To which Mr. SwimBikeRunLive responds with:

At this point… I am actually thinking Dr.TriRunner is GONE. Gone gone. WP wont let me log in… bluehost seems like it’s written in a different language… yep. I’m %^@&#!).

.tar? .zip? I don’t know. So I made a copy of both. Or at least… I think I did? But then what? I have these two “files” that I have no clue what to do with! Wonderful.

True story. I can get “emotional” … but it is really difficult to actually elicit tears. Maybe I’m just dehydrated.

Thankfully… it never came to that. After a few hours of panic mode, the website magically reappeared. BUT only the LINKlove tab at the top was showing up, and the rest of the pages were gone. 1 out of 6 pages is not exactly a high success rate. And my RSS feed didn’t (and still doesn’t) work (or show up), which may or may not be because I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do with it. Mrs. SusanRuns was on her last morning of staying in the Dr.TriRunner house… and over coffee she made me feel slightly better that she also had no idea how to make a backup database or what .tar is or MySQL or …….!!

Anyways.

Maybe it’s a blessing. It’s about ɖɐɰπ time I updated some of those pages, and it’s always fun to freshen up a bit. Bear with me while I do this… I feel like I’m trying to speak Sanskrit. (That one’s for you Jeri!)

So TWIN CITIES MARATHON huh? 30th annual. SWEET medals this year! Sweet Marathon shirts… I’ll refrain from commenting on the 10 milers shirts.

I was hosting an elite masters runner from Florida, so she flew in on Thursday. Susan flew in on Friday morning, and Jeri arrived a little later Friday afternoon. From there it was EXPO time, which I escaped spending very little money. Success! I also ran into an old class mate who is working for the new OrangeTheoryFitness studios… interesting concept!! We were thankful to be invited to the VIP reception Friday evening, where we met Hannah who is the Communications Specialist for Twin Cities in Motion!! Hannah is training for the Richmond Marathon which is coming up soon (Nov. 12th) – go get em!! I’m stealing her picture:

Jeri // Susan // Hannah // Me

Saturday was *restful* … truthfully I don’t even remember what we did, but we ate lots of Panera. Can you get more American/predictable/delicious? I think not. Perfect pre-race food.

Sunday was RACE DAY and what a beautiful day it was. If you want to get picky, it could have been a couple degrees cooler to make it perfect, but I think it was pretty dang close to ideal conditions. The majority of my amigos were running the TC 10 Mile this year because it was the USA 10 Mile Championship. If you’ve never seen an “equalizer” in action… it’s pretty exciting! Somebody uses all their formulas and algorithms to determine how much later the men should start after the women in hopes to *just barely* catch them by the finish. There was a $10,000 prize purse to whoever (male or female) finished first. Oh hey there, motivation. Congratulations to Mo Trafeh (26) who caught the lead woman (after a 9 minute deficit) and won the 10 mile in 46:46. Janet Cherobon-Bawcom won the womans race in 45:15. You guys are amazing!

And SPEAKING of amazing was Susan – clocking a PR by a minute and 24 seconds, and running strong the entire race!! Congratulations chica – it felt like I’ve known you for years (oh wait, we kind of have…?) and I’m so glad you came to the Twin Cities for this marathon!! 

One thing I will say is that being out there on the course and at the finish was H.A.R.D.!!! Harder than I had expected. Twin Cities is definitely a race close to my heart (ETA: bhahah reading that phrase sounds so mushy. My bad.) and it made me want to be out there racing SO BADLY. If only my left hip/leg would agree. My good buddy Jason was here for the weekend from Colorado, and he told me “don’t worry… you’ll get some new pieces and be back out there in no time!” Um… I don’t just need some pieces. I need a whole new appendage. Donations?

End of story: Everyone I know running the full or the 10 miler did AMAZING (even you Mr. IendedUpInRegionsHospital… you got there because you were running FAST and HARD)… and definitely deserve big congratulations!! Twin Cities Marathon is hands down my favorite marathon, and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Reader Qs:

Have you run Twin Cities before? Any plans to do so in the future? That ad you see in Runners World ain’t lyin… it is the most beautiful urban marathon in the country!! (*slightly biased opinion*) What race is coming up next on your calendar?

-E

There are quite a few races going on today, and I just wanted to give some special friends a quick shoutout and send some race-mojo their way!

IRONMAN WISCONSON

• Karl A.
• Greg R.
• Devon P.
• Julia M. W.
• Debbie J. H. (first IM!!)
• The rest of the 239 Minnesotans out at IMOO!

70.3 World Championchips

• Sam J.
• Leslie L.

SQUARE LAKE HALF

• Sean, Seth, and Kyle. You three stooges remember to have fun

I’m sure a bunch of YOU are racing this weekend as well, so best of luck, squeeze out a smile for that camera, and finish strong!

And lastly, a few words of wisdom.

“No matter how slow you’re going, you’re still lapping everyone on the couch.”

“Just keep swimming… just keep swimming…” (-Finding Nemo)

“I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.”

“But the other runners resembled them only in the sense that a puma represents a pussycat. It is the difference between stretching lazily on the carpet and prowling the jungle for fresh red meat.” (-Once A Runner)

“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.” (-William Barclay)

“Your head might be giving out, but your legs aren’t. Find the finish line.” (-me )

“God may only give us what we can handle, but the choice to handle it is ours.” (-Running on Faith)

“At the starting line I realized the race was done. I had already sacrificed and worked and steeled my will, and in my mind the race was run. I had finshed. There was nothing to fear. I just had to drag my butt to where my spirit already was – the finish line. If I just focused on what I knew I had to do and took it one step at a time, I would get there. Just like that, there was suddenly no question that I would finish. It was one of the most amazing realizations I have ever experienced. That knowledge was the antidote for any negative thoughts creeping into my head. You’re already at the finish line.” (-Running on Faith)

GO GET ‘EM!!

-E

ANYWHO.

It’s hot in Minneapolis right now .I love it. Except for the part about the power going out last night and melting stuff in the freezer. And I had just bought my favorite Ciao Bella too!! I have a serious uneven suntan from riding so much – my back is nice and bronzed, and my front… has been neglected. It’s like someone put a fish in a frying pan and only browned one side!

Yesterday hit 102° in Minneapolis, which was definitely a record. I’ve heard a lot of the “it’s too hot” line being tossed around, but in my mind… it’s just fine. Yeah, it’s kind of uncomfortable at times. But I would take this over 20° and cloudy any day. It’s currently 80° and sunny, and I’m sitting on my patio with iced coffee. Really can’t complain….

Update on the stress reaction: well, there is no real update. It feels OK – no hot spot on the bone or anything tender. But that is likely because I’ve been a good girl and followed directions.

And a little update on the MN racing scene…

Last weekend was the FANS 12 and 24 hour races at Lake Nokomis. Chris Rubesch, a buddy of mine put up an AMAZING effort taking 1st place in the 12 hour race. He got in 70.7 miles in 12 hours, and still had a smile on his face. I had the chance to do a couple laps with Chris during the afternoon, and I was amazed at all the runners with smiles still on their faces. It was a HOT day, and to all that participated, I just want to say everyone did a fantastic job! (The winner of the 24 hour race did 111 miles – beeeast!)

And with that, I am going to go jump on my bike, and then jump in the lake. I’m already sweating. Teaser for the next post….

Reader Qs:

How do you handle the heat? What is your ideal kind of weather? Have you ever run an ultra?? 70 miles… holy jeezz!

ADIOS.

-E

(p.s. If I have any readers who live IN Puerto Rico or anyone who as attended one of those schools – Universidad Central del Caribe, UPR, or Ponce – please please please contact me!! I would love to talk with you about it!)

SO. First of all we have a brief (mmm, maybe) rundown of the trip, with commentary kept to a minimum. Truthfully I had a very athletic week while there, and knowing that 99.9% of my readers are athletes, I hope my “review” may help you in preparing for a trip to PR or in narrowing down your vacation options. Secondly, the Ironman San Juan 70.3 is TOMORROW (Sunday – 3/19), and my hotel – the Caribe Hilton – happened to be the host hotel for the race! So for anyone considering the San Juan 70.3, I have a little “course preview” and race info for you as well. AND lastly because it’s Friday, you get one confession. ¡Vamos!

From Minneapolis it’s about a 5 hour direct flight to San Juan Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport… which is the “big one” that you would likely fly into. Even though San Juan (the capital) is on the northeast side of the island, the sweet thing about Puerto Rico is that the entire place is just about 3x the size of Rhode Island. MEANING you can rent a car and be to any of the other coasts in about 2 hours max. Which I did when I went to el Yunque National Forest (see photos below)!

In terms of things that travelers/tourists may want to know:

• I can’t speak for all of PR because I was staying in San Juan, but IMO it was VERY safe. I ran alone, I ran with random locals, I ran with other travelers, I took off exploring on my own. Sin problemas. Granted, I don’t do dumb $#!& to put myself in dangerous situations… but nonetheless, I felt safe the whole time.
• You don’t need to speak Spanish… at least in San Juan. Just about everyone can speak English at a functional level where you can order food/get directions/get a taxi, etc.
• That being said, if you do speak Spanish (or are learning?) … GO FOR IT! Aside from talking to the people I was traveling with, I spoke Spanish the entire time. Even if you are just learning, don’t be shy! Being immersed in it a foreign country is hands down the best way to learn a language.
• Typical Puerto Rican food has a lot of rice and beans and plantains. But if that’s not your thing there are plenty of options. (siiigh) They too have Micky D’s, KFC, etc.
• There is a lot to do! National rainforest, beaches, parks, old forts, restaurants, the bioluminescent bays, kayaking, snorkeling, hiking… there is really no reason to be bored.

(On the way to the rainforest and it definitely looks like it’s going to be wet!)

(so much green!! // repping Ragnar in the rainforest (note the footwear!!) // whoever lives there has a pretty sweet view)

(I found some gallinas in the rainforest… wanted to bring them home for my friend Willie but thought customs might pose a problem.)

And now para mis atleteas – what can you do to keep up your training in Puerto Rico? You’ve got options! I guess my only disclaimer would be that if you’re on vacation, don’t let stress about getting your training in ruin your time. Know that you might not get in your “usual” volume… know that you might be enjoying some, um, late nights out in Condado. The point is you can still keep up your fitness on vacation without sacrificing the fun! This info is also for any prospective Ironman San Juan 70.3ers – information on pre-race course access and what’s available in San Juan!

• SWIMMING: Is definitely doable. Lots of the hotels have pools… I was thinking mine had a lap pool but found out I was WRONG when I got there. I got some good ocean swimming in though… aside from the part about my Timex Ironman Racer flooding with water and dying the second I hit salt water. (Not kidding… I wanted to cry. [No - that's my Friday confession] I use that watch for EVERYTHING!! NTM I don’t really have $200 to drop on a new HR monitor/watch.)
• SWIMMING IMSJ 70.3: If you get to Puerto Rico and you see the wind and the waves and your thinking oh hecccck no… don’t worry. The swim is protected in Condado Bay, and goes from there for 1.2 miles over to DIRECTLY outside of my hotel lobby. The exit swim exit is up this ramp… which when I took this photo (below) looked kinda iffy. They guys building it said they were going to put something over the wood to make it a) non slippery, and b) not splintery. I would recommend NOT standing up anywhere along the swim, even though at times it is like 3 feet deep, because there are rocks and you could easily cut yourself. The water is very nice and you should NOT need a wet suit at all. It’d just add time to your T1. Also be prepared for a good distance jog from the water-exit to the transition.
• BIKING: I didn’t ride at all while I was out here, but my dad rode with me for one of my runs!! (We’ve been doing this for a long time together (see PHILLY 2009) … it’s kind of “our thing”. I miss you dad!) My hotel had bikes to rent for $15/hour or $25/day. I was expecting them to be huge slow beach cruisers, but we were pleasantly surprised to see some nice Treks!
• BIKING IMSJ 70.3: If you want to ride the course pre-race, please BE CAREFUL. The first 5-10 miles of the bike course are in an area with HEAVY TRAFFIC. There is a reason they’re closing the road for the race!! The bike portion starts out going south out of San Juan, and then rides west along the coast. At about mile 12.5 you start a loop – of which you’ll complete 2 – before retracing your steps back to SJ. Personally, I wouldn’t ride with a disk because the winds can be pretty strong coming off the ocean. But that’s coming from someone who weighs under a buck and would probably blow to the south coast of the island. The choice is totally up to you, but know that there WILL be wind.
• RUNNING: You can run your heart out in Puerto Rico… and I happened to do just that! There are plenty of miles of paved paths to get in whatever you need. Know that it is HUMID so if you are coming from a place like, oh… Minnesota, it might take some acclimating. I was staying in between Old San Juan and Condado (which is convenient, because those are both the neighborhoods with the “things to do”), and you can run either direction. There were so many other runners out too!! That was in part due to the fact that triathletes were arriving for the weekend’s race, but also because people are active in PR. I joined up with some local guys who happened to be running at the same time on a couple of the days (HI if your reading!!), and the other days I ran alone. Shortest run: 7. Longest run: 14. Every run: BEAUTIFUL.
• RUNNING IMSJ 70.3: You have open access to run the course at any time. The run course starts at the Sixto Escobar Stadium (which was literally a minutes jog from my hotel lobby) and head west along the Atlantic coast (during this part you will hopefully get a nice breeze off the water to cool you down) to an old fort (San Felipe del Morro) before turning back. I think it’s a DOUBLE loop out and back… just an FYI.

(Run map going out through Old San Juan. While it was fun going running over in Condado and even to Isla Verde, Old San Juan was definitely my favorite place to run. They have a paved path that goes outside of the old city wall which is pretty cool too. You can also check out the official swim map and bike map for the 70.3)

I know it’s a little early to start building a 2012 race calendar, but unless I face grave injury or severe financial instability, I will definitely be returning to San Juan next year for the Half Ironman. (In bold because I need a commitment, dangit!) It’s kind of at an inconvenient time if you live in a cold state, since you probably won’t have ridden your bike out on the real roads in a few months. And you for sure won’t have been swimming in any open water! Which sounds to me like all the more reasons to make a week out of it and get acclimated. I’ve already put the word out to a few of my MN tri buddies and it seems like there is definitely interest there. Julia? Steve? Whattya think…? March is a good time for a family vacation!

This San Juan 70.3 is part of the Ironman 70.3 series – so as all other Ironman events, you can expect a very well put on race. They’ve obviously put on enough races by now to know how to make sure everything is organized and running smoothly, and there are volunteers galore to help ensure a successful day! I, however, have not done any races that far away. So if anyone wants to give me advice on shipping/flying with a bike, I’d definitely appreciate it!

Some more photos from the trip:

(El Fortin de San Geronimo – right outside my bedroom! You can also watch the swim portion of the 70.3 from here.)

(L: This guy is kayaking in the proctected lagoon that the swim is held in… also right outside my room! Just for an idea of how smooth the water is. // R: The Caribe Hilton’s protected bay. Nothing too exciting in terms of marine life in there, but nice that it cuts the waves!)

(PEACOCK! Totally not phased at all..)

(Go ahead… ♪ shake ya tail feathers ♪)

This is my one Friday Confession. You guys know how big I am on sun protection and usually I am SO good about it! On this trip I had my faithful Kinesys packed, including my 30spf spray bottle and the sunscreen “stick” for lips n’ face. And both of these products worked without fail… when you remember to put them on!! DOH! On ONE single day I forgot to put on sunscreen, and yes I did burn. That nice little quemadura there is from like two hours without sun block.

Of course my face is peeling now, which I’m sure looks super attractive. I feel the need to explain myself wherever I go… like “oh, just ignore the layer of skin coming off my forehead – I just got back from a trip.” Cuuuute.

I think that about wraps it!! At the time I hit publish, San Juan 70.3 is 13 hours and 21 minutes away!! GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE RACING TOMORROW!! See you next year!

• Reader Qs:
• Have you ever been to Puerto Rico?
• Where did you stay and what was your favorite part?
• Have you ever raced in a different country or over seas? What can you tell me about shipping/flying with my bike!? Seeing as how MyCardCan’t (%&@# you Delta!) I am expecting some large fees.
• Anyone out there gone to medical school in Puerto Rico?
• Any other fun spring break / race trips this spring?

Ohhh Minnesota. It feels about 33% good to be home. Warm up a little and we can readdress this. Totally unrelated, but for you locals – GOOD LUCK GET LUCKY RACERS!

-E

This is a strictly business post… cause’ it’s Friday afternoon and this girl got bidness to attend to! As I’m sure every single one of you does as well. If you’re not familiar with the practice of Friday Confessionals, I suggest you take a quick tutorial, and then come back and let it all out. (Yes… this is where we all get to be the friend holding the hair back while you’re doubled over the porcelain throne.) I feel like I have a lot to get off my chest today, so here is a thanks in advance for the proverbial ponytail holder you all provide.

1 // A girl walking up the stairs in front of me this morning was listening to her ipod AND texting… and she completely ate it. Like face first into the stairs. I would like to say my first inclination was to say “oh my gosh are you OK?” but I totally laughed as that came out. And I couldn’t stop!! What an @ss. Sorry chicky…

Multitasking FAIL

2 // That human physio exam? Killed. It. That’s not the confession though… in my next class – Motor Development, I went to see my exam grade after class since I had been at a doctors appointment the day we reviewed the test. My TA said, “You don’t need to check it….” and I was thinking… Watchu talkin about Willis?! Then he says allowed that I was the only one in the class that got 100 on the test. At first I was almost embarrassed. But then I realized how dumb that was, and that quickly changed to a #%(& yeah!! So my hate to be the smart ass confession… I kinda like throwing off the curve.

Love this textbook!

3 // My running is KILLING ME!! Don’t get me wrong – any running is forward motion – better than no running, better than being booted and pool running ’till your eyes fall out. But seriously… the pace and my PRE are making me want to cry. A) my rehab/training/come-back plan is way less miles than I have ever attempted to race on in my life. So I am definitely not expecting any sort of PR. Not that I could even if I wanted to, because in the three+ months that I took off, I think I lost ALL of my fast. Not even kidding. I had a easy recovery run yesterday (which btw, pretty sure all my runs feel the same. Kinda hard. My anterior tibialis is starting from square one. Julia – strengthening tips?? Please?!) and this guy passed me along the river. He was wearing basketball shorts and a hoodie!! COME ON ERIKA. I feel like I want a shirt that says “please don’t judge – I’m rehabbing” on the back. Which all of this essentially leads to the confession that running has a huge impact on my mental stability.

Any running is better than no running!

4 // I guess #3 was a two-fer’. I wasn’t going to put it out there that I actually am training.. for a race. Something about the verbal (or written in this case) commitment makes me feel more vulnerable to injury. Totally not logical, but that’s what these confessions are for…

Time to get that race face back on…

5 // I busted out the sweats for the first time today. The running attire that I wear ~70% of the time is not considered sweats by any means. It’s form fitting… it usually even matches… I’ll go out on a limb and even call it cute. Today was a day for legit sweatpants. Not only did I take 11 solid days of 5am wake up calls, and today I decided it was a day to sleep in. So sleep in until a whopping seven am I did before the morning Peace Coffee finally won me over. (Currently drinking their Mexican Dark Roast. LOVE it.) And then I checked the weather and it was all of 30° or something unnecessarily chilly along those lines. AND then I realized I only had two short classes, the last being a midterm review for Monday’s exam. Sleeping in + chilly mornings + study sessions = sweatpants. Big. Comfy. Sweatpants. I say this only as a confession because it is alllll too easy for me to get into the habit of not really caring what I wear to school. Believe it or not I actually do wear jeans. Occasionally.

I know. My cell phone photos are gallery quality.

Hahaha I actually looked through my iPhoto to give proof of this jean-wearing I speak of. I think the last picture I have of me in jeans is from my last trip to Philadelphia to visit my dad in AUGUST of 2009. Wow. I promise I have worn jeans in the mean time.

Reader Qs: What are you Friday Confessin’ this week? No judgements – promise! From my other runners perspective… what’s your “athletic” wear to “real” clothes ratio? I think I’m somewhere like 6:4. Haha… 7:3?

Oh wow look at the time. I’M OUT chiquitos!! My pops is visiting and he gets prime time up until the second he leaves for the airport!!
-E

The questions is usually phrased something like: “I’m just getting into [running, triathlons, etc.] and I signed up for my first race!! But I don’t know what to EAT before or during the race!! Any advice?” The answer to that question is SUPER individualized, and just because something works for me, or these other lovely athletes down below, does not necessarily mean it will work for you. But you never know until you try, and I think our “go-to”s will give you some good starting ground!

For more PRE-RAE PREP, aside from delicious // butt-kicker breakfasts, check out my post Train on Top Volume 4.1 – PRE RACES!!

Mom

@ No blog. She should though because she has some awesome artwork featuring Minneapolis photography for sale. If you’re interested, let me know!

1 // What races do you participate in?

I am no longer racing, but raced a lot in the ‘80s and ‘90s:  many Grandma’s and Twin Cities marathons; the Boston Marathon, Las Vegas Marathon, Houston Marathon, three marathons in Utah, Easy Street to Lake Street Half-Marathon, New Prague Half-Marathon, Hennepin Lake Classics, Edmund Fitzgerald relays, Melpomene 5K, Victory Memorial 10K, among many other races.

2 // Your stand-by pre-race fuel

My pre-race fuel was a peanut butter bagel and banana along with several energy gel packs during marathons.

Me!

@ Right here my friend…

1 // What races do you participate in?

I’ve been through it all… from the mile and two mile on the track, to XC, to triathlons, all the way up to the marathon.

2 // Your stand-by pre-race fuel

My “stand-by” has changed quite a bit over the years. There are definitely phases and kicks I’ve gone through…. though I wouldn’t follow my example of that season of high school XC where I thought candy corn was responsible for my kick (until I crashed and burned).

However, I will give the following recommendations:

1 // Coffee is not a question of if but of Mexican dark roast or Twin Cities Blend? 2 // [IMO] Slightly upping the carbs the week before a big race is a better idea than shoving your face with spaghetti the night before. Have a nice, balanced dinner, but nix the pasta party. 3 // Kona Kola Nuun is not only deliciously amazing (amazingly delicious??), but also a life saver. 4 // Twizzlers & Raisin Bran on the beach while waiting forever and a half for your wave to start is actually a pretty good idea… 5 // Agua, H2O, dihydrogen monoxide, oxygen (di-)hydride, mizu, WATER!! All week leading up to the race.

Jamie

@ SwimBikeRunLive

1 // What races do you participate in?

I participate primarily in triathlons, mostly half ironmans.

2 // Your stand-by pre-race fuel

My favorite pre-race breakfast is nothing special. I try to keep it pretty similar to what I normally eat in the morning. My pre race breakfast is usually a bowl of Frosted Flakes, a banana and some sports drink. My fav is First Endurance EFS. I will sip on a bottle when I get up and then another while setting up the transition area and waiting for the race to start. My stomach doesn’t like too much in it as soon as I get up, especially with pre-race butterflies flapping around, so I focus primarily on staying hydrated instead of chewing up solids.

Laura

@ Frayed Laces

1 // What races do you participate in?

I’ve raced just about everything, from 5ks to 50 mile ultras.  In years past I’ve been primarily a runner, but recently got into triathlon and just qualified for the Ironman world champs in Kona this year.

2 // Your stand-by pre-race fuel

I always have the same pre-race breakfast, no matter what the distance.  A few hours before the race I have a bowl of oatmeal with raisins, soy protein powder, and cinnamon.  I also have about 3 cups of coffee.  About 45 mins before the race start I’ll have a banana. I think the most important thing is to race using the same conditions you’ve trained with. I am not a fan of having a huge breakfast before a meal, as I don’t race well with a lot of food in my stomach.  I don’t even have a big dinner the night before.  Instead, if I have a major event (marathon, ultramarathon, half ironman, etc) I have a slightly larger than normal lunch, and then an early dinner.  During longer distance events I rely on keeping myself adequately fueled by taking in a steady supply of GU.

Lindsey & James Cotter

@ CotterCrunch & The Cotter Chronicles

James’ Race eats:

1 // What races do you participate in?

I compete in triahthlons professionally. Main races are half ironmans and a couple full ironmans per season

2 // Your stand-by pre-race fuel

Pre race fuel are usually oats or gluten free corn flakes. The wife makes me a small bowl of rolled oats and sticks them in the fridge overnight. In the morning she’ll had banana, cinnamon, honey, and maybe just a tad scoop of vanilla whey protein to mix in.

1 bottle of EFS by first endurance (an electrolyte drink) to take with breakfast and another bottle 45 minutes before race (sip on it in transition area while setting up). Then 15 minutes before race start I’ll take First Endurance Pre-Race powder (caffience stimulation powder) mixed with 4 oz of water.

Lindsays Eats:

1 // What races do you participate in?

No triathlons for me right now. Sold my bike and will get a new one later in the year. That being said, lots of Half marathons this summer/fall! WHOO HOO!

2 // Your stand-by pre-race fuel

I have a gluten intolerance and can’t handle much before a race so here’s what works for me before a half mary.

2 brown rice cakes (gluten free brand) with sun nut butter or almond butter, 1/2 banana, and honey on top. I sometimes add some sea salt crystals just to get some extra sodium in if its going to be a HOT HUMID race. Oh and COFFEE COFFEE is a must. I usually drink an electrolyte drink on the way to race sight (like EFS by first endurance). Then I during the race I make sure to have honey stingers with me. They are easy to chew and stick in my pocket. I alternate between gatorade and water for the majority of the race.

Post race (usually about 30 minutes after), I love CHOCOLATE MUSCLE MILK! The light kind is easy on my stomach because its lactose free and gluten free. I usually grab some fruit with it.  Its the perfect recovery fuel you can tag along with you to races.

READER Qs: What is YOUR “go-to” pre-race breakfast? Have you had any big breakfast blow-ups?

El fin.

Almost! If you haven’t noticed… I haven’t been posting much about my own training and pre-racing and racing hoo-ha lately. [I mean hoo-ha in the sense of "all that nonsense" or "all that business". Urban Dictionary might lead you astray....] And, that would be because I haven’t been racing. BUT, going by my last post, and my facebook photo, hopefully you all can see I’m still WORKING. There is a method to this madness, but a method where I’ve had to put my faith in God to follow. Not fe ciega mind you – although I’ll admit, I do have a bit of that – but guided faith. This is another one of my I’m so much smarter of an athlete now than I was then moments, and it feels RIGHT. Haha I didn’t say good, but it’s definitely right.

And speaking of good and right, there’s a company I want to make sure you guys know about. I say “make sure” because I had never heard of them until my girl Mrs. Frayed Laces enlightened me. And I’m SO glad she did! You can expect to hear more about them in the near future, but in the mean time, click on over to America’s Nutrition. Fair warning that you WILL want to fill you shopping cart, because they have something for EVERYONE. My “heavy lifters” … my marathon junkies … everyone. So fill your cart as you wish, but don’t hit check out just yet!!

[Muah ha ha!! What a tease.]

PEACE.

-E

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.

• 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

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!!