to be safe. Because it was my first time trying the course function, I referred to the cue sheet fairly often, but really that wasn't necessary. Even with the detour due to the road construction, we would have been able to find back on the route just with the Garmin. I am a fan.... I don't think I will ever attempt a new route without this function, if I can help it.

Oh and we ended up with around 55 miles in 3.5 hours and certainly didn't kill ourselves out there. I am surprised that I was able to keep up at a 50 miler with only very little biking in August. My quads were screaming at me the last five miles or so, but other than that... Not a problem.

So long! ;-)

Unthinkable

2010-09-02T21:11:00.001-04:00

Earlier this week, I finished up "UnThinkable" The Scott Rigsby Story on audio book. The book tells the story of the first double amputee on prosthesis to finish an Ironman. Not any Ironman, but the World Championship in Kona.

This is a story about faith and willpower and will leave you inspired. You don't have to be a triathlete or even an athlete to be uplifted and encouraged by this.

Two thumbs up!!!

Scott Rigsby has founded the Scott Rigsby Foundation with the objection to inform and enable physically challenged people to lead and active lifestyle.

If you don't feel inspired now to set out and do something you never thought you could... Well, I don't know.

So long! ;-)

My Theory About Scales

2010-09-01T12:41:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, I noticed a scale in the Women's locker room at the Caine Halter YMCA. The scale is set up right in front of the mirrors with the hair dryers where everyone lines up to get ready.

I have seen scales in the weight/ cardio rooms before, but not in a locker room and especially not such a huge electronic one. To be honest, I am not happy about this. I think scales are helpful to keep track of your weight or your weight loss, but I don't like to be surrounded by them.

Coming from the background of having lost a lot of weight myself fairly recently (in 2008), I am throwing out my observations (this is not a study and I don't have any proof for that):

1. you are overweight and deny it, you don't even own a scale
2. you are overweight and know it, you might own a scale, but don't step on it (what's the point right?)
3. you are currently trying to loose weight, you own a scale and use it
4. you are at a healthy weight and never had any issues with your weight, you most likely don't own a scale
5. you are at a healthy weight or underweight, you own a scale and use it

People in the category 1/2/4 are not going to use the scale in the locker room.

People in the category 3/5 are already concerned/ obsessed with their weight and with the scale in the locker room, you give them just another opportunity to step on a scale and fret about their weight. Truth is, a person's weight varies throughout the day and can vary several pounds throughout the same day. It doesn't make sense to torture yourself.

I know what I am talking about! I used to be one of those people that stepped on a scale several times a day. I was never underweight and not overweight since I crossed the line between normal and overweight on the BMI sometime in 2008. Still, I tortured myself with every fluctuation in weight since then.

Don't get me wrong. I believe that weighing yourself is a necessary tool to keep the weight off and a lot of studies do support this statement. But we are talking about weighing once every couple of days or once a week. So there is a place for a scale in your home or even in your gym, especially, when you are trying to loose weight and to keep the weight off that you already lost, BUT you have to make sure that it doesn't become an obsession.

I thought about this a lot since I saw that scale in the locker room. I believe that scales are more "dangerous" for people that have a tendency of being unhealthy by being too skinny and not by being too big... that's why I left this note this morning, before I headed out for my run:

No picture of the scale, because cameras are not allowed in the locker room!

So long!

Old Favorites

2010-08-31T12:29:00.010-04:00

Sunday and Monday I revisited two old training "favorites" of mine.

Sunday: 10-miler

I haven't done a 10-miler in several months and I always feel like I accomplished something when my mileage goes double digits.

It was supposed to be an easy run and I was supposed to be on my feet for two hours. Check and check.

You read it all over Runner's World that a lot of runners go too hard on easy days and I was certainly one of them before I started following directions on heart rate zone training. For the life of me, I wanted to avoid doing a run over a 10 minute mile average with the result that no matter which distance I ran, I always ran around a 10 minute mile average. Not much faster and not much slower.

Right now, I try to follow the instructions on each of my runs to the "T". If it says easy than I run/jog easy even if that means that I end up with a 12 minute mile for my run. If it says tempo, then I do tempo. Intervals are intervals etc.

Sure, sometimes I feel like I lost the little speed that I gained earlier this year, but then I have to remind myself to have trust in the plan.... and that everything is going to fall into place eventually... especially if the temps finally decide to take it easier on us! ;-)

Monday: Up and Over Paris Mountain

Yesterday, Terry and I set out to climb up the steep side of Paris Mtn on Altamont Road a.k.a. "Back Of Paris" (if that doesn't give me some hits from Google, then I don't know what will! ;-) on our bikes.

It's a two mile ride to the bottom and then a little over two mile climb up and then rolling down to the other side. Then a lot of rolling hills and some real sucky hills through the neighborhood back to the house. The whole trip isn't even 14 miles and it's over 2,000 feet of climbing. The route is rough on the bikes for sure, but it also is great hill climbing training and a practice in descending, a skill that needs a lot of improvement for me. If I really go through with it and sign up for Assault on Marion/Mtn Mitchell in 2011, then this is going to be my training route... and around and around and around.

What we rode yesterday, was also a major chunk of the Paris Mountain Road Race 20K that the Greenville Track Club puts on every year in December... And right then and there, I decided that I won't ever try running that race. It's rough enough on the bike, but running it? Seriously?
So long!

Healthy Living Blogs

2010-08-29T16:34:00.000-04:00

This is directly from the page "Healthy Living Blogs - About".

"Healthy Living Blogs was designed to enhance the already tight-knit, supportive community of the healthy living blog world. An amazingly strong connection is formed when like-minded individuals come together to encourage one another, and that’s exactly what HLB is here to accomplish. Find new blogs that blow you away. Find new inspiration. Find people in your geographic area to meet and encourage and support you in real life.
I’ve frequently been asked, “What kind of blogs can be part of HLB?” The answer is simple; any blog which focuses on health. This includes a wide variety of “types” of blogs. While bloggers who post multiple times a day, sharing everything they eat and do are more than welcome, so is everyone else. You can blog three tims a week or three times a day, you can blog only fitness tips, only healthy recipes, or everything about your quest to lose weight. You can reach beyond nutrition and fitness to explore other areas of health. You can have five readers or 500,000 readers. HLB is open for everyone, bloggers and readers alike, who care about health.
HLB was the brain-child of Lindsey who writes about her personal healthy living journey back to school to become an R.D. over at Sound Eats."

This is a great resource. I especially like, that you can look for blogs by area!!

To be included in the blog listings, simply send an email with the following information to healthylivingblogs@gmail.com:

Email subject line: MEMBERS
Your name (please let me know if you prefer to go by first name, first and last, or however you prefer to be known on the Internet)
Your blog name and URL
Your twitter username, if you have it
Your location (if you prefer not to disclose this information for privacy’s sake, that is completely understandable. We’ll simply include your blog listing in the a-z listing, not by location, too)
Any specific labels (i.e. vegan, gluten-free, weight loss, running, etc.)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Another Picture Filler Post

2010-08-28T14:59:00.001-04:00

I found some pictures online from last weekend's sprint tri in Laurens.

Enjoy, while I digest my lunch to a point that I can head out for my planned two hour run. That's what I get for being lazy this morning and not getting my butt in gear.

setting up transition

top middle, I think I just got the swim course explained

listening to the race director

testing the water, after the first wave was off

hanging out in the water - chit-chatting

about to come in T2

I guess, I am getting my breath

No pics running or from the finish line... Oh well.

1-Year Bloggerversary

2010-08-27T17:57:00.007-04:00

Today is my one year bloggerversary.

When I started out last year, I wasn't even sure if I am going to be able and willing to keep this up. And even though I don't think that blogging is a life changing experience for me, it certainly is an outlet that I enjoy having and I am willing to spend some my free time on.

Thanks for reading along and commenting. On to another year!

******************

Last night, I met a couple of friends to run the Paris Mountain trails. Last year, this was a weekly get-together and right now, we trying to find back into a groove doing this on a more regular basis again.

We did a modification of the Paris Mtn 11K trail race course bringing the distance to pretty much exactly six miles.

It was Terry, Alex (relay team member) and Stacy (tri training buddy) as well as two dogs. The boys took off at the front with the doggies and Stacy and I chatted the whole time. We haven't seen each other in a couple of weeks and had to catch up. It was her first trail run ever and it was a lot of fun to show her the trails. After the run, she said that she really enjoyed herself and the change of pace and scenery that trail running brings. Since it started thundering, when we were at the top parking lot, we decided to run back on the road vs the trail. It's pretty much the same distance down, but you are faster on the road and the weather looked like it's going to go crazy any second now. So we actually, "just" did 4 miles on trails and the rest on the road, but we certainly did the most difficult portion of the course on trails.

The weather behaved until we were back at the cars. Perfect timing!

Oh and when I got back, my car looked like this.

Fortunately, the guy that did that left a note with his phone number.

Have a great weekend!

Getting the Hang on Pre-Race Nutrition

2010-08-25T20:30:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist, just sharing my personal experiences!

I learned a lesson or two over the last couple of months racing...

One of the things I seemed to get better at is the pre-race nutrition. Only very little queasy stomach going lately and no major disasters.

Anyways, here is my list of things to AVOID/ REDUCE starting at least two days before a race. If it's a longer event (going on 2 hours and over), I do those steps even earlier in the week.

Reduce fiber at least two days before race day.
No raw vegetables.
Reduce dairy intake.
No greasy foods.
No alcohol.
No diet coke.
No sweets.

Out of that list, the diet coke is probably the hardest part for me... And yes, I am fully aware that I don't have any business drinking diet sodas to start with.

Looking at it now, this is pretty straight forward... Tell me again, why I have to write this down? Oh yes, because I once thought that running a 5-mile race on donuts and greasy pizza would be a good idea... Thinking of this day makes my eye twitch.

What do you avoid before race day to keep the tummy happy?

*****************

Neck Update: Things have been much better today. Not quite back to normal yet, but much better. I even got to do my run. It was my first tempo run in MONTHS and I am happy about it.... Goody goody.

Pain In The Neck and A New Trail Half

2010-08-24T18:42:00.000-04:00

Pain In The Neck

I was so concerned about making sure not to ramp up my running mileage too quickly in order to avoid the repeat of the ITB mess of last year... And knock on wood, so far no problems.

And yet... I didn't train yesterday and won't do anything today either. I even skipped my 10 minutes a day core workout because of shooting pain down my neck, shoulder and back.

This is not so unusual, since I seem to get something like this every couple of months (not related to the shoulder hick-up) and normally it's done after a day of rest, a bengay patch and a good night's sleep. Only, this morning I woke up and it hurt even more. Actually, I woke up several times during the night because it hurt.

So once I was at work, I slapped on a heating pad (I have those in my desk drawer for emergencies) and then called my chiropractor and fortunately she was able to squeeze me in at 4.30pm.

When I told my boss that I'll have to leave early for the appointment and that it is my neck again, he suggested that we might have to consider a new spot for me in the office. The problem is that I sit right under one of the A/C vents and the air hits me on my left and all my problems always seem to be on my left.

I feel a little better now after my appointment, but it's not really good. And doc told me, that it's quite possible that I am going to tense up again. In the meantime, I am following my prescribed sequence of ice-off-heat-off-ice-off-heat and biofreeze.

Hopefully, I will be back tomorrow with the run that was planned for today. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

****************************

A New Trail Half

November 13th, 8.30AM

"The inaugural Camp Croft Half Marathon is the first half marathon of its kind in the upstate of South Carolina and will take place in beautiful Camp Croft State Park. This challenging race will consist almost entirely of single and double track trails. All proceeds from the race will benefit Camp Croft State Park and Friends of Croft, an organization created to bring assistance and awareness to this jewel of Spartanburg County."

Registration is USD 35 before September 1st and USD 45 after that.

Isn't this tempting? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Race Report: 2010 Laurens YMCA Sprint Triathlon

2010-08-23T12:03:00.001-04:00

300 yards open water swim - 12.3 mile bike - 3.1 mile run

Results (based on chip time):

Swim 7m53s (pace 2:38m/100y) OA 35/100 AG 2/7 GR 8/39
T1 1m56s
Bike 41m14s (speed 17.9 mph) OA 37/100 AG 4/7 GR 11/39
T2 1m08s
Run 30m57s (pace 9:59 min/mile) OA 70/100 AG 6/7 GR 25/39

TOTAL 1h 23m 09s OA 58/100 AG 5/7 GR 19/39

OA= overall, AG= age group, GR= gender rank

Pre-Race:

Slept like a rock... That's a victory in and of itself. Maybe, just maybe I am getting used to this racing thing and don't go crazy each and every time anymore.

I am a natural planer, so of course I had the address in my GPS and was trusting it to get me right where I needed to be and in time... I got there at 6.40am (race start was 7.30am) and other than one other car was no soul at the Laurens YMCA. Turns out, that the triathlon wasn't at the Y, but at a location 8 miles down the road. I called a friend of mine that I knew is familiar with the area and also doing the race and he was able to give me directions right away. The people in the other car figured it out in the meantime too and so I followed them. Once we were at the location, all the parking spots close to transition were already filled up and I had to park a little away from everything. I grabbed all my gear and hauled it down close to transition and then hit the porta-potty line. It was 7am then. Awesome! 30 minutes time to pick up my packet, get body marked and set-up transition. It's amazing how much of a routine I have established by now and I got everything done in time. I didn't even freak out when I let out all the air on my back tire (by accident) and wasn't able to get air back in*. My friend became my life saver for the second time that day and was able to organize a pump and pump up my tires. We were at the shore line of Lake Rabon with minutes to spare, but then the start was delayed a little.

*I had this issue before and this was the straw that broke the camel's back. I am going buy myself a good pump ASAP!

Swim:

We started in waves. The boys went first and the girls followed them 3 minutes later. I spent those 3 minutes chatting with a girl that I know from other races. Made the time fly. This was only my second wave start/ open water swim in a triathlon. Also, this group was much bigger from what I experienced at AOC. I lined myself up to the very outside (and away from the swimming direction) and once we got going, I realized that this was a mistake. Swimming is my strong suit and I have no business hiding myself at the start to then have to swim over everybody. Live and learn. Of course, the reasoning was, not to get into the human washing machine, but by having to swim around and over people, I couldn't avoid this anyways. The water actually felt refreshing compared to the training triathlon I did a couple of weeks ago in the same lake. It was over before it really started and I felt good getting out of the water.

Two notes about my swim time: The race was advertised as a 300 yard swim, but it was closer to a 400 yard swim. Also, there was no timing mat at the swim exit, so the run up to transition is also included in the swim time.

T1:

Decent transition. Nothing noteworthy.

Bike:

In all the rush, I still remembered to put the bike into a small gear before racking it. It's all about routine! ;-)

Hopped on the bike and was off. I didn't quite expect for the bike to be this hilly, but the route was really pretty and they had an amazing number of volunteers on the course securing all the intersections and giving directions. Even though the course had a couple of turns, it really never was an issue. I was making good progress on the bike and half way through I decided to push it as hard as I can and just use for the run whatever is left. I passed a ton of people and got passed a couple of times, but mostly it was guys and girls that weren't in my age group. Maybe three miles before T2, a girl in my age group passed me and I really wanted to stay close to her, but she just pedaled away from me like it was nothing. The best moment during the bike was getting chased by a group of horses (behind a fence). The way in and of the Lake Rabon lake access area had two nice hills that we had to climb back up to get back into transition. Getting off the bike, I felt good and was really happy with it.

T2:

I really have to try to get T2 under 1 minute. I lost some time getting the Garmin off the bike, even with the quick release. The problem was not the quick release, but that I am too short to reach over the rack properly.

Run:

Those hills that I had to climb up getting into transition. Well, I wasn't done with them quite yet. I would have to conquer them two more times before crossing the finish line. The run felt alright, but the hills really got to me. I was also fighting with a headache at this point. It was funny, I woke up this morning with a headache, but it was gone after breakfast and then back on the run. There was also some cramping going on around my left shoulder blade. Just didn't feel too awesome at that point. Around mile two, things started to feel a little better and I was able to pull away from a girl, I first followed and then we ran next to each other for a while. Needless to say, that I was passed by the dozen, but what's new.

The crowd support around the finish line was awesome, because it was right next to a picnic shelter with all the food, so all the finishers stayed around and cheered everyone in.... Up to the last person... She got a super extra loud round of applause! This tri community really rocks!

Post-Race:

"On Your Mark Sports" did the timing of the event and the results were up in no time. After crossing the finish line, I grabbed something to eat and talked to some friends and then walked over to the results and already saw my name listed.

After that, I cleaned up a little (no showers on location, that was a little bummer) and then waited for the awards. I didn't expect to place, since I knew that there were at least two girls ahead of me that I saw and was sure there were a couple more that I didn't see.

Once the awards were over, I was about to head to the car, but then ran into one of the volunteers (I met her during the AOC course previews) that helps organizing the whole series. She just tore down the transition area and we started chatting a little and I ended up helping to break the racks down.

*********************

This race officially concluded my triathlon season and now the focus will be on running for the next couple of months. I will still bike and swim (once shoulder is back normal) for cross training and to not to have to start from scratch next season. All of the races that I did this year were part of the Upstate Y Tri Series and I am planning on joining them next year for at least six races (in order to qualify for series ranking).

Save Us From Ourselves! ;-)

2010-08-20T18:53:00.082-04:00

Today's topic is somewhat related to yesterday's in the terms of, that as athletes (sometimes, I still feel funny to use that word to describe me) we have to listen to our bodies. And you all know, how I love me some training plan, but following a plan to the "T" without taking other factors into consideration is just not going to work out. Sometimes, life happens and interferes with the training, sometimes weather conditions dictate to slow down or just bag a workout and sometimes your body is going to tell you that it's sore, it's tired and had enough.

Athletes are often referred to as "Type A" personalities* and things like accepting that life happens, and weather happens and your body is only that of an human too, is not always easy for a type a.

*Here is a portion of the wikipedia explanation (to read the whole thing, pls click on the link above): Type A individuals can be described as impatient, time-conscious, controlling, concerned about their status, highly competitive, ambitious, business-like, aggressive, having difficulty relaxing. They are often high-achieving workaholics who multi-task, drive themselves with deadlines, and are unhappy about delays. Because of these characteristics, Type A individuals are often described as "stress junkies."

I don't think I mentioned it before, but my left shoulder is giving me some trouble lately. Nothing major and especially now that tri season is almost over (last tri for me tomorrow), I didn't really worry about it. I haven't been in the water since AOC, but also thought that I should be able to squeeze out 300 yards tomorrow no matter what. And going to the pool probably would just have aggravated the area, so I just skipped it.

This was a looong introduction for my actual point:

So early this week, I get an e-mail from Coach Katie telling us that there is a 2 mile swim in Lake Murray in September. No swimming in over two weeks and a sore shoulder? Of course a 2 mile swim sounds like a fabulous idea! I almost signed up for that puppy and probably would have, if I hadn't noticed before that the Blue Ridge Relay is on the same day.

I mentioned it one of my tri buddies and all she wrote back was: "It's good when we save ourselves from ourselves!"

True that. True that.

On a similar note: Lindsay over at Chasing The Kenyans mentioned in today's post that there is a half marathon in Spartanburg on Oct 9th. While Brian at Start Slow Than Taper mentioned a trail half marathon in Charlotte Sep 25th.

You see where this is going? I know, that I am planning on doing the Spinx Half end of October and really want to focus on it... but you know.... a dress rehearsal never hurts right? ;-)

Happy weekend everyone!

The Perfect Hill Is A Challenge

2010-08-19T19:12:00.018-04:00

You know that I am on a plan... A training plan that is. I enjoy the fact that I don't have to come up with stuff to torture me, somebody else is doing that job for me (currently on a generic half marathon plan from BT) and I am just left with the execution. It makes me do things, that I normally wouldn't... If I would design my own training plan it would look something like this: Monday 5ish Miles, Wednesday 7ish Miles, Saturday 10ish Miles... No information on how fast, what HR zone, running hills or on flats, intervals. I am not very creative in coming up with things to torture myself...

My current pet peeve on the training plan are the hill repeats.

So far I had two of those on the plan and the basically look the same:

15 minute easy warm-up
Number x2 minutes hill repeats working into heart rate zone 4 and rest on the downhill
15 minute easy cool-down

On Sunday I had 10 x2' and yesterday 12 x2' and even though I haven't looked into the future weeks, I assume that's is going to go up from there with even more repeats. It's labeled as "strength building" workouts and I believe that this is exactly what that kind of run is doing: making you stronger and that's certainly not a bad thing.

Those hill repeats are rough, but I found that my biggest challenge is to fine the perfect hill... And to be perfect, it needs to fulfill the following requirements:

at least 0.25 miles long, to make sure that I most certainly won't be able to reach the top during the 2 minute time span
a gradual hill that has about the same incline all the way up
not a lot of traffic (since I will be spending a lot of time on the same piece of road)
no stray or playful dogs
preferably shaded (see above: spending a lot of time there)

On Sunday's run I had an idea of the hill on which I would do the repeats, but I got lazy and didn't measure the distance beforehand. This way I ended up with two hills that were too short until finally finding one that worked. Even though the grade of that hill wasn't too practical, because it flattened out quite some at the end.

Yesterday I came prepared! I picked and measured the hill the night before. My warm-up would be running to that hill from the house the long way. I ended up having more of 30 warm-up, because it was the "long" way (maybe 2.5 miles) and I was super slow. The temperatures and the humidity really took a toll on me and I was supposed to take it easy.

I did my first hill repeat and I knew right away that this one is going to be perfect until I noticed the lady reading in her yard with her goofy golden retriever. The first time, the dog didn't do anything, but on my second repeat he sprinted out the yard, wanting to play with me and I knew that the remaining 10 repeats are not going to happen here... For the lady's and my sanity's sake. I finished my second repeat up and then kept running up the hill (instead of going back down) in order to find another hill. The next one I picked out didn't work at all. Way too short and it actually led into a private community, that -I guess- I shouldn't even run into. After the 3rd repeat was a fail, I kept on running. Soon I ran down a hill and thought that this could possibly work. When I hit the bottom of the hill, I turned around and started repeat #4. This was a very good alternative to my original pick and I kept on doing my repeats #4 through #8 and then my stomach revolted. Fortunately, I was only half a mile from the house, so I did a little pit stop there. For a while, I just thought to call it a day, but then my stubbornness won and I headed back out, but I stayed close to the house doing the remaining four repeats on a hill just up the road... It was alright to finish there, but traffic on that road is a little more than all the other spots I ran that day and there was another puppy running along with me for a while wanting to play.

My legs felt good and heavy by the time I was finally done. This morning, I also felt really tight and had a couple of sore spots around my knees on my calves. I was supposed to do an easy run this morning, but bagged the thing and jumped on the elliptical instead, to give the legs a little rest. Low and behold, on my last 15 minutes on the elliptical the old buddy plantar f made a short appearance in my left foot... Did I stop my workout early? Of course not... In the end, I guess I do like to torture myself. Hopefully, the massage that I had after work has taken care of this... PLEASE!

So long! ;-)

Addition to Paris Mtn 7K Race Report

2010-08-18T21:12:00.002-04:00

So, there have been tidbits of wrong information on yesterday's race report and one of my FB friends straightened me out and there was also a good discussion about oblivious people. ;-)

Here you go:

I am slacking a little in the blogging department, but hopefully, I will be able to share some training related items in the next couple of days.

So long! ;-)

Race Report: 2010 XTERRA Paris Mountain Trails 7K

2010-08-17T17:54:00.001-04:00

Results (based on Guntime):
50:00 (11:29 min per mile average)
Overall 172/240

After taking off a complete week after AOC and my first week of half marathon training, I was once again toeing a start line. This time for the last race of the 2010 XTERRA series.

The night before, I had my usual Friday night chiropractor appointment and then we headed out for some sushi. Since sushi seems to become more and more my perfect pre-race food, I stick to it. After coming home from the restaurant, I just felt achy and tired and was asleep by 8.30pm and slept right through the night until the alarm went off at 6am. I guess, I desperately needed some sleep.

Pre-Race Routine

Took it easy in the morning. I was out of the bed early enough to take a lot of time getting ready... And then wait until the husband was ready too. He wanted to come along, but not do the race... Just be my groupie and maybe (yeah right maybe!) get a "little" run in. We also took the doggy along, so she can get some exercise too... She ended up running over four miles on Terry's "little" run. Of course faster than I can run that distance, but she's half greyhound and I need an excuse.

Once at Paris Mountain, I picked up my package, did another pit stop (number 574 for the day) and then headed to the start. Karma wanted to check out the Lake and so I'll let her. This way, I was far away from the other runners and their nervous energy. While waiting around, we also ran into Chris, my captain (oh captain) from the Blue Ridge Relay team.

The Course

I have never done this race before and also didn't know exactly which trails are going to be used. We started off at Picnic Shelter #1, then made a loop around the upper parking lot (apparently, we needed that extra mileage to make the race a 7K), then turned right on Mountain Creek, straight at Sulphur, followed Sulphur to the left, crossing the road and heading into the woods again, climbed up to the dam, then took a right (not doing the steep steep part of Sulphur) on the trail which I forgot the name. Once we hit the road again, we took a left heading up the road and then turned right onto Sulphur again running back (all downhill from there) on Sulphur and Mountain Creek to the finish.

The Run

I started out in the back of the pack, right were I belong and took it easy until we hit Mountain Creek Trail. Once on the trail, I started passing people and got passed a couple of times myself.

I never expected to kill this race, but once I was out there, I felt good the whole time. I was working hard, but I wasn't going crazy.

Let's insert a short rant in here, shall we? Using an MP3 player during a race is a personal choice, especially if the race organization doesn't restrict the use, BUT a trail race is NOT the place to choose using music. During a trail race, people actually have to communicate to each other, because space for passing is limited. So when I am breathing down your next for the last 5 minutes and then say "on your left" and you still don't move anywhere... that doesn't fly! I had to practically yell at the girl for her to finally hear me. I think it would make sense to not allow earphones on trail races. Rant over!

The trail that connected the dam to the road (the one I forgot the name) is really nice and wide and fairly flat. That was a good area to just run! There was one girl that somehow ended up on that trail without doing the dam (there is a shortcut)... I am sure she didn't do it on purpose, but the look on her face when she realized that she has to turn around and the climb up somewhere else was disheartening!

If I remember correctly, the only time I walked was on the road section before it connected back to Sulphur. This area was so steep and I felt like I won't loose a lot of time by (power) walking this short piece.. But I would loose more time powering up the hill and then be too exhausted to try to really push in on the downhills. I think that worked out alright. Oh and of course I walked the steps up the dam.... That's a no brainer! ;-)

The downhill is of course fun, especially if it's not super steep. I made good pace the whole way back and once I hit the amphitheater, I put it into high gear for the remaining quarter mile and was able to pass several runners. Stopped the clock at 50 minutes... Not bad.

Even though they had a photographer on the finish line, I wasn't able to locate any pictures of me.... Sad. My backup photographer was out on his "little" run and just got back to the finish line area when I was already done.

Post Race

I picked up a water bottle and half a bagel (that I shared with Ms. Wonder Dog) and then we hightailed it out of park since we had plans to meet up with friends in the Gaston NC for the day.

So far the XTERRA series results haven't been posted yet and normally it takes them a couple of months to get that done... Not that I have big expectations on that, just to let you know.

I am already signed up for the first race of the 2011 series which is going to be in November of this year and an 11K. Seriously, I am already looking forward to that one, even though it's a week after my half marathon... It's going to be fun!

So long! ;-)

A Little Picture Filler Post OR

2010-08-15T14:56:00.000-04:00

addition to AOC race report!

Sooo..... It's Sunday afternoon and all the chores are completed for today.... pretty much anyways. Got my long run out of the way early already so now it's time to kick back and hmmmm I guess write a race report?

The 7K yesterday was good. No stellar performance, but solid and no blood this time! ;-) My time was 50 minutes flat and I ended up 172 out of 140 overall. I take it and yes, I am working on the race report, but that probably is going to be another couple of days depending on how fast they are going to post the pictures that were taken all along the race course.

Speaking of pictures.... Since I don't have any content otherwise, let's look at some pictures from the Assault on Cherokee shall we? ;-)

warming up at the swim start

getting out of the water

just after exiting T1, glasses in my mouth instead of on my face still at this point

about to cross the finish line

at the awards

and here, I am just looking silly ;-)

So long! ;-)

Namaste!

2010-08-13T18:53:00.001-04:00

I logged my 1h yoga practice from this morning in my online training log and then noticed that this is my first yoga entry in 2010... I shouldn't be surprised, that I feel super tight ALL THE TIME!

After most of my workouts, I do a 5 to 10 minute stretch, but seriously, that just doesn't cut it.

So right here and right now I vow to go to the Sunrise Yoga class every Friday morning for the remainder of the year! Seriously, I don't know why I am such a wuss about this. I get up at 5am most mornings anyways. So one morning more or less really doesn't matter anymore - right?

To keep my accountable, I designed a nifty spreadsheet:

********************

Oh joy it's Friday!

Tomorrow, I will do the Paris Mountain Trail 7K and then will add on some miles to get to my 1h10m long run for that day. I haven't been running on trails since the 15K back in May, but I am also not planning on going crazy... Big factor is also going to be the temps and humidity... I expect major suckage. This is the last race of the local XTERRA series and I am currently ranked second for my age group (consistency over speed sometimes), but 1st will only be possible, if nobody else in my age group shows up... Not realistic.

And here is some cuteness for the weekend:

Are You Ready For The Blue Ridge?

2010-08-12T18:40:00.070-04:00

Yesterday, somebody asked me if I was ready for the Blue Ridge Relay.... Hmmmmm... We'll see.

After a little e-mail chatter break earlier in the summer, the team is in full organization mode - kind of... maybe... We'll find out whenever we have the next team (actually first meeting for BRR2) that is tentatively scheduled for next weekend.

But one important bullet point was crossed off the list by finalizing the t-shirt designs! As usual, kudos go to Alex for doing a great job over and over with our team t-shirts. Slowly but surely, I also get used to this obnoxious color choice that we are not changing since it somehow has become our trademark... If they say so. Anyways, here are the final t-shirt designs for your viewing pleasure!

front

back

In more runner 3 (that would be me) specific news: They changed the legs around again* and instead of 14 point something miles in total, I will do 16 point something miles with the added goody that my longest leg with 9 miles is going to be last leg... Yay me! That's going to be FUN!

*happened to me at the Palmetto200 as well

For a little while, I thought about trying to trade my leg with some of my van buddies, but really, the other legs are not that much shorter to be worth the hassle. Besides, the good thing with runner 3 is that the night leg is short and sweet... Just how I like my night legs! ;-)

Note: They did switch their leg descriptions from handdrawn to mapmyrun.com maps and elevation charts which makes me feel more confident in the accuracy, especially for the elevation changes. My last leg last year was quite a surprise (and not a good one) when I ran it, since it looked nothing like the elevation chart.

Okay, let's have a look at what is going to be in store for me this time around.

click on the pictures to enlarge

Well, at least I don't seem to have crazy* elevation gains. That's good!

*it's all relative at the BRR... There is going to be a good bit of up and down and from the look of it, the only beast I will have to conquer is mile 2 in my first leg... Git'r'done!

On the training front, things are getting back into swing after my no workout policy of last week. The temperatures and the humidity makes for rough runs these days. Low in speed and high in heart rate. Other than that... Trucking along!

So long! ;-)

Oooops... Five Years Already! Part V

2010-08-11T18:27:00.081-04:00

Note: This is the last part of my 5 years in the USA photo story. To read the previous parts click here for part I, II, III and IV.

Recapping 2009 up to the time I started this blog.

2009 in general was way less traveling than previous year, but much more racing! ;-)

In January, I kicked off the 2009 race season with the Greenville News Downtown 5K... I believe that is the biggest 5K that we have in the area with around 5000 participants each year and the t-shirts are super cool with the interstate sign and the year instead of the interstate number.

In February, we made a day trip to Atlanta to visit the Georgia Aquarium and the Coca-Cola Museum. While I am not a big fan of aquariums in general, I really enjoyed my repeat visit to the Coca-Cola Museum... really worth it!

In March of that year we had a SNOW DAY! Since a snow cover like this doesn't happen too often around here, it had to be documented! ;-)

One of the best races I did so far, was the St. Francis Mud Run in May. It's a 4 mile run with around 40 obstacles on a military base in Greenville. Team "Sunny Side Up" did a GREAT job! It didn't work out for us to return in 2010, but there is always next year, right?

Also in May was the annual Salsa BBQ and since there are not a lot of pictures with Terry and I dancing, here you go:

In June, we did the Candlelight Run 5K. That was quite possibly the roughest 5K I did so far. The race started around 8:30pm and it was still 90 degrees outside and the humidity was insane. We were a whole group running and that's always fun... And the weather condition made for some nice "war stories" in the post race pizza and beer get together.

Also in June, I did my first triathlon. This had been on my to do list since starting my weight loss journey in 2008.

In July, I did a solo vacation visit to Germany. I took it very easy and didn't travel a lot, just tried to spend as much time as possible with my family. One exception though was a weekend trip to Bavaria were I ended up joining for a 4th of July party... Of course you normally don't celebrate the 4th of July in Germany, but this group has been living in the US at one point in time and it was great to see everybody.

While I was there, my parents also picked out a new family member: Paul the Puppy... Now, he is Paul the gigantic but lovable dork! ;-)

In August, we rented a cabin in a state park in Tennessee and spent our week with boating, hiking, swimming and cycling.

And the rest is history and well documented here on the blog, like:

the Blue Ridge Relay
the hiking trip that we did for my birthday
the hiking trip to Governor's Rock
trip to Germany over Christmas and New Year's (here and here)

Now that we have all the recapping out of the way, it's time to start regular broadcasting again. ;-)

So long!

Oooops... Five Years Already! Part IV

2010-08-10T18:27:00.035-04:00

Note: If you missed the previous installments of my 5 years in the USA recap, feel free to looking through part I, part II and part III first! ;-)

2008 was my year of change.

Looking through he pictures of the road trip with my brother, I was looking at myself and noticed that I don't recognize me in them. Of course I knew that it was me, but what I saw didn't reflect how I felt and I started out on a quest to finally look the way I felt, only to find out that being active and dropping the weight makes me feel so much more alive than I ever thought possible.

Half way through my weight loss journey, I spent a weekend at Folly Beach with a bunch of friends. And before anybody asks... No, this isn't my bike, we were just goofying around. During that weekend, I also ran along the beach for the first time in my life! ;-)

In June two friends/co-workers and I made the trip to Mexico City to see a friend getting married. After a couple of days we took off to Playa Del Carmen for some beach time.

Unfortunately, Terry wasn't able to join me on both trips, but sometime in July we spent an afternoon in Charlotte NC, where this picture was taken. It's one of my favorite pictures from the two of us ever!

Later that same month, I was on a business trip in Germany and my mom came to visit me over the weekend. I told her that I was in the process of losing weight, but she hadn't seen any pictures yet... I think I will never forget the look on her face when she saw my slimmed down version for the first time!

In August, I had to do another business trip to Germany and while already on the continent, I was able to join some friends from my Volkswagen days for a hiking trip along the Burren Way in Ireland.... That was a rainy week, even for Ireland! ;-)

That year, I also turned 30 and I can honestly say that starting off my 30s, I was fitter, healthier and happier than ever before in my life!

In November, I ran my first race EVER. The "Run the Falls" 8K organized by the Middle Tyger YMCA.

And two weeks later I ran my second race. The Dan Davis Memorial Turkey Trot 5K.

So long! ;-)

Oooops... Five Years Already! Part III

2010-08-09T18:27:00.011-04:00

Note: This is the third installment of my photo documentary (doesn't that sound important? ;-) of my 5-year USA anniversay. If you missed part I and part II, it's never to late to check those out. And yes, it's really me on those pictures...

Moving on to 2007.

The travel year started with a road trip around Tennessee. We stopped in Nashville, Memphis, Jack Daniels Distillery and Chattanooga.

Kicking off the grilling season with a Salsa BBQ in May of that year. This is also the first picture of Terry and me together, but at the time we didn't date yet.

Right after the BBQ, I headed out to a one week cruise with a friend. The stops were Cayman Islands, Belize and Cozumel.

In June, I had a trip to Seattle WA with another friend on tap to do a hiking trip around the state. While we were there, we also took did a one day trip to Canada.

By the time we celebrated the wedding of some friends, Terry and I were dating and this is our first couple shot! ;-)

Even though we just dated for three months, we decided to travel to Germany in September of that year, so he can meet my family. I guess we were quite serious from the get-go!

My brother came to visit for his Christmas/New Year vacation and we made a road trip all the way to Key West.

So long! ;-)

That was good, but time to move on....

2010-08-08T16:25:00.057-04:00

Note: The planned post for today, was part III of my 5-year USA anniversary (see here for part I and part II), but I realized yesterday, that some of the pictures I wanted to post are on my work computer and not at home. That means part III has to wait until tomorrow evening.... And you are in for treat, because 2007 is the year Terry and I met. ;-)

I am celebrating my last day of the "7 Days of Laziness" by relaxing in bed while watching TV, reading and yes blogging.

Really, the last week didn't produce anything that would really fit for the blog... It was nothing much going on. No big or small adventures, no crazy workouts. Just taking a break from everything that resemble structured working out (I did my 10 minutes of core, but that was it.) and just indulged in A LOT of food. I am pretty sure I gained a ~~couple~~ several pounds, but I refuse to step on the scale right now.

My training cycle for the Spinx Half starts off tomorrow with a 30 minute run and some weights. That should ease me back into things. I will also try to do all of my runs this week in the morning, since temps are forecast in the higher 90s. Honestly, I expect the run tomorrow to feel really crappy... Just like the food I consumed throughout the week. Still, I don't regret a thing... I think I really needed to take this break and push the reset button.

One more note, because I am a little in a reflection mood right now. Looking through the pictures for my 5-year USA anniversary was hard. I picked out the shots that I liked and that I feel good about and there were so much more that I didn't even want to look at. I am talking about pictures prior to 2008. As hard as it was, it also let me take my little journey to a healthier and fitter me. Does that conflict to me indulgence week... I don't think so... It was just a break, a vacation from my go-go-go training lifestyle and exactly what I needed to reboot.

So long! ;-)

Oooops... Five Years Already! Part II

2010-08-07T16:12:00.001-04:00

Note: This is the second part of my 5 years in the USA recap. The first part is here.

So what happened in 2006?

That January, we had several co-workers coming over from Germany and of course we had to road tip a little. While on the road, we made sure to grab a picture with the North Carolina and South Carolina welcome sign.

We also had to say good bye to a couple of interns and expatriates rotating back to Germany and what better gift than a group shot!! And of course a last visit to the "Blind Horse Saloon" was a must!

In June, I traveled to NYC for a business trip. My first time in the City!

In the fall of 2006 a friend of mine from Germany and I did a three weeks tour around the USA. We made stops in Washington D.C., NYC and Las Vegas. From there we drove with a rental to San Francisco and Los Angeles. It's almost impossible to cramp more into a three week period, but we had a BLAST!

For Christmas and New Year my parents came over to visit me. We did some traveling around SC/NC and then a road trip along the coast down to Florida.

And of course, this is just a glimpse of that year. ;-)

So long!

Oooops... Five Years Already! Part I

2010-08-06T18:43:00.007-04:00

With the all the excitement and post race reporting, I completely forgot to mention that I had my 5-year USA anniversary last week.

I can't believe that I live here for FIVE years already! Where did the time go???

When I left Germany in July 2005 for my 2-year assignment here in SC, people already told me that they don't think I will ever come back. I thought they were NUTS, but obviously, they knew more than I did at the time. The 2-year assignment became a 3-year and then a 5-year assignment and with getting married last April, it's save to say that it's going to be a while.

To all of my newer friends and readers.... Yes, it's really me on those pictures before I decided to get active and loose weight! ;-)

Since 5 years is a LOOOOONG, I will designate one post per year.

Let's get this show on the road with 2005.

On my first weekend in the US, I drove up to Asheville NC for the Belle Chere Festival.

In October of that year, I made the first trip of many to Charleston SC.

And then of course my first Halloween in the mother country of Halloween.

My first ever Thanksgiving I spent with a friend from Germany that happened to do an internship in Indiana at that time. So I flew up there for a weekend and while there, we also made a quick trip to Chicago IL.

And of course, this can just be a glimpse of that year.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I Won't Quite Retire My Goggles For The Year Yet...

2010-08-05T18:48:00.085-04:00

I was ready to ditch the goggles for the year after last Sunday's race. Not because I hate swimming, but more because I wanted to focus on running with my upcoming races (XTERRA 7K, BRR and Spinx Half) and because swimming just sometimes is a lot of hassle and time commitment.

But now, I am signed up to do another sprint distance triathlon in two weeks.

The race is part of the Upstate Tri Series (like all other triathlons I did this year) and is organized by the Laurens YMCA. It's a 300 yards open water swim in Lake Rabon (where I did the training tri a couple of weeks ago), 12.3 mile bike and 3.1 mile run.

Why did I change my mind?

It's a local race with a distance I should be able to pull off comfortably even with my "7 Days Of Laziness". I also really liked the biking in our training triathlon and think this should be a fairly fast course. It's not exactly on the road we rode back then, but the area seems to be like good riding ground.

Photo Credit: Upstate Tri Series

YOU should sign up too and fast, because registration is going up $10.- after August 9th! As of yesterday, there are only 19 participants signed up.

It's funny cycle that I seem to go through with pretty much any race:

Pick a race.
Put in the training.
Get sick of the training.
Really don't feel like racing after all.
Having a blast racing (more or less).
Can't wait to get back into the hustle and bustle of things.
Repeat.

Guess in which stage I am currently? ;-)

So long!

The Bottle Incident

2010-08-04T18:34:00.017-04:00

This is just a funny little side story in addition to yesterday's race report.

Hydration is important during the race, after the race, in the days before the race and in the morning before your race starts.

Since I crashed and burned a handful of times during races and training due to poor hydration (exhibit a and exhibit b, to name two occasions), I am trying to get better. So I started to make it a habit to have a large bottle of water always close by on my way to races and while setting up. When I go towards the start line, I just leave the bottle next to my stuff in transition to sip on it while transitioning from swim to bike and bike to run. This way, I don't "waste" the precious water in the bottles on the bike or in my handheld for the run.

And that's exactly what I did last Sunday... When we headed out of transition, I just left the bottle right next my shoes between my bike and the end of the rack, because I grabbed the first spot on the rack. Only when I got back from my swim, the bottle was gone... I thought, somebody might have kicked it by accident and didn't spend more time on the subject.

On my first mile on the bike, I saw the bottle laying on the side of the road... That was just the weirdest thing! This is not a bottle that you could have picked up by accident, because you thought it was yours.

Anyone remember "Walk to the Beach"?

That's the bottle we received for reaching our first milestone.

When I was out on the run, I saw that it was still where it was earlier and for a split second I thought about picking it up on my way back in, but then I was so busy not being passed, that I didn't want to stop and pick it up.

At the finish line while talking to people, I mentioned the "bottle incident" and one actually said that he almost picked it up, because it was a nice bottle. I really didn't think it would still be there by the time we left (after chatting, awards and a shower it was after 12PM and we were almost dead last to leave) but sure enough my bottle was waiting for me at the side of the road when we headed out of the park.

I guess I'll never figure out what exactly happened! I wish the bottle could talk! ;-)

So long!

Race Report: 2010 Assault On Cherokee International Triathlon

2010-08-03T19:08:00.218-04:00

1,300 meters open water swim - 42K bike - 10K run

Results (based on chip time):

Swim 27m29s (pace 1:50m/100y) OA 32/82 AG 3/3 GR 9/27
T1 6m33s
Bike 1h46m09s (speed 15.8 mph) OA 63/82 AG 3/3 GR 17/27
T2 1m27s
Run 1h00m50s (pace 9:49 min/mile) OA 66/82 AG 2/3 GR 18/27

TOTAL 3h 22m 30s OA 62/82 AG 2/3 GR 16/27

OA= overall, AG= age group, GR= gender rank

Pre-Race:

Alarm was set to 4am, but I was up even before that and in general woke up a lot during the night. I guess, I was scared to oversleep (or what hubby calls: pre-race disorder). What I didn't know was, that Terry set a back-up alarm. So I got up even a little before 4 and sat down with Karma and petted her a little. Nothing that calms me down more than to cuddle with the doggy when she is sleepy (read: not hyperactive for once). Dressed, pit stop, Special K with almond mild, grabbed my water bottles and headed out of the door a little before 4.30am. I already packed my gear the night before and everything was already in the car. At 5am I was at Stacy's house and after loading my stuff into her car we headed out. Got to King's Mountain State Park at 6.20am. That was 1h10mins before the race start and I really needed every minute of it, but fortunately didn't have to rush. Between picking up the race package, getting body marked, a pit stop, setting up transition, pre race meeting and another pit stop... There wasn't a dull moment! ;-) All the while, the race announcer was cracking jokes, giving direction, telling us how much time we had left until pre race meeting etc... That guy was AWESOME... Very funny... Kept on talking right through the finish and was really motivating the whole race.

Swim:

Photo credit: Jen @ Runner's Trials

I am to the right in the red top and yellow swim cap.

As nervous as I was all morning long driving up there, getting ready, seeing the first waves two waves (males age 0-39 and relays, males over 40) taking off, my super power kicked in as soon as I was in the water. My super power you ask? That my nervousness just goes away from one moment to the next at the start of a triathlon... I know, it's freaky and it doesn't apply to running races! ;-) And off we were. I got stuck right away behind a girl and every time I tried to pass her, she was right in front of me again. After that was finally settled, I was able to set into a nice rhythm. I had trouble seeing the first turn buoy (it was orange and smaller than the other buoys) so I just followed the crowd. Maybe 50 meters before the turn buoy there was tons of seaweed and standing so high in the water that you could see it floating on the surface. It grossed me out and I didn't wanted to stick my face into this mess, having to swim through is bad enough. I breaststroked until after the turn when the seaweed was gone and then fell back into my rhythm. After the turn, I swam parallel to another girl and none of us was able to gain ground on each other, so at one point I tried to draft off her, but that was unsuccessful. Either she or I was weaving, but whenever I thought I was latched to her feet, she was gone again. That was too much trouble so I just kept going on my own. At the second turn buoy, we got really close to each other and I got a smack to the back of my head. Oh well, I thought it's going to happen at the start, but it actually happened when we were almost finished. No worries though, it wasn't bad. Good swim and moving on!

T1:

Out of the water and up the gravel hill to the transition area that was 1/3 of a mile away from the swim exit. That's why T1 time is so high. And yes, it involved running and since running is my weakest suit, I sure didn't make up any time here. I swam with my Vibram FiveFinger Shoes (VFF) and so I didn't have to worry about putting on shoes when getting out of the water. I was thinking back and forth about using the VFF and I really don't regret the decision at all. The rest of transition was really uneventful, except the "bottle incident", but I will make a complete post out of that! ;-)

Bike:

I didn't communicate my goals for this triathlon on the blog, because I didn't want to put myself under a lot of pressure. But one of my goals was to get an high 15. something mph average and with 15.8, I reached that goal. Compared to everyone else competing, I placed fairly low on the bike. In sprint distances, I have been further up in the past. I can't really explain what happened here when I compare myself to others. But when I looked at my effort level throughout the ride, I think there wasn't much room for me to go any faster. Yes, the course was hilly, but they are the same hills for everybody. In the last 5 miles, I got passed by a girl on a hill and she was just flying by me and I know that we were in T1 at the same time. There was NO WAY for me to stay close to her. Fortunately, she wasn't in my age group, but that was still a little disheartening. And even after pre riding this course twice before, the last hill still surprised me.. I completely forgot about that one and I just thought "crap... not another one".

On the bike, I had 1.5 bottles of water and maybe 1.5 packs of Powerbar Gel Blasts. I think I did a good job in the nutrition department and felt good getting off the bike. While I was on the bike, I tried to constantly cheer myself up and give me pep talk like "good job girl" and "I am a mountain goat" to keep the spirits high.

T2:

Nothing noteworthy happened here... Of course it could always be faster, but this wasn't a bad transition time. I grabbed my handheld water bottle and took off.

Run:

Over the last couple of weeks, I had the crappiest runs after long bike rides. I questioned my endurance level, but also knew that the temperatures that we had lately didn't help. I was so thankful that the temps on race day were so much lower and it was overcast. It really made a huge difference as I felt good when I started running. Immediately, I made a deal with myself, that I won't walk until the first steeper hill in mile 4. I was allowed to slow down, but no walking! Well... And the first time I walked was up the last piece of the second hill in mile 4, so I accomplished that mission. The second time (and last time) I walked, was the last steep hill at the end of mile 5. YAY! I kept on gaining on two women. One had a 39 on her calf and the other one a 34... So she was in my age group. I passed them at the last little bit of the last hill, right at the mile 5 marker and never looked back... Okay, I looked back once and wasn't sure if it was her running maybe 100 yards behind me, so I sped up even more! Turns out that this put me from third to second in my age group... On the run... I never made up any ground on the run until this race!

This was close to the finish line and you can see the announcer to the left.

My "internal" goal was to stay under an 11 minute/mile for the run and according to the official results it was a 9:49, but that course was definitely short.

Post-Race:

Stacy crossed the finish line shortly behind me (started in the last wave and chased me down on the run, finishing faster than me - GREAT JOB!!) and so we grabbed some water and walked around a little. We hung out talking to people and got something to eat and before we knew it, they already started the awards ceremony. Both of us placed second in our age groups.

To finish the race off, we got a group picture with all the Malone Coaching athletes starting at the race. Okay, technically I am currently not a Malone Coaching athlete, but they are still my training buddies!!

So long! ;-)

7 Days Of Laziness - Sort Of

2010-08-02T19:03:00.015-04:00

Yesterday, I completed my first international distance triathlon and I had a great day.

My time was 3h 22 mins and change and I placed 2nd in my age group.

I am planning on having the race report up by tomorrow, so be on the lookout for that one. Most likely, it's going to be quite lengthy!

************************************
Today marks the first day of my "7 Days Of Laziness". I am planning on NOT working out until my half marathon plan starts next Monday. I am saying "sort of" lazy, because I still have to work and I want to catch up on some household duties... But Terry, the great hubby that he is, took a major chunk out of my to do list yesterday already... Gotta love him!

But I will be super lazy in the workout department. Other than yoga, walking the dog and 10 minutes of core* every day... Nothing!

*This is part of a BT challenge that I initiated for August and I better get the work done, since I am running the challenge... So much pressure! ;-)

I have been really good when it came to food lately**, so I indulged in a mushroom cheeseburger and fries over lunch *gasp* and it was soooo good. Normally, I would have had something like this yesterday already, but my stomach was in it's usual post-race "leave-me-alone" mood, so I stayed good to prevent real issues.

**The night before the race, we were at our niece's birthday party. The party was in an ice cream shop and there was nothing to eat except ice cream and cake... So I had a party pack of peanut m&m's... I hated every secon of not having ice cream, but knew I would hate it even more if I had stomach issues during the race... And things were great during the race, just after... a little queesy, but who cares AFTER the race! ;-)

Here is some lazy cuteness to show how I feel today:

So long! ;-)

Time Flies...

2010-07-30T19:16:00.003-04:00

... when you have fun OR a race on the weekend.

I am glad it's already Friday, but can somebody explain to me where the week went? This is crazy!

Oh and I forgot to attach that to the last post, but I actually took a picture of the turtle that I scooped off the road yesterday morning. The turtle still had the head out when I picked it up, but as soon as I pulled out the phone to take a picture... Well, you see what happened.

And to extend the list of wildlife we have around the house, Karma (the dog) and I almost ran into a snake on our evening walk. I noticed it way too late and first thought it was dead, but Karma as nosy as she is got pretty close and the snake lifted the head up... And then I turned around. ;-) I assume it was a rat snake, but I am not really that great at identifying snakes.

Oh the wildlife... You gotta love it.

Anyways, let's get back to taper week. This is what I did:

Monday: 1h 20mins ride*

Tuesday: 30 mins ride and 40 mins run

Wednesday: 30 mins ride and 40 mins run

Thursday: 30 mins ride and 25 mins run

*was supposed to be 1h ride and 20m run, but the thunderstorms prevented the run

All workouts were done in the evening. I was in bed early (10pm) every night and got a good 8 hours of sleep in. I watched what I ate throughout the week and my only slip was the ice cream social at work yesterday. Reduced diet coke intake and didn't have any since Wednesday (I think). I am stretching and rolling like a mad woman. Actually, I was scheduled to have a massage yesterday, but that unfortunately got canceled... So Terry ~~tortured~~ gave me a massage again. (Thanks, baby!) I am still super tight in my legs... I was screaming when Terry put pressure on my ITB and saw little stars floating in front of my eyes.

Today was rest day and more stretching and rolling.

In general, I would try to stay off my feet tomorrow as much as possible, but I signed up to volunteer at the Youth Tri at Furman tomorrow morning. I got put on the run course which means I am going to be out there until the bitter end. Oh well. If I can squeeze it in somehow, I will also try to get a little swim in, to shake things out.

Looking at how I handle taper week, one could think I am going for records on Sunday. But really, I try to not have any expectations on this race. It's going to be my first international distance triathlon and therefore will be an automatic PR. I do have an idea of what I want to accomplish in each leg, but I choose not to share it here, because I don't want to put myself under any pressure. This one is for fun and will be largely determined by how much I can keep my head in the game* and by the weather/ heat.

*I won't give too much away when I say that I hope to finish this race between 3 and 3.5 hours. That means I am going to race so much longer than what I ever done before... We'll see if my mental toughness can keep up.

Have a great weekend and so long! ;-)

Thursday Thunks: Drawing In The Sand

2010-07-29T18:51:00.001-04:00

Joining in for Thursday Thunks on this lovely day. I am in vacation mode mentally, but no vacation in sight. SIGH.

1. Do you draw anything or perhaps your name in the sand when you go to the beach?
I don't think that I am a creative person. So most of the time when at the beach, I don't draw stuff in the sand, but like to stick me feet in it and dig them in.

2. What is out your back door?
A big wooden deck, a big driveway and then a lot of yard and trees. We do live in the middle of the woods. So on top of all the trees we also have TONS of wildlife in our back yard. Squirrels, frogs, rabbits, geckos, lots and lots of birds (e.g. woodpeckers)... Actually, just this morning, I rescued a turtle from the road.

3. Do you prefer the beach, a pool or a lake? Why?
I think I prefer a lake, because it's something Terry and I can agree upon. He doesn't care for the beach or the pool and a lake always gives him more options for stuff he enjoys like fishing etc. So there is something for both of us in the mix.

4. What is something recently that happened to you that you are REALLY excited about?
Isn't every day exciting? ;-) But no, nothing happened to be REALLY exciting... I guess I would be able to remember if hmmm? ;-)

5. Are any of your great-grandparents still alive? If not did you ever meet them?
I never met my mom's parents, but my dad's parents and my family actually lived in the same house until they died when I was age 14 and 16.

6. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group? Tell us about it.
I haven't done a speech or a presentation in quite a while. But at work I have to constantly speak before larger groups in trainings and meetings. Nothing worth talking about anymore. Fortunately, even stuff like that becomes routine at one point. But I do remember the first presentation that I had to give in college and that gave my nightmares back then.

7. Have you ever bungee jumped? Would you ever bungee jump?
No and I doubt it. I don't even ride rollercoasters, so bungee jumping just seems too far out for me.

8. How strong emotionally do you think you are?
On a scale 1-10, I think I am a 7. I sure have my moments, but at the end of the day, I was always able to hold it together so far. But I also have to say, that so far *knock on wood* I didn't have to go through major emotional heartwrecking situations. I know, that I am lucky. Believe me!

9. What is the first thing you notice about people when you meet them?
The way they talk! I listen a lot to try figure things out.

10. Who do you mess with the most?
I am not sure what that is even supposed to mean...

11. Who was the last person you talked to on a landline?
For private purposes, I can't remember. I don't even know our landline phone number from the top of my head, because I never even give that number to anybody. At work, I still frequently use the landline.

12. What was the last movie you watched long after it came out and loved?
Harry and Sally? I do love that movie and I don't think I was already alive when the thing came out first.... Okay, maybe that was an exaggaration, but you get my point. I am not a movie person... At all.

13. What did you dream about last night?
No idea... But fortunately, no nightmares about the race on Sunday.

Happy Thursday everyone and so long! ;-)

Midweek Inspiration: Motivational Quotes

2010-07-28T19:01:00.000-04:00

Because sometime, we just need a little quote to set us straight and get the head back into the game.

This is a random assortment of quotes that I have seen over the last couple of days/weeks in random places like people's blog titles and signature lines etc.

“Don’t be concerned with what you can’t do. Work on what you can do – then count your blessings.”
Alan Robinson, 56-year-old partially paralyzed marathon runner.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
Aristotle

"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot."
Eleanor Roosevelt

"You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy."
Arthur Ashe

"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up."
Vince Lombardi

"There are only two options regarding commitment; you're either in or you're out. There's no such thing as life in-between.
Pat Riley

"Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
John Wooden

"Some people say I have attitude - maybe I do... But I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does - that makes you a winner right there."
Venus Williams

With this, I'll send you on your way to conquer the second half of the week.

So long! ;-)

Tuesday Tidbits: Taper ROCKS!

2010-07-27T18:32:00.026-04:00

I read a lot about "Taper Madness" and such in blogs and I really don't get it.... sorry! People are just different and for some, dropping a lot of volume leading up to a race makes them antsy... And others... Well, they just enjoy all the extra time that got dropped in their laps. I belong to later type.

Here is why:

The workout that I talked about in Sunday's blog post... Didn't happen. I didn't feel it... It was just way too hot! Also, my knees and shins just felt really crappy. Normally, I would have grinded it out anyways since I wouldn't have had the time to catch up... But oh glorious taper: I had a scheduled off day on Monday and so things just got moved around a little.
Work outs are getting shorter and less intense. I don't have to exercise two hours a day every day to be happy... I don't have to gut out intervals to smile! Believe me... I enjoyed the easy ride on the trainer last night.
Did I mention all the additional time that I have available due to that... I might even try to clean the house! Okay, that's probably taking it too far! ;-)

But taper is also there, to take care of myself and rest up:

make sure to get plenty of sleep
CLEAN diet ALL week!
drink LOTS of water!
stretch, stretch and stretch
don't pack your stuff at the last moment

One tidbit that is not taper related:

Last night, I fed the dog some watermelon. Well, I never thought she would be into watermelon, but I dropped a piece cutting the melon up and Karma mopped the floor clean, so I'll let her have a couple more pieces... Healthy dog and stuff. What I didn't think of though was, that eating watermelon late at night equals having to go pee during the night. Guess who got up to take her out! I can only blame myself.

I hope everyone has a good week.

So long! ;-)

Science Book, French I Took...

2010-07-26T18:33:00.038-04:00

Anyone know this line? It's out of Sam Cook's "Wonderful World".

Saturday during the bike ride, I remembered a story from a while ago. You know, one of the stories that you will remember every now and then sitting down with friends. Well this is one of those:

Way back when I was young and restless and in college, my best college friend got an assignment from her dad. Her dad owns a leasing company for cars (or did at the time) and for one of their customers the lease was up. The customer lived up in Hamburg which is a 7 hour drive to where we went to school on a good day (= no traffic jams). So we got the assignment to bring his new car to him and take the old car back and while we were up there, we were able to spent some time with her mother. Win, win and win. The ride up was a breeze. We had a brand new Mercedes C-Class (if I remember correctly) as a ride and just had a blast road tripping and having girl time.

On the last day of the trip we drove into a surburb of Hamburg to exchange cars. The guy was older and if I remember correctly a doctor. While we were handling some of the paperwork, we had some issues with a fax machine (paper jam) that he tried to remedy it by stuffing even more paper into the machine. It took forever to take care of everything and I can't even remember anymore what exactly the holdup was.

When we were finally done, he gave us the car radio that he had removed, because he didn't want to tempt anybody to break into the car to steal it. Even back then, nobody was getting into the hassle of breaking into a car to steal a regular radio plus tape deck. Once we were in the car, we stuffed the radio back into the console and had to find out that the security system works and that thing wouldn't play unless we entered a PIN... And of course the PIN was nowhere to be found. We ended up driving home for at least 7 hours (I think there were traffic jams, but not sure) with no music. Zipp. Nada. Nothing.

Since I was the passenger, I felt like I had to entertain my driver on this looooong tip. So I started singing... A lot... Random songs... Just a couple of lines each time, because (of course) I don't know so many song lyrics from the top of my head. Let me say that my playlist was shorter than one of the local top 40 radio stations. You get the picture. For whatever reason, I had the line "science book, french I took" going around in my head and it probably took me half the trip to remember the melody and the rest of the song.... But whenever I hear the song or remember the line, it triggers all of those memories about this trip.

How did I remember this random story while being on my bike? Well, I don't use iPods and sometimes, when I am on the road all alone, I entertain myself with singing. Well, maybe not singing but squeezing out a couple of notes between my huffing and puffing. And the funny thing is: I am NOT alone. We live at a fairly well frequented cycling route and you would be surprised by the amount of cyclists singing to themselves! We sure seem to be on the road to happiness on our two wheels! ;-)

Other than that? It's Monday.

So long! ;-)

One-Out-Of-Three-Athlon

2010-07-25T08:15:00.003-04:00

Triathlon is challenge, that's why we do this right? We are not happy with just swimming, biking or running, we have to put it all together in one event. That's the beauty of it, right?

Right! But sometimes, things just get a little rougher as usual and then you just have to watch out that your mental toughness (what?) isn't going down the deep in.

In the last week, I had the opportunity to do a training triathlon twice. Last week at the AOC course preview (even though that wasn't in the correct sequence) and yesterday at Lake Rabon in Laurens. Sure, the current heat wave doesn't help, but it feels like I am moving from "running is my weak suit" to "two out of the three sports is going to suck at any given day".

Last week it was the run (of course) and the bike less than stellar due to that hip/butt issue, but the swim felt really good.

Yesterday we started off with the swim and it sucked. The water was warm like a hot tub and I got stuck into the fast people group that started last. Well, only that yesterday I wasn't one of the fast people. I just didn't get into a rhythm and was constantly out of breath. What the heck?? So I fell off the back and at one point just cut across the lake to join the group again... There was just no sense in trying to do the whole thing yesterday.

The bike was great! The course was great! I finally seem to have my bike legs back or at least I had them yesterday. There was some general soreness going on and starting at mile 20, I had to stand up a couple of times to stretch out the legs, but other than that it was a great ride. I averaged 17.7 mph over a 29 mile course. That made me a very happy camper.

And then the run. Oh this crappy run. Funny enough, my training runs are going great. No complaints. I do what I am supposed to do at the paces I am supposed to do it and I hit it. But after riding the bike for close to 30 miles, I just don't seem to have the endurance to have a good run. At least I don't have it now. Of course it didn't help that by the time we started running, it had gotten hot, hot and hot and the run course had several stretches with only little shade.

The heck with it! Taper starts TODAY ("only" a 1h bike ride and a 20 minute run and OFF tomorrow!) and I am trying to schedule a massage for early next week to get rid of this tightness that I have in my legs for the last couple of weeks. I should have gotten a massage much earlier.

I hope with all of this, I will have the spring back in my step by next Sunday...

So long! ;-)

Ready To Be Done With This!

2010-07-22T18:49:00.001-04:00

It is fascinating to me, how people train for Half Ironman and Ironman races or really marathons for that matter. I am working towards an olympic distance triathlon and now at the end of the training cycle, I am just ready to be done with this.

I am officially at a point, where I start to dislike the swim-bike-run. I am pretty sure that this is just temporary mood, since I remember feeling the exact same way during the last weeks leading up to the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon (that never happened).

And of course, I already have the next "big" event in my calendar which will be the Spinx Runfest Half here in Greenville. The training plan ist already imported in my log. After "Assault On Cherokee", I will take a week off anything resembling structured training and probably won't do anything at all. Not because I think it's going to take so much out of me that I need to recover for a full week, but really do give me a mental break.... To make sure I don't lose the joy for the sport in the process.

I am looking forward to having a little more time for non exercise related activties and other forms of exercises that I haven't been doing for the past couple of months because a day has just 24 hours. I also expect that things are going to get a little more stressful at work with planning ramping up.... So everything seems to fall into place, at least from what I know today and we all know, things are constantly changing.

But since the race is not over yet, I have one more big day ahead of me... Which really isn't that big anymore compared to what I did last weekend. So on Saturday, I will join a training triathlon (1 mile open water, 29 mile bike and 3 mile run) and I can't wait - not! ;-)

So long! ;-)

Open Water: Mentally Staying In My Happy Place

2010-07-21T19:49:00.001-04:00

I heard it's a good idea to NOT do your first open water swim on race day. ;-) Sounds kind of logical and I was happy that I had a chance to swim the course for the race during our Sunday preview - my first open water swim.

Well, technically, it's really not my FIRST open water swim (OWS) ever, since I swam in lakes and oceans growing up. But I never considered these "open water swims", but play time. They had nothing to do with continuous swimming for any length of time... And there normally was a floating device* nearby and you didn't get disqualified when you paddled on said device for a while.

*Speaking of floating device: Let me share a story of one of my summer vacations way back when. I think it happened during a vacation somewhere in Croatia. The beach was always packed with other German kids, so we had tons of people to play with. One day maybe ten of us where playing on a surf board around 100 yards off shore. We just jumped off the thing and climbed back up, dove off etc. At one point I jumped off the one side of the board and when I came back up out of the water, all the other kids jumped off the other side of the board and therefore pushing the board towards where I was and I got smack right in the face by the edge of the surf board. I had a shiner for the next couple of days, but other that that, nothing major happened. Actually, I still managed to swim back to shore on my own.... Oh blissfull memories! ;-)

I thought I would be more nervous about it... but no. Nevertheless, the pep talk that Stacy (training buddy) gave me was more than welcome! We decided to stay together since she is the OWS pro and I am the newbie... She also had a stop watch that I forgot in the car.

First order of business when I was in the water, I stuck my head in it and was relieved to see that I didn't see much! Tinted googles are my friend! And soon after that, we took off for a warm up lap from the dock on the right side of the lake to the dock on the left and back. Funny enough, the only time that I swallowed water was when treading water to regroup on the other side of the lake.

There were three kayaks/canoes for safety and also to mark the turnaround point on each side. And this was also part of the practice, to still find your way even if you don't have a black line to follow. The sighting practices that Coach Katie had us do during the tri swim class really came in handy and I never really veered off the course much. I almost bumped into people every now and then... Oh well.

In general, I actually thought it was a really fun experience. Much more fun than swimming in a pool could ever get. I also took it fairly easy, just to make sure that I am comfortable doing this for an amount of time without having the chance to cling on a wall to take a breather. So every now and then I breast stroked some, I also had to fix my googles once, which is also good to know that I am capable of doing this while treading water.

The only thing that I had to watch out at times was, to make sure that I mentally stayed in my happy place and pushed away thoughts about:

river monsters
water snakes
grabbing into sea grass (which is probably the only reasonable "fear" here) - it grosses me out!

Also thoughts like: "I wonder if they counted how many people are in the water and make sure that all get out again?"... Stuff like this is not very productive! ;-)

So long! ;-)

Damage Control

2010-07-20T19:07:00.002-04:00

As the title of this post already suggests... I am in damage control mode.

Since the sprint triathlon on Saturday was more or less another workout for me, to test out some new equipment (Garmin quick release), nutrition (practicing to drink enough, gel blasts) and pacing on the run, I was planning to do another ride in the afternoon and Terry wanted to join. SCORE! Having my best buddy as training partner. SWEET!

We took off to do the "Green Valley" Loop, which is a little over 20 miles from/to the house. I was planning on riding comfortably and not pushing too hard. Everything was alright, if you ignore the continued no-show performance of my legs. During the bike leg of the race that morning and also on this afternoon ride, I felt a little pain in my left buttock. That's the side that I have constantly piriformis issues, so I just ignored it. UNTIL ignoring it was just not possible anymore, because it felt like somebody was stabbing me with a knife. What the heck??? It got so bad that I got off the bike at one point to stretch, but it really didn't do anything. I still had a couple of miles to get home and the rest of the way I took it super easy and fortunately didn't get another attack of crippling pain. But something was just not quite right.

On Sunday then, a training buddy and I drove up to Kings Mountain State Park again, to join the Rock Hill Tri Club for another installment of a course preview. I was able to keep up during the first 10 miles, that are fairly flat, but as soon as the rolling hills started, I felt the pain creeping up on me again and the only thing that seemed to keep it at bay was sitting really upright (think beachcruiser upright) going up the hills and don't push it. As soon as I tried to generate power with my glute muscles, the pain got worse. Fortunately, nothing like the day before, but that was also due to the fact that I didn't try too hard. Of course I wasn't able to keep up with the group, but that's okay. At least I saw the course another time and hopefully by the time the race rolls around, I don't have to worry about stabbing pains in the butt anymore.

Last night, I headed out for a very easy recovery ride on a flat course, just to move a little bit... There was only very little discomfort and right now, I am not sure, if this is just soreness from rolling out that area so much over the last couple of days. Funny enough, I don't feel it during running at all. That's a good thing.

My damage control mode looks like this: stop when it hurts, don't push through the pain.... I don't think right now that I need to stop cycling, but have to make sure to keep it at a level that doesn't aggravate the muscle more.

Then of course I keep on drinking healthy smoothies: recoverite, spinach, acai berry juice and frozen mixed fruit:

Ice, ice baby.

Rolling, rolling, rolling.... Terry is ~~torturing~~ giving me massages with the roller.

And I look at cuteness. Cuteness can cure anything! ;-) Side note: Karma claimed the couch in the downstairs living/ exercise room that nobody uses anyways. If that means that she doesn't bother me at nights, she can go right ahead.

So long! ;-)

Race Report: 2010 Tom Hoskins Memorial Sprint Triathlon

2010-07-19T18:47:00.157-04:00

Oh boy. Where to begin? I am so tired from my monster workout weekend that I can hardly think straight. I am so ready for taper... You have NO IDEA! Funny thing was, when I clicked on the "new post" button, I mostly thought about writing down Sunday (first open water swim, biking with butt pain etc) and then I realized that I get WAY AHEAD of myself.... I almost forgot that I did a sprint triathlon Saturday morning with everything else that was going on last weekend.

So a race report it is then! ;-) Oh and it's going to be a long one, so you might want to grab a cookie or something.

350 yards pool swim - 13.9 mile bike - 3.1 mile run

Results (based on chip time):

Swim 5m49s (pace 1:40m/100y) OA 31/126 AG 3/10 GR 6/60
T1 1m55s
Bike 45m35s (speed 18.3 mph) OA 43/126 AG 2/10 GR 7/60
T2 1m24s
Run 31m30s (pace 10:10 min/mile) OA 79/126 AG 4/10 GR 22/60

TOTAL 1h 26m 15s OA 56/126 AG 3/10 GR 12/60

OA= overall, AG= age group, GR= gender rank

After work on Friday, I headed straight down to Columbia to stay with a friend. On my way there, I stopped by the Irmo YMCA (host) and picked up my race packet. On the way back to the interstate I drove along the running course... rolling hills... yummie.

It was around 7PM by the time I finally arrived at Leigh's house. Since I was never in Columbia before (just passed by on the interstate), we decided to head out for dinner and I was craving sushi (I think, I might found my perfect pre-race dinner). According to my friend, we were at the best sushi place in town (Inakaya on O'Neil Court) and I think she's right.

After dinner, we sat down some more and chatted and played with one of her cats. The other one preferred hiding under the couch! ;-) I made some final preparation like putting my bib on the race belt, number tags on bike and helmet and then went straight to sleep... I was so tired and it was a pretty long day.

Alarm was set to 5AM (I love to not have to rush) and seconds after the phone rang with my backup alarm clock (Terry). I had a small breakfast and played with the cat... The one that doesn't hide under the couch when a stranger comes to visit. I was out the door by 5.30AM which gave me enough time to also drive the bike course (more rolling hills) before setting up transition and pick up the timing chip.

The guys that were next to me in the transition area were also right behind me in the time trial swim start. Transition racks and swim starts are assigned to you based on your estimated swim time. We kept on chatting back and forth since we three were back at transition around the same time every time. Actually, I crossed the finish line side by side with the guy that started behind me. We were all lined up and ready to rumble when they delayed the start for 15 minutes. So I grabbed something to drink (I wanted to make sure this time that I am drinking enough) and had two Powerbar Gel Blast (rasperberry flavor, very yummie!) and made a pit stop for the 100th time.

What always surprises me is, how relaxed I am at a triathlon start. I might have nightmares the night before and show a temper on my way there, but once I am in the water or even while lining up, I am just calm. I got this.... well, at least the swim portion! ;-)

SWIM:
And then I was off in the water... plugging along. The swim was back and forth in the same lane and it got quite crowded at times in the beginning. After I was passed by the three guys that started behind me, I latched on to the feet of the one that started right behind me and was able to draft off him for the remainder of the swim. That made for a pretty "relaxed" swim for me. It's amazing how much energy you save by drafting!!! Once again, I have to give it to Coach Katie to make us practice drafting during the tri swim classes earlier this year!!

T1:
Out of the water and jogged to the transition area. It went smooth, but I could seriously rush a little more next time. I ran out of the transition area with my bike and before I got to the mount line, I looked down and noticed that I was in a big gear and the mount was on a small uphill. CRAP! Mental note for the next time: make sure that I am in a small gear when I rack my bike. Fortunately, a volunteer gave me a big push, so I was able to get up and over that hill and to the road fairly quickly.

BIKE:
So the bike... well... It felt kinda crappy. It felt like my legs were not quite there, especially on the climbs and normally, I am a climber. So I just did as good and as fast as I was able to that day. Not having tapered for this race at all, might have played a role in the no-show performance of my legs. At the turnaround point, I looked down on my Garmin and I was just setting my personal goal for the bike course to have an 18ish mph average and that was what I was working for the second half. This time I also paid extra attention to drinking and eating during the bike leg. One more note on the Garmin: My two previous triathlons, I didn't use the Garmin and I have to say that it was mentally a huge support for me in order to gauge what I was doing and how I was doing.

T2:
Nothing out of the ordinary here. This time, I put on socks and sure didn't regret it... Once again, I might want to rush a little more the next time.

RUN:
Oh the run... My weak suit as you might see in the results. While I was top 10 in both swimming and biking, the running not so much. I know that and I am working on this. The run leg at the MTY Tri was a desaster since I seemed to have walked more than I ran due to the fact that I didn't pace myself at all. This time I had the Garmin with me and I had it set to beep at me if I am faster than a 9:15 minute/mile to ensure that I won't crash and burn. Well, I accomplished my goal of not walking (just walked through the water stop), but I actually think I played it too safe. Proof for this is, that my average pace at the MTY was still faster than this run's average even with all the walking!!! So now I have to find a happy medium between not going out too fast and not pushing enough... What a thin line.

After the finish, I walked around for a couple of minutes to get my heart rate down and then signed up for one of the free 5-minute-massages they offered. I talked to several people in the finish area, saw my co-worker coming in and then started to pack up my stuff and grab a shower. I was just done in time for the awards ceremony. I didn't expect to place, but they raffled off a wetsuit and that was incentive enough to stay. I didn't win the wetsuit - number 22 got it and I was number 23.... oh so close. I was really surprised when I heard that I placed 3rd in my AG. SWEET! More price money for ME! ;-)

Originally, I planned to get a ride in around Newberry according to my monster training weekend plans, but Terry said he would join me for my ride and so I ended up driving home, we grabbed some lunch at the Mexican place, I relaxed a little bit and unpacked and then we headed out for a 20ish mile bike ride... But that's a whole other story! ;-)

So long!

PS: Once again no pictures, but there was a guy taking pics on the course and at the awards ceremony, I hope that I will find them online somewhere to post them.

Not Crazy About That Mojo!

2010-07-16T18:00:00.002-04:00

The title says it all hmmmm?

This place opened up a couple of weeks ago in the new strip mall close to Cherrydale and without knowing anything about the place other than they serve burgers, we just walked in last Sunday.

My first reaction was "Oh, is this a fast food place?" No it really isn't, but you order on the counter and then they bring the food to you. The burgers can be customized with whatever you like. Right from the get-go the place felt like a "Five Guys" place with a different interior design.

I ordered the mushroom/swiss burger with lettuce and tomatoes and Terry ordered the bacon/cheeseburger and we split a mountain of fries. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the food, so you'll have to take my word for it.

The burgers were alright, but that was about it. I wasn't crazy about it and I don't think we'll be going back. The juiciness factor of it, was just not there and that what makes a really good burger for both of us. Seriously, since the place was similar to "Five Guys", I guess I just expected a burger that was as good as theirs and that just didn't happen. Maybe the cook had a bad day?

What I really liked about that place though was the outside sitting area in the back, but obviously, we were the only ones that found that appealing that day! ;-)

Have a great weekend!

MONSTER Weekend Ahead!

2010-07-15T19:15:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, I feel ~~people~~ blogger completely overuse the word "epic"... It's seems to be, how the cool kids talk. Instead of referring to my weekend ahead as "epic" training, I prefer the word MONSTER... because I'm a 'lil scared! ;-)

Over the last couple of weeks, my training was good. Not only did I manage to get most of my workouts in, but also was able to hit the goals for most of them. This weekend is basically going to be my last high volume training weekend before the Assault On Cherokee (AOC) International Tri. It's a MONSTER! Currently my plan is to race the Sprint Tri in Irmo on Saturday morning, then get at least another two hours on the bike in while I am in the area (I looked at a couple of routes close to Newberry). On Sunday morning I will once again make the trek up to Kings Mtn State Park and participate in the second pre-view of the AOC bike course. Fortunately, I will have some company since a swimming buddy of mine is coming along for the trip. She also plans on doing this event! It's always good to see a friendly face on race day.

This time, I will also pack my swim gear to do my first open water swim EVER and after that, if anything at all is left in the tank, I will attempt to run the course too... Hopefully this time the entire course and not the abbreviated version I did last week.

So all week, I am watching to fuel properly and hydrate well in general, but I will have to take extra care Saturday and Sunday.

So far this week has been high volume in running and I feel it in every bone and muscle from my waist downwards. I foamroll like a nut, but the tightness just doesn't seem to go anywhere. Just to give you a brief idea what I have been doing: Sunday 2hrs, Tuesday 1h30m and yesterday 1h. My current training plan prescribes duration and not mileage, but either way... This is a lot of running for me.

Fortunately, I had a chiropractor appointment after work today... Things definitely feel looser now. Originally, I also planned a swim, but the pool was packed, so the swim is postponed to tomorrow morning.

Now I have to pack my stuff for the race since I will leave for Columbia right after work tomorrow and stay at a friend's house. I have scheduled another restaurant review post to publish tomorrow, but after that, we'll see when I make it back to posting.... Maybe Sunday afternoon, while lying in bed in compression socks and covered in ice packs! ;-)

So Close And So Good!

2010-07-14T18:42:00.037-04:00

I am no gourmet by all means, but I like food.... And I am not a big cook and mostly also under a little bit of time constraint... Call me a whiner... Whatever.

Anyways, since I like to share and mostly my opinions, I thought about introducting a new category on this channel about our restaurant experiences.... The good, the bad, the ugly.

Let's hit it off* with something good... really good actually: Taicoon Ricefire and Sushi Bar

*Well, to be exact, I was writing something resembling a reveiw about the Bavarian Pretzel Factory a couple of weeks ago, so this is technically already my second post in this category.

On Friday nights, Terry and I normally go out for dinner. Last Friday, I was craving sushi, but Terry is not a big fan, so going to Taicoon was the obviously choice since they offer Thai food and sushi and it's around the corner from the house, so it's also super convenient for us.

We split three pieces of spicy tuna and three pieces of spicy salmon as an appetizer:

I also had the Tom Kha Gai soup... I have this soup every time I go there, it's so good!

Terry had the Chickeen Stir Fry... His go to comfort food in this place.

And I got my sushi on with the Super Crunch (my new favourite) and the Rainbow Roll.

The food was yummie, the portion size was just right and the service nice as always. I also like the interior design of the place, with the lighting and separate booths.

No complaints... Would recommend it anytime.

Just one quick reminder for the fans of adult beverages. They are outside the city limit and therefore don't serve alcohol on Sunday!

So long! ;-)

Tuesday Tidbits Vol 9

2010-07-13T20:13:00.041-04:00

I normally don't mind getting up at 5am to get my workouts done, if it means that I am free to do whatever in the evening and also don't have to workout in this heat. BUT this week it's kinda weird. I just don't want to get up early.... Tomorrow, I have a 1 hour ride and 1h10m run on tap and I seriously consider to do BOTH in the evening, just so I don't have to get up early.
Some administrative information about this channel: I will be cleaning up the tags of blogs in the next couple of days, so if you use an RSS feed reader, it's possble that old posts are going to pop up as unread. Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. What I am trying to accomplish is that the tags on the sidebar reflect some of the recurring themes in the post: tuesday tidbits, midweek inspiriation, thursday thunks etc.
Still torn about joining the second pre-pride and swim for the AOC this Sunday. On the one hand, I would really really like to give this course another shot with knowing where I have to go and also would like to try out the swim... On the other hand, I am racing the day before in Columbia and it's a 1.5 hour trip up to King's Mtn... Descisions, descisions, descisions...
I am pretty happy right now about the quality of my nutrition on most days.... The quanity though is a completely different subject.
Currently my plan is to finish up my triathlon season with the Assault On Cherokee and focus on my running events for the late summer/ fall (BRR and Spinx Half). That should carve out some time in my schedule for other things like HIKING and YOGA.
I am thinking about putting a little challenge on myself for the month of August: 10 minutes of core work PER DAY and yoga ONCE A WEEK.

Trail News

2010-07-11T16:58:00.000-04:00

This morning, I did my long run on the Swamp Rabbit Trail as usual. You might roll your eyes now and think, what the heck is she going to tell us now... We know that the trail is open now alright!

Well, things are still changing/ improving as more and more people use the trail. Just two weeks ago, I shared with you that Williams Hardware in Travelers Rest opened up their bathrooms to trail user and you can fill up your bottle. Isn't that a good to know piece of news?

So today, I discovered another opportunity to get some water etc on the trail. It's called AlleyKat's Watererin Hole and it's on the piece of trail between Watkins Bridge Road and Sulphur Springs Road.

It's says on the "menu" that the proceeds are going to the "Shriner's Hospital".... No clue about the "store hours", but certainly something to keep in mind for future trail trips.

The other piece of trail news is unfortunately not that new anymore... The intersection where the trail crosses Bramlett Ave is currently closed due to some safety concerns about the railway crossing. In order to avoid this intersection, please watch this video from lowcadence.com describing a detour for this area. Please use the detour, because you can be cited for trespassing!!

That's all I got for today!

To round things off: I had a good long run today. Nothing crazy, but good. Was able to squeeze out a 9:30 minute/mile effort at around the 2 hour mark of the run. SWEET!

Enjoy the remainder of your Sunday!

So long! ;-)

And I Thought Our Rednecks Were Crazy

2010-07-10T21:02:00.001-04:00

OR "Pre Riding The Assault On Cherokee Bike Course"

Another early Saturday morning wake-up call. The pre ride for the Assault On Cherokee International was set for 8am and it's almost 1.5 hour drive up there from the house.... So I was in the car by 6.15am.

May I introduce you to Mr. Moose? He has been hanging on my rear view mirror for at least 10 years (different cars). He used to be brown, but now he is all bleached out to this pretty shade of purple. Mr. Moose has seen quite a bit of the world... ;-)

I was up at Camp Cherokee around 7.45 and there were two other cars in the parking lot. That didn't look like it's going to be a big group, but by the time we finally left for the ride (maybe around 8.15am) we were at least 30 people.

On off we were. To describe the course in short: Save the best for last! The first 10 miles are nice and flat to rolling. This is were you can really bank some time. The next 10 miles are rolling hills, but for a big portion of that stretch, the pavement is really really bad. The last 8 miles has some really long hills on them, but also some nice long downhills to rest up a little.

This is a pretty course. The end of the course is nice and in the shade. In a couple of stretches, traffic was a little crazy. But maybe the craziest/ scariest part of all of it, was the dumb a$$ that threw a firecracker in our crowd while we were waiting there to regroup. Two girls that were still on the road did get a firecracker out of the same truck and on top of it, they the passenger stuck out his naked butt out of the window. Oh boy.... You think you saw it all and then this. Fortunately, nobody got hurt.... But I assume that the picture of this big white butt is going to produce a couple of nightmares!

Around mile 10, I felt like I was riding over a bump every couple of yards. When we stopped to regrouped, I had a look at it and my tire had a bubble. We had technical support riding with us and he said, I'll be fine, but I have to be careful on the downhills, because it will be just a question of time until I blow out my tube. On my way back home, I stopped by at Sunshine and they switched my tire out.... It was a warranty issue and I didn't have to pay a thing.

After the ride, the group went down to the lake to also swim the swim course. I didn't know that this was planned, so I didn't have swim stuff with me. But I walked down with the group to at least have a look around.

Later they said that there is a lot of seaweed in the water and the water is also pretty warm. The distance from swim exit to transition is 1/3 of a mile and it's partially uphill on pretty loose gravel. So you have to have shoes there.

After that, I set out to run the run course. I ended up not doing the whole course, just 2/3rds of it. By the time I should have turned to run the out and back, I just had a little bit of water left in my bottle and I was also pretty hungry.

I am glad, that I had the opportunity to go up there and have a look around. They have another pre ride and swim next Sunday, I'll see if I am doing that trip again.

I just had enough time to drive back home (stop over bike shop), grab a shower and then head out to watch
Germany playing Uruguay for 3rd place in the World Cup! And they WON!!! Sweet!

Okay, I am dead tired and tomorrow is yet again an early wake-up call, because I want to get my long run out of the way before church.

So long! ;-)