It seems so long ago I graduated from high school and started my first year at Kent State pre-med, but then after only a few weeks of chemistry I realized I was in trouble and dropped out. I changed schools and my major to criminal law and realized after 2 years I missed science and sport so much I compromised and went to school for exercise physiology. I have had a passion for the cardiovascular system since I was 11, memorizing the anatomy of the heart and the path of blood through the body. I had lots of road blocks to finish my bachelor's degree and after 10 long years I did it. I thought it was over and I would finally begin my career. I was so excited to get away from serving and all the complaining about shitty tippers (Yea!! 10% is NOT appropriate!!! Average tipping is 18% and up!!) who want free meals, the lazy servers who do half-ass work, the tipping out to everyone and their mother in the restaurant, the health code violations employees commit and the high stress of having managers constantly yelling during the rush. I was relieved I was going to find a job in cardiac and pulmonary rehab and help people to a better life, to a second chance. I was done consoling people who wanted the most tender steak "well-done but not burnt" who didn't get it just the way they liked it and thought the world was ending. I sent out my resume, excited about my future, about having a salaried income, a 401k, maybe even my own home someday soon, but it didn't happen.
My lack of experience, no ACSM certification and no master's degree = "thanks for your applicantion but NO!!" I spent a many nights stressed and panicked over my future and made the decision to continue my education and complete my master's degree and work for free at a hospital in my field. Thankfully, I finished that one in 2 years, but the job market plummeted and hours were being cut everywhere. I was beyond frustrated. I was just down right pissed off!! What the fuck was it going to take to get a job! I was a server with 2 degrees, both with honors (what a waste). I didn't want to take a job outside my field because I worked so hard for it and I really truly enjoy the people and the clinical environment.
I felt like my future was a big black hole with no direction and then a friend at work said I should apply for the accelerated nursing program at Kent State. It would be 4 semesters of my life. I am already 31, but what is 2 more years? It goes by so fast and there would almost always be jobs available. I would NEVER EVER have to worry again. I applied in April. I was really nervous. They only take 30 people! I even know a girl that has applied for the program 2 times and been rejected and was also applying again for the 3rd time. They grade you based on your 2 letters of recommendation (I had one from my advisor and my boss at the hospital), your essay on why you want to be in the field, pre-requisites (I had all A's, except A&P II, got a B!), cumulative GPA for degrees (undergrad 3.5, grad 3.8) and prior experience in the medical field (I had 2 years working in cardiac and pulmonary rehab, along with Basic Life Support Training). It seemed I was a shoe-in, but for the last 2 months I have beeen stressing and stressing about my future and my finances. Let's face it working as a server is NOT a steady income and with the new tip-out system our company implemented I will make $2000 less this year!!!
I even applied for tuition assistance through the Cleveland Clinic, but because their deadline for acceptance was last week and Kent State does not begin accepting applications until this week I had to contact the Clinic and apologize for wasting their time and withdraw my applicaiton. After I hung up the phone, I'll admit I broke down and cried. Why is this so hard for me to grow-up and have a career, a family, a home? What was I doing wrong? I felt it was a bad sign of things to come. Now, I was even more nervous about my future. Had I signed up for this summer chemistry class only to have my application rejected by Kent State? "Sorry, you are not a winner, please try again."
Last night, I arrived home about 11:30pm from work and I received an email from the accelerated nursing department.
Congratulations! It is an honor to inform you of your provisional acceptance into the College of Nursing’s Accelerated Baccalaureate Degree Program for fall 2009. Official acceptance is only valid with a response to the attached Electronic Statement of Intent indicating you will accept or decline your seat by June 30, 2009.
Instructions for submitting your Statement of Intent:
ELECTRONICALLY: (Preferred method)
Open the attachment in Microsoft Word
If accepting your seat for fall 2009; Click on the box for Accept; TAB to fill in the information below.
If declining your seat for fall 2009; Click on the box for Decline; TAB to Reason, We appreciate a reason for you decline.
TAB to the bottom of the page and complete the date and electronic signature.
Click on FILE, SAVE (we suggest saving to your desktop).
Open the original email and click on REPLY.
ATTACH the Statement of Intent you saved to your desktop.
SEND
BY FAX:
Open the attachment in Microsoft Word.
Print document & complete
Fax to: 330-672-2061
Keep in mind the June 30th deadline.
You will be receiving a packet with additional acceptance requirements by e-mail on July 1, 2009. Please watch closely for it. All requirements are due July 24, 2009.
Student Services
Kent State University College of Nursing
I let out a really quiet "Hooray!!!" as my roommates were asleep and breathed a sigh of relief.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Agua, H20, Lake Erie Cocktail = I need WATER!!!
Just got off work and was hoping to get in a my 2nd workout late tonight (a 5 mile tempo). I usually leave my run to the night time and get the other stuff out of the way when there are daylight hours. It's hard to swim in the dark (can't see the buoys on my parents lake) and dangerous to cycle (cars can't see my bike and I don't have lights). It seems though that even running at night may be a problem, errr well actually the entire idea of getting hot and sweaty is down right impossible now. We have no water!!
This means no showers, no flushing toilet, no drinking water, zip, zilch, nada! I have checked the local news and all I know is that it was a MAIN water break (you don't say), yes, the city and the police know about it so don't call unless you have a fire and no they don't know when the heck our water will be back on.
Dammit!!! I can't run and sleep all hot sweaty and stinky!! Yuck. I had to make the executive decision to NOT run and try to minimize the my smelliness until I can get to the gym and shower (that is if they have water) or my parents sometime Thursday.
I just hope I can stand the smell of myself for a few more hours. I am definitely a biased person...I don't like stinky people!!!
This means no showers, no flushing toilet, no drinking water, zip, zilch, nada! I have checked the local news and all I know is that it was a MAIN water break (you don't say), yes, the city and the police know about it so don't call unless you have a fire and no they don't know when the heck our water will be back on.
Dammit!!! I can't run and sleep all hot sweaty and stinky!! Yuck. I had to make the executive decision to NOT run and try to minimize the my smelliness until I can get to the gym and shower (that is if they have water) or my parents sometime Thursday.
I just hope I can stand the smell of myself for a few more hours. I am definitely a biased person...I don't like stinky people!!!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Sunday in June 100K
I did not post about Sunday in June when I arrived home last Sunday, so procrastination immediately struck and as you can see it is now Friday when I am reporting. I am also behind on biking and running due to my chemistry class (who really knows about ions, electron configurations, and what the hell and earth metal is anyway???) I think I am beginning to see a pattern.
Last Sunday, I headed up to Burton to try my hand at a 100k ride. The last one I did was in September 2006 and I suffered tremedously. I couldn't move my shoulders or my lats for a few days and my butt was no better. I thought about the 100 miler, but was apprehensive whether my legs would hold up for my olympic triathlon 2 weeks later. I stuck to the 100k and met up with JP who was also doing the 100k. AY, SY and AP were doing the 50 miler so we rode together for about 35-40 miles (not sure what mile we were at when they broke off).
The first 12 or so miles took us south toward Parkman and basically into Daisy's backyard. The roads were surprisingly flat or rolling! Usually, Chardon, Burton and North Chagrin are synonomous with hilly. While we were on our way to the rest stop I learned AY liked 2-ways better than 4-ways. I had to laugh as we were talking about stop signs, but without the context of the conversation you can see where someone might find it humerous. We stopped for about 10 minutes to refuel. I had packed a PB&J, a honey oat bar and gel in my jersey, so I really didn't need anymore food, but I never miss a meal, so I grabbed a nice sized chocolate chip cookie and "in a flash it was gone. It happened so soon!" I also ate half my PB&J. I hate bonking on the bike and as long as I eat every 1-2 hours..."it's all good!"
Hopped back on our bikes and made the trek to the next aid station which was the start. Less than 2 miles from the 2nd aid station there was a "Y" in the road. You could pick your poison. The right took up a short steep climb. The left was longer, but less steep. SY our fearless leader who was leading at the time chose the right. I had to stand to make the climb, but it was nothing compared to Sherman, Old Mill or Fairmount (you get the picture).
Back at the start we all regrouped and of course, I refueled. I had thought this ride offered lunch, but when we got there I was disappointed to see only cookies, apples, bananans, crackers and gatorade. I mentioned it to AY and she laughed at me and said it would be set-up later in the day and made the following comment...
"You really only do all this triathlon and running stuff so you can eat...don't you?"
The cat was out of the bag. I answered honestly "Yes." I like to eat. What's wrong with that?
We picked up Chuck and Brenda and a friend of AP's wearing a yellow jersey and headed out to for the 3rd part. JP and I were on our way to another aid station but the 50-milers, just made a 24ish mile loop back to the start. Initially, we all rode together as it started mostly downhill, but then a few rollers and small climbs came up and the group started to spread out. The speed was the same as before, but with the hills the effort had increased. I felt only a little uncomfortable as the guy in the yellow jersey pushed the pace but I was able to keep up. AP commented how he thought the yellow jersey was going to the guy's head and we all got another great laugh. We managed to stay together for the most part and make it to Sisson Road where JP and I were to continue north and the other part of our group would break off and go west for the 50-miler. JP and I rode comfortably talking about marathons, triathlons and had an awesome time. JP and I refueled at the rest stop as she didn't want to bonk on the bike either and she didn't have the PB&J like I did ;)
We made our way from Big Creek Park back south into Chardon and I recognized the start and finish of the Maple Sap 5 miler. We road around the square and dropped down a hill parallel to the finish of the 5 miler. It was just as steep. I always like to get a little adrenaline rush on my bike at least once a ride, so I got low on my drops and cruised down at 40 mph (probably could have gone faster if I would have put some more speed on before dropping in, but whatever). Turned back to see JP had also dropped in at a decent pace too. When she rolled up next to me, she told me to my surprise she had never hit 40 before on her bike. She was definitely excited and enjoying the rush. We caught a big group (~20 riders) just before jumping on the all-purpose path. They were riding slower than us so we started to pass them, but there was an arrow indicating right turn. Now, for a while the arrows were right on top of where you turn, so everyone was breaking and the guy in the back of the pack wasn't really paying attention and almost crashed into the lady in front of him, but he managed to avoid it. He did however start wobbling on his bike and for a second I thought he was going to go off the road in the toolies!! He recovered and I asked if he was okay. He said "yes,", but he was mad and yelled up to the front that people need to yell "slowing or braking!!!"
I started laughing. I have always believed that it is each and every rider's own personal responsibility to know there riding level and whatch their own ass!! If you can't make split second decisions and control your bike, then 1) dont' f#cking ride that close to the biker in front of you 2) don't f#cking ride that close to the biker in front of you. Your bike,your ass, your responsibility!
We hit the path in the thick of things. About 10 cyclist behind us and 10 in front. We couldn't pass as the entire path was blocked by the people in front and JP, so we stayed side by side and on bike-ups she was able to squeeze in my lane. The group was averaging ~19, so we were content to not advance our position, but then the front pack would start yelling and braking and goofing off with each other dropping speeds to less than 15 mph. JP and I at this point felt it was getting sketchy and irritating, so as soon as there was a gap we sprinted by. Both of us were relieved that crap was over. It was hard to admire anythin on the path with all the other riders changing speeds and riding so tightly. It was like a peleton on a 1 lane road.
Off the path and back on the open road we saw less and less cyclists, but lots and lots of motorcycles. I even saw one of my favorite's, a Ducati 996!! When I looked down at my computer and realized we only had about 6 miles to go. I was kinda sad as it was almost over and I was having so much fun. I even felt great (my butt hurt a little, but I had taken chamois butter to apply at each stop, which helped). I could see the Burton water tower in the distance and I commented to JP that that was our finish. She was doing awesome for a west-sider who doesn't have half as many hills. We started the last long climb back into town. It seemed about 1-2 miles. It wasn't steep, just enough to let you know that your legs had already ridden 62 miles. We finished in less that 4 hours, right at a 16 mph average. I was really pumped. Although my legs were fatigued, I definitely did not push myself and we were right on target (15-17mph average was goal). I even managed to run 4 miles later that day.
After I stopped in to eat some pasta, chicken, garlic bread and salad.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm :)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
It's Clay's Park Tri Again...
Third times a charm, especially for this race. I realize if I want to get the race reports blogged I have to do them immediately or forget it all together.
Well, yesterday I managed an EZ 12 mile bike, followed up with a 2.25 mile run and then a quick dip in the lake as my pre-race workout. It was much hotter yesterday than this morning and my legs felt like crap on the bike and I was extremely worried I would have another bad race. I even had a dream I got a foot to the face during the swim and my face was a geyser of blood. Needless to say I woke up a tad concerned. Usually, my goal is to finish top ten for the women and that is how I finsh, but I jokingly told AH I should raise my standards and go for top 5 this year. I then saw the participants list (GULP!) There were some fast girls, one was only a minute or so slower than AH. She could swim, bike and run! No wonder she did the triathlon. There were a few girls who couldn't swim as well as me, but shit they could run! I was in deep doo-doo.
We left the house a bit after 5:30am which was way more time than we needed, but hey early is better than late and we had to make a detour due to some new road construction. Arrived a little after 6:00am and immediately racked my bike near the bike in/out. I would rather have a longer run in/out on the run side than a longer bike/in out with my bike. I ended up on a rack with some girls who I didn't recognize, but looked fast and were discussing there 3-5 hour workouts for the past week! "5 hours, I don't work out for 5 freakin' hours...I am dead!" We had to do a little rearranging to get my gear in front of my bike, but it worked and they were really nice. I figured they would be out of the water way ahead of me anyway and I would have the entire area to myself when I hit T1.
Here is where the mishaps began. I just can't seem to avoid them. It was getting later and later and I had blown up my tubular earlier in the week and was waiting for a new wheel, but BS wasn't there with it yet! When he did arrive AH pulled my old one off and took off to grab my new one. Ah, all is good. I have my wheel. Now, to get my wetsuit. I was walking back to the van when AH ran by yelling "hope you weren't planning on wearing a wetsuit today!" What is he stupid? Of course, I am wearing my suit. Apparently, the wetsuits had not been pulled out of the garage and loaded into the van! Oh God! Here we go, no wetsuit,uuuggghhh, badluck, but hey my T1 time should rock...CRAP! I had gone to tri swimming over the winter, so we were gonna see if it worked! Sans wetsuit today baby! Any idea of top 5, 10, whatever were out the door at that point. I hustled to the van to get my chip, which I forgot then headed to the beach and then headed back to the van again because I forgot we had swim caps this year too! Arrrrgggghhh!!! Oh and I peed 3 times in between too.
I waited on shore for the men's waves to go off with AY, KZ and JP. CTC chicks were representing. AY being a collegiate swimmer was pumped me and JP were going sans wetsuit with her. JP had not wanted to fight with her suit in T1 and KZ had only opted for a shorty. I had no option dammit! I decided to start far to the left and swim for the back buoy, outside of everybody. Without my suit I would probably get stuck in the pack and I was going to have a hard enough time keeping up as it was, let alone avoiding getting caught by a flailing arm or leg (my bloody nose dream).
Swim - 10 minutes separated us from the last men's wave so we had a nice open lake all to ourselves. The horn sounded and I ran in the water and dove in full force ready to go hard the entire way. No saving the energy today. Most girls that beat me get most of their time on me in the water. They break away in a front pack and I never see them again. It happened again today. I could see yellow caps pulling farther and farther ahead. Shit!! I lost the front of the pack. I forced myself to cut through the water and pull working on the things RR had told me make to focus on to help my swimming. I really missed my wetsuit. I had to push my butt up and my chest down to keep myself planed out. I kicked from my hips and made it through the 2 buoys with only minor contact from others. The turnaround buoy put us right in the sun and I couldn't see a thing. I definitely started swimming crooked, but dammit the only thing I could see was the central buoy (it was closer to the transition area too). I breathe on my right and today's swim was clockwise so I only got a few peaks here and there at all the girls to my left. All in all my breathing was labored as it always is in the water, but it was a "controlled" labor. Swam and swam and finally smacked my hand on the ground and immediately stood up. Uugghh! Hello legs welcome back to land! I tried to hurry out of the water and up to T1 and as I passed the official at the entrance I heard 10th! No, fucking way!!! I was 10th out of the water sans wetsuit! Hell yeah (Daisy would proud, our swimming had paid off). There were 41 female competitors today. Time was 10:40, only :56 slower than last year with a wetsuit. Hmmmm, I am not a fast swimmer, but it appears most triathletes aren't either :(
T1 - fastest ever since I didn't have to strip my suit. In and out that's the plan. No fumbling, no mishaps. Time 1:18.
The Bike - Rolled out on the bike and immediately passed a girl, 1 down 8 to go. Although my heart rate was bumpin' I felt better than I ever have after a hard open water swim. I switched my computer over to cadence to confirm that I was riding at 95-105 (seems to be where I am most comfortable) and set out for another girl just ahead. She was on a Cervelo P2 (Two thoughts: very nice and man I want a tri bike). Passed her and then she passed me back. Enough of this I thought "get control of yourself and go." Passed her one last time and never saw her again. 2 down, 7 to go. Flew down the big hill known as Manga Galanga hitting a little over 38 mph (sure didn't feel like it, felt way slower). Managed to bike down lots of guys, but who cares they are guys. The next 3 miles are a false flat with a headwind and here is where I saw the shark "AY." She had again gotten a good sized jump on me out of the water (*$(&*@#$&* - I wish I could swim!) I yelled "let's go" and she made a comment about how my swim must not have been too bad and I confirmed I had not drown. I pulled past her and worked my way to the human turnaround. I counted about 6 girls in front of me after passing her and as soon as I made the turn I let it all out just like last year. Worked my way back to the hill I would have to now ascend, but it seemed the road was a bit crappy on the right so I had to ride near the center this year. It also seemed that all the turns had more gravel than usual and I took them more cautiously than I normally would. Hit the bottom of Manga Galanga and caught 4 guys on the hill. Every year that bad boy gets easier and this year I took it like a champ passing all 4 guys before cresting the hill. There were however, no more girls! It was all guys. Entering the park there was a shit ton of gravel and some potholes and my bike of course at 20+ mph got squirrely for a second and I thought I might lose it, but didn't (whew). I was back in less than 42 minutes. This is the hardest bicycle sprint course around. It has some hills, some wind, some railroad tracks and some gravel. I don't even know if AH has broken 20mph on his Kuota Kalibur on this course!
T2 - (not sure of my time, because I forgot to split my watch at the start of T2 and when I was in T2 I split it half way through transition and managed :36, but I know T2 wasn't that fast. I heard a guy talking to a girl telling her she was top 10 and new I had to get moving if I wanted to stay in the top women. I didn't know if she was a poker in transition or if she had come in right behind me (I didn't see anybody behind me at mile 11...hmmmm).
The Run - It never fails to feel awful. It is just a matter of to what degree of awful I am at when running. I was only mildly awful, but when I took my 2nd gel without water it was so viscous and thick my mouth was kinda stuck. It was gross. Thankfully, there was an aid station a minute later and the water washed the nasty shit down. The run started a little slow as usual, but I was still running people down. Honestly, JP is a great runner and even though she was a tad behind me on the bike I didn't know if it was enough to hold her off. I have been run down the last 2 years at this race and today I was very focused on preventing that. I could hear someone coming up on me about a half mile in and was dismayed as I thought it was a girl, but nope it was a guy. That was a sigh of relief, but I took it as a warning not to mess around. I finally saw the girl I had been looking for toward the end of the first loop. She had about a half mile on me and man it was going to be ugly to catch her, but today I was gonna fight like hell. BS, who won the triathlon and AH were cheering for me as I came through letting me know I looked strong and I could definitely hold any girls behind me off. Sweet! AH went with me on the 2nd loop and as I was starting my last lap lots more ladies had entered on their first loop. I lost sight of the girl I had been chasing and had to work my way through the first lappers. I ran by a turtle holding out an orange flag with a sign on his belly that said "SLOW," and aloud I said "not today, not today!" I never saw the 2 mile marker so my splits are all messed up for the run, but when I had about .55 mile left I dug in. I had closed the gap on that girl and she was back in site, about 200 meteres ahead and I was gaining ground, but shit I was running out of road too! I was wheezing and the mildly awful had risen to "this really sucks awful" and the self-talk began. "C'mon fuckin' run!" I made the turn off the road to make the weird u-turn down a path and up to the finish and knew I wasn't going to get her, but I had laid it all out there and run hard. AH and BS were screaming at me to kick. I did, err I tried. My legs had worked really hard and there wasn't much, but I had something left. Hit the finish with a run time of 25:14. It seems slow, but on tired legs and a towpath like path, on a day that is always hot and without a wetsuit (yeah, I am throwin' that in there too), not too shabby.
AH told me I was 3rd overall. I cheered and fell over on the ground staring up at the sky tired as all hell, but then he admitted he was wrong and I found out I was 4th, which meant the other girl was 3rd (DARN!!). I was exhausted and by the time I changed I had missed the awards ceremony. I ended up winning my age group and so did the chic in front of me, which moves me to 5th overall, so far. Hmmm, have to wait until official results come out.
Anyway, AH got 3rd in his AG and that is the first time ever I have placed higher for awards than him! We have both been 1st or him 1st and me 2nd, but never me 1st and him 3rd. WOW! Also, I PR'd by over 4 minutes. Unofficial time 1:20:12.
All I know is cycling with Daisy and AH is really paying off and I can probably never thank Rob Reddy enough for tri swimming! Holy Cow!!! I believe I had a good race .... FINALLY!!!!
______________________________________________________
***Edit***
Official Results and Breakdown
5th out of 40 for women
Swim Rank 10
Bike Rank 3
Run Rank 7
I was crushed by 2 chicks that is nearly as fast as AH. I only had a faster T2 time than 1 of them. They both came out of the water over 2:00 minutes ahead of me putting me out of contention. Also, everyone that beat me in the overall was on a tri bike!! Note to self: Get a frick'n tri bike!! My cycling is really coming along though.
LEARN TO LOVE CLIMBING HILLS. THEY ONLY REALLY SUCK THE FIRST TIME YOU CLIMB A NEW ONE.
Lost to a girl I beat at a different triathlon by over 2:00 minutes last year (ran her down). This year she killed me on the swim, but I made up time on the bike and would have run her down if I had not run out of road. Only missed her by :20. Again, the swim screwed me.
Final thought: my T1 time last year was 1:57 with a wetsuit. This year it was 1:35. I saved only :22 seconds. I would have been 9:00 in the water or less with my suit this year. Hence, it does not take me that long to strip my suit and I WILL ALWAYS WEAR A WETSUIT!!!!!
Well, yesterday I managed an EZ 12 mile bike, followed up with a 2.25 mile run and then a quick dip in the lake as my pre-race workout. It was much hotter yesterday than this morning and my legs felt like crap on the bike and I was extremely worried I would have another bad race. I even had a dream I got a foot to the face during the swim and my face was a geyser of blood. Needless to say I woke up a tad concerned. Usually, my goal is to finish top ten for the women and that is how I finsh, but I jokingly told AH I should raise my standards and go for top 5 this year. I then saw the participants list (GULP!) There were some fast girls, one was only a minute or so slower than AH. She could swim, bike and run! No wonder she did the triathlon. There were a few girls who couldn't swim as well as me, but shit they could run! I was in deep doo-doo.
We left the house a bit after 5:30am which was way more time than we needed, but hey early is better than late and we had to make a detour due to some new road construction. Arrived a little after 6:00am and immediately racked my bike near the bike in/out. I would rather have a longer run in/out on the run side than a longer bike/in out with my bike. I ended up on a rack with some girls who I didn't recognize, but looked fast and were discussing there 3-5 hour workouts for the past week! "5 hours, I don't work out for 5 freakin' hours...I am dead!" We had to do a little rearranging to get my gear in front of my bike, but it worked and they were really nice. I figured they would be out of the water way ahead of me anyway and I would have the entire area to myself when I hit T1.
Here is where the mishaps began. I just can't seem to avoid them. It was getting later and later and I had blown up my tubular earlier in the week and was waiting for a new wheel, but BS wasn't there with it yet! When he did arrive AH pulled my old one off and took off to grab my new one. Ah, all is good. I have my wheel. Now, to get my wetsuit. I was walking back to the van when AH ran by yelling "hope you weren't planning on wearing a wetsuit today!" What is he stupid? Of course, I am wearing my suit. Apparently, the wetsuits had not been pulled out of the garage and loaded into the van! Oh God! Here we go, no wetsuit,uuuggghhh, badluck, but hey my T1 time should rock...CRAP! I had gone to tri swimming over the winter, so we were gonna see if it worked! Sans wetsuit today baby! Any idea of top 5, 10, whatever were out the door at that point. I hustled to the van to get my chip, which I forgot then headed to the beach and then headed back to the van again because I forgot we had swim caps this year too! Arrrrgggghhh!!! Oh and I peed 3 times in between too.
I waited on shore for the men's waves to go off with AY, KZ and JP. CTC chicks were representing. AY being a collegiate swimmer was pumped me and JP were going sans wetsuit with her. JP had not wanted to fight with her suit in T1 and KZ had only opted for a shorty. I had no option dammit! I decided to start far to the left and swim for the back buoy, outside of everybody. Without my suit I would probably get stuck in the pack and I was going to have a hard enough time keeping up as it was, let alone avoiding getting caught by a flailing arm or leg (my bloody nose dream).
Swim - 10 minutes separated us from the last men's wave so we had a nice open lake all to ourselves. The horn sounded and I ran in the water and dove in full force ready to go hard the entire way. No saving the energy today. Most girls that beat me get most of their time on me in the water. They break away in a front pack and I never see them again. It happened again today. I could see yellow caps pulling farther and farther ahead. Shit!! I lost the front of the pack. I forced myself to cut through the water and pull working on the things RR had told me make to focus on to help my swimming. I really missed my wetsuit. I had to push my butt up and my chest down to keep myself planed out. I kicked from my hips and made it through the 2 buoys with only minor contact from others. The turnaround buoy put us right in the sun and I couldn't see a thing. I definitely started swimming crooked, but dammit the only thing I could see was the central buoy (it was closer to the transition area too). I breathe on my right and today's swim was clockwise so I only got a few peaks here and there at all the girls to my left. All in all my breathing was labored as it always is in the water, but it was a "controlled" labor. Swam and swam and finally smacked my hand on the ground and immediately stood up. Uugghh! Hello legs welcome back to land! I tried to hurry out of the water and up to T1 and as I passed the official at the entrance I heard 10th! No, fucking way!!! I was 10th out of the water sans wetsuit! Hell yeah (Daisy would proud, our swimming had paid off). There were 41 female competitors today. Time was 10:40, only :56 slower than last year with a wetsuit. Hmmmm, I am not a fast swimmer, but it appears most triathletes aren't either :(
T1 - fastest ever since I didn't have to strip my suit. In and out that's the plan. No fumbling, no mishaps. Time 1:18.
The Bike - Rolled out on the bike and immediately passed a girl, 1 down 8 to go. Although my heart rate was bumpin' I felt better than I ever have after a hard open water swim. I switched my computer over to cadence to confirm that I was riding at 95-105 (seems to be where I am most comfortable) and set out for another girl just ahead. She was on a Cervelo P2 (Two thoughts: very nice and man I want a tri bike). Passed her and then she passed me back. Enough of this I thought "get control of yourself and go." Passed her one last time and never saw her again. 2 down, 7 to go. Flew down the big hill known as Manga Galanga hitting a little over 38 mph (sure didn't feel like it, felt way slower). Managed to bike down lots of guys, but who cares they are guys. The next 3 miles are a false flat with a headwind and here is where I saw the shark "AY." She had again gotten a good sized jump on me out of the water (*$(&*@#$&* - I wish I could swim!) I yelled "let's go" and she made a comment about how my swim must not have been too bad and I confirmed I had not drown. I pulled past her and worked my way to the human turnaround. I counted about 6 girls in front of me after passing her and as soon as I made the turn I let it all out just like last year. Worked my way back to the hill I would have to now ascend, but it seemed the road was a bit crappy on the right so I had to ride near the center this year. It also seemed that all the turns had more gravel than usual and I took them more cautiously than I normally would. Hit the bottom of Manga Galanga and caught 4 guys on the hill. Every year that bad boy gets easier and this year I took it like a champ passing all 4 guys before cresting the hill. There were however, no more girls! It was all guys. Entering the park there was a shit ton of gravel and some potholes and my bike of course at 20+ mph got squirrely for a second and I thought I might lose it, but didn't (whew). I was back in less than 42 minutes. This is the hardest bicycle sprint course around. It has some hills, some wind, some railroad tracks and some gravel. I don't even know if AH has broken 20mph on his Kuota Kalibur on this course!
T2 - (not sure of my time, because I forgot to split my watch at the start of T2 and when I was in T2 I split it half way through transition and managed :36, but I know T2 wasn't that fast. I heard a guy talking to a girl telling her she was top 10 and new I had to get moving if I wanted to stay in the top women. I didn't know if she was a poker in transition or if she had come in right behind me (I didn't see anybody behind me at mile 11...hmmmm).
The Run - It never fails to feel awful. It is just a matter of to what degree of awful I am at when running. I was only mildly awful, but when I took my 2nd gel without water it was so viscous and thick my mouth was kinda stuck. It was gross. Thankfully, there was an aid station a minute later and the water washed the nasty shit down. The run started a little slow as usual, but I was still running people down. Honestly, JP is a great runner and even though she was a tad behind me on the bike I didn't know if it was enough to hold her off. I have been run down the last 2 years at this race and today I was very focused on preventing that. I could hear someone coming up on me about a half mile in and was dismayed as I thought it was a girl, but nope it was a guy. That was a sigh of relief, but I took it as a warning not to mess around. I finally saw the girl I had been looking for toward the end of the first loop. She had about a half mile on me and man it was going to be ugly to catch her, but today I was gonna fight like hell. BS, who won the triathlon and AH were cheering for me as I came through letting me know I looked strong and I could definitely hold any girls behind me off. Sweet! AH went with me on the 2nd loop and as I was starting my last lap lots more ladies had entered on their first loop. I lost sight of the girl I had been chasing and had to work my way through the first lappers. I ran by a turtle holding out an orange flag with a sign on his belly that said "SLOW," and aloud I said "not today, not today!" I never saw the 2 mile marker so my splits are all messed up for the run, but when I had about .55 mile left I dug in. I had closed the gap on that girl and she was back in site, about 200 meteres ahead and I was gaining ground, but shit I was running out of road too! I was wheezing and the mildly awful had risen to "this really sucks awful" and the self-talk began. "C'mon fuckin' run!" I made the turn off the road to make the weird u-turn down a path and up to the finish and knew I wasn't going to get her, but I had laid it all out there and run hard. AH and BS were screaming at me to kick. I did, err I tried. My legs had worked really hard and there wasn't much, but I had something left. Hit the finish with a run time of 25:14. It seems slow, but on tired legs and a towpath like path, on a day that is always hot and without a wetsuit (yeah, I am throwin' that in there too), not too shabby.
AH told me I was 3rd overall. I cheered and fell over on the ground staring up at the sky tired as all hell, but then he admitted he was wrong and I found out I was 4th, which meant the other girl was 3rd (DARN!!). I was exhausted and by the time I changed I had missed the awards ceremony. I ended up winning my age group and so did the chic in front of me, which moves me to 5th overall, so far. Hmmm, have to wait until official results come out.
Anyway, AH got 3rd in his AG and that is the first time ever I have placed higher for awards than him! We have both been 1st or him 1st and me 2nd, but never me 1st and him 3rd. WOW! Also, I PR'd by over 4 minutes. Unofficial time 1:20:12.
All I know is cycling with Daisy and AH is really paying off and I can probably never thank Rob Reddy enough for tri swimming! Holy Cow!!! I believe I had a good race .... FINALLY!!!!
______________________________________________________
***Edit***
Official Results and Breakdown
5th out of 40 for women
Swim Rank 10
Bike Rank 3
Run Rank 7
I was crushed by 2 chicks that is nearly as fast as AH. I only had a faster T2 time than 1 of them. They both came out of the water over 2:00 minutes ahead of me putting me out of contention. Also, everyone that beat me in the overall was on a tri bike!! Note to self: Get a frick'n tri bike!! My cycling is really coming along though.
LEARN TO LOVE CLIMBING HILLS. THEY ONLY REALLY SUCK THE FIRST TIME YOU CLIMB A NEW ONE.
Lost to a girl I beat at a different triathlon by over 2:00 minutes last year (ran her down). This year she killed me on the swim, but I made up time on the bike and would have run her down if I had not run out of road. Only missed her by :20. Again, the swim screwed me.
Final thought: my T1 time last year was 1:57 with a wetsuit. This year it was 1:35. I saved only :22 seconds. I would have been 9:00 in the water or less with my suit this year. Hence, it does not take me that long to strip my suit and I WILL ALWAYS WEAR A WETSUIT!!!!!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Why I am a pansy and tentative 2009 schedule
The best laid plans never happen. As the weeks have passed this year, I have been frustrated that I can't train due to injury and now that I am back I feel extremely pressured, by myself of course, to get my shit together. I am trying to "catch up" but I know I am just begging for another injury.
Some time after the Blossom race last week I began thinking about why I feel so pressured and why the hell I am trying to kill myself...
1) It is racing season and all my friends are in great shape and out killin' it...well I want to kill it too!!
2) I am on a "race team" and to be part of the team you must race, but I don't feel ready!! I know I owe it to them to get out there, but it is a bad idea. I feel like I am showing up at a race to either be disappointed or have my ass handed to me by everybody or both.
Even training with people is intimidating right now. I love how everyone says get out of your comfort zone and train with faster people. HA!! Most people that say that shit are the fast people. When I am the slowest person in the group I have 2 thoughts 1)even if I kill myself to keep up I still am not fast enough, but I will most likely ruin my own workout to try hard for them and 2) they should just go ahead without me and get in a quality workout.
Last night, I went on a little training ride with Daisy, MC and the Gruesome Twosome for about 38 miles through the North Chagrin and Chester Township area, which has a few hills. It was a lot of fun, but a whole ton of work. I would hang on a wheel for dear life and then get dropped on a hill and then catch up, not because I was fast, but because they would slow. They also managed to throw in some intervals or so it seemed. I would be killing myself to ride 25-33 mph in some spots and the boys would just-a-fly-on-by!! Daisy did a good job holding her own and saved me on numerous occassions from riding solo back to the cars. All in all I felt pretty good, but I was definitely getting tired with about 5 or so miles to go. It ended up being my longest ride and my fastest ride of the year with 38 miles at about 16.4mph. Now, some may laugh at that high speed, but when you put in a few hills see how fast you ride!!! Anyway, you can see how I slowed them down from their workout. Thankfully, no one complained, nor did I get a pink slip post-ride.
All in all I am just feeling down on myself as of late, especially about my running. My left knee has been nagging me for the last week or so and I wonder if it is tendonitis...blah! I have resolved to only do LSD running, errr just SD running, until my body feels stonger. I am not sure if it because I finally cycled over 100 miles in a week or just too much hard running. Anyway, all expectations and hopes for the year are off the table. I am trying to accept the fact that this year may be mediocre for me.
Example: Next week is Flag Day. It is only a 5k, but I know it will be a very ugly 20-something minutes of my life, so I am foregoing the race and working. I do however, have a sprint triathlon this weekend and am hoping that although my running is a downer, maybe my swim and bike will give me a boost, hell I will take a PR in T1 or T2 at this point ;) I am getting so desperate for a "good" race I am 95% certain I am going to do my first HIM at the end of August. It is a PR as long a s I finish right? Anyway, I am going to give myself a hug, wipe my tears and get on with it...haha.
Schedule 2009
6/7 Clay's Park Sprint Triathlon (time to beat 1:24:22)
6/14 Sunday in June 100k (this is a tour who gives a care about time)
6/28 The Dam Tri Olympic (only did 1 and PR is 2:55:04 swimming upstream & 6.55M run)
7/04 Aurora Fun Run 5K (parents are doing it, so me too - ewww hate 5ks)
7/19 Johnny Cake 5M (mandatory team race will be getting beat by lots of people)
7/25 Winking Lizard 4M (parents are doing it, so me too)
7/26 Lighthouse Triathlon (time to beat 1:14:30, less than 2 minutes off the 1st OA)
August
1st weekend - Crew for Twizzle at BR100
2nd weekend - work GCT
8/13 - Twilight Trail 8k (have to beat 46:20 - ouch)
3rd weekend - Great Buckeye Challenge HIM (what am I thinking?!?!?!)
4th weekend - IMKY ironfan!!!
9/12 Potato Stomp (really want to run well at this!!)
10/18 Columbus Half Marathon or Stomp the Grapes Half Marathon
11/22 Philadelphia Marathon (due to tight schedule I decided to go back for more)
And that's all she wrote.
Some time after the Blossom race last week I began thinking about why I feel so pressured and why the hell I am trying to kill myself...
1) It is racing season and all my friends are in great shape and out killin' it...well I want to kill it too!!
2) I am on a "race team" and to be part of the team you must race, but I don't feel ready!! I know I owe it to them to get out there, but it is a bad idea. I feel like I am showing up at a race to either be disappointed or have my ass handed to me by everybody or both.
Even training with people is intimidating right now. I love how everyone says get out of your comfort zone and train with faster people. HA!! Most people that say that shit are the fast people. When I am the slowest person in the group I have 2 thoughts 1)even if I kill myself to keep up I still am not fast enough, but I will most likely ruin my own workout to try hard for them and 2) they should just go ahead without me and get in a quality workout.
Last night, I went on a little training ride with Daisy, MC and the Gruesome Twosome for about 38 miles through the North Chagrin and Chester Township area, which has a few hills. It was a lot of fun, but a whole ton of work. I would hang on a wheel for dear life and then get dropped on a hill and then catch up, not because I was fast, but because they would slow. They also managed to throw in some intervals or so it seemed. I would be killing myself to ride 25-33 mph in some spots and the boys would just-a-fly-on-by!! Daisy did a good job holding her own and saved me on numerous occassions from riding solo back to the cars. All in all I felt pretty good, but I was definitely getting tired with about 5 or so miles to go. It ended up being my longest ride and my fastest ride of the year with 38 miles at about 16.4mph. Now, some may laugh at that high speed, but when you put in a few hills see how fast you ride!!! Anyway, you can see how I slowed them down from their workout. Thankfully, no one complained, nor did I get a pink slip post-ride.
All in all I am just feeling down on myself as of late, especially about my running. My left knee has been nagging me for the last week or so and I wonder if it is tendonitis...blah! I have resolved to only do LSD running, errr just SD running, until my body feels stonger. I am not sure if it because I finally cycled over 100 miles in a week or just too much hard running. Anyway, all expectations and hopes for the year are off the table. I am trying to accept the fact that this year may be mediocre for me.
Example: Next week is Flag Day. It is only a 5k, but I know it will be a very ugly 20-something minutes of my life, so I am foregoing the race and working. I do however, have a sprint triathlon this weekend and am hoping that although my running is a downer, maybe my swim and bike will give me a boost, hell I will take a PR in T1 or T2 at this point ;) I am getting so desperate for a "good" race I am 95% certain I am going to do my first HIM at the end of August. It is a PR as long a s I finish right? Anyway, I am going to give myself a hug, wipe my tears and get on with it...haha.
Schedule 2009
6/7 Clay's Park Sprint Triathlon (time to beat 1:24:22)
6/14 Sunday in June 100k (this is a tour who gives a care about time)
6/28 The Dam Tri Olympic (only did 1 and PR is 2:55:04 swimming upstream & 6.55M run)
7/04 Aurora Fun Run 5K (parents are doing it, so me too - ewww hate 5ks)
7/19 Johnny Cake 5M (mandatory team race will be getting beat by lots of people)
7/25 Winking Lizard 4M (parents are doing it, so me too)
7/26 Lighthouse Triathlon (time to beat 1:14:30, less than 2 minutes off the 1st OA)
August
1st weekend - Crew for Twizzle at BR100
2nd weekend - work GCT
8/13 - Twilight Trail 8k (have to beat 46:20 - ouch)
3rd weekend - Great Buckeye Challenge HIM (what am I thinking?!?!?!)
4th weekend - IMKY ironfan!!!
9/12 Potato Stomp (really want to run well at this!!)
10/18 Columbus Half Marathon or Stomp the Grapes Half Marathon
11/22 Philadelphia Marathon (due to tight schedule I decided to go back for more)
And that's all she wrote.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)