how many triathletes does it take to go camping?

Posted on June 23rd, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

Really only one… but it did sound like a clever title, right?

Like I mentioned before, el chico and I packed up and headed out on a camping trip on Friday morning. Accompanying us was el hermano del chico, along with a handful of my boyfriend’s buddies. This trip was for his birthday, and I’m pretty sure there was no better way he’d spend it than with friends, biking, a bonfire, food, and beer. I’d hope that me being there was somewhat of an added bonus too.

Our camping adventure took place at Baker Park Reserve, located in Maple Plain, Minnesota. Truthfully, this was only about 20 minutes outside of the city, but it FELT like we were far enough away to be truly “camping.” You don’t need to portage, dig your own potty hole, or be attacked by a bear for the experience to be legit. Plus, Baker has tons of great stuff goin’ on – I was going to list it all, and then I saw this handy little key on their website:

Family friendly, triathlete friendly, manly-man [respectfully] drinking beer friendly. It’s all good.

We got there around 2:00, and after a quick preview of our camp-site, decided to depart on a ride.

It was a lovely two hour ride, sans run-ins with any semis. Or moose. After riding, we decided to get in a little open water swimming before the rest of the crew got there. All I’m gonna say is we got some good choppy water practice (and rehydrated with a little lake water…), which did a good job of tuckering us out. At which time we we decided we were ready for this:

Aforementioned buddies began to arrive, nature walks were had, wildlife was sought after (to no avail – the “wildest” thing we saw was a beaver. Or was it a hedge hog? Prairie dog? I don’t know… it looked like a tubby squirrel on roids. I clearly don’t spend nearly enough time “in the wild.”)

After hanging out at the campsite and unpacking a bit… we realized we better pitch our tents before it got too dark to see what we were doing. How many triathletes does it take to pitch a tent? Also only one, but we’re a helpful breed. We share our body glide… we zip each other’s wetsuits… we’ll for sure help pitch a tent.

We played some games, and then it was time to start el fuego and get some food in the belly. El hermano was designated grill master.

(Note: you don’t really need lighter fluid for self starting coals. But obviously that’s just how triathletes roll… lighter fluid = jet fuel. Watch your back when we get out on those bikes!)

And then I neglected to take pictures for basically rest of the night. Because we were too busy eating. And eating some more. Not kidding guys.. there was a lot of [really delicious/maybe not 100% healthy] food. I did manage to snap one.

(This was the best I could do at 10:25 pm…)

The next morning I woke up early – surprise surprise – but luckily I was not the only one up. Apparently some of these kids were raised under the impression that coffee is optional in the morning. Not so mis amigos. So I coerced convinced El chico to go scout out some coffee with me. We ventured out of Baker to a little local bakery/cafe type place and returned with six cups for the people that were awake already. Ya’ snooze, ya lose hombre. I’m not sure the coffee was any better than gas station quality, but I have learned not to turn down coffee when it’s there. Black. Gold. If it’s available, it’s good. Don’t argue.

Baker Park has this nice little 10K loop paved trail, and a 1 mile loop around all the camp sites, as well as miles of unpaved. I was going to do a few loops of the 10K trail on my roller blades, but after a quick 5 minutes on wheels I scratched that idea and pulled on my Asics. 7.4 miles later I was a sweaty beast – not because I was running fast, but because it was FUMID as hell. (Told ya’ I’d find a way to use it!)

When I got back from my run, one of the ladies whooped out a can of pancake-whoopie and got to bidness. I was super impressed with these bonfire pancakes, but apparently even more impressed with my coffee.

Lovin’ my coffee…

Lovin’ sus panqueques…

The remaining two photos are for the viewing pleasure of my girl J.B. and el novio de mi madre. He likes animals. I got a bunch more but due to my crappy photo taking skills the swiftness of these lil’ ones… they’re all blurry.

Puppy love? Oh yes. These two are in it to win it.

Ya mom. I play hard.

Real hard.

So that in sum is my camping experience at Baker Park. I would most definitely go back, weather it would be for an overnight or just for a training day. Hmmm… UMN team camping trip? Maybe?!

And now I go.

The end.

-E

Tags: adventure, random, tri

Train on Top: Pool Running Part II

Posted on June 18th, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

Hey there! T – 3 hours until camping kick off. AHHH I am so excited!

I wanted to make sure and get this posted before my friends all heal, rendering all of my expertise useless. [UN]fortunately though, there will always be an injured runner out there, so I hope at least one person can find some use in what follows:

Some of you may know my buddy Kelly. Awesome lady, smart, funny, gorgeous, and sadly, injured. (Although since I wrote this post, things have definitely taken a swing in the right direction. I’ll keep prayin’ for you!) She, and another blogger, contacted me with questions about POOL RUNNING – something I have [far too much] experience with. I ended up writing them an email that took an hour and a half to finish… full of information and workouts, and I thought I’d share it here with you guys! This will be added to the Train On Top files, along with Pool Running: Part I.

Pool running isn’t only for when you’re sidelined with a stress fracture, or a torn ____. It can be incorporated into your training as PRE-hab, and help to keep you fit, and injury free. Sorry for being so lazy that I’m just doing a copy/paste of our email, but I have a pool to go swim in (or at least I did when I wrote this!!), and the longer I wait the greater my chances are of talking myself out of it. (Success!! I feel like my swimming hours are directly correlated with the temperature outside. It’s. HOT.) Train on amigos!!

_____________________________

BASICS

Like I said (in Part I), a pool belt is definitely helpful, unless you just want to do a shorter workout. There were always about 4 or so injured girls on the XC team in Boston, so I almost always had someone to pool run with. We would get irritated because the injured track kids would be in and out of the pool in like 20 minutes and we’d be in there for an hour!

Haha Kelly, sorry for the confusion. No water shoes required. The “two feet never touching the ground” thing was just my attempt at trying to hold onto some of RUNNER identity.

A watch where you can set up intervals is also helpful, but not necessarily necessary. Some pools will have a big electronic wall clock that you can look at, but truthfully, you’ll wish they didn’t. You could easily find yourself looking at the clock every 30 seconds wondering how it’s possible for time to go so effing slow. Not that I speak from experience or anything….

Deep Water vs. Shallow Water – I prefer deep, but you can do either. For you, Kelly, I’d definitely say deep. When you do pool running in water shallow enough that your feet touch, it changes the form, muscles used, and forces applied. Although it still seems like it’s 100% non-impact, you actually can make an injury worse if you’re not careful. Imagine running in like knee-deep water or waist-deep at a beach. A) it’s hard as HELL, and B) it can put an uneven strain on your hip flexors, because there is such great resistance to forward movement, but only from the waist down.

If I’m pool running, you can bet your butt it’s deep water. We used the diving well at school in Boston, but I have also pool run (ran?) in a regular lap pool, a crappy/steamy 6 foot pool, and even the lake. Any depth of water where you can’t touch is just fine.

FORM

If you’re not used to pool running, just know that it might will be frustrating for the first workout or two until you get a hang of it. You might feel like you’re doing absolutely nothing, but I promise you will break through… AND you can break a sweat! Know that your HR may be lower, but that’s because you’re in cool water which is cooling your body temp which (… full circle here …) helps keep your heart rate low. Instead of focusing on HR, pay attention to your breathing.

For your form, keep in mind forward motion. And by that I don’t mean that you need to be actually moving forward in the water, but restrict movement to the midsagital (front to back) plane. None of that crossing over, left to right  business, capish? It’s the same as running on land – crossing your arms (or feet, I guess) over the midline of your body is inefficient. It slows you down and hinders forward momentum. The pool is actually a GREAT place to really focus on and perfect on your form. I swear I came out of my sentence of pool running with a better and more efficient arm swing than I did pre-injury.

PACE & BREATHING

You’ll see me refer to pace in the workouts. I mentioned above that you would be better off focusing on your breathing (and therefore pace), and going by feel rather than scrutinizing your heart rate. However, when I say “focus on breathing,” that assumes that you’re very familiar with what your breathing sounds like and how it changes when you’re actually running, and running at different paces. Personally, I could tell you what my running pace is (give or take about 10 seconds) based solely on my breathing pattern – whether it’s 4/4 (basic, steady state), 3/3 (10K to 5K), 2/2/4 (mile repeats), or 2/2 (400 repeats). But again, everyone has a unique style of breathing when they run. You know you.

That also assumes that you’ve raced all sorts of distances, from the mile to the marathon, and multiple times to be that familiar with your breathing. If you haven’t, NO WORRIES! Just know that you’re on a gradient from a hard effort to easy or recovery (all out // 400 // 800 // mile // 5K // 10K // steady state).

[I don't have a huge difference between my half marry and marathon pace (though hopefully some day I will!), so that's why I didn't differentiate those two above. Personally, anything half marathon and above feels pretty "comfortable" - but by all means separate out the two if you have two drastically different paces!!]

ENTERTAINMENT

I’m telling you right now – nothing will make you more mentally tough than having a two HOUR steady state “long run” in the pool. Alone. Sans music. It can be like counting scales on a fish. Or watching paint dry. But truthfully it can also be kind of fun! Having other girls in the pool with me was obviously a huge benefit of being with a team, but there were many days when I had to go it alone. These are the things that helped me pass the time:

Music – As often as I say I don’t really like music while running, pool running is a different story. Our pool in Boston had a big sound system that was pumpin’ all the time. You might not be at a pool where you can blast music though. Towards the end of the year the sound system at the pool broke, and the coach decided not to fix it until the next year. SO, I took a leap of faith, put my ipod in a ziplock sandwich baggy, and tucked it up under a baseball hat. I had the headphones dangling down out of the sides, and I tightened that baby up, praying that the ipod wouldn’t slide out the back. And it worked WONDERS. Use the tempo of the music to your advantage. I have a couple workouts I based entirely on the songs I was listening to.

[I also have an underwater mp3 player now, which I use for swimming. If you want info on that... let me know. I love it!!]

Nu Dolophin Underwater Touch

Podcasts – Probably not as important to either of you, but I listened to “Dr. G’s Anatomy & Physiology” podcast and reinforced everything I was learning in lecture. Really cemented in my mind the concepts of T-tubules, mitochondria, and the like. But for RUNNING and keeping hope and faith and your sanity, the podcast Phedippidations is pretty cool. Maybe a little cheesy at times, but there is some great information and cool interviews tucked in there. I used to listen to it all the time… in the pool, but also on long runs. Good stuff.

“Mental Organization” time - I only say that slightly jokingly. Yes, I do have an extra Martha gene in my body. If you have an hour of solid, uninterrupted time, it’s great for planning out your next post, a paper you’re working on for history of world architecture, your shopping list, etc. Use that time to your advantage.

WORKOUTS

What you really wanted in the fist place! All of these are based on an hour in the pool, just because that was pretty much always a minimum on the schedule. If you want to cut it in half (which would be recommended if you’re just starting out, or just trying to get your form down) go right ahead! They can also be extended as you like, but I have a feeling that after an hour in the pool, you’ll be ready to get out.

PYRAMID – only uses two “paces” – steady state, and hard. My favorite for making time feel it’s passing quicker. Once you get over the 5 min. interval, the build-down feels so much shorter!

15 min w/u
1 min @ hard
1 min @ steady state
2 min @ hard
1 min @ steady state
3 min @ hard
1 min @ steady state
4 min @ hard
1 min @ steady state
5 min @ hard
1 min @ steady state
4 min @ hard
1 min @ steady state
3 min @ hard
1 min @ steady state
2 min @ hard
1 min @ steady state
1 min @ hard
12 min c/d

8x3s – I used my “5K pace” for the 3 minute intervals… You’ll have 24 minutes total of your 5K pace, but for the “recovery” intervals, it’s important to not just slack completely. Like when you’re running intervals, don’t go to a “walk” to recover – keep working, just take it down.

10 minute w/u
[3 min @ 5K pace // 2 min @ recovery] x 8
10 min c/d

5x5s – I remember sometimes loving the longer intervals, and sometimes hating them. The shorter “recovery” intervals ensure that you keep working hard, which is why there is a longer warm up and a longer cool down.

15 min w/u
[5 min @ 10k pace // 1 min @ recovery] x 5
15 min c/d

THE MIXUP – uses not only pool running, but a kick set, and a set sans belt. This one I think is “fun”…

10 min @ steady state (with belt)
5 min kick (across the pool or up and down a lane) with a kickboard
5 min pool run without a belt
[repeat for a total of 3 sets]

I guess that’s a good place to start!! Once you get the hang of it and reach the point where you’re feeling like you’re sweating and getting a good workout, you can work in sans-belt pool running for your “working” intervals!! Trust me… it’s harder than you’d think. I hope this offers a little variety to your workouts, and if you’re injured – KEEP THE FAITH. You are only on the disabled list temporarily. You will be running again!!

Let me know if you have any more questions. All the best, and lots of love,
-Erika

Tags: cross training, injury, train on top

I like to move it move it…

Posted on June 17th, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

Um, wait. No… I really don’t. (Unless it’s on the dance floor. ) But that’s what I’m doing my friends…

In between packing race bags, packing for ‘outta town, and packing up to-go orders at the restaurant, I’m packing up my life in many little boxes and getting ready to move. If you are fortunate enough to not have been through this process, well, I just hope you like your house. Stay there, and don’t ever leave.

OK… maybe a little dramatic. Despite the chaos that comes with moving, I am pretty dang excited. While I’ll still be in a shared housing situation, it is with only one other lady, and there is so much more space! And a back yard. And a garage. And composting. And best of all… a PORCH!

Not my house.. but one of my favorite in Minneapolis!

One of the things I’ve always looked forward to the most about “growing up” and having my own place one day is decorating. That being said, I was super pumped when CSN Stores contacted me again to review one of their products! They seriously have something of everything – from sweet lights to cookware, and furniture to exercise equipment. You guys might remember.. I reviewed a blender they sent me when my MB bit the bullet, and it’s still running strong!

As a kid… if you came home and found me watching TV, it’d either be House Hunters, or Trauma – Life in the ER. (Tellingly, this was a pretty accurate prediction of my future career choices… medicine -> architecture -> medicine.) Despite my move back to the health-oriented fields, I still have that Martha Stewart gene running strong. That being said, it took me FOREVER and a half to chose something from CSN to review. Finally though I settled on two items that will be awesome in my new house! Look for a review soon to  come!

So, apologies in advance if the next real post from me is not for about a week. I have something scheduled to go up tomorrow about cross training and injury prevention, and I have a READER question to answer with some pretty awesome input from around the blog/tri/running world!

In the mean time, I’m taking a cue from my buddy J.B. and heading out on a CAMPING TRIP with my hombre. I haven’t been camping since the Boundary Waters trips I took as a kid with the fam, so I’m really excited about this! Just a short trip though, and then back to the grind. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

-E

Tags: random, review

Manitou Tri 2010 – Race Report // Review

Posted on June 13th, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

Currently: Sitting at coffee shop. With el chico. In front of fire place. Feet up. Still in desperate need of compression/recovery socks. Other-than-that, SOLID.

Gonna let the photos do the talking here – I’m pretty much all talked-out for today. Essentially, I had a less than stellar race today: I couldn’t feel my feet until 15 minutes after the race ended, and I had a T1 that leaves me hoping I won’t be disowned by my family. Or Peace Coffee Racing. Or UMN TRI. So… definitely not my A-game. But I still placed (2nd in my AG), so it’s hard to complain too much. If you want more coverage from this weekend’s action, check these out:

Manitou 2010 Official Results Online

Minnesota Tri News’ Coverage

In terms of a race REVIEW, here’s what’s up: Manitou. Is. Awesome. The course? Awesome. The swag? Awesome. The fans? Awesome. The race organization/management? Awesome. The transition being closed for 1:45 before my wave even entered the water? Not so awesome, but I’ll plan for that next year. Yeah… NEXT YEAR! I’ll be back.

And before I get to the photos, I need to do a several major mad props shoutouts.UMN (University of Minnesota) TRI is really cleaning up this summer. Andrew Turner, David Preston, Cody Stadler, Sam Janicki, Tom Kandiko, Matt Dodds, Matthew Priess, Aaron Barlow, Claire Chandler, Tracy Powell, Megan Brandes, Susanne Gabrielson (reppin’ overseas!), and hey, I’ll throw myself in, Erika Sperl-Imhoff. Look out for these names. We’re comin’ at you.

Another big up to el chico, my boyfriend, who also raced today at Trinona and finished 7th overall (!!) and 3rd in his age group! It makes me nervous to do the same race as you…!

This is an exact copy of my album on facebook. All photo credit goes to my mamacita – I am so happy and thankful you came!! You should be able to click on the image for the full size. Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ciao!

-E

THE. END.

Until 2011.

Tags: Peace Coffee Racing, race, review, tri, u of mn

semi-solids. a pre-race.

Posted on June 12th, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

I’m sure you’ve heard it before… TWO nights before the race is the most critical time for getting good sleep. Be it that I’m racing TOMORROW, I wanted to make sure last night was extra solid. The following precautions were taken:

• I OD’ed on Hershey’s Special Dark Pieces. And that’s coming from a chick who really doesn’t enjoy chocolate. The question is… why did I buy the bag in the first place? And… bag? Yes. The whole bag. My bad.
• Because my body was so busy digesting a whole bag of said pieces, I was hotter than a mo-fo. And I’m pretty sure they contain a hidden diuretic, because I was up to pee like 3 times.
• My sister texted me at 6:20 am (which for her benefit was 7:20 her time). She was excited about something at work. I’m excited for ya chica, but I promise, I’d be more excited in a couple of hours.
• My neighbor decided to mow the lawn at 6:43. I suppose he wanted to get it  done before the rain came? It’s 10:19… it’s still not raining buddy.
• My mom called me at 7:20 asking if I wanted to run this morning. I love running with you mamacita. I would wake up at 5am and run an out and back to the Panama Canal with you. But tomorrow is a special day….

7 straight servings of crack.

I would estimate a total of somewhere between 5 and 6 hours. We can call it semi-solid. Some of the worlds greatest  creations are found in a semi-solid state – delicious sorbet from Sebastian Joe’s, imitation crab meat, and mother nature’s tubby baby: watermelon. Unfortunately, I do not think pre-race sleep makes that list.

Also not invited to join the world’s greatest semi-solids list is your pre-race mentality. But I’ll be straight with you – that’s where mine is at. All day yesterday, I was just mentally fried. On edge, tense, and I couldn’t make decisions about a damn-thing. Several things are contributing to my less-than-stellar feelings about tomorrow’s Manitou Tri, but instead of bringing myself down, I’m going to [try to] focus on the positives:

• Official results were posted from last weekend’s New Bri Tri. I found out that of the four girls who finished ahead of me in my AG, I had a faster run than all of them, and a faster swim than three of the four. My average swim pace was 1:41 per 100, and my average BIKE pace was 20.0 mph. 5th or not, I was pumped seeing those times. If you’ve been reading regularly, you might know that my bike times were frustrating the heck outta me because they just weren’t getting any faster. Obviously “fast” is relative, because for some people 20 mph is their cruisin’ speed, but I was happy with it. And 1:41 pace in the water? Given that it was a stretch for me to even call swimming “sporadic”, I’ll take it!
• I’ve run races in much less favorable [sick, injured, sleep-deprived, post-surgery] conditions.
• The forecast for tomorrow is pretty darn near ideal for racing.
• I’m over whatever germ infestation hit me last week.
• I get to spend the entire day with feet up, ♪ chillin out maxin, relaxin all cool ♪, with family at my cousin’s graduation party.

Good lookin’

Feet aren’t up quite yet though. I am currently mid-stride in a little shake-out // pre-race workout. I may or may not have felt several Special Dark Pieces pop out of my pores. Then a little core. THEN the feet go up. Maybe I can even sleep a little in the car on the drive up….! Although truthfully, that aint gonna happen. My mom and I are way to chatty for any Zzzs to be attained.

Leavin’ you here kids. I’m feeling slightly more towards the solid end of the spectrum than when I first started writing this. I hope all my teammates and buddies who raced LIBERTY today had a blast, and good luck to anyone and everyone racing tomorrow!! Once again, I’ll be donning my Peace Coffee Racing kit. If you see me out there, say hello! Catch ya’ on the other side.

-E

Tags: race, tri

Grip Your World!

Posted on June 10th, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

You guys are pretty dang awesome… you know that, right?

This post is going to be short and sweet because I have only ONE item to bring to you today, but first I want to say a big THANK YOU for all the comments on my New Bri Tri Race Report from last weekend! Every time I have to hit “approve” to a comment, I can’t help the CHEESIN’ that spreads over my face, because it means a reader is coming out of the dark and introducing themselves. That, or I’m being spammed with the cheapest Viagra pills out there on the net… which does not bring said cheesin (aka ). Anyways, THANKS, thanks a lot!

[Hahah.. I just deleted two paragraphs. I said I have one thing to say today... no tangents dangit!!]

So I bring to you: One Thing.

GRIP. YOUR. WORLD.

Several emails had appeared in my inbox over the last month or so… and truthfully I just deleted them at first. I get plenty of spam saying “Your email ID have won £950.000.00 in our contest. Please send name, address, telephone number. Thank you.” No… thank you, because not only did I just win 950,000.00 British pounds (roughly the equivalent of 1386430.00 US dollars), but I can save all that money on my grammar lessons because I finally know the difference between have and had. :/ So, right.. these emails. I eventually read them, and found out I have not won more British money. It turns out they just wanted to let me (and you!) in on a little big SWEET contest going on…

The folks at Vibram are holding a Grip Your World contest and giveaway. When you hear Vibrams, you might automatically think FiveFingers, and “all that barefoot bidness.” At least I did. Being that I have not personally used the FiveFingers before, I told the rep that I wasn’t sure I was comfortable advertising a company and a product I hadn’t tried before. It turns out though, I have used Vibrams. Vibram isn’t just the name behind FiveFingers… they’ve been making soles for footware companies for over 70 years, for trail running, climbing, and even traditional running shoes. After hearing that, and reading the contest deets, I felt like this was something I wanted to share!

CONTEST DETAILS

ONE crazy lucky winner will receive a trip for two to Chamonix, France, for the North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc:

• Roundtrip airfare for two to Geneva, Switzerland, with ground transportation by train to Chamonix, France.
• 3 nights lodging provided by Vibram in accommodation of it’s choice.
• Admission for two to the North Face Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc including VIP access to the start and finish areas, VIP access to the VIP room, and welcome gift.
• Approximate retail value: $6,000.00

TWENTY [slightly less crazy] winners will receive one pair of Vibram FiveFingers.

• Exact FiveFingers model to be determined by Vibram.
• Approximate retail value: $85.00

HOW TO ENTER

Just click on over to http://www.gripyourworld.com/ and upload your photo and story telling how you Grip Your World. Entries are limited to 1,000 characters, so it’s not like you need to come up with an essay. Pretty painless… right? A free trip to France? Even less painless. I submitted my entry already. YOU have until June 18th to get yours in.

Dr.TriRunner.com will return to previously scheduled podcasting as soon as possible. Thank you.

-E

Tags: giveaway, random

New Bri Tri Race Report

Posted on June 5th, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

For there to actually be a race report, that means that I did indeed race!! And for there to be exclamation points following that statement, that means I “got a smile on”! Here we go…

Fell asleep by about 10:30 pm last night, and the alarm went off at 5:00 am this morning. 6.5 hours obviously isn’t isn’t ideal, but it’s pretty good for the night before a race. That, and I was telling myself my 12.5 hours from Wednesday would hold me over a little bit. I had gone over my check list (which I will post soon, along with adding it to the Train On Top files!!) and all I had left to do was load my bike in the car, grab my coffee, and GO!

Taken at 5:42 this morning.

I drove up with Tom and Cody – two guys on my UMN Tri Team. Tom was nice enough to drive (the fact that bikes fit slightly better in his Pathfinder has nothing to do with it…) so I got to his house around 6:00, made a quick transfer of items from my Accord, and we were off! We took a slight detour on the way to the race, following someone with bikes on the back of their car thinking that they obviously know where they’re going. Until they turned into their garage… FAIL! We still got there in plenty of time, and pulled into the Long Lake Park lot just as many other athletes were arriving.

Myself, sandwiched between Pretty and Muscles. Hahahahha!

Re-attached wheels… gathered bags… and suddenly a wave of terror swept over me. “My helmet is in your trunk… right?” says the ingenious redhead who checked her check list three times. “Nottttt that I’m seeing…” says fellow teammate who now must really now I’m an idiot. REALLY!?! Who forgets their helmet?!? Oh wait.. the girl who also forgot her SHOES for the marathon. Awesome. At that moment, I was seriously thinking I was not going to be racing today. People bring spare goggles, they’ll let you borrow an extra watch, they’ll even share their body glide. But NO ONE brings an extra helmet.

Except Randy, the God-sent jolly man behind Vacation Sports who was putting on the race. In fact, he had several spares, for the rest of the numskulls who forgot this critical (and mandatory!!) item. So with that taken care of, I went to go set up in Transition.

After I racked up my bike and was heading off to warm up, I hear “Dr. TriRunner?” No joke guys.. this MADE MY DAY! I know there are at least a few regular readers, but it feels so awesome to know that there are local triathletes (or at least one!!) out there reading along! And it doubly made my day that he is a he, because for whatever reason my first assumption is that most of “you” are female. Not that I have anything against the ladies – nothing at all – but since 80% of my friends are of the male variety, it’s almost comforting to know some hombres are reading too.

This is getting wayy too long, and I haven’t even gotten to the race yet, so I’m going to [try to] keep it to the facts:

Pre-Race Fuel:

Gluten free apple cinnamon granola, and dried apple rings. New combo to me (don’t try anything new on race day…? pshhhh), and it was PERFECT!!! And delicious. Along with Tanzania Peace Coffee, of course!

Race Conditions/Gear:

Cloudy, off and on sprinkles, and somewhere in the mid 60s. Virtually NO wind. AKA ideal. Wore my QRoo wetsuit, Peace Coffee tri kit, and stripped to just my homemade PCR sports bra for the run. Haha – Sarah called me an overachiever? Made this on my “sick day” on the couch. Was glad I did, because I would have felt too hot running with the tri top on. This is the first time I’ve used a shoelace as a racebelt, after seeing this amazing lady do it, and let me tell you – LOVED it. I hate the feeling of anything extra around my waist, and you can’t get much more minimal than a shoelace. And of course Gomer and Rilo were in on the action.

I did take home-ec back in the day…

The Swim:

1/2 mile. Despite starting in the front of the pack, there was lots of face kicking and breast stroking going on. >:( Maybe I need to run out farther into the water? Oh wait.. here’s a better idea. Maybe I need to be more consistent with my swimming. Ding ding ding!! We have a winner. Anyways… I could feel myself getting frustrated on the way out. And then I reminded myself – this is essentially a free workout. I had a free race certificate, and I was sick all last week. I didn’t have expectations for this race other than to shake out the race nerves and have fun, and there was no way I was going to let negative thoughts take over. So I decided to take charge and slapped myself back into reality. Today will not be wasted was the mantra of the day. (Haha, yes. I am considering Sports Psychology.) With that mindset I went ahead, and felt like things finally settled down at turn around buoy. And the 1/4 mile swim back to shore honestly felt awesome. I have this “kayak theory” but I’ll post more on that later. Passed some wave 2 and 3 swimmers (I was wave 4)… which gave me some [possibly false] hope that maybe I’m actually a decent swimmer? Orrr maybe the wave 2 and 3 people that I passed, well, swimming just isn’t their strength.

T1:

Note to self… work on taking off wet suit!!

The Bike:

14 miles. Basically, I loved the course. There were a few hills, but they were all rolling. There were two girls on the Tri Kings team that, little did they know, really helped me push myself. We were passing each other back and forth, sometimes on an uphill, sometimes going down. I also took note of some really sick bikes out there, and some really amazing athletes riding them. I talked about training with your friends and using them as inspiration… and believe me, I drew in plenty of inspiration today. Felt good and strong throughout, and I know I’m not fast. I’ve accepted that [for now], and I know where to work.

T2:

Already had my shoe-lace-race-belt on… ripped off the helmet and threw on the hat, threw on my happy-feet shoes, and bounced! Would also like to make note that I was wearing the Sof Sole socks I won, and LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Felt like my feet were on clouds.

The Run:

5k. What I was really looking forward to. Despite the steel infused shins of yester-year, I was confident that today was a better day. Not going to hide this one… I passed 53 people on the run. Yes. I counted. It gave me something to think about during the run, but honestly, if I’m going to be a slow swimmer and biker, then damnit I’m going to be proud of my run. I know my mile splits weren’t anywhere near my “just running” 5k times, but I still ran sub 7s, and I still felt strong. And with that, I’m happy.

The Finish:

1:22:?? Says my watch… I’m waiting for official results online. I didn’t want to try and dig my way through the crowd of people that always surround the print-outs, so I just went for a cool down. With this guy!!

No, he didn’t race in basketball shorts. I made him put his sweaty jersey back on for the photo.

I didn’t know that another Peace Coffee Racing teammate was going to be here, so I was super pumped when I saw Justin before the start of the race. I went on a cool-down jog with him and some of his buddies, and called it a day!

THE. END.

The greatest thing about these early morning races (well, at least when they’re this short…) is that you’re DONE and home by like 10:30, and you have the whole day ahead of you. My mom called as I was driving back to la casa and asked if I wanted to  go to CostCo, to which I replied, damn straight (I do understand why learning English is so frustrating…), and I was home, unpacked, showered, and at her house within 45 minutes. We stopped for an obligatory coffee on the way, and hit Costco, Trader Joe’s, and the local Co-Op so she could get all the ingredients for a special dinner she’s making tonight. I was just along for the ride!

The view from the shower.

Tonight I have nothing planned other than putting my feet UP, and chillaxin. The weather did eventually turn icky, but I’m giving a HUGE thanks to mother nature for waiting until the race was done. I hope THIS GIRL got her race in before conditions turned soggy too, and I can’t wait to hear her recap!!

I will most definitely be returning to race New Bri again. It was very well put on, just like all the other Vacation Sports races I’ve done. HUGE UPS to todays winners, Jenny Wilcox and Carl Shultz. Like I said, there were a lot of really outstanding finishes today! You can read all about it at Minnesota Tri News’ new website!! I was a little disappointed with my finish, and especially that I didn’t place in the top three in my age group. Thankfully my UMN teammate hit me with a dose of reality and said “you better get used to it!” 20-24 is a lot more competitive, and I have lots of work to do if I want to still have a “title” to defend.

POSTS TO COME:

Tri packing list
A…. Kayak?
Motivation
A review!!

And with that, I’m out for the night. No work, no obligations other than enjoying myself. Sounds great. Have a lovely night, and a great rest of your weekend!!

-E

p.s. I just realized how much link love is goin’ on in this post. Sorry… a little much!!

Tags: Peace Coffee Racing, race, review, tri, u of mn

Pre-Race // the New Bri Tri

Posted on June 4th, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

Well heyo kids. By the time you will read this, it will either be the night before race day, or the race will have already come and gone. And hopefully, I will have actually been there. ¿Por que, you ask? I have spent the last five days being mistaken for a 2-pack a day smoker on the phone, hacking up a lung, and trying to keep my hands out of the candy jar sudafed. I am starting this on WEDNESDAY and I will update each day until the RACE on SATURDAY… trust me, I’m sendin’ a prayer! So here is my somewhat un-conventional pre-race report for the New Bri Tri:

_______________________

WEDNESDAY 06.02.2010

I first started feeling bad last Saturday. Or Friday? Ahhh, it’s all a blur now. (Looks like my sense of humor is one thing I actually can keep down right now.) Made it through the memorial day weekend and work, and actually thought I was feeling pretty darn good on TUESDAY (yesterday). Even had a stellar workout, swim included (!!) and a nice night out with el chico. Yeah, I still sounded like a teenaged boy in puberty who lost his voice at a football game (do boys lose their voices at football games ever? Now that I think about it……), but I was feeling better. So I thought.

Today (Wednesday): Fever, and killer pain that feels like its literally JUST superficial to my frontal bone. It’s not deep in my head.. it’s like it’s right on the surface. And I feel it any time I cough/sneeze/lean over/stand up/breathe (ok, drama – done). I skipped practice. I went to work, was turned right around and sent home. I have been trying to drink lots and lots, and really get in some vitamins and solid nutrition. But I’m not going to lie – I took home a cookie from work and ate that for “breakfast”, and am currently seeking solid comfort in the form of my couch, a blanket, a movie, and Loaded Waffle Cone ice cream. No joke:

However, I am fully confident that by Saturday morning, this junk that’s overruling my system will be GONE. Let’s GO t-cells!! B-cells, get your butt in gear! I will be racing on Saturday dagnabbit!!

_______________________

THURSDAY 06.03.2010

Hmmm… I’m not so sure what to say, since today’s events gave me mixed messages. On the sickyness scale, I am definitely feeling better. I went to bed at 9:00 last night and slept until 9:15 this morning…. 12.25 hours? Ammmen to that my friends!! But judging by my runFAIL this morning… I’m a little nervous. Here’s how it went down:

I set no alarm, because I figured if my body needed sleep, it’d take it. So after a little putzing around in the morning, I was ready to head out for an easy run. I wasn’t sure how far I’d go, but I figured at least a lake or two. Good thing I went the short way first, because at two miles, I literally could NOT go any farther. Not because I felt sick, or my cardio was off or something. My fracking SHINS and ANKLE MUSCLES were literally wound so tight it was like I was club footed. I was definitely feeling the tibialis anterior muscle (think “shin splints”), but it was like it was also in all the tendons around the ankle (peroneus brevis, peroneus longus… for all my fellow anatomy lovers!), and felt all around not good. So I walked a little, turned around at two miles, and went home frustrated beyond belief.

And jumped on my bike.

30 miles to be exact. It was a gorgeous day, and I didn’t want to waste it inside, but at the same time I didn’t want to overextend myself two days before my race. There was definitely a day when 30 miles sounded “so far”, but at this point it’s a NBD. Not to mention I didn’t have any of my “fast friends” riding with me to burn me into the ground.

You know you’re a runner when you fold over your bike shorts, because their “too long.” C’mon guys… I already have a permanent shorts tan. I don’t need to make it two-toned from two different length shorts.

So the ride was good. Felt strong all throughout, and even played with some mile intervals for the last 1o miles. I actually have a running job on Fridays (and Wednesdays, although this week that was canceled due to above sick-cell-infestation), so I don’t really have a choice about running tomorrow! We’ll see how it feels…. bed time!

_______________________

FRIDAY 06.05.2010

Race. Tomorrow.

Run? Meh. I ran slower than a stampede of turtles running through peanut butter, but luckily my doggy sidekick was OK with that today. She is a Weimaraner for the record, and this girl can RUN. 20 miles? No problem. But today we only did seven, and seven slowly. The shins/ankles were obviously not debilitating like yesterday, but they were also not just “normal.”

I rubbed a pack of muscle relief gel (thanks you very much Mr. PT!!) into my shins and calfs, and thighs for good measure and then headed to work. While at work for about the first hour, my left tibialis anterior actually “hurt.” Standing on it was painful. And let me tell you, we do some standing in the waitressing world. Standing and walking. It slowly faded after a while though, and I didn’t notice it too much by the time my shift was over.

Now we’re sitting on two minutes to 7:00 pm… I’m planning on going to sleep around 9:00, and I AM waking up tomorrow to race. Got the checklist out, and just need to do a once over, pack up some food for the morning, and set up the coffee.

This is a sprint triathlon BTW. Honestly, worst case scenario I just decide I can’t do it. More likely scenario is I’ll spend about an hour and a half of my life in the not-most-pleasant state, but I’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with much worse for over and hour and a half… it’ll be fine. Were this a race I was more invested in, maybe a different story, but this one I am doing really to just get my feet wet this season.

I’ll take all the prayers and good vibes I can get, and I’m not too big to ask for them! Over and out!

-E

Tags: race, tri

How to use your friends to your advantage

Posted on June 1st, 2010 by Dr. TriRunner

And I promise… I mean that in the best, nicest way possible.

First of all, I hope everyone had a nice long weekend to recharge, spend time with the fam, friends, and get a little R&R. Whether that means running & racing or rest & relaxation is up to you! I didn’t race, and I had a definite restFAIL, but the running and relaxation were accomplished! I had a nice 10 miler with my good running buddy on Sunday – his last LR before the Minneapolis Marathon this weekend. And I also had a great relaxing run with my mom for a total of 11 miles on Monday. Killing two birds with one stone.

No three day “weekend” for me, as I worked every day. Good thing I love my job!! The highlight of my weekend for sure was watching the Minnesota Twins game on Sunday at my mom’s house. She made a comment around the 5th inning, and she made me promise I wouldn’t “put on the website” … but I can still say that lady is hilarious. Are you sure you work at an elementary school mom? Love. YOU.

post-race conversation about “the stick” – mama got jokes.

Anyways, unlike many others, this post does have a point. And that would be Using Your Friends. By that I don’t mean using them to score their employee discount, free tickets to a game, or their man. No, I mean using your friends to your training advantage. Whether you consider yourself an athlete, or just someone who is striving to live a healthy lifestyle, chances are you have friends who think along the same lines. If you don’t, maybe you can bribe encourage a friend to tackle a race, a new distance PR, or a healthy goal with you! Not only is it quality time with your buds, but a lot of people claim that they can work harder/longer when they do it with a friend! (twHs…)

I’m fortunate enough that being part of several teams and training groups, I almost always have someone to train with if I want the company. Depending on what kind of workout is on tap for the day, I might call on different people. Here are several ways you and your compadres can work together to get into peak performance:

1 // to go harder, faster, longer.

When I need to run fast, I know who to call to keep me on pace. My good buddy Dave is one speedy guy – not only did he just post a 2:46 at Fargo Marathon, but my tempo pace is essentially conversational for him, so he can distract me from certain death the pain. Distance is one of the things that just isn’t an issue for me – it’s my time to think, chat with God, and enjoy just being outside in the fresh air. But 20 miles can get long when you’re going alone, so having marathon buddies certainly helps.

When I need to ride… be it a faster ride or a longer ride, there are about a million people I can call on. Let me tell you, I have room to improve on the bike. Despite the fact that I’ve been riding a lot more lately, I don’t think I’m necessarily getting faster, which is frustrating for sure. Yes, you can do drills, intervals, and tempo rides, but I think the real key is riding with other people who are just slightly faster than you. Not so fast that they’ll leave you miles behind, but fast enough that you’re working, and working HARD. Let them do the chatting… you just focus on pumping it out. Enter, el novio. Although he easily falls into the camp of “leave me many miles behind”, he won’t. He’s wicked fast, and also super knowledgeable and gives me helpful advice. Sometimes it’s hard to hear “well, you need to be in a lower gear – you’re just fatiguing your legs…” when I’m sucking wind, but I know its only said with good intentions.

One of the things I have yet to bring back this summer, but did all the time in previous years, was have a bike buddy! I’ve posted about it before (throwback from August 28th 2008!!), but my dad is my all time favorite parter to keep me on pace, pass up a water bottle, just catch up on life, and help the miles go by. I miss you pops!! If you really don’t know anyone faster than you, try recruiting a bud to rollerblade or bike along with you!

Dave and I – 3rd place finishers at the Get Lucky 7K!

2 // to recover

It took me many years, and two fibular stress fractures to finally learn the importance of a “recovery run.” Back in the day, if I was going to get sweaty, I at least wanted to feel like I had worked hard. High school cross country and track years were filled with running, but back then I would say I only had two paces – running, and walking. My coach would always say, “your not giving your legs a chance to recover if you go all out all the time!” and I didn’t listen. Until my fibula went carrrack! and I couldn’t run at all.

Some days it’s still hard for me to slow down though. Last weekend when I bricked it, and my legs felt like beef jerky? I was still running 7:30s, despite telling my self go slowwwer! The 10 miler I did with my buddy on Sunday – we both kept saying “ok, lets take it down” … and yet we continued to hit faster times, mile after mile, until the very last lake when I think we finally dialed it in. Even if you’re telling yourself you want/need a recovery run, your body doesn’t always listen.

Enter, your slower friends. Haha – that’s not a bad thing! If you’re like me, you know people at all different places in their athletic life. Some are recreational athletes, some race, some just do whatever they want, when they want! In running with a slower friend, not only would you not leave them in the dust, but you get to talk, you get to be the motivator, and you get your recovery run/ride/workout! While you don’t have to tell said friend, “Hey, will you run with me? I need to go with a slow person so I can get my recovery day in…” you can let them know you just want to take it easy! Otherwise they might think you have an expectation of them to go at your pace, and not only will you not slow down, you’ll burn them into the ground.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being the “recovery person” – my mom is that person for me, I am that person running with Dave, and riding with my boyfriend. “Fast” is a relative term.

Him: shootin’ the breeze. Me: Gasping for air. Both: eating cereal.

3 // to motivate

Do you know anyone who has overcome some damn-near-miracles in their life, yet they continue to put themselves out there every day and put in the work? I do, for sure. Even if you don’t know anyone in real life, all it takes is a look at some of the pros. There are some amazing athletes out there who take on adversity like just a little sprinkling rain. Sarah Reinertsen is one of my idols, and no matter how many times I watch the Ironman 2004 DVD where she missed the bike cutoff by just 15 minutes, and they wouldn’t let her finish. She headed back to Kona in 2005 and became the first female above the knee amputee to finish the Ironman World Championship.

I don’t want this to come off as a pity party of 1 for myself, but I do know what it feels like to have your athleticism taken away from you. My hip was hanging on by a thread like a tooth attached by one single vein. The ability to run, jump, swim, ride, be mobile, run down the stairs, run to answer your phone, carry your own groceries… it’s not a given. It’s a gift. Remember that when you’re out on your next adventure… you get to do this. If you approach training with that frame of mind, you will find it a lot harder to moan and groan when you need to get in your workout.

4 // to try new things

Have you always wanted to try rock climbing? Or maybe rollerblading? There are lots of great cross training options out there, and XT is perfect for breaking up the usual routine and preventing burn out. Trying a new activity with a friend is tons of fun… and it makes you feel like less of a doof for being inexperienced! Here are some fun “new” things to try out:

• new class at the gym
• new route
• new race
• new activity – swimming open water, hiking, rock climbing, skating, snow shoeing, xc skiing, tennis, basketball, play catch, play frisbee, the list goes on!

A brand new form of XT is also a good way to get injured if you go at it too hard, so be cautious of that one.

Rollerblading battle wounds.

You didn’t think I’d end on a number 4… did you?

5 // to have FUN

There is definitely value to getting in your solo runs, your rides, whatever. I have sent the text many a time saying “sorry – I think I need to take this one solo today. Head clearing.” But training with other people, in addition to all the great benefits above, can be so much more FUN than going alone. Not gonna lie, we (me/mom, me/teammates, me/training buddies) gossip while we run. We crack jokes. We pull many a TWSS. We laugh. We cry sometimes, we vent, and we use each other as free therapists. We give high fives and hugs at the end of a challenging workout. We pass out in the grass. We foam roll and scream at the pain.

One of my most memorable runs was when we Traced Boston Backwards – myself and my best friend out at school in Boston, Maddie. I always knew that there would be something I’d miss from Boston when I moved back home, and this girl is it. It wasn’t necessarily that the run was amazing, but it’s the company and the memories I have now.

I’ve also found a really awesome training buddy here on my UMN Tri team – we run the same paces, we swim the same paces, we can talk about anything and everything. She’s awesome!! I feel so blessed that God has brought such amazing people in my life.

As always, 5 is a good number to end on. As is 3. Or 7. So that’s where I’ll wrap.

Next time your alarm goes off at 5am, or you get off or work at 7pm, and you’re dreading your gym trip/run/swim/etc… think about phoning a friend. Invite that speedy girl to help push you on your mile repeats. Call your couch-to-5K brother in law to go for an easy jog. Think of your friend dealing with _____, tough as nails, and remember that you get to make the most out of today.

READER Qs:

Do you regularly workout with friends? Your hubby? Your kids? Who motivates you? What workout do you need that extra push for, and when do you prefer to go solo?

Have a good one kids! Got some fun stuff, including a giveaway, coming soon!

-E

Tags: cross training, cycle, run, swim, tri