The Slog

NATION'S CAPITAL NUTBUTTER SUPPLY INCREASING UNEXPECTEDLY

2012-01-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.rookiepros.blogspot.com

CONTACT: Lauren Harrison
CEO, of her life
laurenharrison00@gmail.com

NATION'S CAPITAL NUTBUTTER SUPPLY INCREASING UNEXPECTEDLY

(Los Altos, CA; January 26th, 2012) I am relatively happy to announce that the Costco of the DC area will soon be sorely missing the daily random purchases of one young Lindsey Jerdonek. Yes, as of Friday, LJ is quitting COLD TURKEY her long-lasting "spreadsheet addiction" (read: current job) to become a real pro triathlete, the type that takes naps during the day and does not have to get up at 5am to jam in a swim session before a long day of work and other obligations.

Yes, my slogmate has moved on and is moving up and I congratulate her on making this huge decision as she takes the necessary steps to reach her goals. No longer will she find the need to resort to motivational quotes on reaching her potential..she is living it..down and dirty.

One fall-out from her decision is that I no longer will have someone with which to commiserate virtually on the stress of training, working, mountain lion spotting, and the complete and utter lack of creativity in my daily chickenspinachhummus lunches (I'm taking applications for this internship). On the other hand, Lindsey's recent freedom means that perhaps the Pataky home will have a visitor from time to time who will provide cooking and dog walking services and let me win during swim warm ups.

Kidding aside, congrats Lindsey. While you may never beat me up Soledad canyon road, I have full confidence you will go far and am so happy for you. :)

For those of you lucky enough to live within a 100 mile radius of LJ, you can join her this Saturday afternoon to say goodbye. She promises she won't try to bum a ride off you afterwards or make you move 10 boxes. Read future cosmonaut Jonathan Snow's much more creative announcement below for the details.

70.3 "World Championships"...100 yrs ago.

Strategizing on how to find some random spectator to pack her bike and take her to airport post race.

Need I say more?

Cheating on Costco with Walmart in LCNM

Gratuitous dog shot of the month.

From Snow....

"Sayonara," she says. "Greener training pastures await!"

Your friend and mine, Lindsey Jerdonek, is leaving DC for... she's not
sure, but somewhere. And unlike countless precedents, she's not asking
one of us for a ride, but is high-tailing it out of here on her own,
hitting the road with everything she'll need -- primarily a stockpile of
nut-butters, a bike, a mega-supply of hydrogen peroxide and bandages,
and a mind-reading, automatic egg-scrambler-- to take her to the next
level in her quest for triathlon glory. She leaves town Sunday,
possibly bound for a snowbird winter in Florida, to be followed by
nomadic spring of chasing training partners and training camps all over
the US of A. A shaded spot down by the Homosassa River behind a Costco
has been reportedly identified as the likely temporary location of her
VW-based living/training camp.

We'll all miss Lindsey, so we've coordinated with Her People on an event
to bid her a happy and successful farewell until we see her again (rumor
going around is that she'll make an appearance at the DC Triathlon in
June). We're thankful for the time she's spent with us in DC on her way
up.

WHO: You and the rest of the DC triathlon / GRC hanger-on / work /
Lindsey community. Lindsey also told me to tell you that, as rapper
T.I. would say, "You can bring whoever you like."
WHAT: Fair winds and following seas to LJ
WHEN: THIS Saturday, the 28th, 3pm to 6pm-- whenever you can pop in
WHERE: Buffalo Billiards, right off DuPont Circle
WHY: To grab a pint while recounting some story about Lindsey running
late / getting injured / asking for a ride / talking incessantly about
the merits of gmail/gchat... Oh, and to wish her well!

A quote from her royal tri-ness, herself: "I'm telling you, I sincerely
apologize for the short notice and hope that as many people as possible
can make it out. I'll even try to be on time for my own farewell."

Paying Homage to The Great One

2011-12-30T04:17:00.000-08:00

It's Margie's birthday and for this one day all year, I'm asking myself: What can I do for The Great One today?

At the very least, I am suppressing the urge to discuss my training, the condition of my body, and the myriad details of my personal life that find their way into her inbox. I hope she enjoys the 1-day reprieve.

Margie is an owner of =PR= so I'll head to the Cleveland Park store to pick out gear and help put food on her table (also appropriate since I'll be eating that food off her table tonight).

I can serve as a training partner for her to CRUSH. That smile of hers changes when she gets on the bike.

Yeah beeeatch!! Happy Birthday!!

Romance Camp

2011-12-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

We advertise in our About Us: This blog is a placeholder for us to share our race reports, attempts to balance full time jobs and training, moods, comparisons between East and West coast living, love lives (or at least Lindsey's as Lauren is married and off the market) and random bits of enlightened thinking.

INDEED, the time has come for me (Lindsey) to touch on the topic of romance. With a season full of training, travel, working, and gchatting LAHP to cause early onset of carpal tunnel syndrome, there was no time for boys. Although, I bumped into someone who is proving to be sherpa material. Perhaps one day he will be tested by the @expertsherpa himself? I can only hope... Anyway, we plan to rendezvous in DC this January, but that was proving FAR TOO LONG without seeing each other, so I boarded a plane for a 112 hr date which we called Romance Camp.

The guiding principles of Romance Camp--it's a judgment free zone (#JFZ). Always.

A lesson learned: it is better to give than to receive.

I used every trick in the book to equalize the playing field at the pool.

We even went to this GEOGRAPHIC destination:

And since the conclusion of my 5-day Romance Camp (where I shed off-season weight from excessive training, napping and pre-napping), I have been engaged in the activities printed on this post-it note:

Now we press on, awaiting Romance Camp Deux...

The Salting of America and other LAHP Musings

2011-12-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

Life is happening again in the Pataky household and that is how I like it. Matt is making progress in his recovery and we are learning how to live with the necessary changes. I’m slowly relinquishing my temporary claim on the most sexy of tasks – dog-walking, front yard dog crap clean up, trash take-out, and designated driving. I really have no stories to relate or bits of wisdom to impart to others, so I’ll leave you with my list of random thoughts compiled over the past few weeks of pondering life, making changes, and indoor training:

- Salt (the compound, not the Angelina Jolie movie which I highly recommend, by the way) has invaded America. This substance is quite pervasive. Morton’s probably even salts its own freaking salt. SERIOUSLY. Matt is on strict orders to eat low sodium as he continues to heal, and me, being the chef that I am, thought it would be easy to avoid salt. This is not easy. One Chipotle chicken bowl with no salsa or cheese crap or rice has over 1000 mg of sodium. Innocent - looking cottage cheese has over 500 mg of sodium per serving. Our favorite pre-cooked Trader Joe lentils are bathed in salt! Most gluten-free food in a box is also quite salty. To solve this problem, we’ve had to resort to cooking that which we find at the farmer’s market and throwing in a bunch of rogue spices. Imagine that.

THIS salt

NOT this salt

- Team Pataky competitiveness knows no bounds. We are competitive meat shoppers and recently beat out all the other organic, earth-lovers at the hormone free, grass fed, better than NIMAN Ranch pork and lamb sale at our local farm. Oh yeah.

- I suck at driving. Especially when Matt is in the car and judging me. Especially when he is not allowed to drive.

- Dogs generate a ton of crap.....and do it to spite me...and only do it when I’m the one in charge of cleaning up.

- CAFFEINE should be a regulated drug. This substance is in everything and I've recently learned that it is not necessarily the best thing to overdose on while participating in endurance events. I calculated that in a normal Ironman I probably consume upwards of ONE THOUSAND milligrams of caffeine in a less than 10 hour period of time. PERHAPS THIS IS WHY I HAVE HEART PALPITATIONS FOR WEEKS AFTER AN IRONMAN? "They" don’t tell you this in Living 101, though. Anyway, if I happened to have some latent heart condition, this caffeine consumption could become extremely problematic. I'll lay off the 2x caffeine gels at my next race and supplement with some vanilla.

- Being in the not on but not off season is mentally taxing – a physical purgatory of sorts, but one that I shall overcome.

- The internet is a wealth of information on heart health but all of the research seems to contradict. Endurance sports cause heart issues yet sitting on one’s ass and eating Chik-fil-A (what corporate person chose that spelling?) causes heart issues. Cholesterol is bad. Cholesterol is really not so bad. Eat no fat. Eat all fat. Eat low fat. Avoid grain. Eat lots of grain..especially Cheerios because it has the heart healthy label on it. Avoid sugar (you know, the main ingredient in said Cheerios). Eat a small baby wolf at each full moon to ward off heart issues. WTF is a person to do?

- Have you taken your CPR course yet? Mine will be the first weekend of 2012.

- Mountain biking alone while the Sherpa is down is quite possibly the scariest thing possible. I think the local mountain lions know something is up and that I’m temporarily flying solo. This has increased my speed considerably.

- When you have little time for training due to life circumstances beyond your control, I have found that doing all your swim and run training in Zone 4 does wonders for your fitness.

- Similarly - training without a powermeter for 3 months has been quite liberating. I finally strapped on ye old SRM the other day in all its wired glory, mentally preparing myself to see some abysmal numbers. To my surprise, my HOUR OF POWER cycling training plan has yielded good results. If you are worried about losing cycling fitness, I recommend riding zone zillion intervals or just "all out" whenever you have the time to ride. This is also a great way to eliminate stress. (Note: I am not a coach, even though I do read Slowtwitch. Don’t follow my advice.)

- Before making decisions on where to go clubbing (because we are such huge clubbers), we must consider Matt's ICD (defibrillator). I think it almost went off at the club where his holiday party was hosted, due to the "approaching shuttle launch level" decibels being thrown from the speakers.

- Being able to ride one's bike is a beautiful beautiful thing. Matt's first ride back:

- Breaking Dawn Part I is really awful.

I think I've pretty much captured all the safe for public consumption musings in my head.

What would a blog post be without dog photos and the ubiquitous Princeton sweatshirt?

The ULTIMATE in dog gifts - combine my obsession with dogs and mtn lions.

THANKSgiving

2011-11-24T06:22:00.000-08:00

Team Pataky has much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Matt's heart stopped last Thursday and after a million pieces falling into place, he survived and is now on the road to recovery at home with a bonus piece of equipment in his chest to prevent any other potential episodes of cardiac arrest.

We were planning to fly to London last Thursday night and decided to do a hard swim set that morning before work at the club pool across from our house. After he kicked my butt (as usual) we were talking at the shallow end of the pool when he mentioned he felt like he was going to black out and then dropped below the surface of the water. I thought he was joking and pulled him up, but immediately noticed he was unresponsive and making a whimpering sound - the most horrific thing I have ever heard. I screamed for help and the only other woman in the pool complex ran to call 911. I unsuccessfully attempted to pull him out of the water and after many cries for help, an amazing club employee ran to the pool and together we got him out of the water and onto the pool deck. I started what I assumed and hoped was CPR and kept yelling at Matt to stay with me and that he was not yet done living and that he better survive. I think at this point I started yelling at God as well.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably more like 7 minutes, the EMTs arrived; and after 2 shocks he returned to a normal sinus rhythm. Tuesday, after three stents and one ICD (personal defibrillator) installation, he was discharged from the hospital and is now recovering at home with my family, dogs, and friends.

As I mentioned to some friends and family in an email the night it happened, I have never been so scared in my entire life. To see the most important person in my life lying blue and lifeless on a cold pool deck is pretty much the worst thing imaginable. I only remember bits and pieces of what transpired but clearly remember telling myself that there were no second chances in this situation...no "do overs" if I was not able to get him the help he needed. I typically rely upon "sherpa" Matt for so much and to have the tables turned in such a way was quite surreal.

We do not know why this occurred, beyond the fact that Matt's heart is a genetic disaster. We could sit around and complain about how it is not fair for someone who takes such great care of his body, for someone who is so passionate about pushing himself to the max to have such a condition. However, we accept that life is really just not freaking fair. People do not get cancer or brain tumors because they are "bad" or "good." In the same way, we cannot necessarily ward off something like a bad heart. What we can do is be vigilant about the situation and do everything in our power to minimize the risks. Most importantly, we can use this second chance in life to truly LIVE. I have found myself consumed with the most ridiculous issues in life....whether I look "fat," why the Kona points ranking system is unfair, or why so and so does or does not follow me on twitter. In reality, though, none of this crap matters. What matters is the relationships I have with my friends and family. I would give up anything to spend an extra day with Matt on this earth and I will live each future day cherishing him.

Thanks to all of our family and friends, both local and far away, who reached out to help us via hospital visits, prayers, emails, expert cardiology advice (karen :) ) and phone calls. We are both touched by your support for us. I am also so thankful for all the emergency medical professionals who save lives every single day. We both have much to process, physically and mentally, but are so fortunate to have a network of support upon which we can rely.

Happy Thanksgiving and please go sign up for a CPR class. :)

Matt's hospital view for almost a week - not too shabby.

Guatape ITU World Cup Race Report

2011-11-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

Following up with the altitude tent post, my race report version of "Sleeping my Way to the Top" can be found on DC Rainmaker.com. It features tales of mudslides, garbage bag rain coats and over-fried fish. Check it out. And to avoid accusations of cross-posting, I will include bonus material for loyal slog fans. Some blogs have give-aways... I present you with low-resolution pictures.

Here are the elite men lining up on the pontoon. There were 60 of them, and earlier on in the morning, 50 women started the race.

The moto leads the way around the bike course:

Andy Potts got a flat tire and ran around like a mad man for a replacement wheel to finish the race. Slam dunk!

The men exiting the second transition--from the bike to the run.

I think he was in a scavenger hunt and gathering as many signatures as possible.

A view while ascending El Peñón de Guatapé. I'm aware the font changed...

Euros scaling the stairs.

Bird's eye view of the hotel.

View from the top.

Attending church, kind of.

Clowns. Yes, it's as fun as it looks.

Flora outside my hotel room. The bars over the windows helped me feel right at home--just like my old apartment on U St.

A minor lapse in judgment at the Medellin airport led to this.

When I was plastered to my bed, SNOW, of snowtaxi fame (this links to an oldie, but goodie, including Lauren's FAVORITE photo of me racing in a red cotton long sleeve)... brought the Sl00t back to life.

Sleeping My Way to the Top

2011-11-08T17:52:00.001-08:00

To read a scintillating account of my 2 week stint in an altitude tent before the Guatape ITU World Cup, check out the guest post I wrote for endurance sports technology guru, Ray of DCRainmaker.com.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/11/guest-post-sleeping-my-way-to-top.html

The comments contain some good insight from my coach, too.

A Tip from Malcolm X: Reach for the Clean Glass

2011-10-20T17:49:00.001-07:00

I finished reading the bestselling book, The Help, which centers on racial relations in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's, so The Autobiography of Malcolm X was my natural next choice when browsing my roommate's book shelf. Before reading his autobiography, my knowledge of Malcolm X was limited to a few lines of text from a history book as being the most aggressive voice in the African American civil rights movement. But, who knew... Malcolm X was buds with Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) and lead the prayer before Clay defeated Sonny Liston for the WORLD heavyweight champion title. Factoid du jour.

Malcolm X's life story is powerful. He left 8th grade after being discouraged from pursuing... anything, and then hustled on the streets of Harlem and Boston. At age 20 he was caught for burglary and imprisoned 6 years. He made the most of his time in the big house by homeschooling himself. He copied by hand the ENTIRE dictionary, read extensively and developed his verbal skills in debate groups. He said, "the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive," and that "months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life." He sounds like a person of flow (the concept created by one of my favorite psychologists, to read and pronounce, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi).

Malcolm X publicly demonized white Americans for oppressing the black man for 400 years, and with this in mind, I pick his favorite lesson from his mentor, Elijah Muhammad--add another tally mark to the "irony of life" list.

One day, I remember, a dirty glass of water was on a counter and Mr. Muhammad put a clean glass of water beside it. "You want to know how to spread my teaching?" he said, and he pointed to the glasses of water. "Don't condemn if you see a person has a dirty glass of water," he said, "just show them the clean glass of water that you have. When they inspect it, you won't have to say that yours is better."

I discussed this gem with the great Margie and recognize that this is her approach in teaching me about triathlon and life. She provides me with unconditional acceptance, fostering an environment where I am truly free to fail. I either get it right, or am closer to figuring it out. I can't recall ANY instance when I have been condemned or gotten in trouble about a decision or action I made. I am responsible for my performance as an individual and the person I answer to at the end of the day is MYSELF, who is a hard enough critic. Being encouraged to think for myself, whatever the outcome, is what gives me the freedom to find my clean glass of water.

Bouncing Back from Buffalo

2011-10-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago I went down in a bike crash at Elite Nationals in Buffalo and experienced my first DNF (boo). The silver lining--I made it out in better shape than my bike with only a smattering of wounds. Margie told me it was OK to be upset but that I just can't let it consume me, as this happens.
I moved on and yesterday in tropical Myrtle Beach, cheered on by a supportive DC Tri Club contingent, I secured third place and my second podium (in as many finishes) in ITU continental cups this year. YAHTZEE.

Don't you love that woman peering around the finish sign?

LJ's Kelowna ITU Report - 3rd, I got Finlay'd

2011-09-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my devoted homestay, I have more pictures in my race report than ever before seen at The Slog... for DC Rainmaker fans, this amounts to the number of shots Ray includes of product packaging.

I ventured to beautiful British Columbia, Canada for my first international race, the ITU Continental Cup in Kelowna--also Canadian Nationals. Leading up to the race I was stoked to see Paula Findlay's name in the start list as she is among the top women in the world in ITU racing. It's good to race the greats as they can pull you up to their level faster. Plus, I wanted to use the term Finlay'd in my race report.

For my homestay in Kelowna, I matched with a couple, Susanne and Frank. They made me feel like part of their family and I did my best to fulfill Susanne's wishes of making myself at home in their house. Both of them attended the race on Sunday to cheer on me and the Puerto Rican Rios twins who stayed with Susanne's sister, Denise. Next time I'm in Kelowna I will take them up on their offers to go sailing, blueberry picking and wine-tasting.

Immediately before the race starts, each athlete is announced in order of ranking and picks a spot on the pontoon or, in this case, a starting mat thing on the banks of Lake Okanagan:

I was ranked 22nd in the field of ~30 women, however, I was a few minutes late to the race briefing and got booted to the back of the line. I knew I wouldn't get a spot next to the higher ranked athletes anyway, but in a small field such as this, it wasn't a big deal.

As we waited for the starter, the dramatic ITU music played. I flashed back to last year when I was broken and would longingly watch the ITU action unfold on my computer, wishing to be a part of it. "Here I am," I thought, and without further ado, we were off.
I merged with the pack on the other end of the field before we hit the first turn buoy and was dragged into the trenches. After the first turn I got around a few women, but it feels like everyone was on top of one another.

The Kelowna swim course is two loops, where you pop out of the water at the half-way point and run around a buoy on the beach. At the start of loop two I was flanked by compatriot Amanda Felder and one of the Rios sisters and we had a civil thing going, until more people came along to drown us.

I thought I was positioned well in the water and felt good heading into transition... not a time to chill:
The bike was nothinggg like the Life Time Fitness races where I feel like laying down when I get off the bike. The 6 loop bike course in Kelowna included a hill, but our front pack of 9 didn't do anything too wild and we stayed away from the rest of the field.
T2 trying to hurry the hell up:
Paula had a gap right away and I ran up to Annie Warner and Sarah-Anne Brault (the race winner). Annie didn't stay with us too long, but lurked behind the whole race. Brault pulled away from me before we reached the halfway point of our first loop (4 loops on the run course). I FELT like I was moving fast and thought, TODAY I WILL RUN 36 and get under that 37 minute barrier. I just pressed forward as much as I could.

Ow. Ow... OW In the last 90 seconds I felt a tug in part of my quad. I had a vision of hobbling over the bridge before the finish line and potentially losing my podium spot, but then summoned all my zen energy and channeled it into the freaking muscle.

I finished third behind Brault and Findlay. I saw my run split, 35:40, and was so happy and proud for running hard.

Onto the awards ceremony...our homestays, Susanne and Denise, with Militza and Melissa Rios in front. My dad asked: and who is that on the right? (I roll my eyes): that's me.

Awards ceremony with the dolphins
I'm ready to smuggle my newly acquired plantlife and apples back to the USA
Egged on by the crowd, I made use of the champagne
The men's podium was not safe either, not even the CNT (Canadian national treasure, Simon Whitfield)
All six of us squeezed on the podium for more pictures. Good thing we're triathletes.
That evening Susanne fixed me a bowl with her blueberry pie and ice cream for the car ride to the airport for my red eye (love those)... and there you have it.

The 8th Bitch at Ironman Canada - A LAHP season update

2011-09-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

DNF - nothing good can really be said about those letters. From an academic perspective, I've always lived in fear of getting a "D" or an "F" in school and never liked seeing an "N" (category for: needs improvement) on my elementary school report card. Unfortunately, I was a talker and always got "N's" for "listens to class instruction" and "self-control." Anyway, in my entire 5ish years of racing triathlon, I have prided myself in always finishing a race.This past month, however, I have DNF'd two races in a row and have learned more then I ever really wanted to learn about NOT finishing a race.

Consumed by the Kona Points Ranking (KPR) system and the siren call of Kona, I made an idiot decision to race Boulder 70.3 as there were more points to be gained by racing there. (Quick aside here: I liken the KPR and the whole giant Kona points chase to the power of that lame ring in Lord of the Rings...or even the horcruxes and their hold over Harry Potter. Don't judge my movie selections. The closer and more involved you get with the ring, and the horcruxes, and the freaking kona points chase, THE CRAZIER YOU GET.) ANYWAY - apparently, I thought I was above science, like many of our current GOP candidates, and clearly the altitude at Boulder would not affect sealevel lauren. After hyperventilating in the water and not being able to crack 100 watts on the bike and subsequently blacking out, I knew this race was not meant to be and pulled the plug.

I came home, regrouped, and then put together two excellent training weeks. My swim was improving, I was seeing good numbers in my run and on the bike. I was ready for Ironman Canada. I had unfinished business there, and I had an OUTSIDE chance of amassing enough points to qualify for Kona by only doing three ironmans and thus preserving my body provided everything went according to my spreadsheeted plan. Canada race week was good. I was chill. I was focused. I was ready to execute my plan. The sherpa was ready and had my bike dialed into perfection. My back and glutes were 95.5% and I was happy.

Race morning I was ON and FOCUSED. I did my pre race deal and got down to the water for the swim start. I lined up next to girls and away from the men, so as to avoid my typical face kick by male pros at the swim start. The gun went off and so did I. I felt strong swimming in the water and found some feet about halfway through the swim. These feet tended to swim crooked so I stayed on them only when they held the line. The swim was over quickly and per my plan, I decided NOT to look at the clock. I heard an excited Pataky scream that I was 5th out of the water. what? FIFTH? Did he really say 15th?? This was uncharted territory for me, so I decided I better use this to my advantage and get cracking. Loeffler passed me in transition and we started the bike together. I kept her in sight and tried to use her to mentally move me down the course. After the first few miles I started to pick up the pace and power and really felt good. Things were coming together and I was rolling along - HAPPY to be racing.

I stayed in this euphoric state through the bottom of Richter pass..somewhere over 40ish miles into the race. As we started climbing Richter the 2 people ahead of me dropped me quickly. I couldn't seem to get my bike to move. After what seemed like forever, I made it to the top of the pass. Something felt wobbly on the back of the bike and indeed, my tire was flat. At that point, I threw out about a million F bombs in my mind. This had never happened to me before and WHY in the MOST IMPORTANT RACE OF MY YEAR, did this have to happen?

After 12 minutes of battle with a new and stubborn tire, I finally changed the tube and extricated a large staple/tack from the wheel. Off I went....with the knowledge that almost every pro girl had passed me while I was sitting on the side of the road. I spent a few minutes feeling sorry for myself and cursing in my mind, and then I heard Pataky yell that I was "only" 7 minutes out of 5th. Avoiding a group of age group men sucking each other's wheels and passing me on the right down the descent, I made my way down Richter and into the first of the 7 bitches (for you non tri people, the 7 bitches are 7 big rolling hills after Richter pass). Unfortunately, I felt wobbly on the descent on the first bitch, and when I looked behind me, I saw yet another flat tire. I pulled over and found another tack/staple in my tire. At that moment, I became the 8th bitch on the IMC course. It took all of my energy not to pull a Stadler and throw my bike into the field. I waited for tech support as I only had one tube, but they were helping all of the other people who had flatted farther back on the course. At this point, I knew my race was over. While I completely respect the age groupers who waited patiently by the side of the road for over an hour and then got back on their bikes and continued on, I knew that I was not going to do that. My back only has so many marathons in it, and I decided to save it for another day. I called up Pataky from the phone of a very nice spectator and then just sat down and cried.

To be honest, I feel like the idiots who sabotaged this course really robbed me of a race*. Last time I felt this way was when my back blew up in 2008 and I felt like my L4/L5 discs had robbed me of part of my season. I could take the DNF from Boulder, because that was just stupidity on my part, but this second DNF was painful. Rather than sit in our depressing motel room, Matt and I went to the finish line and cheered for our friends who had put so much time and energy into preparing for this race. Watching Nina, Matt, and Jen finish despite their own flat tires, nutritional issues, and off course swimming made me happy to be part of this sport. And that is where I found my motivation to carry on......

A few weeks ago I decided to sign up for IM Wisconsin, which happens to be two weeks after Canada. Now that I DNF'd IMC, my body is still prepared to race an Ironman....SO RACE IT I WILL. In order to be successful there, I realize that I have no time to feel sorry for myself. So, rather than tubing down the river with an aching body the day after the race, I did a long run on the course. I did, however, feel like scratching out my race number on my calf and putting a big DNF to wear like a scarlet letter. While these past 2 races have been less than ideal, I have learned much, including the notion that I should focus more on racing and less on trying to qualify for Kona as a pro. If I focus on racing, the qualifying will come when I'm good enough to legitimately qualify. Most important, I have rediscovered my passion for this sport of triathlon and am ready to do what it takes to make it to the finish line next Sunday. And, to borrow a phrase from LJ's mom, when I cross that line I will get down on my knees and thank God.

* this is LJ hijacking Lauren's post--I view the course saboteurs as intervention by the merciful hand of fate, as Lauren will race Wisconsin fully marinated and rested.

LJ's Chicago Triathlon Race Report - 4th

2011-09-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

I have four race reports in the posting pipeline, starting with the one freshest in my mind, the Life Time Fitness Chicago Triathlon. I split this into 3 parts for ease of reading, concluding with the most important section: gratitude.

1) INTRO: I raced the draft-legal ITU in Kelowna, British Columbia the weekend before Chicago, so it was interesting to see how I would recover and race back-to-back. I was effing sore the entire week after Kelowna from the run. Since the bike ride was a FAR CRY from the effort I've had to put out in my non-drafting races, I felt zippity and ran an unprecedented 35:40 10k... Paula Findlay's presence certainly helped me step up my game. Thusly, the week in Cleveland between races involved molasses-slow swimming, biking and running, with lots of bed rest and family time.

On Friday, my dad dropped me off at megabus which began my journey to the windy city. Unfortunately, I didn't take advantage of any good food offerings in Chicago. By the time I got to my hotel to nap, run and visit the race expo to chat up my favorite Frenchman, Andre of Kiwami triathlon race wear, I only had time to grab a turkey sandwich and a few bananas from Walgreens with a redbox movie.

I met up with my dad and his girlfriend Saturday afternoon when they came into town and was whisked away to Chicago's finest, The Drake Hotel. I love when Marlene comes to races, haha. We waited 1.5 hrs for our room to be ready so my nap and ride went out the window. As a consolation, the Drake gave me my own room on the floor of the Diana suite instead of pegging me with the other two. I reveled in the solitude, leaving my crap all over my room, offending no one.

This was the first time I almost didn't get to eat my pre-race egg bomber and had already poured milk over rice cereal when the waiter planted a bowl of rice in front of me. During this time my dad was canvassing nearby convenience stores for instant rice--never again will I travel without microwaveable rice packets! The other low point of the morning (more from my dad's perspective) took place on my bike ride to the transition area. I got trapped on some pier then lost, which garnered a frantic call to my him. Dad: Ask someone for directions. Me: DIRECTIONS TO WHERE? I'VE ALREADY ASKED. NOBODY'S FROM HERE. I stopped the haranguing and found transition 5 min later... haha

2) THE RACE: The swim was ~400m one direction, then a 180 degree turn the other way and straight on until the swim exit. Intel and common sense suggested I go out hard to get around the turn buoy before the masses. Plus, I wanted to see how long I could stay with the expert swimmers.

Sara McLarty (who just lost her father in a cycling accident--so sad--and told me to love my dad everyday) started on the left side of the field but I resisted her magnetic pull and started on the far right to avoid the onslaught in the water. I went out hard and by the time I cleared the group, I met Alicia Kaye's feet--she was on the heels of the two speedy sara(h)'s. I hung on as long as I could and was gapped by the time I reached the turn buoy and went around it completely alone. At least I got that part right.

I made my way back to Alicia, who had fallen off WRP (world record pace of 2XSARA), as Flora Duffy came by me. Again, I drifted back of them and swam the second half solo--not ideal. Just as I reached the swim exit steps, I felt a touch on my foot which turned out to be Radka, my awesome new Czech friend (country adjacent to my motherland). Moral of the swim: the sara's are FAST. MOG.

See my pretty new Kiwami suit:

There was a long run to our transition area, ~600m. My bike shoes jammed in the grass (time to finally learn that damn rubberband trick) and I realized my chain had fallen off after I hopped on my bike. I had zero momentum and got off to put the chain back on, then fumbled some more while the entire field passed me by.

I felt awful on the bike so my first goal was to hang with the women nearby--I was in 10th position at one point early on. The bike course is 2 loops out and back on Lake Shore Drive. The out section lead into a VERY strong headwind which meant a healthy tailwind heading back toward the transition area. This allowed you to see the whole field and I could see Alicia really going for it which I admired.

On our first loop, our effort eased up slightly when riding with the wind (this was a welcome break), but on the second loop, I decided to keep up the intensity and came into T2 with a tiny gap--5 were already ahead of me on the run course.

Expert photography, compliments of my father:

I extended the margin a bit on the run and passed McLarty and Lavelle around mile 2, then hung dearly onto 4th place. I FELT hunted and was a tired Lindsey out there and very happy to cross the finish.

Chicago was the deepest field I've been in this year and I am happy with my finish place.

3) THANKS: While in Canada I got to spend time with my friend, Andrew McCartney, and his lovely girlfriend. Andrew mentioned that consistency in training leads to consistency in racing. That registered with me and instilled confidence in what I've been doing as I AM consistently progressing in training. It makes sense that it would translate to races, too.

Also worth a mention, I really hit the jackpot in nabbing Margie as my coach. She knows her stuff and is a master at the make or break aspect of sport: cultivating a healthy and strong athlete mind. She teaches me to look at the bigger picture and reminds me that there is more to life than triathlon. As a result, I do not read too much meaning from any single workout--good or bad. I appreciate our brick workouts as much as our Blizzard runs to DQ with her kids.

During my wkd of exhaustion at the end of July when I moved apartments, completed all my training AND attended a friend's wedding, Margie encouraged me to go to the britney spears concert that Sunday night when I brought it up because... it's BRITNEY SPEARS and how often can you see the princess of pop perform for free? Only once in my lifetime, anyway. When I got my schedule for Monday AM it said: Sleep in, recover from Britney. That's empathy.

And, thank you, Dad. :)

Retiring the Battlebox

2011-08-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

At the end of July I moved to a different neighborhood in DC which meant packing EVERYTHING. Lauren, who is an expert in most topics, instructed me on best practices for packing heavy items, such as books, by putting them in my suitcases.

Lauren: I love that old thing you carry around

its like so 1960s

Me: WHAT THING

Lauren: someday you need to UPGRADE to fancy rolling suitcase

Me: WHAT THING.

I have a rolling suitcase.

what are you talking about?

LAHP: that battlebox you carry around

Me: ??????????????????

Lauren: your hard suitcase

that thing you take everywhere

it weighs 100 lbs

you need a rolling duffle

It's a black samsonite, not quite as bad as shown below, but this is how Lauren remembers it:

This is a typical convo btwn us--Lauren identifies something I'm doing wrong then suggests expensive, corrective action. continuing with our chat...

Lauren: You can put a bike pump in a rolling duffle.

Does that hard case even have WHEELS?

Were wheels even INVENTED when you got that thing?

OMG NEW RIHANNA SONG ALERT

I ordered a near-weightless rolling duffle for my upcoming travel and we revisited the topic:

Me: I told my roommate about the battlebox

Lauren: and someday you can tell your kids about it

put it in a museum

Me: haha

Lauren: I mean where DID you get that?

it is SO unconventional and not conducive to good traveling

it's like riding a hybrid in a triathlon

Me: lol I know

my grandma bought it for me

it can be a family heirloom

Lauren: hahahha right. my grandmother had that thing in the 70s

I remember when I first met you thinking "wtf is she carrying"

"she must not travel much"

perhaps the camp was your first time on a plane

sheltered life in ohio

Me: I'm glad I have you

Lauren: to brighten your day and to keep you cool looking

Me: to point out my archaic tendencies

and anachronistic luggage

Lauren: haha you should hold onto that thing bc it will be vintage soon and it's always cool to turn vintage luggage into furniture

Phoenix Rising from the Ashes

2011-08-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Have a GREAT weekend!

Life Time Fitness Minneapolis Race Report

2011-07-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

The LTF Triathlon in Minneapolis was a great experience for me. My dad flew in from Cleveland to watch me race for the first time this year! The complimentary night's stay at the Egan Best Western was the main draw AND I threw in a lavish dinner at Chipotle to thank him for driving me the bike course. I also hung out with a new pro (and semi-sherpa), Patrick Davis, who helped me piece together my bike's headset, gave me nut butter, and let me tag along for the pre-race swim and ride.

I was excited for the beach start and decided beforehand that I wouldn't tip toe into the water. Earlier this season, the Escape from Alcatraz start off the ferry intimidated me, and my timid dive did little for my starting position. I got after it at the horn (blue speedo in center):

The secret to nabbing cool race photos, such as these by Eric Wynn, is to enter the pro division in the LTF series races and WALA.

I was out in front for a hot second after the dolphin dives and then the swimming Sara's skirted by. I settled with good company and we had a pack of 5 out of the water.

Out of T1 (photog Steve Stenzel):

It was a predictably hard on the bike (note: it's generally... hard). I'm getting used to keeping up with the other women. The pre-race course drive with my dad was much more scenic than what I remember from the race.

I didn't realize how hard the bike effort was until I got to T2 and had a hip flexor spasm after putting my run shoes on. I had a split-second freak out, then followed it with a couple walking steps which helped it subside.

The run felt like survival with my quads on the verge of cramping and the mental monkeys kept me company.

Highlights from the run portion of my race recap to my coach:

IT WAS ROUGH FOR ME, MARGIE
My legs were not happy
At mile 5 I thought I might throw up, and I had lower stomach cramps
I YEARNED for the mile 6 sign

hahaha so dramatic. I enjoyed the swim and bike more than the run, but at some point I'll be able to carry through to the end--I finished 4th! My legs were sore for many, many days (sadly, the post-race massage I looked forward to was pushed aside for drug testing). Soon after my dad and I hit the road. Oh, and I picked up a happy meal in Chicago on the way back to DC. :)

This past week has been a real break with only a dabbling in each sport. The break ends TONIGHT with an 8k running race where I will go after a SLOG RECORD.

Lindsey's Columbia Triathlon Race Report

2011-06-24T14:16:00.001-07:00

To kick off this race report, I'm borrowing a line from my Columbia Triathlon weekend escort Sean with whom I shared jokes, pre-race fajitas and the ever important ride:

"Race day started very early with a 3:15am wakeup call. I’m not really sure why I even went to sleep that night. But I had to get up that inhumane hour because I was driving a young pro, Lindsey Jerdonek, out to the race and she had an earlier start time than I did. Lindsey provided the entertainment making a Columbia mix-CD for the ride out there. It was filled with lots of Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and other catchy pop artists so by the time we got to the race site I felt like a 16 year-old girl ready to kick some M40-44 butt."

Sean and I spent most of Saturday doing pre-race chores as efficiently as humanly possible (e.g., driving the most efficient route to Columbia, packing everyone's leftover lunch into my to-go container, etc.) with the intention of carrying that theme into Sunday's race.

The women and men started the swim together which made for a chaotic and fast start. I recognized Alice at the half-way point and was happy to be in her company. She was swimming strong so I hung near her feet for the rest of the race, doing my best not to irritate the hell out of her. I came out of the water third and heard that I was 13 seconds down from the leader... off to a good start.

Background for the bike: I raced Columbia in 2009 and had a disappointing bike split. It was my first pro race after a strong age group season and I had high (false?) expectations for myself so I did not envision trailing the leaders by EIGHT MINUTES after getting off the bike.

Strangely enough, the woman, Margie Shapiro, who dug in the knife at Columbia 2009 by passing me like a freight train (damn her), is responsible for the athlete I am becoming today. She started coaching me this February when I put my triathlon hiatus behind me and we've been pressing forward since. Life is unpredictable and exciting like that.

Back to 2011, during the bike I rode WELL (7 minutes faster than my '09 split)... and... had FUN. I wondered if this is what Lauren feels like when she rides. A few male pros passed me, but no women and when I came into T2 I was only 1:30 down from the leader.

I ran with the belief that I could catch up and I did around mile 5. Of course this was at the base of the last steep climb back to the lake so the pace was glacial and painful. Back on the downhill and flat I just ran like hell until the finish and came across in first.

This race was a gratifying and rewarding experience for me and I was so pleased to cross the finish line knowing I had given it my best effort. It was cool to hold the finish banner at the end and be greeted by the race director, Vigo. My Aunt Julie and Uncle Rich were visiting DC for the weekend and were at the finish, too.

My training partners were instrumental in preparing me for this race, including the track sessions with the Georgetown Running Company team and Coach Jerry, Saturday morning Wilson pool swims with the regulars (some pictured below), countless swims with David, and a couple bike rides with the psycho biker herself, Margie. I couldn't do without Lauren and Amy Kloner's waterfall of emotional support and encouragement to always ride HARDER. Thank you.

Wilson pool swimmers - Juan, me, Jenny & Kenton

Patience Rewarded

2011-05-18T10:40:00.001-07:00

While soberly getting ready for bed Saturday night, I jammed my pinky toe into the doorframe of the bathroom. It hurt tremendously. I iced it right away as a precaution before I turned the covers for the night. At 4am, I iced it again when it was throbbing. As Veronica Mars would say: ruh-roh.

The next morning arrived and I had plans to ride and run the Columbia course with my friend to prepare for next weekend's race. Having to walk with a limp proved to be a legitimate obstacle to doing this workout. Maybe I could just ride? I tested it on the trainer for 5 seconds and continuing did not seem smart. See, the prior weekend I got sick and missed that chance to ride the course. This is unrelated to the toe, but I was disappointed with the prospect of not getting to Columbia, yet again. I had difficulty coming to grips with this, despite all signs pointing to DON'T DO IT. I took the doubting to another level and pondered if I would be able to race next weekend.

I called my father who loves hearing from me when issues arise. He encouraged me to stop beating myself up about what happened and just take care of it. "Let it go," he said, and reminded me of the self destruction that ensues when I fail to do this. His warning sunk in: Don't let this destroy you. I FINALLY TOOK THE ADVICE. I let it go.

After I got off the phone I made a new plan for the day. I wished my pinky toe GOOD LUCK deteriorating while being iced, elevated and bound to its neighbor. I followed through on my afternoon pool plans with the DC Rainmakers and swam gently. The activity loosened up the toe (good sign) and by the end of the day, I could walk normally. I managed the toe crisis!

My coach wasn't reachable during this time, and in the message she left me the next day, she said she hoped that my toe was doing better. I smiled at the absurdity of it because this is smaller than peanuts in the grand scheme of life. It's a TOE. Although, it is awesome to have the support.

So... big hooray for stopping the bad thoughts from consuming me. I took control of the things I could control, gave it the necessary rest to heal and kept things in perspective. It only took three days for me to be back on my feet running (a modest pace).

Not all is lost as I have ridden the Columbia course earlier this spring with my GRC teammate, Michelle. Here we are after a lovely brick workout.

To slog readers, including men, who were kind enough to point out the ill-fitting running shorts I raced in this year--I'm acquiring pairs that fit. Thanks.

See you at Columbia... and Lauren's racing Ironman Texas. GO LAUREN!!!

Lauren's Essay on Eating – After 30 years I’m finally getting the hang of it

2011-05-13T09:40:00.001-07:00

Author’s Note: I read on another triathlete’s twitter feed that the level of activity on one’s blog is often related to how that person feels he or she is performing. Silence speaks volumes. I wrote the following post a month or so ago, but never got around to posting it. Since that time, I raced Oceanside and New Orleans 70.3 and somewhere along the way I lost my mind. I started 100 blog posts but completed none of them. Thankfully, I was able to locate my mind in order to put in a solid block of training for IM Texas and now I’m tapering and ready to battle it out next Saturday in my home state. I am excited to race my first long course race of the year!

A few weeks ago I found myself reviewing my eating history while consuming a piece of sourdough roll (I know I know...shoot me…. it wasn’t low GI extra gluten free wild rice) in bed at 3am. I had a particularly long training session the previous day and failed to fuel properly …hence the bread. Reflecting upon this late night snack made me laugh – I have truly come full circle in terms of eating issues.

I’ve noticed a number of blogs, tweets, and Facebook updates that mention food….how Bobby Sue only eats clean, that Mary Jane only eats foods blended in a Vitamix, why John Smith only eats meat, and how Ronin won’t touch meat with a 10 foot pole. I’ve also seen a number of “hey, admire the contents of my fridge” pictures. (If I posted such a picture you can be sure I would hide the poisonous Cool whip so as not to ruin my reputation). These snippets of conversation have reminded me of all the women/girls I know, both athletes and NON- athletes, that struggle with food due to body image issues. I think this is sad and have spent way too much time pondering why a vital staple in our lives has lead to so many problems. I’ve had my own food issues over the years but can honestly say that my foray into triathlon is helping me come to terms with this four letter word….

I first thought I was fat in kindergarten, when I compared my thighs to the girl next to me. No joke. I weighed 2 pounds….I HAD NO THIGHS! Thankfully I went to private school where said thighs were hidden 4 days a week under less than appealing maroon skirts. Casual Fridays, however, were always the DAY OF RECKONING. Throughout middle school and high school I played all the important female Texas sports including volleyball, basketball, and tennis. To keep my perceived “weight down” I fueled on lettuce and a sprinkling of Special K cereal and lemon juice for “flavor.” I was always the girl that avoided fat. FAT was of the devil. I was a crust –eater at pizza parties and thankfully most of my friends were not.

Photographic evidence of missing thighs. I'm the tall one.

Freshman year in college I followed the fat-free frozen yogurt and chickpea diet (with vodka sodas on weekends) until I was introduced to the Dr. Atkin’s Diet. Eureka. Now – CARBS WERE OUT and FAT WAS IN. While my friends ate normal breakfasts, I feasted on cans of tuna with squirts of mustard out in the hall, so that nobody would be bothered by the smell. Occasionally I’d have vegetables, but never carrots, as GOD FORBID they get my body out of ketosis – a state of fat burning that Atkins glorified. I quickly dropped weight on this diet (along with half my hair, but that was a small price to pay).

Now that I was “light” it was time to do something that I assumed all thin people did – run a marathon. I signed up for the Philly Marathon in the summer of 1999 and quickly downloaded a random running plan. I never understood why I couldn’t function after a long training day but I managed to qualify for Boston fueled on beef jerky and hardboiled eggs. I remember my mother questioning my fueling habits before Boston but I “proved” to her that my 3:14 Boston time was evidence that a fat/protein based diet was the key to athletic success…and even more hair loss.

After college I worked…a ton. I kept getting mysterious injuries that prevented me from running and my food issues grew. I tried everything that I thought would help me maintain this elusive desired weight, from going to Food Addicts anonymous (spinoff of AA) to signing up for new marathons to keep my weight down “naturally.” Granted, I did not have a weight problem…much of this was in my mind. Unfortunately my body couldn’t handle the abuse and I couldn’t perform. I also couldn’t shake my fear of carbs.

In grad school I met a girl who did triathlons and I decided to try one. I also decided that if I was going to do a long triathlon (as I called it) I better figure out how to eat again. How the hell would beef jerky and hardboiled eggs fit into my bento box? I found a nutritionist in the Bay Area who helped me address the carb fear. Her suggestion was to follow the much-maligned USDA food pyramid…focus on the fruits and veggies and lean protein, eat some grain and SEE how it affects me. I tried this for awhile and stayed healthy and surprisingly had the energy to finish my first triathlon – the Big Kahuna in Santa Cruz. (I was the girl that set up a pan of water near my transition to wash my feet.) Wow..maybe there is something to balanced eating?

Since that time I’ve improved my attitude towards food. From training I’ve learned that I must treat food as fuel and that my weight will manage itself. I still struggle with my perception, but I know that I just need to focus on what my body can do – swim, bike, and run. Granted, many of these lessons have come at a cost. Early on Matt would carry extra food during our long rides and as soon as I’d get the crazed look in my eyes, he knew it was time to feed me. Even as recent as my first pro year, I found myself wandering up Mt. Lemmon in Tucson under-fueled. I consciously remember choosing NOT to eat too much because I wasn’t feeling particularly athletic compared to all the other “ripped” pros around me. Yeah, that strategy didn’t work too well for me. I also remember at a race comparing my bike nutrition to that of one of the pro girls next to me. I had what seemed like 3 days of food compared to her small supply. The familiar conversation came back once again: “OMG. Am I eating too much? Does she have a secret that I don’t have? Am I going to get fat?” Thankfully, I put a beat down on the inner voice and reminded myself that what I perceive as my “trillion calories on the bike” actually fuel me to ride fast.

Last year coach Paulo began dictating how many gels I should eat and at what time on my long training runs. Again, at first inner Lauren started worrying about all the weight I’d gain on these training runs. “OMG - will I be able to fit into my race suit??” And again, I reminded myself to shut up and follow the plan. Miraculously, my long runs were faster. Imagine that.

In talking with others and from my own experience I realize that food issues do not magically disappear altogether. In a sport full of Type A, high-achieving perfectionists, I assume that there are many others with similar thoughts. People also have to find a way to deal with this in a way that works for them. Some people seek out the top sports scientists to create a custom plan for them, others count their calories and make note of everything in a spreadsheet which spits out every detail down to one’s daily sodium intake. As for me, I attempt to ignore all the people that over- evangelize their own nutrition and instead, try to eat each day so that I can do each prescribed workout and get the work done.

What I believe is common about most successful programs to deal with body image/food issues is learning to rid oneself of the external focus. When we worry about what others may be thinking about us, we blow our thoughts out of proportion and end up going down a dark mental hole that sets us back. This is similar to racing. If I spend all of my time before and during a race worrying about what Jane Smith pro is doing, I take the focus off what I am doing and end up wasting tons of mental and physical energy. In the same way that I cannot perform at my best when thinking about Jane three miles up the road, girls with body image problems cannot heal by comparing themselves to air-brushed Victoria Secret models. Yes, I still have bad days, but thankfully I have come a long way from shoving hard boiled eggs into my mouth right before heartbreak hill at the Boston Marathon.

Caroline White 2011 Boston Marathon Race Report

2011-05-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

In 2009, Caroline White shared her race report from her Olympic Trials qualifying effort at the Twin Cities Marathon. Since then, she has gone through Air Force training to become a fighter jet pilot and just lowered her marathon PR from 2:45 to 2:37 at the 2011 Boston Marathon.

Here is her story:

Family and friends,

As I have been informed by several of you, it has been entirely too long since I’ve sent out a race report. Although this is borderline more of a life update than a race report, I am happy to send out the race report for my fourth marathon, the 2011 Boston Marathon.

Where to even begin? I suppose it is best to pick up where I left off; Twin Cities 2009 Marathon. After qualifying for the Olympic Trials with a time of 2:45, I moved to Wichita Falls, TX to begin the next phase of my life, Pilot Training. Saying good-bye to all my Colorado ties and hitting the road to TX, I received a lot of, ‘what do you mean you’re going to pilot training? You qualified! I thought you were going to stay and train if you met the standard!’ After hearing this for the dozenth time, I started to think, hmmmm, do I really want to leave the Colorado utopia for a life I know little about, have no idea if I’ll be successful, and know essentially no one there from being an athlete, which I know I love?

It was an uncomfortable decision, but as my long trusted mentor explained, ‘Caroline, think about the conversation we are having, you are deciding between being a national caliber athlete and a pilot. Most people would dream to be in either situation. But the reality is, you have to close a door. You must make a decision; you can’t have optimum training and still become a pilot. Recognize that one choice will come at the expense of the other. Whatever you decide, go on that path, do it well, and stick with it.’

One of the two paths involved a lot of uncertainty, a lot of sacrifice, and a lot of Texas. But the decision was already made. At the age of twelve, I determined that flying would be the coolest disguise of a career anyone could have. As I matured, I recognized it would also be a fulfilling life, allowing me to use my talents while serving others. Although there were many unknowns, I had to pursue the chance of being a pilot. Otherwise I would always live my life wondering what could have been.

So I structured the next year around my mentor’s solid advice. I decided pilot training was my next endeavor, so I would do it the only way I knew; the best I could. This meant, however, that nothing would come between me and my goal. Including running. I committed to the mindset that flying was the new priority in my life and running was secondary.

PILOT TRAINING

It was necessary to embrace this change of priorities because pilot training would accept nothing less. I was not only starting pilot training, I was starting EURO-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT). Only the top candidates for pilot training who are selected by a special board go to ENJJPT. And that is not limited to the United States. Other NATO countries send their best candidates to ENJJPT as well, including Italy, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, to name a few. When a friend asked why I was anxious about pilot training I explained, I’m not any smarter than my peers, and they, like me, have dreamed of flying since a young age, so I’m not necessarily more motivated either. This leaves me little to work with.

ENJJPT is a 13 month long program that trains 250 students to become combat pilots for their respective country. Students are evaluated constantly throughout the program with academic events, simulators, and flights. Students fly the T-6 (a tubro-prop) the first half of the program and a T-38 (a dual jet trainer) the second half. At the end of the course, students fill out a ‘dream sheet’ where they list their preferences for aircraft. Between their rank in the class and what planes the Air Force has available, students are then given an assignment which they will fly or support the remainder of their career. Assignment trends change class to class, but the top third or half get fighters.

Although the statistics were intimidating, I tried not to let it phase me, and went in as confidently as possible. Hey, if I can swim 2.4 miles in the Hawaiian ocean, bike through 110 degree lava fields and top it off with a marathon, I can do this right? Bring on Pilot Training!

And having a good attitude goes a long way, which allowed me to excel in T-6’s. My assigned instructor, a Norwegian, and I got along great. He was strict and held me accountable for my mistakes, but at the same time was encouraging. Through definite ups and downs, T-6’s went pretty smoothly. Keep in mind smoothly doesn’t mean easy. It took an incredible amount of dedication. Students are bound by ‘crew rest’ where they are not allowed to be in the squadron more than 12 hours (as a safety rule to make sure they have enough rest to safely operate a million dollar aircraft). This 12 hour rule became a hindrance to me, as I wanted to work longer. The simulator technicians knew me by name as I was consistently practicing until closing. I sat in on every debrief I could, learning from others mistakes, and trying to get ahead of the game.

12 hour days also made running a challenge, but I seemed to fit it in (a typical wake up would be @ 4:00 AM to get a 10 mile run in before report time). I found running to be a necessary release from flying and was still averaging 60-90 miles a week. No matter how overwhelmed I was with pilot training, I had the roads to look forward to. My legs and the concrete would fight out my pilot training frustrations, and I was ready to face a new day’s challenge.

In January 2010, I ran the Houston half marathon and had a big PR; 1:16:58. In February, I competed in the Armed Forces and won for the second year in a row. It looked like I was able to handle both pilot training and being a national level athlete. All the while, pilot training was a challenge, but I loved it. I was feeling positive about the future of my running and my Air Force assignment.

However, in June, we made the switch to T-38’s and things changed. For the worse. The T-38 was twice as powerful as the T-6 and really, twice the challenge, with plenty of opportunities to mess up. I became incredibly frustrated that I was not doing as well as I wanted, despite coming close to breaking the crew rest rule and giving it my all. Also, I did not have my T-6 instructor, and found my new T-38 IP to be ambivalent to me and flying. Without my old instructor’s critiques and support, I became overly critical of my own mistakes. I grew overly apprehensive about my rank in the class and if I would be good enough to receive a favorable assignment.

There were nights I would lay awake in bed, beating myself over the errors I’d made that day. My parents would call weekly to check in, and at times I wouldn’t answer the phone because I could not bear to explain to them how I was not as successful as I wanted to be. I vividly remember going to Quiznos following a long day, and the cashier exclaimed ‘Oh my Goodness! A female pilot! You just must be SO PROUD of yourself!” A normal person would feel honored, but I felt like I was punched in the gut. I was falling short of my expectations and was not even close to proud of it. Still, I smiled and said “well, I do what I can.”

Running was also taking a turn for the worse. Texas summer temps were consistently over 100 degrees, making long distance training excruciating. When you combined this with being newly exposed to T-38 G forces, and being stressed over flying well, my performance suffered. I was feeling more and more like garbage on training runs. An easy tempo run of 6:15 miles transitioned to being very difficult, and eventually I was not even able to complete workouts at that pace. One day a friend asked me, so do you think you are faster now than you were at the Twin Cities Marathon? I laughed with disappointment, and honestly answered, I wish I was in the same ballpark as the Twin Cities Caroline, but I am not even close. In August, my coach brought up the idea of competing in the NYC marathon. I nearly broke down in tears because I so badly wanted to have a good race there, but it just wasn’t possible. Flying was overwhelming, my running was deteriorating, and things looked bleak, with no hope of relief. It seemed as though I had not closed one life door, but both.

But the race report doesn’t end here. Somehow I made it through. My coach supported me even though I wasn’t acting like the national caliber athlete he raised. He worked with me through my setbacks and was considerate that running was not number one on the priority list. Also, I was able to confide in Ben about my insecurities. I would explain my errors from the day and he assured me that no, I wasn’t the first person to make that error, he had made similar mistakes, and taught me to positively embrace my setbacks. So I kept at it, and continued the 12 hour days. In September, I was assigned a new IP and flying really became fun again, and surprise! I started performing better. I also found a running partner who was actually crazy enough to wake up before 5:00 to run.

I’d like to say time flew by and it was over before I knew it, but it felt like an eternity. Despite this, assignment night did in fact arrive in October. The prospect of my assignment through pilot training caused more anxiety that I can express, but assignment night was one of the greatest of my life. After a lifetime of dreaming of being a pilot, and a year of seemingly insurmountable challenges, I was assigned the F-15C. Not just ENJJPT, but out of the entire AF, twelve individuals are assigned this yearly. I was out of control happy. I even had a shot of alcohol for the first time in 3 years (which led me to lose my voice for 5 days, but that’s another story). It was an unreal moment. A vivid memory from that night was a woman walking up to me and genuinely stating “I don’t even know you, but I cried when you got your assignment. I am so happy for you.” Of 250 students, there are usually only 5 females in the program at a time, and I was the first female in a long, long time to be assigned a fighter. I was truly honored.

Although my anxieties about flying were alleviated after graduation in November, I still had major reservations with running. I hadn’t raced since February 2010 and never felt 100% recovered from the summer. My coach encouraged me to look at upcoming races, which I was very reluctant to do, but we have to get back on the horse sometime. Specifically, the Armed Forces cross country championship was coming up, and I was very hesitant to compete in it. Runners from other services had run better marathons than me since Twin Cities (multiple 2:42’s), and I did not think I had a prayer of winning again. Nonetheless, I took the title for the third year in a row. This was a big confidence boost and pushed me to believe in myself again.

Such a boost helped me set my sights on Boston. In my heart I was hoping for a PR; specifically a 2:42. It would be a stretch since I barely hit a 2:45 in Twin Cities, and that was preceded with 6 months of JUST RUNNING. Not running during pilot training, at sea level, in pancake flat TX.

BOSTON

So here comes the race portion, here is the 2011 Boston Marathon. (Finally, right?) Flying out to Boston is a special memory in and of itself. I arbitrarily bought a Runner’s World magazine at the airport, and was flipping through it on the plane. Much to my surprise, there was a picture of me plastered on a full page advertisement. All right, I made my way into Runner’s World. I think I’m ready for Boston.

Randy and I met up to go over the course and talk specific strategy. It was at this point he told me, I think you can break 2:40. WHAT??? Are you kidding me? I haven’t raced in a year, let alone run a marathon in 18 months, how could you think that?

Randy explained, “Twin Cities was different; you had to hit that time to qualify. But now you have nothing to lose. You are already going to the trials, so don’t be conservative. Give it everything and see what you can do. You need to be confident in yourself and your training.”

So we had a plan. Run 6-6:10’s for the first 16 miles, then bring it home with all I had. I was nervous about this plan because 2 years ago I ran Boston and the wheels fell off at the end as a result of going out to hard. I was skeptical that I could run 6:10’s and hold that pace throughout, but as Randy said, I had nothing to lose. When people asked what I wanted to run, I responded “I’m hoping for a PR” but I wouldn’t publicly admit I wanted to break 2:40. It was my own secret.

The gun for the elite women’s start (approx 50 women) went off @ 9:32. The rest of the competitors (24,000) started at 10:00. This gave us the advantage of setting our own pace without the masses interfering. But at the same time, you have Kara Goucher and the Kenyans right there enticing you. I was conscious to keep it slow.

1) 547--Get focused, slow down a touch
2) 5:58—little more
3) 6:02—good, keep it here.

And the plan went perfect, the miles rolled along at 6:00-6:05’s Pace wise, I was feeling really comfortable here. The strategy was working out. The miles flew by effortlessly. I passed the ‘half marathon’ point in 1:19:10. Awesome, if I can hold this pace I will break 2:40. But I can’t let the wheels fall off again. I’ve got to keep rolling.

Before I knew it, I passed the 16 mile mark holding 6:00-6:10’s. And this is where the real challenge begins.

Here we go!

The race doesn’t start until mile 17, where the course changes from a gentle slope into the unforgiving Newton hills. In retrospect I probably should have been more nervous given my complete lack of hill training. In the year preceding Boston I had run hills TWICE, once when I went home for Thanksgiving and once at Christmas. Otherwise, the only thing resembling a hill was the Texas version: a 20 foot overpass. I didn’t let that stop me and I blew through the Newton hills in 6:02, 5:44, and 6:01. Sweet! Now to deal with heartbreak.

Heartbreak hill is renowned for being associated with pain. With a reputation so daunting, it makes momma look down and spit on the ground every time its name gets mentioned. But this wouldn’t stop me, I was on fire. I powered through the Marathon’s climax feeling awesome.

Now it’s all downhill from here. Literally, after heartbreak it was a gentle downhill slope, and I pounded out the miles. I ran mile 22-24 in 5:41, 5:50, 5:48. The strategy worked. Randy was right. I could do it.

The final mile started to present some issues. It was as though my body calculated the perfect pace for a 25.2 mile race, but not a marathon. It was getting difficult to keep my speedy turnover. Also, following heartbreak, my stomach was giving me some problems. At this point though, quitting the race was obviously not an option and I had to block out my stomach’s complaints. Luckily, there was a girl in the distance I could see and I reeled her in. She was the perfect distraction from my rapidly deteriorating body, and I blew by her with a half mile to go. I ran mile 26 in 6:02, and the last .2 mile was filled with an overwhelming roar on Boylston street.

Approaching the finish line, I was confused by the clock, is that the normal start’s clock? Or does that 2:37 apply me? ??

It didn’t matter, I cranked it in.

I crossed the finish line, tried to put my hands on my knees for support, but just collapsed. And couldn’t get up. In fact, I was wheel chaired to the medical tent....yes, I undoubtedly had nothing left to give that day.

After being released from my capture in the medical tent, I met Randy and Whitney in the elite finisher area. We were all jumping out of our skin with excitement. In our wildest expectations, we had no idea I could have had that race. I ended up placing 20th overall and was the 5th American finisher. I also qualified to the Olympic Trials under the A standard, where the Olympic committee pays for your travel. The B standard mentality was, okay, your good enough to come play with the big leagues, but with the A standard it is, we are taking you seriously enough that we’ll pay your way to the trials. Ohhh, what a day.

So what do you do after a major life accomplishment? Move across the country of course! I flew out of Boston and immediately hit the road to move to OR. I checked into my new squadron yesterday and will start the next big adventure of life; F-15 training. I’m enthusiastic to start the next phase of life. When checking in, I was informed (repeatedly) that I am the first female to go through F-15 training here. (10 years ago, training was in FL, but it has since moved exclusively here). I’m honored to be given such opportunity, and to be blazing a new path.

It’s been a long road, it’s not even close to being over, and I’ve learned some very important life lessons along the way. First, words cannot speak to the importance of confidence. To do something amazing, I have to unwaveringly believe in myself and my abilities. Second, the past year and a half has showcased the importance of my loved ones support. The chances of getting through pilot training without Ben and my family is approximately zero. I likely would have stopped running over the past summer if my coach hadn’t encouraged me through the setbacks. When things get rough and I feel like I have nothing more to give, my loved ones are always willing to give me the strength to continue. Furthermore, I couldn’t do any of it on my own. On the flip side of the coin, I hope to provide that strength to others. Luckily for me, that often happens by mere circumstance. When doing errands down town in a flight suit, people stop me all the time to hear my story. It’s not unusual for a mother to point out ‘the lady pilot’ to her daughters. My first day in OR, I got a request to speak to a Girl Scout troop. Others have given me so much strength and support, I find it imperative to build that in others as well.

I honestly could not be more hopeful about future running. The top American marathoner in the country for this Olympic cycle (2:22), ran a PR of 2:37 at Boston 3 years ago. And I am one minute off Deena Kastor (two time Olympian and bronze medalist) best performance this Olympic cycle. Before I was honored to even compete at the national level, but now I’m starting to believe I can do more than just compete. These legs weren’t lying to me, they have a future. Now let’s go find it.

Lindsey's Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race Report

2011-04-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday's Cherry Blossom 10 Miler was the rewarding culmination of the past couple months of training with a stronger body and mind. Thanks to a realistic race plan ironed out with my coach, and executing said plan, my final time of 60:48, a 6:05 avg, fell into my "ecstatic" finish time range AND established the slog record for this distance.

I pulled the trigger in signing up for Cherry Blossom this year with my Georgetown Running Company teammates, who are always enthused to do this race as measured by the level of documentation for the event: a feature length film and hundreds upon hundreds of photos. Congrats to the guys for winning the team challenge and our ladies who raced really well: Beth, Laurel, Michelle, Ruthie, and Shannon. It's been lots of fun running around the track with the group under the watchful eye of Coach Jerry.

A week before Cherry Blossom I read a blog post about race pacing that had an enlightening final section, Racing with a Garmin - Things to understand, which explained why people tend to run longer than the actual race distance. WHATTT? It links to another post which details how race courses are measured--knowledge is power, people. The truly lazy swimmer in me was determined not to run more than I had to. As a result, I was a vigilant tangent runner--looking ahead to run a straight line and in CONSTANT disbelief when those around me would unnecessarily curve with the road (unless running into the wind where it's best to LATCH ON LIKE GLUE to the biggest guy).

Onto the race--I figured that the first-mile mayhem wasn't worth getting frustrated over, so I did not waste energy running around anyone quickly. I was too conservative, though, and came through the first mile in 6:22. For a split second, I thought "Oh no! 22 seconds is a lot to make up," but I squashed this thought immediately and adjusted my pace to get the next mile where it needed to be. This is my proudest moment from the race.

The next mile was right in line at 6:11, and then I started to get rolling. I focused on staying within myself and under control. I passed the half-way point in 30:39, smiling inside in knowing I would be under 61 minutes.

This chest-beating action explains why my arms were sore. Yikes.

With 2.5 miles to go, the course curves around Hains Point and you find yourself running into a headwind. As hinted previously, I found a friend and hung out on his non-windy shoulder. Once we hit the 8 mile mark, however, my windshield kicked it into another gear that I did not have. At that point, I was on schedule to finish near 60:30, but the wind and small hill at the end proved otherwise!

The last two miles were predictably hard. Klim (on a bike, no less) appeared 1/2 mile from the finish to remind me: THIS IS WHEN IT COUNTS. His repeated "Go Lindsey's" inspired the shirtless gentleman, also racing, to shout a GO LINDSEY, too. Again, I was smiling inside.

Notice how efficiently I round the bend and that if I were any closer, I'd be wrangled in the barricade.
Thanks for the photos, Jarrin.

This race experience was so exciting and encouraging for me. I'm more motivated to prepare for the triathlons I have coming up and want to do some good things. It was especially nice to relay my happy news to my mom and dad (and my loyal cheerleader, LAHP). :)

Here's our team assembling for the group photo. I felt like I hit the jackpot when Emily placed her Lily, the youngest GRC member, in the center of our team photo (right by me!!!). The guy in the red top is jazzed, too.
Smile!

p.s. - LAHP had words on my race photos: you do need to get some cuter and more fitted running shorts though. those things are like freaking bags! DO YOURSELF A FAVOR and buy some LLL or some low waisted saucony shorts. lol.

Facing the Demons

2011-03-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last week, my trusted advisor, Margie, asked me what put me in a dark place after I reported "battling demons" and ALMOST skipped one of my runs. Not running for no good reason is sacrilege to me and Lauren, as we just can't afford to miss a day. After some thought, it was obvious that the demons were of my own design--that week I lived large and the lack of sleep caught up with me. By Friday night I was throwing a pity party: perched in bed in my reflective bike gear, cold, snacking on peanuts and mindlessly clicking around on the internet.

I read something sensible--which took an hour of browsing to find--that made me realize I was being a big baby. I pulled myself out of bed, put on my running clothes, grabbed my gaga-filled ipod and ran. These demons I battled? Turned out they weren't so threatening, although, this discussion helped me realize a DEEPER DEMON WITHIN.

Here is my neighborhood YMCA pool--the basement/dungeon pool

Do you see all those red tiles on the other side? I've counted most of them--several times over, during aqua runs.

Back to our demonic discussion... in recent years I have done LOTS of 400s in this pool. There are an infinite number of ways to do a set of 400s. To get the creative juices flowing, here are a few examples: 6 x 400 zn 4, 3 x (3 x 400 w/ varying rest), 6 x 400 desc 1-3. 400s with toys. Your imagination can really run away with you.

I know the 400 times I have swum in my beloved SCM (short course meters) pool in the past and with my year's exodus from training, I DARED NOT swim a 400 as of late, for fear of what the clock might say. I did NOT want to see the slower times so I simply avoided doing them.

This morning, however, I jumped in my own lane and figured, what the hell, I'll do some 400s... I initially set out to do 4 (not fast or anything, just testing the waters) then a few more with paddles. I peeked at the clock after my first 100 and knew I was good for 5.

I held the same time for each one--they weren't my best times, but not bad either. It's a marker and it's reality. I know that doing the workout a few more times (with 6 repetitions as originally designed), I'll learn to do the set again and bring my times down.

That's my success story of the day. I battled my demons and looked reality in the face.

A special thanks goes to Lauren and Kloner for sharing their tales of 400s over the past couple months while I worked up the courage to do them myself.

Yoda Gift for LAHP

2011-03-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

With a collective 3 season of elite racing under our race belts, LAHP and I kick start the 2011 season on the first weekend in April. Lauren is racing the California 70.3 at Oceanside, the season opener world championships, and on the East Coast I'll be running the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler.

Yoda footage to brighten Lauren's day:

ANOTHER Slog Hero: High Notes and Low Notes

2011-03-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

LAHP and I recognize women on The Slog who provide us inspiration. These champions of life have a knack for athletics and are ass-kickers in all life pursuits. For round three, we turn to music, though the woman of note, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, is more regarded for her influence in the political sphere. Please note that we DO NOT endorse political views here on our blog.

I am zipping through Rice's self-authored book: Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family and no, we aren't turning into a book club. A passage about her early piano playing days parallels the principles of sports and triathlon (found at 41% if reading on a Kindle!). I took the liberty of embellishing with CAPS, though the italics are Rice's flair.

On balance, though, I loved my life in Denver. I kept the same rigorous schedule of piano and skating that I'd established the year before. I made rapid progress in piano in particular, competing in statewide and regional competitions. My first major competition was something of a disaster, though. Playing a Mozart piano sonata from memory, I lost my place a few minutes into the piece and wound up at the end before I'd played the middle. I was DEVASTATED, although the judges said that what I had played was very good. It was the first time I'd really bombed playing the piano. My parents tried to be supportive and kept talking about how good I'd sounded. I learned at that moment that some failures are best absorbed alone. I thanked them for their concern and spent the night replaying the disaster over and over. I knew that I had not really been prepared for the competition. Perhaps because playing the piano is both a physical and a mental challenge, it's not possible to "cram" for a performance in the same way one can for an exam. In other words, practicing eight hours one day will not produce the same result as practicing one hour a day for eight days. I'd left my preparation to the last minute and it showed.

A couple of days later I asked my piano teacher when the next competition would take place. It would be the Young Artists' regional competition in the winter. I entered immediately.

Rice's narrative is an example of how to process feedback--in this case, failure--learning from it and moving on. Though failure doesn't feel as good as getting a first place prize in a piano competition, it's meaningful information that helps you modify your preparation for what's next.

Plus, Rice hits the nail on the head about the consistent practice required for mental/physical pursuits like playing the piano, painting, swimming, or holding your breath for 17 minutes like David Blaine. You have to keep slogging away, ideally with a smile.

Valentine's Day IS related to Triathlon

2011-02-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

I am not a big Valentine's Day person. I don't like pink and hearts and am not particularly romantic. God forbid I cook Matt a special meal for fear he'll die from my cooking. Anyway, I feel the need to expound upon a relevant topic due to the recent deluge of articles related to dating or marrying a triathlete. I've recently come across an entire BOOK devoted to how to date a triathlete. I've also been forwarded multiple copies of an article from the Wall Street Journal about how triathlon training affects marriage. This article profiles an age group male triathlete (who also happens to be an investment banker....go figure) who trains all the time at the expense of his family. blah blah blah.......

What I find interesting about all of this hype is that once again, these advice givers are missing the point. Just as some coaches purport to have THE secret key plan to drop 45 minutes from your Ironman PR or raise your FTP by 100 watts, the authors of these articles are attempting to identify the keys to success in dating/marrying/not divorcing a triathlete. The reality is much more simplistic...imagine that. Relationships require commitment over the long haul, just as improvements in triathlon for athletes of all levels require a commitment to the long haul - to slogging out the zone 2 miles on the treadmill or riding the indoor trainer for hours in the winter. Good triathletes are good because they are committed , just as good relationships are good because both parties are committed to each other through the honeymoon "highs" to the "i just gave you the H1N1 flu" lows. Why do people complicate this by writing 100 step plans? This is almost as irritating to me as those "every kiss begins with Kay" Valentine's Day commercials. The worst one is when the woman feigns a deep-seeded fear of lightning during a little rain shower and jumps into the arms of some guy who assuages her fear with a Kay pendant. LIKE.FINGERNAILS.ON.CHALKBOARD.

HOWEVER, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, I must send a special shout out to my husband Matt Pataky. He demonstrates his commitment in many ways, from wearing Yoda t-shirts for me at races, cleaning my gel-encrusted bike at all hours of the night and day, swimming in the lane next to me in the pool and forcing me to suck it up and hurt, and most importantly, sacrificing much of his ski season to spend time with me at home so that I don't have to deal with the altitude and temptation of skiing. Pataky is a killer skier, as you will see in the pictures below, so sacrificing ski time for me is huge. Someday I'll have to pay him back by learning how to cook or something....

Final Gifts

2011-01-31T09:31:00.000-08:00

I am reading a book my aunt lent me, Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs and Communications of the Dying. It provides insight on the dying process to help family and caretakers make sense of it. My grandma is going to pass away very soon, and it's been a unique experience, even for me, living 350 miles away, to be on the sidelines as my aunts and family have cared for her the past 1.5 years of decline. She is 94 and has lived a robust life (complaint-free, imagine that).

It's fascinating that my grandma chooses to live, despite occupying a failing body. It gives me understanding of how powerful the mind is. I am grateful I had the opportunity to say good bye to her 2 wks ago when she still had the energy to joke.

My aunt left a bookmark in the Final Gifts book with this timely quote. A bible verse, actually:

Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43: 18-19, NKJV

A wise woman (LAHP) told me that sometimes we need to go to the 'desert' to deal with life... desert being a relative term. Indeed.

Sacrificing YODA for the color pink - a horror story

2010-12-09T12:07:00.000-08:00

In my spare time I came across this gem of an article on cnn.com, the most trusted news in the universe. I thought I'd share it, because I love Star Wars and repeat Yoda quotes during races. :)

Katie Goldman - way to keep it real. Never fear a group of pre-teen mean girls in Evanston, IL. They are probably just crabby and pent-up because it is so freaking cold there.

Yes, that is a Yoda head on my aerobars.

Lauren's Ironman Arizona Race Report

2010-12-01T08:10:00.001-08:00

This might be a record for how fast I've been able to write a race report after the race. My few weeks of tennis/ski/mountain and road bike season have just started so before I get back to work I need to cram in all extra-curriculars such as blogging. Once again, I've been remiss in my blog updates due to the age-old work and training excuses so this blog is a long time in coming. Since Rev3, I recovered, attempted to race Austin 70.3, recovered from that and did a nice training build for Ironman Arizona, my third and definitely FINAL ironman of the year.

All I could say about Austin 70.3 can be and will be said with these 2 photos:

Blah blah blah blah

After Rev3 I was psyched to attempt another Ironman race but as the weather turned bad (as bad as it can be in the SF bay area) and the days grew shorter I really found myself struggling to get the work done.

Team Pataky rolled into Tempe late on Thursday and was greeted by a bright and shining coach Paulo on Friday morning at the pool for a little workout and chat. It is always nice to see Paulo face to face as he dispenses his no-nonsense race advice. We also found ourselves wandering around Target late on Friday searching for random last minute race articles. Target really is a taper killer, though, as you have to walk MILES AND MILES to find what you are looking for. Another interesting fact about my Target experience is that I only find myself going to Target in the presence of Lindsey, or when I'm at a race site.

Anyway, I was expecting a nice FAST course in Arizona. I did a short ride on the Beeline Hwy (part of the race route) on Friday and was excited by the constant tailwind. Dreams of averaging 25mph danced in my head that night, but my hopes were dashed on race day when gale force winds and some rain descended upon Tempe.

My swim was a few minutes faster than normal, and perhaps a bit less haphazard than usual, despite having to stop every 10 minutes and pull my cap back on my head. I saw Matt and some good friends of ours running along the path next to the lake shouting something at me. I assumed he was telling me to pick it up. I got out and heard Matt scream that I was only 2 minutes down from the B pack. I wasn't sure what position I was in after the swim but I knew I had to get to work.

Perhaps if I could learn to deal with open water swimming I wouldn't be caught up in this JV action.

My T1 running was faster than my marathon pace.

The first half of the first of 3 loops was blissful - minimal wind, slight incline, minimal people, no rain. This all changed when I hit the first turnaround and was blasted by the cross/head wind coming at me. The wind became progressively stronger as the day went on, so I just made sure to control what I could control - my watts (well, most of the time), attitude, and calorie intake. Matt miraculously appeared in random places all over that bike course, yelling splits and taking photos. I rode myself into 6th place by the end of the 2nd loop and managed to hold that position until the beginning of the second run loop. I rode around 5:01, which was about a minute slower than Rev3 for me.

BIKE FUN!!!!!

The run was a lesson in pain management - both mental and physical. I felt so strong and happy on the bike and then upon leaving T2 I remembered that I still had 26.2 miles to run. At that point, I would have preferred to curl up in a snuggie given the cold temps. I usually try to forget the mileage number, but it just seemed daunting to me. I felt flat and when I looked at the video Matt took, it looks like I had the cadence of an ox pulling a trillion ton plow. I tried to follow my nutrition plan and attempted to employ all sorts of mental tricks I've read about, but nothing was helping. My body started rejecting the powergels - it was probably just in protest mode after being forced to consume 1 trillion gels this year. The headwind did not help things either, but everyone had to deal with these conditions! Two girls passed me at the beginning of the second loop and then another 2 girls passed me towards the middle of the final loop. By that point, my quads were screaming at me and I wondered if they were going to hold out until the finish line. I did make it to the finish line in 9:33, good for 10th place in a stacked field and a nice way to end my season.

The rainbow hopefully masks the painful look on my face during the second loop of the run.

Last loop - trying to keep it together..just like that other guy in the photo.

I had to get back to work Monday so poor Matt had to pack up all my race crap and haul it around as I was pretty much useless and could not bend in any direction. In fact, still in race mode, I tried to beat an older woman with a walker up the jetway but she won. My calves gave out and I just couldn't push it.

This season I've learned so much more about racing as a pro (especially long course). I've enjoyed the training and racing this year and have really enjoyed getting to know some of my fellow pros. Unlike last year, I have no doubts about why I am racing - I love to race!

Thanks to Matt who has been such a supportive husband. I would be lost (or at least that pesky ISM saddle would still be hanging off my bike) without his help. His race day sherpa skills have been honed to a science. Also thanks to Coach Paulo for all of his wisdom and knowing how to manipulate me to get the work done correctly and in good health, and to Darrell at Front of the Pack for helping out with all of my bike maintenance and other triathlon needs. I dumped off my bike to be fixed recently (resplendent in a bath of Coke and power gels from a recent long training ride) and when I picked it up, it was GLEAMING...no questions asked.

Also thanks to all of the people who have kept me healthy and relatively uninjured this year. I will have to do a separate blog post about my "team" of medical professionals, but in short...thanks to Dixie Snyder and Anthony Gilbert, for their ART skills. Dixie also has mastered a 2 hour stabbing ART massage in which my QLs ,glutes, and some random back muscles are bent into submission. Also thanks to Lyresa Pleskovitch, Chiro/ART extraordinaire and to Harriet Garfinkel at Woodside Pilates for keeping my spine moving, and Patrick Wilson for 90 minute stabbing massages while watching sci-fi shows. INJURY prevention has been key for me this year! If anyone in the Bay Area reads this and is in need of an ART/CHIRO/Massage person, let me know and I'll put you in touch with these people.

Anyway, I've had a nice relaxing time with the Harrison family over Thanksgiving My mother was so happy to hear that my last race of the season was the week before thanksgiving, which means I could barely walk and thus was prevented from doing any turkey trotting. I'm now busy trying to run all the errands and clean all the closets I meant to clean in the past year but for which I just had no time!

ONWARD TO 2011!!!!!

Thanksgiving activities - the first and last time you will ever see me swinging a golf club.

Lauren's Rev3 Full RACE Report

2010-09-18T17:49:00.001-07:00

I am happy to report that my body has survived relatively unscathed from my second long course race of the year. Last weekend I raced the Rev3 Full at Cedar Point and shaved 23 minutes off my previous best time to finish in 9:37, which was clearly a surprise to me (and Matt, who thought something was wrong with the race clock, and his watch, and my brother's watch, and my new sister in law's watch.....).

My training and racing up through Rev3 had been going pretty well...and by "pretty well" I mean that is has been consistent and drama free. I'm learning that to get the work done, I really just need to focus on some key things in life - family, work, and training..while also throwing in some fun time with friends so I don't go completely crazy and get burned out. My friends probably think I'm a bit weird when I show up for dinner after a 7 hr training day and eat half the table, given that I spent the first half of my life only eating protein or only eating non fat foods or only drinking vodka, or some other random diet! :)

Anyway...back to the race report:

I rolled into Cedar Point alone on Friday morning, as Matt was taking the Friday night red eye (yeah he loved that one). After sneaking in a swim with Jacqui, locating food that was not from KFC or McDs, I spent the rest of the day sitting around and probably moved no more than 3 feet from that location the rest of the day/evening. Saturday was more of the same along with a trip to pick up Matt halfway to Cleveland, that included an impromptu visit with LJ and her Dad, who graciously picked Matt up from the airport and delivered him to our meeting point - Aladdin's Fine Dining -home of America's best rice bomber, no joke. The highlight of this trip was Purse's bday gift to me - an underwater pace clock! HOORAY! Granted, I'm doing fine in the pool these days...so perhaps I should return this gift for a GPS-driven Kayak that has the correct coordinates of the turn buoys on the swim and that shouts out to me anytime I start heading the wrong way.

THE RACE:

For once in my life I was able to eat on race morning. Ensure is a fabulous product for nervous stomachs. After my Paulo-approved wake up/warm up routine, I headed to the beach. The water had been crazy rough the previous few days, but looked to be calmer on race morning. However, due to overcast skies,the RD postponed the race by at least 10 minutes as we could not even see the buoys. Finally we were off......and I was swimming decently....decent enough to keep the faster girls in sight at least. I felt strong and was okay with my position. I noticed the fast girls were swimming a bit wide of the first turn buoy so I was happy in the knowledge that I was smarter then that and would not be swimming extra. UNFORTUNATELY, I thought too soon and ended up swimming way off course to the turn buoy for the second loop. Lovely. Thankfully, a nice kayaker paddled over to tell me I was heading towards Cleveland rather than the correct buoy.

After dolphin diving for 200 miles to the beach finish, I finally made my way to T2...angry. I jumped on my bike and Matt told me that I better pick it up and bike down some girls. All I could think about was all the time I have spent in the pool swimming 400s with him and shaving time off each one....all of this for nothing?!

The bike course was great, aside from the first few miles of potholed pavement, and the intense wind. I think I only experienced maybe 3 miles of tailwind throughout the entire bike course. Other than having to ride on the center line of the road due to the evil stagger rule, I really enjoyed this course. The race organizers did an AMAZING job at marking the course, as I am the queen of missing turns and I had no problems with navigation on race day. The rolling hills and the wind kept it legit. Perhaps due to my frustration with the swim, I managed to bike my way into 4th place by around mile 35ish of the course and held that to the end of the bike. Going into this race I knew I was capable of having a good bike split, but was surprised by the number when I looked down at my SRM and saw 4:59 (official time was 5 hrs).

After gaining mobility in my back by doing my T2 stretching routine, I quickly headed out on the run (with an experimental gel flask in hand) and felt pretty good. Matt gave me some splits to 2-4 place and I noticed that I really wasn't hemorrhaging much time to them. I felt strong on the first loop of the course, but coming back over the hot and windy causeway for the second loop I was consumed with thirst. All I could think about was water: water fountains, water bottles, pools, lakes, sprinklers, bird-baths, and even shark-infested oceans. I finally got to an aid station and grabbed every cup of water available and then threw 2 cups of ice into the top my race suit (I highly recommend this). I learned later that this ice would be handy for quenching thirst in between aid stations...just grab an ice cube and instant (yet salty) hydration. For some reason, I couldn't handle the sports drink on course that day.

After my water park fun, I felt better and picked up the pace again, but not to match Jessica Jacobs blasting past me to a 3:03 run split! Around mile 20 Matt told me I was gaining ground on the 4th place girl. Later, he told me that he was just saying this to make me feel better, but apparently he has great foresight as the next time I saw him I was a minute closer to her...and then closer..and closer...Finally, with less than a mile to go I was within 30 seconds of her. Unfortunately she turned around and saw me, despite my best intentions of hiding behind some other racers, so she knew I was there. I tried with every last bit of energy and half-dissolved ice cubes to pick up the pace enough to pass her but ran out of real estate and ended up finishing 5th, 18 seconds behind 4th place.

Despite the first leg of this race, I am happy with the results. It's great to see the consistent training pay off in a PR. While I'd love to be an overnight success, I realize that this is not the way it is for most mere mortal triathletes. Every race is an opportunity to improve in some way. I've had some bad races and good races so far this year, but have noticed that despite the bad races, I really do love this sport and WANT to get faster. This goes back to the conversation I had with myself on the bike before the season even began and is something I have stuck with all year.

I HIGHLY recommend the Rev3 races. This first year race was fantastic and the group did a great job of organizing and thinking about what it is that racers (both pros and amateurs) really want. DO THESE RACES. Thanks to my awesome husbandsherpa Matt who survived a red eye, 5 hour delayed flight from DC, and numerous early morning wake up calls to come and support me last weekend, as well as countless hours in the Los Altos pool swimming 400s with me and not letting me cry like a baby. Someday I SWEAR this swimming will pay off in the open water as well. Also thanks to Scott and Katie, my brother and new sister in law, who drove down from Chicago to spectate. They were excellent motivation and encouragement, and did a great job of keeping Matt calm. Also thanks to smart Coach Paulo who knows what to do with me and never disappointed with his Saturday morning bike workout gifts, and Front of the Pack, for again, dealing with all manner of random bike issues.

Jacqui and I right before the swim start....yes, it was still pitch black outside.

Rev3 Full Age Group Start

Illegal communication

Getting ready to ride..hiding my anger pretty well.

Clearly the camera is distorting my run form. :)

The end...hooray!

I do occasionally smile.

Lauren's Lake Stevens 70.3 Racing in the Pacific Northwest Microwave Oven Report

2010-08-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Given the rather intense past 2 weeks of training I thought I should post a quick Lake Stevens race report before my memory of this race fades into oblivion.

I decided to put Lake Stevens on the schedule because of the nice rolling hills bike course, the cool temps associated with the Seattle area, and the fact that Seattle is a short AIR ALASKA flight away from me. (side note: I love this airline. LOVE IT. Who can argue with $50 bike fees ...when they actually charge them...and cheap upgrades.) While the hills remained intact, temps that weekend skyrocketed into the high 90s...reminiscent of (shudder) WILDFLOWER and the lake of fire.

Pataky had a fishing trip planned for this weekend so I was flying relatively solo. MarkyV was nice enough to drive me around the Pacific Northwest, but not nice enough to build my bike. :) Nevertheless, I had no mechanicals during the race and the bike lived to fight another day.

On race morning, we found out that the pro swim would be non-wetsuit. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I was actually cool with this proclamation, as the day before I had overheated trying to swim for 15 minutes in the lake. After much discussion about whether we would have a dive or water start, the powers that be determined that this would be an "in water" start. I was relieved because I don't really do dive starts. I mean, I was a competitive diver in middle school and could throw down a front 2.5 double twister or reverse one and a half pike like nobody's business, but give me a front dive with goggles and I'm not a fan.

Race morning was different than Calgary. I got up early, took a hot shower, got to the race site early, and did my warm up run. Lesson learned. The swim start was painful as usual. The female pros started separate from the men though (LOVE THIS). I took out the swim as fast as I could for as long as I could and for once I found myself in a pack....hurting in a pack....not just slacking in a pack (key difference). I stayed with most of this pack the entire time. The ebullience I felt about this can be witnessed on my "swim in" race photo. Usually I have a scowl on my face, but if you look closely, and perhaps enlarge the image x 5 million, you might actually see the beginnings of a smile. My swim time was nothing to write home about, but I left the water in a positive mental state.

The first loop of the bike course was great and I felt much stronger than I did 2 weeks prior at Calgary. After the first loop, however, many of us had to weave through the age group race. Most of the age groupers were great about staying to the right, but I did come across a few rogue men.... My bike split for this course was faster than my Calgary split, despite Lake Stevens being more hilly..hooray!

I jumped off my bike and departed T2. Linsey Corbin and her very awesome orange shoes passed me in the first mile and I tried to keep her in sight as long as possible. I felt Haley Cooper-Scott behind me for awhile and was unable to hold her off at the half-way mark. I managed to not lose much time on her, though, and finished the hilly and crazy hot run in 8th...much closer to the overall winning time than my 5th place showing at Calgary.

I would like to send a shout out to the professional runner-looking guy who encouraged me to loosen up while creeping up one of the looped steep hills. I must have looked like the hunch back of Notre Dame wearing black spandex decorated with powergel and salt.

Seeing that Matt was not around to take photos and create documentaries of the race, I will leave you with what awaited me in my fridge when I returned home to California that night.

Lauren's Calgary 70.3 race and Purse visit report

2010-08-06T10:53:00.001-07:00

I raced Calgary 70.3 a few weekends ago and the race was bookend-ed (is that a word) by a Purse visit....exciting! Lindsey was in town to visit friends and have some quiet time up at our place in Kirkwood while I was racing. Unfortunately, she did manage to wound herself twice, with a fall on a deadly trail run up at Kirkwood and a 20mph run-in with my back tire on a ride a few days after the race, in which I had to pull off my greatest traffic cop moves to prevent cars from running over Lindsey...who had landed head first and was splayed out across Stevens Canyon road. Ironically, the first words she uttered was an apology for thinking she had ruined my season....she mentioned this as she was still on the ground across multiple lanes of traffic. What a friend!

Anyway....to the race report.

I chose Calgary 70.3 to placate Matt. I knew it was close to the mountains and he is a sucker for all things mountain, so he agreed to go. The venue was fantastic... rolling hills, cold and clear lake. The only bad thing about this race was the presence of mosquitoes. These were not your typical mosquitoes, mind you. They were more like vultures preying on live humans. Matt purchased some mosquito repellent and quickly became very popular with all of the spectators on race day.

Race morning was a bit rough for me. I had to get up at 2:30 my body time and didn't feel awake until about mile 30 of the bike course. We got to the race start and sat in the car for 30 minutes as it was pouring down rain (on my uncovered bike). I finally had to get out of the car and set up transition in the mud pit. I failed to do my typical warm up run as I was freezing to death and didn't want to run in the freezing rain. I quickly threw on my wetsuit and got down to the boat dock for the swim start.

My swim start was the best start I have ever had...for 200 yards. The gun went off and I swam as hard as I have ever swam and was staying with the faster people. When I realized this, though, all of the sudden I slowed down and 5 girls passed me. Before I could think about latching on, they were gone. I swam the rest of the race about a minute behind the medium speed swimmers, according to Matt, who took a depressing photo of me with a kayak following. I thought I was the last swimmer since the freaking kayak was on my feet the whole time, but it turns out there were other girls behind me.

I got out of the water, stripped off the wetsuit, did my traditional ankle collapse/fall in T1, hopped on my bike, and was off....but not really, as for some reason I could not get my watts to an acceptable level. I threw down a couple of caffeine power gels in hopes that the caffeine would wake me up, but I felt like I was riding through mud. I could barely get out of my normal zone 2. The rain stopped about halfway through the ride and I finally started picking up the watts and pace. I passed 3 girls and was encouraged every time I saw Matt at a random intersection, screaming at me to stop being a baby and go through the turns faster. Yes, I do not like turning in rain.

I finally finished the 56 mile ride plus a bonus 2 miles (dislike the bonus miles on days when I can't ride to save my life) and was ready to run. It took me about 2 miles before I could feel my toes. A top age group man was running right behind me for most of the run, which was great because it pushed me, but I was a bit delusional and occasionally thought that he was one of the pro girls behind me. The run was hilly but nice and cool. At the turnaround I was in 5th place, but I saw 3 girls behind me and tried to go faster. With 1.5 miles to go a film crew on a motorbike decided to film me. I think this was a blessing in disguise, as there was another girl a minute behind me at this point. GOD FORBID I look slow on camera AND get passed right before the finish line. I ran down the finish chute in 5th place, got some water, and was immediately swarmed...... ..by mosquitoes.

While I was happy to be on the podium, I was a bit disappointed in my splits overall. However, the conditions were tough and I learned much about racing in the rain and cold. The race organization and volunteers were excellent and I highly recommend this race...just bring mosquito spray.

My friend and official Canadian sloot Jonnyo checking out our fabulous car rental. I am probably doing one of my pre-race nervous laughs.

Checking out the swim start in my Tsunami suit..hoping that the imagery of a tsunami will soak into my brain

Cold and wet early morning transition

The end

posse security

satan incarnate

16.000000000001 seconds - Lauren's Ironman Coeur d'Alene Race Report

2010-07-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

After Wildflower this year, I was wisely cut off from any other racing this spring in order to focus on ironman training. As I posted previously, this training block was full of..uh....lots of training and little of anything else besides my day job. Thankfully, I arrived at the start line healthy and ready to race, both mentally and physically.

During race week we stayed a bit outside the M-dot mayhem at a condo with the most popular man in Lafayette – John Fell – and his awesome girlfriend and family, along with a guest appearance by Jacqui Gordon. Rather than expose myself to the testosterone nerve fest of the expo, I hibernated in the condo along with Jacqui and endured Pataky and Fell arguing incessantly over whether (insert popular American cyclist) dopes. Fell made a brilliant argument and I think perhaps Pataky (FOR ONCE IN HIS LIFE) was persuaded to agree with Fell.

Race morning was typical. I attempted to choke down some food and was quite unsuccessful. Perhaps I’ll try an IV next time. (Note: anyone have any suggestions on how to force down food?) After setting up and applying a gallon of sunscreen, Matt helped me with my wetsuit (by ripping the knee) and I attempted to get in a quick warmup swim.

The swim start was crazy rough, but perhaps this was my fault as I aligned myself with a group of men. I don’t particularly like starting with the pro men for a variety of reasons. Everyone took off…but me…again, although this time I did manage to stay in a small group with Haley Cooper, Jacqui, and a couple male pros. Seeing that my first swim loop was glacially slow, we were joined in the second loop by the fastest age groupers, who I think perhaps thought that they had entered a wrestling match, rather than a triathlon. I mean, is it really necessary to PUNCH me? Repeatedly? REALLY??

Working on not thinking about the swim....

I got out of the water and wisely decided not to look at my swim split. I had hours ahead of me and one goal of mine for this race was to leave the swim at T1.On the bike I tried to keep myself in a specific power range. I knew I’d be alone most of the course and just tried to focus on the watts and eating a gel every 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the first gel I ate ended up all over my shifters, so I spent 111 miles being annoyed at the sticky mess. That aside, I successfully ate and drank my way through 112 miles, but only passed about 2 girls in the process. I knew there were hundreds of girls ahead of me, but once again, I reminded myself that the race was not over.

I jumped off my bike at transition and realized quickly that I could not stand up straight…worst nightmare scenario. After hobbling over to the change tent like a 90 year old with a walker, I managed to stretch it out and jumped onto the run course. (special thanks to my pilates instructor who showed me a move that suspiciously resembles a pelvic thrust to deal with such a back issue).

Now…onto the run… I knew going into this race that I was capable of running faster or more consistently than I’ve ever run before. I was ready to prove this and set out on the run course reminding myself that all I needed to do was keep it together. Pataky was very helpful with his Yoda t-shirt and loud cheering voice. I’d see him every now and then pop up on random parts of the course yelling at me and telling me my pace via ironmanlive stats.

Towards the end of the first loop I started slogging along a bit, but the push through town after the first loop helped to get the momentum going again. I also read a scrolling message somewhere along the first loop that said “perfect run Lauren,” which became my mantra and reminded me that I would feel MUCH better after this race if I did have a relatively good run, then if I faded into oblivion. (thank you anonymous person who posted that message)

I felt stronger on the second loop and just tried to stay in the moment. I wasn’t sure where I was in the standings so I just tried to focus on the fact that I was 1) not crying like a baby and 2) not blowing up. Around mile 25 I rolled past Pataky and he threw down the “you better hurry up” line which I knew meant that I was dangerously close to the 10 hour time…..that, or I was about to get passed with like a mile to go, which conjured up nightmare images of IMC 2009. Rather than telling him to STFU, I tried to channel my energy into moving faster.

My goal was to break 10 hours. Unfortunately, somebody put a slight hill in the course somewhere around miles 24-25 and I had nothing left. I turned onto the main drag…which seemed to stretch forever….and the only thing I really remember was Pataky screaming that I had 90 seconds to break 10 hours. I also remember my friend Christophe telling me that the finish line at this race is all downhill. Lies…I tell you…LIES! I sprinted as fast as my Gatorade and powergel –laden body would let me. Unfortunately, I saw the clock strike ten about 16.0001 seconds before I arrived at the finish line and collapsed onto some poor man.

While I didn’t make my time goal for the day, I was happy with my 7th place performance, new iron distance PR, and the fact that I’d shed close to 25 minutes off my previous irondistance run split. I have much more work to do, but am happy to see progress and excited by the challenge to keep shaving time. Most importantly, I am learning not to quit until the finish line…something that I first experienced in New Orleans. As I’ve mentioned before, the mental game in triathlon is huge. I might as well stay home if I have any doubts about myself or my fitness. I’ve learned this lesson in many painful ways, and am sure I’ll be reminded of it in the future! Thanks to my coach who made me run, Pataky - my better half, and Darrell at Front of the Pack, who endured multiple encounters with me and my powermeter. Now…back to the pool, as I have a new race schedule on the horizon.

Post race dinner at Outback Steakhouse with the Fells and Jacqui....

Late night finish line....

What am I doing? a post BY Lindsey ABOUT Lindsey

2010-07-01T06:40:00.001-07:00

This is a question I have asked myself many times over the past few months. It presents itself, most annoyingly, during a training session. When you're asking yourself: 'why am I doing this?' it severely inhibits your ability to get anything done. Even when you DO have a great session (e.g., swim a set faster than you ever have--Lauren and I refer to this as approaching world record pace!), I still don't feel that accomplished.

A few people remind me, specifically in this sport, what it's like to GO AFTER IT. Lauren, for one, put in up to TWENTY-FIVE HOUR training wks in the build to IM CDA, IN ADDITION to the time she spent in her kneeling chair at work, going to ART/chiro, getting massaged, watching the bachelorette/annoying Matt, pilating, etc. And for people new to the sport, like the Chicken Tender Runner, his enthusiasm borders on WAYYY over the top, but he's a cool guy who has made nice gains thanks to his obsession to improve. My boyfriend, Carl, who learned to swim yesterday, is now swimming ~13k/wk and staying on top of his training in his build to IM LOU, in support of the Carpenter's Shelter. His consistency between last fall and this spring resulted in a 25% time improvement at the half-ironman distance. As with anything, reaching individual goals involves a simple formula, and right now, I don't have what it takes.

As I stood on the side of the Potomac River last summer with Paulo, watching the women's pro field take to the water in the the World Championship series race, a lone woman was FLUNG off the back of a pack and swimming solo. Paulo told me that to race ITU you HAVE to be ready to race and that she shouldn't have even showed up. It was a waste of time. True that. I struggle to get through a putt putt game without being a competitive jerk, so without that winning attitude, I know better than get on a start line until I'm RACE READY.

After training camp this spring, Paulo stopped coaching me, giving me the freedom to figure out what it is I want out of life. I spent the next two months, overcoming the gazillionth muscle strain incurred in the last 15 months and received some valuable feedback on my running form from Jay Dicharry, an uber physical therapist out of UVA.

I religiously visited Sonja Evers, a physical therapist in Sarah Thorpe's Sports + Spinal Physical Therapy outfit. Sonja's treatment, and more importantly, her advice, has had a positive impact on me overcoming pains in the ass/quad/ITB. My approach to running involves patience and above all, love for the movement. With Sonja's consultation, I started taking_it_easy.xls and tracked my PRE-HAB efforts, the amount of running completed, and how that affected the area in question.

I'm proud to say that this will be my third consecutive week of running a total of 4.5 hrs and I am enjoying the ability to turn over my legs. In a couple weeks I'm joining up with teammates from the Georgetown Running Company to do the Rockville Twilighter, a 5 mile running race. I'm looking forward to running and perhaps hurting a little, the healthy hurt.

Also, I thank my dad for always providing me with constructive and diplomatic advice. A while back he told me:

"While your motivation may be suspect for some workouts while recovering, make sure this doesn't affect other parts of your life. Take advantage by using the time in other areas... ...and fix your time trial bike. I see some symbolism of a broken bike hanging out in your apartment."

At long last, I'm evaluating my next steps and taking care of some necessary maintenance.

Here's a photo with Dad taken last Labor Day. Also appearing, other favorites: eggs, coffee and costco clothes.

Lauren - 7th at IM Coeur d'Alene

2010-06-28T12:38:00.001-07:00

"Lauren's running is on FIRE."

-her super sherpa husband Matt

Big congrats to Lauren Harrison on her fabulous 7th place finish at IM CdA (10:00:16). Most notably, she ran a 3:24 marathon leg of the race, shaving 22 min of her previous run PR ... and simply, PUSHING THE ENTIRE RACE. Keep shaving, Lauren!

(RUMOR has it that the finish was roughly 17 running seconds longer than 140.6 miles.)

POSITIVE TITLE

2010-06-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know I have tragically failed to keep the blog updated lately. Most of the blame lies with LJ who clearly needs to post, though. (crickets..crickets..)

The purpose of this blog is to eliminate from view that terrible title from my previous post. No need to dwell on the past... The reason I have FAILED to blog lately is that I have been too busy trying to get the work done for this last block of Ironman training. Here is a sample of my past 6 weeks (excluding this lovely taper that Pataky has truly embraced more than I have):

Number of meltdowns and crying like a baby sessions with Matt: .5
Number of days with no running on the schedule: ZERO
Number of new injuries: ZERO
Number of new itunes songs I have purchased: Steve Jobs bought his latest house in woodside because of my itunes habit.

Number of snakes I have seen while riding/running: 6
Number of mountain lions I have seen while training: 0
Number of skunks I have seen while running: 1
Number of coyotoes I have seen while running: 2
Number of times I have found myself shopping aimlessly for "sports stuff" at Sports Basement: 4

Number of times I have driven my bike to Darrell at Front of the Pack to fix
something: 4
*Number of times I have emailed Darrell in a panic about the fact that my powermeter was clearly not working as I could not get into Zone 2(failed to remember that perhaps this is because I am actually tired): 3

Number of redeye flights I have taken followed immediately by a long bike ride: 1
Number of episodes of "Real Housewives of New Jersey" I have watched in a row while taking said red eye flight: 6 (Note: I don't recommend this)

Number of gchat lines I have exchanged with Lindsey: 3 trillion
Number of gels I have consumed: at least 2 boxes (gross!)

Anyway, I'm off to Idaho tomorrow and am ready to leave it all on the course this weekend. The Sherpa is prepped and ready to go as well replete with a new Sherpa shirt which will be revealed on race day.

*This resulted in the crying like a baby session with Matt.

NON training activities of the 6 week period jam-packed into one weekend in Jersey.

Darrell fixing my "broken" SRM.

A blog post would not be complete without a gratuitous picture of a mountain lion.

Wildflower 2010 - asleep at the wheel

2010-05-05T11:58:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I participated in the Wildflower Long Course triathlon.

I woke up early race morning to eat my rice/egg Lindsey-patented concoction but was barely able to swallow it. I segued to a much-beloved powerbar but it took me the full 30 min drive to the lake from our house to get that one down. Where is Lindsey when you need her culinary skills?

I fell asleep around 8:00am when the gun went off on Saturday morning and apparently swam and rode my bike coming into t2 in around 12th-ish place. I then woke up and found myself running up and down hills trying to kill thoughts that my back would flare up or that I'd acquire a season-frustrating injury like last year. I did manage to go faster than last year, but am not happy with my performance..specifically from a mental standpoint.

I read a fellow male pro's race report and was tempted to copy and paste it into this blog as I completely identified with his race....all about hesitating.

I did learn that in order to really race, I must jettison my doubts, specifically those about getting injured. There is no place in triathlon (as well as business, relationships,school, and life for that matter)for hesitation or doubt - this is a sure fire way to get one thrown off the back of the swim wave, among other issues. If I "control F"ed my entire email inbox, I can only imagine how many times I've written the word "back" or "injury." NO MORE I SAY!!!!

I am now ready to put my head down and focus on this next IM training block. Wildflower was an expensive lesson but one I apparently needed to learn so as not to make the same mistake again.

Pics to follow later....

Progress in the Swamp: New Orleans 70.3 RACE report

2010-04-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

I decided (or perhaps it was decided for me) to start off the race season a bit later this year at New Orleans instead of the typical Oceanside - Wildflower pattern I've been doing the past few years. I've been putting in the work this winter, but much of it has been on the tready or trainer in our garage/dungeon due to a myriad of reasons (injury prevention, rain, cold weather, lack of daylight, did I mention rain?) I actually told Pataky before this race that I felt prepared and excited to go out and get the work done on race day. I don't usually verbalize such thoughts, but felt it was about time to own it.

Anyway, my time in the swamp was awesome. I stayed with my Louisiana celebrity friend John Fell in his hood near Lafayette on Friday night and then we drove down a few hours to NOLA the next day for the pro meeting and all that jazz. Other than forgetting my swimskin, all the pre race stuff went off without a hitch. (Although we did manage to find ourselves roaming around the french quarter for an hour looking for race morning bagels. Note to NOLA city planners: add additional grocery stores that contain more than beads and booze). After a bit of UFC fight channel indoctrination, I headed to bed...which ended up being the floor of the sound proofed bathroom at midnight as countless numbers of cars drove past my bedroom window with drunken people singing such gems as: "making love in the club," among other songs.

The swim was an exercise in not drowning. We ran for what seemed like HOURS to get to deep enough water for swimming. I was cruising in zone 10 and by the time we were able to actually swim, I was pretty much wasted. I managed to keep a pack of girls in sight until the turnaround when the waves and interesting buoy setup made sighting less than easy. After having to retrace some swimming, I finally made it to shore and tried (successfully) to put the swim past me.

The bike course was great. I haven't ridden a flat race course for awhile, so it was nice to put the hammer down and just go. I passed a couple of girls and was then passed by another. The wind was bad on the way out but we had a great tailwind on part of the way back.

I was pretty much alone on the run course. Other than the awesome aid stations, it felt like a typical solo training run (although I was running faster, in a swim suit with a race belt, and had vanilla powergel plastered across my arm and legs...with the occasional photographer capturing unsightly facial expressions. On a side note: don't you find it odd that these photographers always get you at your worst...like when your shoulders are clearly not where you told your coach they would be...or you have that look of death on your face?!) At the mile 10 marker, swamp celebrity John informed me that there were girls within striking distance ahead and that I was currently in 7th place. I picked up the pace on the homestretch (which was awesome.....shaded....crowds....etc..) and ended up running my way to an unprecedented 5th place finish!

I really enjoyed RACING and am ready for more! The race venue and support were awesome and I definitely plan to be back. Thanks to John and his excellent stand-in sherpa and motivational skills. Also thanks to Coach Paulo for throwing down some creative training schedules to get me to the start line healthy and Darrell at FRONT OF THE PACK for dealing with my 500 last minute bike issues......and thanks to Matt for walking the dogs, cooking, etc.. and not making me feel too guilty. :)

We went to a post-race crawfish boil at John's parents' house...a virgin crawfish experience for me! I learned how to rip the tail off the poor creature and pull out the meat. Killer.

On the podium..apparently contemplating the fact that I am holding a check.

The swamp!

White Bike of LOVE

2010-04-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.

-Yoda

Lauren's New Bike, New Season, and Bikes for Bombs

2010-04-03T17:25:00.000-07:00

Seeing that my race season is starting in about 2 weeks, I've been busy taking inventory of my equipment and mind.

Last night I picked up my new bike (frame) from Front of the Pack. I rode my old frame into the ground and decided that it was time to get a new one. Since I don't like change (except for the kind you can believe in), I just replaced the frame with a new frame that happens to have a KILLER PAINT JOB.

Darrell (FOTP owner) was awesome and stayed late to finish building up the bike. He probably built it really fast because I was sitting there droning on about all the latest triathlon gossip.

Matt has been out of town so I've been left alone to my own mechanical devices. This morning before riding I attempted to drop the tip of the saddle. This became a 3 hour debacle including desperate phone calls and iphone videos to Matt, expletives, and finally a mad dash to the shop to have Darrell and Co. fix my mess. This is where I'd like to justify my lack of mechanical skills by citing the law of comparative advantage. Society can maximize its collective efficiency only when individuals focus on a product/service that they can produce most efficiently/with lowest opportunity cost, which is CLEARLY not bike maintenance for me.

My virgin ride with the new bike today was awesome! I've really been enjoying the training lately and this new bike added to my euphoria. Seeing that the official start to my race season is coming up, I've been reflecting on triathlon in general. I'll be honest - last year I didn't love triathlon. I spent much of my training and racing all pent up and angry, and I think much of this was because I was trying to prove something. I realize that my self-worth need not be based only in whether I can swim 100x100s on the 1:25, or if I can move from being in the top 99.88999% of fastest cyclists in the world, to being in the top 99.89999%. Its not like any of this will contribute to world peace or end suicide bombings. (On second thought, perhaps if would-be suicide bombers started endurance training 5 hours per day, they'd be too tired to blow themselves up...bikes for bombs people...).

So....the only rational reason for me PERSONALLY to continue in triathlon is because I LOVE IT...otherwise, this sport is just a big waste of time and money. Thankfully, I've determined that I do love training and racing and therefore, I might as well go out and execute every single training session to its fullest...no more wasting time here!

Happy 2010 race season everybody!

My self-worth is also not based upon my laundry skills.

I thought Matt would be able to help me fix the saddle simply based upon examining this photo.

John Fell, my cajun nutrition sponsor and triathlon housing manager, sent me some new products to try. I felt like a kid at Christmas.

The SlooTs Reunite in Las Cruces

2010-03-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

Lauren and I are gearing up for Day 5 of training camp with Paulo and the posse. Training has been PLENTIFUL: bike time in the past 4 days totals 12 hrs and we have paired that with swimming and running, of course. It's been a breath of fresh, 35 degree air to bike the NM roads with them all.

Lauren and I wait for a Mexican dinner with Sipos (of twitter fame)

Pre-ride smiles with Jacqui, who we have to thank for all pictures not featuring our hotel room or Super Walmart.

Lauren, Lindsey, Tracy, Jacqui (and Danny - the photog) take a wrong turn and transition it into a photo op during our near-5 hr ride on Saturday... all 3 of these ladies will be racing the same IM early this summer

Friday night at Super Walmart. Sorry Costco, we cheated on you.

Lauren didn't actually lift any bags into the trunk. She was saving her back for training.

Lauren's post-ride look... our hotel room in shambles...

Lauren with Michael--a Miami native who still still dresses for Florida weather

SAY GOODBYE to Winter Ride - aka do not climb Old La Honda with improper gearing

2010-02-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today the sun came out - first time in what seems like 100 days of constant rain. Granted, I live in Northern California where the temps rarely dip below 40 and am not dealing with blizzards. HOWEVER, I still feel that I should have the right to complain about the weather occasionally, as this happens to be a human pastime.

To celebrate the end of winter, I rode to the coast with some friends, Matt and Christine. Aside from riding in Monterey, this is one of my all time favorite rides. When I first started riding I learned to suffer on these hills while trying to stay on Pataky's back wheel.

I always seem to forget how hilly this ride is. We climbed up Old La Honda and I made sure to remember the recent Slowtwitch.com debate about what is the acceptable RPM for which to climb this. I am happy to report that I have an acceptable RPM, despite my horrific gearing (clearly I don't know how to talk about bike gears correctly. I just know the important things...like I have a 23 on my training wheel and a 25 on my race wheels...and this does seem to make a difference when climbing.)

I decided to take some pics while riding with my newly acquired iPhone. Unfortunately, I am not terribly gifted in photography...especially while riding... so you'll just have to pretend the pics are about 50 times more beautiful than what you see.

GOOD BYE WINTER!!!! (Note: I will ignore the latest weather forecast indicating more storms for my hood this week.)

Notice the overcast sky - It was sunny on the other side of the hill. Note to self - bring sherpa to carry warm clothing when heading to the coast.

PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) ruined this shot with their freaking power lines.

Road that reminds me of cycling in New Zealand (sans the multitude of sheep.)

iPhone shot of the day - charlie waite should hire me.

I Rate this a Slam Dunk

2010-02-17T07:18:00.000-08:00

"Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them."

- Basketball Hall of Famer, Julius Irving aka Dr. J.

I came across this gem of a quote in a book on motivation: Drive, by Daniel Pink. Mr. Pink is a metro red line neighbor of mine and an authority on 'the changing world of work.' More or less, his book falls under the umbrella of self-help. His 2-month long national book tour is winding down in the DC area and his speaking engagements are posted on his blog... just an fyi for any DC area residents (i.e., non-Canadians) reading this post.

To continue with our slam dunk theme, please enjoy the video of Le Dunk de la Mort. In the 2000 Olympics, Vince Carter JUMPED OVER a 7'2" French player, Frederic Weis, in the USA's 85-75 win over the French for a ... Slammmm Dunk.

(blog fodder: Lauren told me she would post last night, but nary a bold word appeared in my google reader from the rookiepros blogspot this morning... i SURPRISE her with a new post of my own and the only commentary from LAHP is: why did you include that basketball video)

Washington DC Snowfall

2010-02-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

DC has been a ghost town the last 6 days due to the snowfall, lack of cleanup on the streets/sidewalks and the federal gov't closings.

Notice the 3 inch thick layer of compacted snow/ice in the roads...

On a Sunday morning walk...
Here, Connecticut Avenue Bridge crosses Rock Creek Park--this is where I usually cycle, but currently this is where I sled (FULL DISCLOSURE: I went on ONE RUN on an abandoned garbage lid... after living on the edge, once, I can resume my risk-averse lifestyle)

2 girls loving their cardboard sled

Marilyn looks on as Carl cookie-sheets it down the hill

Sledding essentials

Aside from working from (someone else's) home... notice the plethora of natural light, occasional stops at the office, training indoors and walking through food-less grocery stores, I am having a blast in the kitchen and making the best of the extra morning time in egg creations.

Midwestern frittata (FRITTATAS ARE SO EASYYY to assemble and retain their heat longer than scrambled eggs; fact)

Sweet and Spicy Cashew Chicken

Rib Eye Steak w/ blue cheese, lemon asparagus, chambord carrots and cinnamoney sweet potatoes. Note to Lauren, I ate a PORTION of the steak
Calvert Street, NW DC on Saturday, Feb. 6

Calvert Street, NW DC on Wednesday, Feb. 10

Basketball Takeaways for the World of Triathlon

2010-01-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

LJ's boyfriend Carl recently sent her this gem of an interview with Houston Rockets star T-Mac (Tracy McGrady). While I dabbled in basketball during my formative highschool years as a respite from the daily tennis sessions, I've let my basketball knowledge slip lately so I had to google this guy. Apparently, this T-Mac character has had some injuries which have prevented him from reaching his best the past few years. He is currently working hard to rehab and what I find most motivating is his attitude.

Interviewer: You've heard all the doubters saying that they don't know if you can make it back to being the player you used to be. Is the pain you're enduring during rehab all the motivation you need and do you feel confident that all the work you've put in here can get you back to the same level you were at?

TM: I'm not necessarily worried about the doubters saying anything. If they feel like I can't back to the player I once was I don't care about that. That's not gonna motivate me. What motivates me is I'm not finished. I got some unfinished business left on the court. I'm not happy the way last season went, so that's motivation in itself. I know what I'm gonna do and what I'm gonna get back to, so I know where I'm gonna be. Once I leave this place and I'm healthy, I'm gonna be ready because I'm not satisfied the way last season went.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?name=friedell&post=4479907

Operating on All Cylinders

2010-01-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

Lauren treated her body to a full night's rest by sleeping in Thursday morning, relegating her workouts to the evening.

Lauren: "i got home...jumped on tready for 50...hung upside down for 2 minutes... changed shorts and shoes, jumped on computrainer for an hr..20 min warmup, 12x1 z5...jumped off and grabbed a rice tortilla with peanutbutter and an apple, drove to pilates where i pilated for 90 minutes, came home, ate yogurt and died"

I am impressed Lauren fit in all that activity and was STILL awake to watch the drama unfold with Addison Shepherd. After her husband asked her to shut off the lame tv show and do something constructive, Lauren retorted: "I'VE BEEN GOING ALL DAY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LET ME HAVE MY PRIVATE PRACTICE."

It's good to see that Lauren still has some snap. Keep it up!

In East Coast news: Costco is turning hippy by stocking almond butter. Thank you. thank you...

Active Dog Looking for New Home - HOW TO PR THE RUN NEXT SEASON

2009-12-22T15:39:00.001-08:00

Hi Blog Followers -

A good friend of mine in San Francisco has to give up her one year old dog, Toby, and wants to find him a good (and active) home. I've copied her email into this blog post, along with some pictures of Toby. If you are interested (regardless of WHERE you live), send me an email (laurenharrison00@gmail.com) or comment and I'll put her in touch with you. Toby would be a GREAT way for you to PR your run next year. I guarantee it!

Hi,

I am writing with sad news and because I need to ask for your help.

Due to personal circumstances, I need to find a new home for my 13 month old puppy, Toby.

If you know anyone who might want to adopt a 13 month old, incredibly energetic but also incredibly funny, smart, and loving dog, please let me know. I am more than willing to pay to fly him or drive him or whatever if you know anyone out of state (or just not nearby) that would take him.

I have put all of the breed, medical, temperament details about Toby below, and attached a few pictures.

Thanks for your help,

Deirdre

Breed
He is a mix, but the vet’s guess is that he is part Flat Coat Retriever and part Border Collie. I buy it. He looks just like a flat coat (I know I am partial, but I think he is gorgeous), has the energy and instincts of a border collie, and the intelligence and sweet personality of both breeds

History
- I adopted him from the San Francisco SPCA when he was about 3 months old. They had only had him for about 5 days before I adopted him. They don’t know his history before thato I do not want to give him up, but my circumstances have changed and I can’t afford him anymore·

Health
- He is 13 months old and healthy, strong, and happy
- He has been neutered (all rescues from the SPCA are neutered before they can be adopted out)
- He has had all of his first vaccines, but will be due for his next set when he is a year and a half, which is in March
- I give him Frontline and Interceptor, so he is covered for heartworm and flea stuff
- He weighs about 45 pounds
- I can provide full medical records. My vet is Pets Unlimited on Fillmore St. in SF
- He has never been sick but was recently bitten badly and needed surgery and stitches on one of his hind legs. I was really scared, not so much for his physical health because I knew that he would get better since he is so young and healthy, but that the incident would change his personality. Thank goodness, it has not. He is physically 100% better and his temperament is as wonderful and hilarious as always. Which leads me to…

Toby – Force of Nature
- He is an incredibly great dog, but he is also a force of nature. His new owner needs to be ready for a really, really high energy dog. Toby is the first pet that I have ever had, but even seasoned dog owners tell me that he is truly one of a kind
- He is loving and loyal beyond belief. He keeps close tabs on me
- He wags and wiggles his entire body upon seeing someone because he is so happy
- He loves and is great with kids. He loves and is great with just about everyone and everything, for that matter (except pigeons… I think his goal in life is to one day catch a pigeon)
- He gets along with other dogs, no problem, despite the biting incident I described above
- He loves – and needs – to play and get a lot of exercise
- During the week, I have a dog walker that takes him out for 2-3 hours during the day, and then I take him out for an hour to an hour and a half when I get home from work
- On weekends, I take him to the beach for about 2 hours in the morning, and then out again in the afternoon / evening for another hour or so
- I take him out for short bio breaks as well, but they take all of about 3 minutes
- He loves to swim, chase, tussle, etc.
- He barks – A LOT – when he plays, but only when he plays. He is totally quiet in the house unless he is really startled or worried about something outside (which I actually don’t mind… makes me feel safe)

Shoes
- I don’t want to sugarcoat this, so I will admit – Toby has been known to chew shoes. This is largely my fault, since my house is a mess and I leave shoes lying around, but still – beware. If you do take my baby boy, put your shoes away!

Thanks,

Deirdre

Throwing down the gauntlet in the deep end

2009-12-15T13:42:00.001-08:00

While doing a bit of house cleaning on this blog, I recently came across a draft of a post Lindsey was writing while en route to New York on the "Bolt Bus" last weekend (this is why I live in California....don't particularly like 6 hr bus rides without bathroom stops).

Excerpt from abandoned purse post:

"Swimming: A RETURN TO EQUILIBRIUM! LAHP and I have comparable times when I'm SCM and she swims SCY... THIS Even though my swimming volume is below the 20k threshold and workouts are dominated by one-armed swim drills and 25s sprints,"

Perhaps she hasn't yet perfected her "tone" but do I sense a bit of cockiness in her story about how "little" she swims to maintain this so-called "equilibrium?" Granted, I will never quite know what was to come after that hanging comma, but what's a girl supposed to think!

Regardless, I shall print this out and post it next to a few other "memoirs" I keep next to my bedside table to motivate me to get out of bed and swim.

We'll see where this "equilibrium" goes with the launching of the LAHP "make every swim count" slog challenge today. While Lindsey is busy getting a tan in Maui, I will be focused on GTWD with every meter on my schedule in the frozen tundra outdoor pools of the bay area.

Happy Swimming.

NO...this is not a picture of me.

A Slog Race Report...

2009-12-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

When not gchatting with Lauren about being down to my FINAL PIECE OF TRIDENT LAYERS STRAWBERRY/CITRUS REAL FRUIT (FLAVOR) gum, horror of all horrors, she and I gmail with pro: triathlete/pharma sales rep/half and full IM MEX race announcer Amy Kloner*.

Today's topic of discussion: race reports... and keeping it real. We like honesty at the slog, and if our race reports are any indication, year one of pro racing is no cake walk.

In a Lauren race report (RR), you'll see a combination of the following:

-extreme bitterness and focus on self... the only volunteer shout out she provides is to the guy who directed her off-course at Oceanside 70.3 (granted she volunteers at her husband's Xterra races)

-images of flames

-the words: hell, fire, blasted foot, tears, crying, drowning, shut up matt, shut the ___ up matt

-jpgs titled "run death march"

2.5 WEEKS into the 2010 season already, and Lauren is singing a different tune (out of key, just like her piano she promised would be tuned months ago) and foresees RRs filled with rainbows and sunshine... or at least less fire and brimstone.

And so as not to appear mean-spirited and one-sided, I'll provide Lauren's blanket statement about my RRs (that come to fruition 75% of the time):

Lauren: A PURSE RR consists of talking about with whom she came out of the water and then a digression into how to cook an egg bomb and where to shop for the finest ingredients

Below, Lauren having phun with her new IPHONE!

She pings me everytime she walks the dogs or breathes... Lauren left work 5 min ago and already emailed: "Did u miss me"

I'll post now so she has a 'present' to read before embarking on her evening bike ride in the training funhouse. GTWD SLOOT

*Amy and I met while waiting for Clearwater slot roll-downs after Eagleman 70.3. At the time, she was unfamiliar with the clearwater race, but my anxiety over 'receiving' the slot (i.e., the opportunity to pay $300 for a race 6 mos down the pipe) rated its desirability: EXTREMELY HIGH. The remaining slot rolllled to 8th (that would be Kloner... I was 9th). She gave a cutesy smile, told me she was taking the slot then BORROWED a blank check from someone (NOT ME, obviously, as I would not fund such an act) to claim her slot. She earned it... no hard feelings...

"One More Time" II

2009-11-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

All SLOG readers in the DC area will be happy to know that KLIM and SNOW (author of the famed STUPIDBLOG) are co-hosting a slam-dunk dance bonanza to end all dance parties on Saturday night! Some of you might have come, and the rest of you WISHED you had come (like purse who did not attend bc she was tired and in heavy training), to "One More Time," named after the Daft Punk dance anthem from earlier this century. SNOW and KLIM and their KLIMTIEL co-hosts are piggybacking off this theme and calling their next fiesta "1MT2." They'll have great dance music and even better times. PURSE WILLLLL be in attendance! Why won't you?

If you want location deets, or need a ride, e-mail SNOW for the address: snizow@gmail.com

Start Time: Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 9:00pm
End Time: Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 3:00am
Location: MANSION DUFFYSNOW
City/Town: Arlington, VA

FOXTROT with KLIM:

I met the midnight pacific time deadline PURsssse.

2009-11-09T21:06:00.001-08:00

Lindsey has called me out on my "empty promises" of blogging. I think her phrase was "broken record of broken promises". So, in her honor I will post a quick slog tonight, in lieu of doing a myriad of other activities, such as cleaning the cervelo that has yet to be removed from its power-gel infested nesting spot in the bike box, or putting ear drops in the dog's ear, or attempting to teach Matt the scale of G on the piano (he's getting into the sharps...EXCITING!!!).

Anyway, I am happy to report that the power of the blog is strong. Due to the incredible generosity of slog reader (and now slog hero), CARL, I have secured a google wave invite. Now, we shall break into the 21.1st century of virtual training communication with google wave. Check back for exciting developments.

Since we haven't been doing much organized virtual training together and thus don't need accountability in that department, Lindsey and I have moved this virtual accountability model into other arenas - namely nutrition. The rules for this game are as follows - Lindsey is not allowed to consume nut butters between the temptation-laden hours of 7pm - 6am (and since she DARES NOT keep liquid kryptonite at work, it's essentially off limits all day) and she has allowed me a very short window on when I may eat candy - between 6am-8am,...quite generous of her, indeed.

Here is an excerpt of one of our gchats (this will be considered an ancient relic soon as we are switching over to WAVE):

Lauren: so you won't eat nut butters past SEVEN pm and i won't eat candy...at all
Lindsey: I CAN GIVE A TESTIMONIAL for the slog
I FREAKIN ATE A BANANA LAST NIGHT (4:40.. nearly breakfast)
Lindsey: NOT A TRACE OF NUT BUTTER ON IT
Lauren: awesome
Lauren: I WILL ADD that story to the post you are forcing me to do against my will. We should also take a hiatus from triathlon websites
Lindsey: it's amazing
on any other night i would have opened that blasted jar
Lauren: lol
Lindsey: well one of many jars
or potentially EVERY jar
but instead I didn't even open the cabinet
Lauren: how many jars do you currently possess
Lindsey: 3
but only 2 are open
Lauren: haha; v impressive that you can keep these things
i had to throw out any and all random candy we had lying around
Lindsey: throw out as in take to work?
Lauren: yes and let the vultures descend

Other than that, there is nothing much going on over here. Team Pataky recently moved closer to the often-mention mountain lion reserve. I'm currently in the process of building a training dungeon in the garage for the computrainer, tready, and assortment of balls with which I use to roll out ailing body parts. I've also been doing some mtn biking with Matt and "the Frenchman" and have discovered that what is even more enjoyable than passing roadies on the tri bike is passing them on the mountain bike. Tip of the day - If you are having an "off day" but still want to mess with them, once you pass them and start to feel tired, just turn off at the next intersection and go into the dirt. It works every time....just don't fall on the curb or something.

The "Frenchman" aka Benoit at the Halloween cyclocross race.

I think this is long enough to count as a post so I am going to go now.

Halloween & GOOGLEWAVE Developments

2009-11-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

Halloween affords us the rare opportunity to set pumpkins ablaze:

Undeterred by mother nature's wrath, the party host, SNOW (famed stupid blog author), revives the ailing pumpkin with the cohost/doctor.

Success. Pumpkins return to fire-breathing glory:

I brainstormed potential Halloween costumes ideas with my aunts hrs before the pumpkin lighting, resulting in this masterpiece:My last-minute costume research was thorough, however, a mild bout of dyslexia caused me to misorder the PLU code, resulting in MASSIVE confusion Halloween evening. I was incorrectly stickered as a small mutsu apple, rather than an eggplant (aubergine). Did you know that an eggplant is a fruit botanically classified AS A BERRY???

GOOGLEWAVE DEVELOPMENTS: Yesterday I accepted my googlewave invite, but am beside myself looking for the invite function so LAHP gets onboard and stops pinging me to INVITE! her. I DOn'T KNOW HOW.

Perhaps we can integrate the new platform into the slogosphere. The uninterrupted stream of slootbabble is pertinent to our training success and as Lauren already identified in her gwave request to the google team: we are a NEW BREED of athletes that HARNESS THE POWER OF THE INTERNET for training purposes. Or maybe someone can kindly add her?

Lauren's Longhorn 70.3 Discussion

2009-10-29T15:58:00.001-07:00

Race reports are so easy to write if you either have a killer day and destroy the field or are beset with a HUGE obstacle to overcome. Such situations provide great slog fodder and enable one to set up one's race report for a breathtaking climax followed by either a gentle denoument or perhaps an abrupt ending. Unfortunately, nothing of the sort happened at my race last weekend, so I'm once again, experiencing a bit of writer's block in putting together this report.

I flew into my ancestral home of San Antonio (REMEMBER THE ALAMO) late Friday night and met up with Purse…oh actually that is incorrect as she decided to go to bed early at my parents’ house rather than greet me at the airport with a large homecoming sign. We got up at the crack of dawn (which became the theme all weekend) on Saturday, successfully put my bike together without stripping the derailleur, and embarked upon our journey up to Austin for the pro meeting. Despite MULTIPLE GPS devices (I advise against getting the latest Garmin as the female speaker is incredibly annoying and wrong), printed directions, a previous history in driving to this very location, and my “instincts” we managed to get lost. Purse saved the day by forcing the Harrisons to pit stop at a Chevron and ask for directions. (note: most of this was copied almost verbatim from Lindsey’s thank you note to my parents)

Race day: In short, I swam incredibly slow, rode like I know I can, and just ran to finish the race. Nothing exciting happened, besides 2 "rabid' dogs running after me (which pales in comparison to mountain lions...speaking of which...recently a canadian folksinger was killed by COYOTES...which everyone has assured me do not bother with humans).

After my ridiculously slow swim, I managed to make up time on the bike leg and passed around 9-10 girls. This gave me a confidence boost, but I was unable to channel that into a strong run and did not manage to meet my run goal. I did not perform.

Upon reflection, perhaps I was more looking forward to this race as it signified the end of a season, and thus the possibility of a new and better start next year, rather than the culmination and channeling of all the hard work I've done this year into a great race day performance. I tried to argue with myself that such was not the case. I mean, SERIOUSLY, HOW WEAK IS THAT? Perhaps it is the truth, though, and this is my takeway for the race - yet another lesson learned.

I have alot of work to do this winter -both mental and physical. I used to hate the idea of a break from racing, but now I am excited to spend a couple weeks decompressing from this interesting season and preparing myself to GTWD this winter/spring. Rather than chalk this race up to yet another below top 10 performance, I'll use it. In fact, I just purchased an ASI photo of me emerging from the lake with almost NOBODY behind me in the water (go ahead, you know you want to look). This will be a great photo to laminate and paste on the pool deck for EVERY SINGLE swim workout I do next year. Should you be in the SF Bay Area, you'll know me as the weird girl who posts a picture of herself on the pool deck (as opposed to the weird girl that poses with yellow CPR dummies).

PS: I have a special shout out to Lindsey and my parents who filled in for Matt and supported me...and also to Ray for the photos that accurately depicted how I felt that day. Thanks!!!!

Sherpa Lindsey on wetsuit detail.

Motivation for treadmill running this winter.

Beginning of the death march.

Ending of the death march.

Super sherpa PURSE who was confused about the correct date of Halloween.

Longhorn 70.3 Eve

2009-10-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

After an exhausting day sherpa-ing for LAHP, we concluded Longhorn 70.3 preparations with a confidence-boosting equilibrium swim and picked up dinner at Chipotle (Potal) with mom and dad Harrison. carbo-loading LAHP ready for a bowl of TEXAS Blue Bell ice cream. From wiki: "Blue Bell is one of the few ice cream companies in the United States to offer a true half gallon (64 oz/1.89 L) container; the company mentions this prominently in its advertising." Clearly, this is an effective marketing strategy with Texans. Assembling the EGGBOMB station before bed. I rise at 3:45 to make breakfast for the princess, I mean Lauren.

East Meets West at LONGHORN 70.3

2009-10-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

Lauren closes the rookiepros.blogspot.com season this wkd in Austin at the Longhorn 70.3. We will rendezvous in her hometown, San Antonio, where I can start the rapid fire on-site blogging about the season closer (best case scenario). Since I'm using my flight benefits from work and flying standby, arriving at my final destination is not guaranteed. If not in Austin, I'll slog LIVE from the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

I mined my gchat archives with Lauren to find this QOTD from our 36th President, LBJ:

We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it.

We thought this was an appropriate running injury quote (apologies to LBJ for bastardizing his comment), but it also reminds us to apply what we have learned from this season's races. Heard from Lauren yesterday:

I had two killer workouts this afternoon...SO killer that at the end of each workout I just had to say "Hell YEAH." WOOT ready for longhorn.

MORE to come FROM TEXAS! Sherpa LJ will

- provide encouragement as Lauren builds her own bike

- simulate the craziness of the race start at the warm-up swim (in the danger suit)

- griddle the race morning eggbomb

Lindsey's Brush with Fame

2009-10-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog Readers,

Since Triathlete mag is not busting down the door for interviews with us and we both forgot to submit our bikini shots for consideration for one of the swimsuit model positions, I thought I'd take this opportunity to post the 2 page centerfold of Lindsey in the November issue of Triathlete mag taken at elite nationals (pgs 18-19).

Check out her form (dark goggles) - a product of 21 years of swimming development.

Profiles in Courage--Caroline's 2012 Olmypic Marathon Trials Quest

2009-10-09T10:56:00.001-07:00

Caroline White, my friend, former GRC teammate and fellow Costco worshipper, ran the Twin Cities Marathon last wkd and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials in 2:45 fashion. Earlier this year she ran Boston in 2:55 and her first marathon before then was 3:09. QUITE a progression. I'm sharing her take of this journey--grab a cup of joe (venti-sized) and enjoy!

Family and Friends,

So here you have it; the long anticipated Twin Cities Marathon race report! It’s been a tough, exhilarating journey, and I’m excited to share the story with you.

Upon reviewing this and on the verge of sending, I need to say; yes, the race is obviously important. But this email would lead you to believe success is all about race day. It's not. It's about all the hard work leading up to the marathon, and there is NO WAY I could do any of this without your love and support. It's the understatement of the century to say, but I couldn't do this without you.....so thank you for what you've enabled.

At the beginning of each 4 year Olympic cycle, the Olympic Committee determines a standard potential athletes must meet in order to compete in the Olympic trials. 2:47 was the standard for the Beijing trials (which were held in Boston in April 2008). Shortly after Bejing, the Olympic Committee set 2:46 as the standard for the 2012 trials. So to compete in the trials, one must run a marathon in 2:46 at a USATF certified event. The first opportunity to qualify (and only opportunity in 2009) was in the Twin Cities Marathon, held on October 4th.

In February 2009, I competed in and won the Armed Forces Cross Country Championship. This win served as a leverage point for me to be assigned to the Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). Initially, after graduation from University of Maryland, I was scheduled to start pilot training right away. However, the Air Force agreed to delay my start date and let me train in Colorado for the Twin Cities Marathon. When the Air Force allowed this opportunity, I was very grateful, but understood the reality that this was an opportunity to qualify for the trials, and it would take some serious, grueling training to meet this goal.

Explaining the goal to friends, I frequently heard “ohh I’m sure you can do it, you always do what you set your mind to!” I would respond with, ‘I don’t think you quite understand how ambitious this is.’ Running a 2:46 is no small feat. It would require a big PR from my Boston marathon in April, giving me 6 months to drop 10 minutes. But I had my heart set on qualifying, so my tenure in Colorado consisted of running, running, and some more running. I averaged between 80-100 miles a week (my peak week was 114), plus core strengthening and cross training.

WCAP also allowed me the opportunity to race in the national road racing circuit, where high caliber athletes compete for national titles and large prize purses. This was great because one, I love racing. Two, I got to travel to misc places like Michigan, Connecticut, and Ohio that I would not otherwise be exposed to. Three, I got to spend time with some running legends (including individuals who competed in Athens and Beijing in various distance races). And four, it was great to be the military’s representative. When toeing the start line, athletes wore jersey’s for their various sponsors (Asics, Nike, etc.) and it was pretty cool to be the individual chosen to wear the Air Force’s blue and white jersey.

At my first race in Iowa, I met Magdalena Boulet, who ran the marathon for the US in Beijing. When shaking her hand, I couldn’t believe the situation…wow, I’ve been tracking your progress and watched you race on TV (in addition to the rest of the world), but I’m actually shaking your hand. Woah. Of course, all of this can out as, “hmmner nerm caroline white …”

But the races went well and I made some serious progress. For instance, in Michigan I ran the 10 mile race in 59:36, which was a big mile stone to break an hour. It was also sweet to spend quality with my running idols…the night before my Flint race, I ran into Magda in the hotel lobby, “Hi Caroline!” (oh my God, you actually know my name) “What are your dinner plans? You want to grab something with us?”....(with huge eyes and a gaping mouth) ‘uhhhh, YES…err, I mean, okay.’ When recounting this experience to a friend, I told him dinner was like watching running celebrities walk out of Runner’s World magazine and into this restaurant. His response to this was, “Caroline, you’ve got to understand that your idol is quickly becoming your peer,” which was an inspiring notion to me.

My Colorado training went fantastic, and generally injury free (with a few foot problems here and there, but nothing too serious). Before I knew it, taper week came and a message in my inbox read “United Flight 387; prepare for your upcoming trip”…..I hope I’m prepared! I put in a ton of hard work in over the summer, and it’s time to cash out.

My parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all traveled to Minneapolis for the event. I was grateful for the support and love being with my family (well, not so much with Uncle Mike), but at the same time, it built up the pressure of this event. In fact, the night before the marathon I was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been….I’ve competed at high levels before but nothing had such a black and white outcome. For instance, before the World Ironman Competition in Kona, I was nervous yet had a reasonable goal; to give it my best and see what I could do (and I achieved that, 12th wasn’t to shabby). With this race though, it’s really all or none. Not only had I set my own expectations, but I’d feel bad for having everyone travel to witness a let down. I didn’t want to dwell on this….or the fact that this is the only shot I have to qualify before or during pilot training…no, I need to shut out these thoughts, stay positive, and get to bed. Easy enough, right?

Well I did make it to sleep, went through my morning routine, and got to the start line. For this race I was considered an ‘elite athlete,’ so I got to start in the very front and not fight the masses. The race plan my coach and I created was to run 6:17-6:20 miles throughout the first 20 miles, and push it to the max for the last 6. The Boston marathon taught me the importance of not going out too fast and sticking to your strategy, otherwise it will (painfully) catch up to you in the end. So I was fixated on the number 6:17. My coach also warned me, “there will be a group of women trying to qualify just like you, stay with the pack if it works, but they are probably going to go out too fast and fade. Remember, your well trained and can do this, but you have to run it smart.” Okay, stick with you plan…6:17’s…stay calm.

The gun went off and I tried to keep my nerves under control, and find my pace. I tried to feel out my rhythm and waited for the first mile mark….6:03. Okay, your fast, the first mile is always tough but slow down…

Mile 2—6:07…Slow some more.

Mile 3—6:27…not so much!

Mile 4—6:04….Find the middle.

Mile 5—6:02…Nope.

Mile 6—6:48…Holy Hell, that’s not good...at all. Is my watch broken??

Mile 7—6:00….*$%#$**! What is going on?? In retrospect, it’s pretty obvious what was going on…my nerves were totally throwing me off. And it’s not as though I’m incapable of pacing a 6:17. Two week before TCM I ran a half marathon at goal marathon pace and was spot on….but the difference was the gravity of this event. So, I had a little heart to heart with myself, forget the last 7 miles, find your groove, you KNOW you can do this.

After that self talk, I found my efficient, effortless rhythm. I was nervous that I’d screwed the race with that initial nonsense, but got back to the plan and felt good. No, I felt great. Off in the distance I could see the pack of women hoping to qualify that my coach warned me about, but I didn’t chase them and stuck with my groove. (note: it’s not advised to find your groove this late in a race)

During races, I try to block out distractions and focus on my strategy. Despite this, two spectators seem to stick out in my memory...2 nuns dressed in traditional black habits holding a poster which read “Kick Ass, Sinners!” (since it was Sunday, and not being in church, I guess runners are default sinners). At no other city then St. Paul would you witness this...The sight made me smile; well I guess I’d rather laugh with the sinners then cry with the saints, because sinners are much more fun.

There was a race clock posted at the ½ way mark, which I crossed in in 1:21.22…A little fast, but this race is salvageable…stick with the plan. So I continued to knock out the miles at my goal pace and pressed through. Sure enough, the pack of women was thinning out; one by one, women were peeling off and out of my sight picture. When passing the faders I felt boosted confidence—I'm not going to die off like her, in fact I feel great, keep knocking out the 6:17s and you’ll finish strong.

Mile 15-19 directed us NW, back to toward Minneapolis and into a 10-12 mph headwind. Up until now, it had been negligible or a crosswind, but when I turned the corner at 15 the blast to the face wasn’t encouraging. Your doing fine, just push through it. Coincidentally, I found a broad shouldered male around mile 16 who was running right at pace. Perfect. This is my guardian angel. It was really nice to have a break, but short lived. Just past mile 17 my angel send stopped and literally sat down on the side of the road. Hmmm, someone seems to be sending me mixed signals.

About mile 18 the entire remaining pack of women was slowing down. I ran with them for about quarter mile and was tempted to use the massive wind block, but had to let em go to stay on pace, don’t sink with that ship, keep moving.

I made it through the headwind with a few miles just slightly behind pace. Soon enough, the turn East towards St. Paul at mile 19 relieved me of the headwind, and I was feeling strong.

When questioning TCM veterans, invariably you will hear “it’s a pretty good course, until you get to the end. There’s a substantial hill to deal with.” This hill had been haunting me all summer. The elevation profile indicated it was a gradual climb over three miles with varying grades along the way. I was curious how it would compare to the Colorado training, and how my body could deal with it so late in the race. Well, there’s one way to find out. The first mile of the hill (mile 21) I was exactly on pace—6:17. Perfect! Keep it up. But unfortunately I couldn’t; the next mile of hill took its toll on the legs—6:43. Uh oh, push it out. At this point, I also realized my destiny relied in the next 1.5 miles…if I can make over the hill feeling strong, I would have this thing in the bag. But if the hill drained me….good bye qualifying. Mile 23—6:37. Your almost there, just push over this last bit of hill.

My coach and I planned on not holding back the last 6 miles of the race and going all out. No more pacing, just 100% to the end. I knew some of the wind section and hills slowed me down, and I could not drop much below the 6:17 pace. But the last portion of the hill left me feeling tired, and there was just a smidge left in the tank. I hit the 24 mark in 6:23—you’ve got 2.2 miles left , and not much margin (if any) to spare.

Come on legs, take me home.

I was trying the best I could to keep my form through mile 24, but couldn't find my normal efficient rythm. It was getting harder and harder to get smooth leg turn over. I know this hurts, but you’ve got to push.

I ran mile 25 in 6:30. Next to the 25 mile marker was a race clock reading 2:37.47 Ohhh no, I better make this. I’ve got 1.2 miles left, so this next mile needs to be…..uhhh ……(turns out I’m not the greatest at mental math, particularly when my brain is oxygen deprived). After struggling, and loosing, to 3rd grade math skills I came to conclude it doesn’t matter what the margin is, continue to give 100%, but you can’t run another 6:30 and qualify. YOU HAVE GOT TO PUSH.

I made the final turn of the course and could see the finish line in the distance about ½ mile out. I couldn’t read the race clock, but kept on pushing through the escalating pain. I had no idea what is going on with the crowds, other runners, winds, scenery, etc. It could be midnight in the arctic for all I know….I was entirely fixed on the finish line and the illegible race clock. After what seemed like an eternity, I passed the 26 mile marker in 6:13 and could read the clock…2:44 and change. Oh my God, I’m actually going to do this. I’m going to qualify.

I’d like to describe that last minute and twenty seconds, but I can’t give the moment justice. Running the final .2 miles will stay with me forever. I crossed the finish line in 2:45.21 (6:18.66 mile average), and with 39 seconds to spare I met my goal. I qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials.

My family greeted me at the finish line shortly there after. Dad was shouting “YOU DID IT! I CANT BELIEVE IT!” and mom was speechless, gushing with tears. After barely surviving my parent’s jaws of death hugs, my dad told me being at the finish line was one of the most nerve wrecking moments of parenting. Apparently watching the clock tick pass 2:43 and no sight of Caroline about killed mom. “Well what can I say dad? I wanted to make your day interesting.”

My coach and I could not be more excited about future racing. A few things to consider; most every elite runner I’ve met raced in college; I competed in my first road race less then 2 years ago; I am 24 years old; and women tend to peak in the marathon in their mid 30’s. Basically, there’s a future in these legs and I can’t tell you how motivating the idea of finding their potential is.

So what happens next? Tomorrow I leave my Colorado utopia for Sheppard AFB, TX to start the next chapter of my life; pilot training. Leaving Colorado is unfortunate, but I’m excited to start the next challenge. Pilot training will be 13 months, and I look forward to find what the future holds, because right now possibilities seem endless. But the few things I know with certainty,

1) I only have one way of operating; go big or go home. And this mentality applies to pilot training. It’s exciting to have the chance to earn my wings and I hope to excel at Sheppard. Does success in athletics indicate an aptitude for being a pilot? Who knows….only time will tell.

2) I truly love running and want to see what I can do with it. I will continue to train as much as the demands of pilot training allow.

3) The Olympic Trials are scheduled to be held in New York City in November of 2011. Mark your calendar.

The Promise, Mtn Lion Jersey & Pumpkin Consumption Tips

2009-09-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

I PROMISE to do an injury post soon, detailing what I have learned and CONTINUE to learn as a result of two muscle strains incurred over the past 6 weeks. I haven't run trained during this time, which is frustrating, but it is what it is. I will share what I have learned on GETTING THE INJURY UNDER CONTROL by doing things, like active release therapy, trigger pointing on your own and aqua running to maintain run fitness (when it doesn't irritate the muscle strain!). Lindsey, are there things you should NOT do? why YES! Do NOT walk endless miles of DC streets with a backpack and whole foods paper bag crammed with heavy items (jars of nut butters, grapes, winter squash, etc.) without cash so you can't take a cab home. More on that later...

but first,

SLOG JERSEY: Lauren, a self-professed animal lover, sent me purchase details on the mountain lion jersey pictured below. Roughly 25% of GTWD blog (slog) readers find this web site by searching for images of bob cats and javelinas on google. These people don't linger here long--the avg duration of their visits are 0-1 second. I think we can capture this audience for longer by offering mountain lion jerseys, of course with some kind of slog twist. To appeal to the tri crowd, perhaps "slog reader" can grace the back of the jersey... or "Please don't draft me. I'm trying to GTWD." I am not at all surprised, but these jerseys are currently out of stock on amazon. In the meantime, please comment below if you are interested and suggestions on how YOU would like the jersey customized.

PUMPKIN: Pumpkin spice lattes are available at SBUX. SLOG TIP. Get the pumpkin spice misto, commonly known as a cafe au lait. Compared with the latte, it is lower in cals... since it's 1/2 coffee and 1/2 milk and cheaper. Alternatively, bum a couple sips off your visiting aunt's latte while on your morning commute to work. No fashion tips, here. I store my credit card/ID/costco card in a ziploc.

MORE PUMPKIN: canned pumpkin is in season and I'm currently mixing it in EVERYTHING. oatmeal.. cottage cheese (it just LOOKS gross).. cranberry sauce is also a nice mix-in to give it some sweetness. you're welcome.

Yes, I did race Ironman Canada!

2009-09-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

I have attempted to sit down and bust out this Ironman Canada race report for four weeks now, but am suffering from a huge case of writer's block. I'm currently sitting in the hospital waiting for Matt to get out (a story for another day, but yes, he is okay) and have nothing else to do besides write this thing, as Purse has abandoned gchat and left me all alone to my own devices. Despite my constant complaining about crap coverage at Kaiser, their wireless coverage is indeed second to none. Move over Palo Alto Medical Foundation!!!

Anyway, here is how I "remember" IMC:

Ahhhh....the "high desert" of Canada......beautiful venue, people, and terrain.

We arrived Thursday before the race and met up with Paulo and Khai and settled into a soon-to-be-familiar-to-lauren "chill" pattern throughout the rest of the week. I felt mentally prepared and as physically prepared as I could be, and was ready to "race" my second irondistance race and my first attempt as a pro.

We stayed in the guest house of an awesome couple near Skaha lake. Upon hearing that the AC window unit died the afternoon before the race, they took it upon themselves to purchase a new one. I eagerly set Matt to the not so small task of assembling said window unit....yet another of his unpredictable sherpa duties.

Race Day:

After I unsuccessfully attempted to shove down a bowl of rice and eggs (note to self: take Purse to all races as her egg bombers are edible), Matt drove us to transition where I sat around in the endless porta potty lines. Count down ensued and we were off...or once again....everyone was off but me. I took it out WCS hard but apparently not hard enough as the feet I found were actually slower than mine. Unfortunately, I didn't figure that out until halfway through the swim. The swim was a big disappointment for me, but I tried to put it behind me as I came out of the water and prepared for the bike.

Bike was solid for me and was another exercise in mental toughness as I attempted to follow The Plan. My typical 70.3 bike plan consists of just riding hard, but I learned at Kona that this is not a good ironman strategy. Jonny and Paulo gave me some bike course intel, but apparently my listening skills were suspect as when I thought I was at the second of the seven "bitches" (these are hills, mom) I was actually only at the top of Richter pass. I started passing people slowly throughout the course, and blocked out the bad mental moments with a few key phrases. I ended up gaining ground and passing a number of girls and was excited to face the unknown: the 26.2 mile run.

The run was what I unfortunately but realistically expected it to be. I felt as good as one can feel during an ironman for the first hour and then, as Matt would later confirm, I began to crumble and explode. I paid for my lack of run training on the first hill (dedicated blog readers will remember the foot saga). I knew I had ridden conservatively and had been relatively smart with my calorie intake, so I tried to hold out as long as possible and finish without getting delirious and yelling at loved ones. After I was passed by a girl with less than 3 minutes to go, I saw Paulo throw down an exasperated pirouette in the air, and this gave me the energy to make it to the finish line with a new PR, but not a time or place about which I was particularly proud or happy.

I definitely see this race as a building block for next year. I've learned much about the mental side of racing this year and will take all of what I learned and apply it to an INJURY FREE 2010. I have a couple more races this year and then plan to settle down and GTWD this winter, after a couple weeks of non-triathlon activities...KEEPING FINGERS CROSSED FOR AN EARLY SNOW SEASON.

Race video and lots of photos to follow when I get home tonight. This is Lauren speak for next month.

USAT Elite Nationals - 9th

2009-09-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

On August 22 I raced USAT Nationals in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home to the Univ of Alabama and city where you can get a turkey panini packed with green apple slices, gouda and cranberry mustard with side salad and bowl of fruit (upon presenting your USAT membership) for $3.81. SICK.

I earned ITU points for my 9th place finish seeing that nationals also served as an ITU Continental Cup. Why do I care about accruing precious points? Your points determine your ranking in the ITU points list--the more points you have, the higher your ranking. USAT, the governing body for USA triathlon, is inclined to send athletes with good results (thus, more points) to bigger races, like a World Cup. By consistently racing, placing well & s/b/r-ing faster, I have the potential to attend said races. If you get mediocre results (like ninth) and do 2 ITU races/yr (like me in 2009) you'll painstakingly move up, but it's better to race MORE and place HIGHER so progression doesn't take a LIFETIME. That's the goal here.

Background: Coach Paulo resides in neighboring TN and trekked to nationals to watch me and his other athletes race. I suspect the Chipotle presence in Tusca made the trip a SLAM DUNK.

The women athletes were introduced individually and jogged past the crowd to select a spot on the pontoon for the dive start. After brief deliberation, I placed myself between Hayley Peirsol and Margie Shapiro. I figured I'd get clean water on the Hayley side as she is her own front pack. Maybe 200 meters in I noticed packs forming on the ends of the field. Who can remember precisely what happend 2.5 wks ago, but I found myself on Jenna Shoemaker's feet who wore a conspicuous, red race suit, and thought to myself I HOPE PAULO IS WATCHING THIS (3 consecutive wks of 28k meters/wk in the pool is good for something). I came out of the water on her feet (first out was Hayley, a pack of 3, then me and Jenna) and she BLAZED through transition--I have never experienced such an intense transition before--like LIFE OR DEATH to hang with her. On that day: DEATH.

BIKE (6 loops): It was a sad affair as I was alone and did not hang with the 3 women who passed me in the early laps (being dropped/passed by all on the HILL). watts/kg. blast it. Paulo knew what was going on in my head (as he has received colorful post-race texts from me) and reminded me to FOCUS & STAY IN THE RACE. Me: yea, he has a point, stay with it. At the half-way mark, it was clear I was no catching the front pack (who had likely settled down the pace now that they were a bigger group of 8ish--boo), I slowed down, per Paulo's suggestion, to complete the ride with the pack behind me. Instead of dropping off completely in my slow-down-and-join effort, I made sure I got up that G-D hill on lap 4 and we merged around the top of the hill. Our group of 6 'pacelined' like a carousel the remaining 2.5 laps and we found our way...

OUT ON THE RUN. The motor home in background indicates I am in fact in BAMA:

The run included 4 loops, passing a total of 8 aid stations stocked with COLD gatorade and water BOTTLES--great race support. I ran most of loop 1 with Amanda Hahn (effort level quite high) but I fell off our pace and slogged through the rest solo. The best I could have placed was 8th since the front pack started the run WAY in front of us (and I have not yet approached a 30 min 10k time). Paulo kept me honest with encouragement throughout and I crossed the line in 9th--it was a different to race with him on the sidelines. Reality is he won't be at every race, so I must keep myself in check from start to finish.

I have lots to take away, namely s/b/r faster, but ALSO, I over-indulged Saturday night with EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF FOOD--too much for MY stomach to handle. The following week I felt nauseaus after EVERY meal eaten. To my dismay, I found little compassion as everyone just told me to not eat so much all the time.

My dad sent me this lovely basket of flowers the following Tuesday as congrats/bday tidings since I turned a landmark 25 on race-day, celebrating by paying adult prices on my rental vehicle.

Bike Safety (elite nationals race report on the way)

2009-08-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

My race report on elite nationals which took place in Tuscaloosa, AL over the wkd is ON THE WAY. CHILL OUT.

I'm following my typical post-race schedule which involves a few light days with a Costco trip thrown in the mix due to the extra LJ time. SNOW (owner/driver of SNOWTAXI--contact me if you're in the DC area and interested in a SNOWTOUR) and I are coordinating logistics for tonight's costco trip, or 'slutco' as some of you would correctly assume we call it. Tentatively, from work I will bike to Hains Point w/ backpack (loaded with empty tupperwear, work clothes, this morning's swim stuff and blank checks for Costco purchases) to meet Snow (ON TIME) who will pick up said bag, and meet me at Costco roughly 1:40 later. I will SOMEHOW navigate a labyrinth of new-to-me pedestrian paths in Northern Virginia and hopefully arrive at COSTCO where I will meet SNOW (ON TIME).

SNOW prompts a Lindsey/Lauren tirade on bike safety after suggesting we "lock down LJ bike before entering Slutco" on SNOWTAXI roof.

Lindsey: Would you leave your cervelo on a roof rack? with your race wheels on*?
Lauren: hell freaking NO
Lindsey: exactly
that's the response I was looking for
PASSION
Lauren: race wheels - 1800
cervelo - 4000
srm stuff - 1500
Lindsey: LAUREN'S SANITY - PRICELESS
Lauren: YESSSS
Lindsey: even if the frame is locked down, the rear wheel with PowerTap is NOT
Lauren: yeah those can just be stripped off the bike quickly if peeps know what they are
looking for!
Lindsey: lollllll THAT'S what people are looking for in slutco parking lot
Lauren: hahahah. i know
peeps don't know the difference between a huffy and a TREK TTX at costco
Lindsey: or that the bike sitting atop SNOWTAXI is worth twice as much as the car
Lauren: LOL
Lindsey: hell, I am preventing SNOW from car theft
Lauren: YES...an expensive bike is a GREAT car alarm... it encourages only BIKE theft..as in they take the bike but not the car. only good for cheap cars though, if we are talking porsche carrera with P3 on top with powertap wheel, they'd take the whole shebang
Lindsey: haha. on top of the car it says HERE! LOOK AT ME! COME STEAL THIS CAR WITH BONUS TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR BIKE
Lauren: bonus bike. haha

LESSON: don't leave bike 'securely locked' to the top of the car while Costco shopping--stick it in the trunk. Only AFTER Costco purchases are made can the bike be stored on the roof rack for the trip home as there will be NO SPACE in trunk for the bike. You just went to freakin COSTCO.

*my powertap is in my race wheel so for TRAINING purposes I MUST train on the rear race wheel

Back to Nature: Mountain Lion Therapy

2009-08-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been doing the majority of my running around a dirt track across the street from my house, as my foot had decided once again not to cooperate with my mind. This is more boring than watching Formula One or the painting channel. But, not to be deterred from the end game, I view this track running as mental prep for Ironman Canada. Clearly, if I can run around this track a trillion times, passing the same people over and over and over again (to the point of knowing the growth patterns of the hair on the back of their heads), then I can run longer with great scenery to keep me company.

Monday, though, I had had enough. I broke up with the track. Bay Area temps had SOARED into the 90s (THE HORROR) and the previous day's bike ride had left me dead tired and crabby. I needed diversion...new scenery….something to take my mind off my blasted foot. I decided to go BACK TO NATURE. I put aside all my fears of foot injuries on uneven terrain and pointed my car in the direction of Rancho San Antonio Park, my old favorite place to run until last fall when I saw THE Mountain Lion.

Mountain Lion - big, scary, LION looking creature.

Bobcat - overgrown house cat.... NOTE THE DIFFERENCE.

Note to slog readers: This mountain lion sighting is a sore point between me and my husband. I came across this creature hiding behind some rocks examining dinner (deer) while I was running at dusk. I KNOW the difference between a bobcat and mtn lion as I am adept at using google images, have multiple degrees in relevant fields (i.e. poly sci and int'l relations), and spend lots of time surfing the web for inane factoids. My husband, however, seems to think that if this truly was a mtn lion sighting, I would not be here to write this post and complain about phantom injuries.

Anyway, this “back to nature” run ended up having a great effect on my mind and body. Despite the horrific uneven terrain (these are fire roads people, but uneven for me) I had no pain. After a few minutes of shuffling at a really slow pace I got into a rhythm and dropped back to normal pace. Perhaps the pain went away because I was so focused on all the random noises and bush movements that clearly indicated a rattlesnake or mtn lion was prowling about stalking me. WHO KNOWS and WHO CARES. I’m cool with running in fear of mtn lions as I now realize this REAL and clearly rational fear will take my mind off the irrational fear of pain and injury.

If I posted this info on a highly-trafficked website, I’d probably get flamed by all the medical people. However, we are talking about “the slog” here, so for anyone interested, I’ve been reading some work by Dr. John Sarno about the mind-body connection and pain – pretty interesting. I first read about him last year when I found myself lying flat on the ground icing my spine with a frozen chicken breast only days before my wedding. I won’t attempt a book report, but will just say that I have found his work quite helpful. Feel free to hate on the guy if you want!

Anyway, I’m done with the track and am enjoying living in the rational fear of a Mountain Lion attack now.

Transit & Tribute

2009-08-11T18:19:00.001-07:00

My camera is prone to saying 'change batteries' on most occasions when documenting my exciting endeavors, such as the Eat a Peach Challenge Bike ride I did "with friends" on Saturday. The guys I rode with dropped me a few miles into the 68 mile journey--they opted for the 100 mile ride! Ryan sold me on the affair:

"Are you going to do that Peach Ride on Sat? Sounds right up your alley. They have a farmers market at the finish."

On rare occasions I carry with me a camera with fully charged batteries and HAVE PROOF of, something... oddly enough the following pictures were sent to me via email so it looks like they were not taken on my camera?

So how does a girl without a car get to early morning races without metro accessibility??? Let's consider the Pike's Peek 10k I ran earlier in the year. This is your standard podunk race in suburban MD where Olympians show-up and a 37 something places you in the double digits among the women.

Here I am hailing the SNOWTAXI driven by SNOW, famed author of the stupid blog.

LJ: Snow, can you take me _______?

SNOW: NO! What? Yes.

I'm getting in the gov't contract engineer's "dependable but staid (aka 'bulletproof') Camry that has served SNOW so well for 180,000 miles."
LJ offers SNOW coffee in roomie's SNOWMUG.
I'm hastily compiling and burning PP10k mix CD. Note, this picture was taken before my July trip to California as the Timex Ipod watch is worn on my left wrist. One of LAHP's dogs took a liking to the watch and BURIED IT for safe-keeping in the Harrison-Pataky backyard. I stand by that story no matter what LAHP says...
Here comes the KLIMSLOG portion. At the race, SNOW and I spot the man known as the RED FOX. Jake Klim is the beloved captain/leader/viceroy of the Georgetown Running Company Racing Team.
Here we are, closer. Nice jacket, Klim - guess it only comes in men's sizes.
GRC is very generous is supplying me with running shoes of my choice. When I first joined the team in December, they were short-handed on singlets. Klim had me wear this monstrosity for my first race: the men's white singlet, size extra short. FUN FACT: This picture appeared in the Washington Running Report article covering the Jingle Bell All the Way 10k between the photo of Mayor Fenty and the pic of the woman running in a hot pink Mrs. Claus costume.

...it's also my mini-tribute to the bubble-popping small hands woman from the SNL skit

I'll end on a stupid note--a screenshot of SNOW's work inbox. Yep, that's just stupid.

Slog Hero

2009-07-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Kelly Jaske--a 3:03 marathoner in 2006 runs a 1:12 Half marathon, today

Kelly Jaske: You can make time for what matters.

yesss, YOU CAN MAKE TIME FOR WHAT MATTERS

Scintillating and inspiring interview here: http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=15469

AFTER reading her interview, get back to work or GO TO BED

Rookie Pro Season Take Two: Lauren's First "RACE" Report.

2009-07-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Purse and I raced the Vineman 70.3. She'll report later on her end, but from my perspective, I am happy to report that I survived the race, foot intact, and more importantly, LEARNED WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO ACTUALLY RACE!

I love the Vineman course..the bike course, that is. In years past, Matt has watched me repeatedly self-destruct on the hot and hilly run course so I wasn't so psyched about that...and I'm not one to rave about swim courses.

I was a bit worried going into this race as I'm still recovering from my foot issues and haven't done mad amounts of running. Both the god of all podiatrists in the Bay Area and Paulo gave me the go ahead, so I trusted that if Paulo said I could race, that I'd be trained enough to not die out there on the course.

For those dedicated blog readers, you'll know that I haven't nailed the whole mental thing yet, so I decided to use this race as an opportunity to work on mental stuff...such as staying positive and "in the moment" rather than exhuding my typical negativity.

Anyway, the gun went off, the fast swimmers went off, and apparently I did not go off, as after 200 yds of swimming I Iooked up to see a speck of dust on the water which was the first two packs. I did manage to stick with a pack of girls for most of the swim and got out of the water in a time significantly faster than my wetsuit swim time from my previous Vineman attempts. This is progress.

Leading (the third pack) out of the water.

The bike was a good time. I kept a girl I know to be a killer strong cyclist in sight for awhile until she dropped me on a downhill. (Who gets dropped on a downhill?). After surviving an exploding vanilla powergel episode, I focused on keeping up with my nutrition. Amazing what calories can do for you in a race. Around mile 30 I started passing people and this is where the fun began. For the first time in my triathlon career I was RACING. I wasn't just slogging along the course hoping not to embarass myself. I was focused on executing my strategy of riding hard.

TEAM PATAKY in action...matt practicing not being chill.

I came off the bike in 7th-ish place and prepared for the sufferfest that is the Vineman run. I took Paulo's pre-race advice to heart and just tried to focus on performing my best at each moment and each mile. I forgot about all of my issues and pushed it and tried to stay in the race. Unfortunately, I was passed by 2 girls around mile 9ish and then another 2 girls with less than a mile to go, but I did what I could with what I had on that day and am happy with the results. I finished in around 4:35 and change and had a faster run split here with heat, hills, and minimal training, than I did at Oceanside, with perfect conditions and lots of training. MORE progress.

I really don't know what to say about my form here.

RACING as opposed to "participating in a race" is a good feeling and I plan to use the motivation I got from RACING last weekend to fuel the big IMC training block that looms.

PS: I want to thank my nutrition sponsor, Lindsey Jerdonek, for providing me home cooked meals the entire week prior to Vineman, as well as race day. She went so far as to purchase a mobile GRIDDLE for our race day breakfast, which she promptly installed at 3:30 AM in the bathroom of the Holiday Inn Express Windsor.

The famous bathroom griddle.

Post race "shock therapy" with Purse and Tracy. They promised the shock therapy would prevent soreness. Why am I still sore on WEDNESDAY?

Ronin did not get Paulo's memo declaring July 18th a "chill day."

Lindsey's post-race "nest" in the back of our car.

San Francisco Triathlon ITU Pan American Cup

2009-07-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

I raced my first draft-legal ITU event on Saturday and finished second--hooray! I earned some cash and ITU points... catapulting me from "not ranked" to 199 in the ITU points list. With the gazillion-loop race format and drafting on the bike, it was quite different than a non-drafting event. You MUST be focused and in the race at all times so you don't lose the swim pack or bike pack... In a congratulatory email from my mother she acknowledged Paulo's coaching efforts:

"He has worked a long time and finally earned a few bucks. I bet he is down on his knees thanking God for a payoff to come his way." I don't know what she's getting at, but yes, it is nice to get a good result. This is a sign that THE TIDES HAVE TURNED and I'm looking forward to getting out there on Sunday at Vineman 70.3.

The 1500m swim included 2 loops in the SF bay--9 women started - small compared to the 30 or so in the men's race... my ITU guru, Dave Kuendig (also raced and stayed at LAHP's house), said it's typical for the size of the men's fields to dwarf the women's. We had an in-water start and tapping into my sprint speed, I took it out too hard and kind of died exiting with the second pack. I biked the first 1.5 laps (of 6) on my own, then worked with Chris Tommerdahl the rest of the race... I exited T2 in fourth and ran my way into second. Feel free to email me if you want more detail (I'm tired and going to bed).

Working with Chris on the bike--Golden Gate bridge in background... platinum Trek + white Timex + white accented race suit = functional and stylish

My bike and Dave's jammed into the Jeep
SPECIAL THANKS TO LAUREN for announcing splits. For the 2+ hours of racing, she walked in her husband's shoes, supporting my race efforts whilst suffering blows to her ego. After struggling to hear Lauren's nearly-inaudible splits on the first few laps, I cocked my head to the side and cupped a hand to my ear like an old man to hear her as I passed. I told her after she should have pretended she was yelling at Matt.

Lauren picking me up at the airport in her part-time pro uniform, "business cas"CHAMPAGNE?!? no... sparkling cider. Did the trick as I could finally supply a drug-testing sample after the awards ceremony. And yessss that is gold and silver medalist Simon Whitfield in first whose presence motivated me to GET ON THE PODIUM TO STAND WITH SIMON

MORE PODIUM: Andrew McCartney (men's runner-up) starts the sparkling-cider wave:

Tri-Cal race coverage:

In the Money

2009-07-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

Lindsey will follow up with a race report in the near future, since she has tons of time sitting in her nest in my house while I'm at work. In the meantime, I'd like to share with you a special photo which sums up the race.

Lindsey ran her way into second place at the San Francisco triathlon, her first ITU race, simply because she wanted to stand next to Simon Whitfield on the podium. Unfortunately, the winner (my good friend Alexis Smith) in her post-race euphoria, failed to follow the girl-boy pattern of podium placement. I don't know quite know what is going through Purse's mind in this picture, but I'm willing to bet that Kevin Collington is thinking the same thing.

PURSE is coming to town!

2009-07-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately. Work, training, and life have come together into a perfect storm which keeps thwarting my noble blogging attempts.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that after stalking 100 doctors, including one sweaty and patient ortho during the middle of his bike fit at Front of the Pack, my foot is slowly on the mend. Lauren rookie season part 2 will commence with the Purse-LAHP smackdown at the Vineman 70.3.

Speaking of Purse, at this very moment she is in mid-flight to my house. Given my experience with her week-long visit in April, I already envision the state of our guest room - a veritable nest of almond butter jars, power bar products, and spandex clothes.(a pic of this will soon follow. promise)

Lindsey en route with 2 bikes, 2 bags, and no doubt a couple of yams for fueling.

Matt and the dogs have decided to abandon us for the weekend and have high tailed it up to Kirkwood for the California Death Ride. I am planning to train and then head up to Treasure Island to cheer on Purse and wave dollar bills in her direction, reminding her that she better finish in the money to pay rent for staying at my house this week.

Happy One Year Anniversary

2009-07-01T06:01:00.001-07:00

On June 21, the longest day of the year, Lauren and Matt celebrated their 1 year wedding anniversary! This is the Team Pataky ice sculpture displayed at their wedding last summer.

Lauren on their marriage: "Team Pataky does not give off the 'married vibe' because we are still vibrant individuals!" So vibrant and energetic in fact, that she asked Paulo, without Matt's input I'm sure, if they could do a 7 hour ride on their anniversary. Since Paulo would like them to make it to year two, he thoughtfully dismissed this request.

Day after day, LAHP has promised to post an anniversary slog. I thought FOR SURE that I would see a new slog entry when I awoke this morning, but lo, I DID NOT. This is a friendly PUSH for her to get it started. Friendly? Or is this the infancy of a slog fued? You decide. All I know is that she has "jokingly" informed me that she will not sign for the delivery of my Trek TTX as I'll be shipping it to the West Coast for the SLOOTFEST at Vineman 70.3.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Eagleman 70.3 Race Report

2009-06-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

I don't remember what wkd eagleman took place, but I will try to recreate the day's events in excrutiating detail for you, loyal slog-reader...

- in my two race pro career, this is the second-consecutive race where I am first out of the money
- I placed 9th, but was less than 4 min from 4th place (big improvement over columbia where I was SLAUGHTERED)

On race morning I awoke to an impressive breakfast spread laid out by my homestay parents Pat and Jenny... yessss this included EGGS for scrambling. A mil calories later I headed to the race venue with fellow homestayers Glenda and Kate, finished setting up transition and got to the start...

SWIM--5th--26:33

I entered T1 behind Mirinda and was pleased with my swim when I saw Laurel Wassner and Kelly Handel in T1 who both swam 1 min faster than me at Columbia. At this point in time, Coach Paulo almost had, in his words, a brain aneurism, when he saw my swim time. The women's swim times first appearing on ironmanlive included an extra 3 minutes since we started 3 min back of the men & that adjustment was not made in the posted time. If there's anything noteworthy about the swim--at some point I felt, uh tired and in some discomfort, BUT, I remembered succumbing to the SLOW DOWN DEMONS in the Dallas US Open last year, and told myself, let's not do that.

REAL-TIME INTERMISSION: on my walk home from the pool last night I came across hashers--self-professed members of a "drinking club with a running problem"--as they were on their Thursday night troll around the neighborhood. I overheard one shout to a passerby that it was a Michael Jackson Memorial Run. haha, LOVES

BIKE--2:31--9th

I hung around with the girls I came out of the water with for a while. FACT --Natascha is a powerhouse biker--geez. Around the 2 hr mark, a woman in black, later identified as Desiree Ficker, rode past me and Laurel and we picked up the pace to keep her in sight... so the last hr of riding was a pretty good effort. I tried to stay relaxed and relieve tension in my arms, back, shoulders to save energy for smiling on the run, obviously.

Let there be Blood -- look at pic where I'm running w/ my bike. My bike fit has been adjusted since eagleman and I currently ride bloody-knee free. For all those interested in fashion, do you remember Malia Obama's pink and orange Inauguration outfit? I do (reference the close-up pic of me running).

RUN--1:30:28--8th

The first couple miles were ROUGH... here come the complaints... the front of my left ankle and left quad hurt. I reflected on LAHP's now-HEALING foot and wanted to stop before I did damage. Those irritations subsided within a couple miles.

A few women passed me--one wrote in her race report that she saw her "victims" on the run course. I SHALL NOT BE A VICTIM! I was that day...

Racing close to home, there was a large DC Tri Club contingent, so I had plenty of cheers along the run course (but was generally unresponsive as I was focused on ... GETTING THE WORK DONE). :)

This is the only time I smiled on the run, I SWEAR. but look at this guy. LOOK AT HIM. My pal with Echappe Equipment (www.racewheelrental.com), Andrew Shanks, hooked me up with a disc wheel for the flat and fast course!!! :) It was my first race riding a disc... very nice.

splits:

6:35 (prob started watch late)
6:56
6:56
6:53
7:03
7:04
6:55
6:50
6:51
6:52
7:06
7:02
6:39

Upon examination of my run splits, the ever-inquisitive LAHP asked if there was a hill when I ran the 7:0Xs. Eagleman is a FLAT COURSE. I replied in kind and asked to see HER run splits. Conversation over.

At mile 11 I was hurting and happy I put in a good effort. Eagleman was a step in the right direction. Big congrats to training pals Ryan and Kelzie who BOTH earned slots to clearwater!

NEXT: Philadelphia!

THE SLOG BATTLE/SHOWDOWN

2009-06-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have all of these hugely newsworthy blogs to publish but am being hampered by Lindsey's high level of race report writers block. However, I must announce the following:

I've just been informed by Lindsey that she too is signing up for the Vineman 70.3, which means Sonoma County will be the site of the RookiePro 2009 slog fest. This will be the first race we've competed head to head, and if training camp is any indication of racing, this is going to be one painful day...

Who Cares? I DON'T

2009-06-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

re: our slog posts, Lauren and I are now striving for quantity, rather than quality

Lauren gifted the following suit to me last year, but I'm generally too timid to EVER wear such a spectacle to the YMCA. I WORE IT TODAY (the employee break room overlooks the pool so even my front desk buddy KJ noticed and commented... goodness):

The following slog-worthy chat illustrates how we must LOOK OUT FOR OURSELVES AND TAKE OUR LIVES INTO OUR OWN HANDS:

Lauren: dude. i've been carrying around my MRI results with me for the past week in hopes I will run into someone who can read them. SOME people carry a purse with lipstick and emergency advil. I CARRY MY EMERGENCY MRI RESULTS

Lindsey: lol
when I went to deep creek lake [memorial day wkd, biking w/ friends] I brought my own kosher salt, cracked pepper, pan, spatula
and the full henckels knife set!

Lauren: HAHAHHA

LAUREN's IM CDA PERSONAL BIKE RACE REPORT

2009-06-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

With work stress and disastrous next door neighbor stress, Matt and I both needed a break from the Bay Area. Purse makes fun of me because I always seem to need a vacation after two weeks of work. (this is really not true.) Due to my slower than light speed foot recovery, I had to pull out of the Boise 70.3, so last weekend Matt and I headed up to Couer d'Alene (CDA), Idaho for some rest and relaxation...yeah right. More like we headed up to CDA so Matt could race an Xterra and I could race all historical bike splits of the CDA ironman bike course. alone.

The trip started off in a most excellent fashion, as Alaska Airlines managed to displace our 2 bike boxes for a slew of golf clubs. We finally picked up the bikes the next morning, and I am assuming this was due to my charming wit and personality when dealing with angry baggage guy. We headed down to Couer d'Alene after a lovely brunch at Safeway, where I read an article about how the CDA community is annoyed with cyclists pre-riding the course. This did not make me feel so good, especially when I read about how 2 cyclists had "broadsided" a Subaru Legacy a few years back. Unbiased journalism at its finest!

Matt helped me put my bike together and then took off for some place North to pre-ride his Xterra course while I was left with the daunting task of NOT getting lost while reading the bike course directions for CDA. My goal for this ride was to just finish the ride and contemplate the meaning of life as I remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to ride and swim right now. My super secret goal for this ride was to go under 5:30 and not let anyone pass me. Yes, I am "that" girl who races everyone on the road. This habit has become the thorn in my flesh, the daily cross that I bear, and the reason why I embrace the Computrainer which saves me from myself. I don't even let myself race the pacer on the Computrainer course for fear that my competitive angst will destroy me.

After a couple thousand wrong turns I finally found my way out on the course and was off! Thankfully a couple of cool women from somewhere within driving distance of the course were also out there and pointed me in the correct direction every time I managed to get lost. I was doing really well until about mile 95 when my dislike for gels and gooey bike food crap finally caught up to me. I attempted to call Purse for some virtual assistance, but apparently she was too busy at the beach to take my call.

Purse enjoying a post ride beach trip while catching up on some heavy reading.

The rest of the weekend was filled with me dusting off my sherpa skills for Matt and his Xterra race. After getting him to the race (or riding my bike there and getting in my own personal workout while he schlepped his own crap to the race) I pumped him up with my personal pre-race cheery thoughts and then set up to find the perfect spot to cheer him on (which ironically happened to be the lake where I did my personal open water swim in water that is colder than the Pacific Ocean and the road where I did my short test run and inadvertently ran into him). Despite my selfish training endeavors, I did manage to cheer him on and give him some key splits. The only problem with these Xterra races is that they always seem to be in the sticks. Per usual, I did not plan my nutrition accordingly and was stuck out in the middle of nowhere all day with only a jar of peanut butter and some chocolate powergel. Perhaps this is what Heaven looks like for Jodi and Purse.

Now we are back at home and I'm okay with the fact that work hasn't become less stressful and the neighbors haven't moved, if only because I am dreaming about my next vacation that I will have to take in 2 weeks to keep up with the trend.

Change of Plans

2009-06-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago I crashed with a car while cycling around Hains Point (HP)--I was looping East & West Potomac Park--the route is in yellow. Commonly known as a safe-haven for cyclists and runners, this is a convenient and traffic light-free place to ride before or after work.

I cycled along the Virginia facing side of HP in the left lane of a 2 lane (1 way) road and was cut-off by a car who tried to jump from the right lane and into a parking space on the other side of me. I was in his blind spot... braked, ran into his car and then made contact with the road. I was pretty much fine! As for the car, my right bicep busted his side view mirror into the nearby grass (OK... the Potomac)

the AFTERMATH which actually was NOT DRAMATIC AT ALL:

- the first people I called live at least 1,000 mile away

- MANY people stopped to help and make sure I was OK... a good samaritan cyclist I met that evening, Manny, took my bike home with him and returned it the next day. YESSSSSS SO NICE!

- Another cyclist, Matt ???, relayed the state of my crash wounds to Paulo via phone (since I had no idea if it was normal or bad or whatever) who then confirmed that I was NOT to race the ITU in Austin that wkd. In effort to find ECM (East Coast Matt) I will wear a sign on the back of my jersey on tomorrow's bike ride: "ARE YOU MATT?"

- my first thoughts were--what does this mean for training? Is my bike OK?!?

- I took an ambulance to the George Washington hospital to get x-rays of my right wrist

- I tried to impress the ER people by playing look how low I can get my heartrate

Best of all, my training partner (also the 1/2 marathon pacer for the tens of slog-readers out there), Ryan brought me a Chipotle dinner. Before he arrived I was getting quite hungry, I thought WHAT WOULD I DO/EAT IF RYAN WEREN'T COMING?!?!?

No damage to the FACE (head & neck are OK too)! Due to chilling of the dominant, right hand, I was forced to eat Chipotal (omg I did that by accident but how clever! merging chipotle AND hospital) at the speed of a normal person by using my left. Despite the adversity, I finished my burrito bowl.

X-rays confirmed that I had no broken bones... the Revolution Cycles in georgetown made sure my bike was good to go.... so thank you to everyone who took care of me!

NEXT DAY: As previously stated, I did not fly to Austin for the ITU, but instead, ventured to Deep Creek Lake, MD with TRIFRIENDS for a world-of-hurt wkd... yea I bounced back and was on the bike again by Sat. However, I am repeatedly asked "Do you get in fights?" when people notice the bruising.

While waiting at the Georgetown waterfront rendesvous, I smiled as I watched rowers Getting the Work Done.

On Saturday we rode the Savageman bike course (56 miles with 6k ft climbing):
Remainder of group: Travis and Laurel SERIOUSLY close to me
Chad--WIPED... pretty scenery to follow

Chad and Laurel trigger pointing--from the looks on their faces, Chad is using the tools correctly. 2 fools who dropped my ass on the Savageman ride. The next day they rode 97 miles (hence the term, fools... I say that w/ much love and respect)

THE GROUP (minus Kirsten who is the photog)!

RESET

2009-05-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

The past three weeks have been rather crappy with long and stressful work hours, an uncooperative foot, and other random stuff. After Wildflower I was all ready to get back to training hard and getting faster but am still having some trouble with my foot. In addition, I took on a ton of new responsibility at work, which is good in theory, but requires that I bust out my sales personality and sell stuff. I am NOT a salesperson. I was passed over for the sales gene. I was the person that had I been a Girl Scout, I would have been last place in the cookie sales contest. My parents would have felt so bad that they would have bought all my cookies, which, come to think of it, is probably why they never let me enlist in the scouts. Anyway, all this to say, I've been under some major stress.

I am an all or nothing person and when one thing is going bad for me (the foot) I typically feel like my life is over. I dwell on things endlessly and obsess about how I'm going to get fat because I can't train or whatever. Currently, I'm in the process of seeing every type of doctor/healer/specialist known to man, but all of this narcissistic fervor has really just made things worse. After training yesterday I decided that I had to do something about my attitude. I needed to reset myself and to do that I had to go to my reset place - Monterey, the land of the newly wed, nearly dead, and home to some really cool people as well.

I lived in Monterey for 4 years during grad school (international policy) and then worked for the government there afterwards. As cheesy as this sounds, Monterey is the place where I grew up mentally, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, and athletically. Every time I go back I am reminded of who I was and what I've become. I'm reminded that there is more to life than worrying about my stupid foot. In the bigger scheme of things, my foot is much less important than genocide in the Sudan, the ridiculous state of education in the world, failed states, innocent civilians and soldiers dying in necessary and unnecessary conflicts, and other problems.

Today, I drove down to Monterey and did a killer ride with my friend Alexis. What I "really" love about Monterey is the never ending HEADWINDS, TOURISTS, and FOG! We headed on our normal ride out to Pebble Beach and then into Carmel Valley, up and over Laureles grade, and then out 68 to Reservation road just because we needed more headwind. The fog and headwinds never let up but at the end of our ride, I felt recharged and happy again. I first learned to ride out here on my old school road bike and remember attempting to draft off Matt's back wheel - yelling at him every 2 minutes as he was dropping me. I might have even cried once. Thankfully I did not have a power meter at that point in my athletic career.

Here is a beautiful picture of the scenery. Alexis is right ahead of me here.

Another beautiful sight.

After dodging the droves of tourists sporting Monterey Bay sweatshirts and standing in line for the aquarium, I met up with another friend Jamie for lunch and then headed back to the sunny bay area where I found Matt trying to jam in as much Monaco Formula One tv time as possible before I got home and complained about car racing. Seriously, who likes watching cars go round and round and round?

Columbia Triathlon Race Report

2009-05-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

Pre-race:

I recruited my dad to drive in from Cleveland and shuttle my carless self to the race, a 45 minute drive from my DC apt. He arrived late Friday night so I could attend the mandatory Saturday pro mtg/hair appt with my Hungarian hairdresser, Teunde, who works in Columbia, MD.

Dad got a taste of DC nightlife by sleeping on the living room futon with the cage's front window open. On Saturday morning, he recounted the sirens and helicopter flying overhead that kept him awake for a portion of the night. My roommate, Angie, who produces/writes for the ABC news affiliate, happened to work the evening shift and informed us that 2 police officers were shot 5 blocks from the apt. Saturday night, Dad awoke to the normal bars letting out brouhaha. Angie and I call these "sounds of the neighborhood". shrill screams... barking from the crazed back alley dog we named Cujo... sirens from the fire station located a 1/2 block from our place... all are sounds of the neighborhood. And yes, we typically say the phrase in unison.

The race:

This was my first pro race and it felt strange to be AMONG people who are pictured in the triathlon media. While racing, I wasn't focused and thought to myself as I was passed, "oh that's ..." Margie Shapiro, Amanda Lovato, Chrissie Wellington and Uli Bromme--the women who went by me after the swim. This is the WRONG attitude to have when racing!!! I think back to when I raced age group last year, or really 1 month ago, and I definitely raced for the win (or BLOOD, haha, often times blood--my legs are a bruised-up mess). I'm glad I got this star-gazing episode out of my system because IT IS TIME TO GET SERIOUS!

Swim (non-wetsuit) – I swam 20:20 and finished a minute back of the first 3 women-- a definite improvement in swim performance over last yr. Compared with the women's 18-24 AG wave, the start was crowded and fast as the men and women began together. I lost touch with the group in front of me a few minutes in and swam on my own for most of it. I need to turn up the intensity t0 stay in the draft!

Bike… I biked 1:17 (20th fastest of all women). My time looks like something happened, butttt it didn't.

Run - I exited T2 trailing Chrissie and bridged up to her a mile or so into the run. We came through the second mile together and I wanted to tell her how cool it was that I was running beside her. This mindset is NOT conducive for racing well. She dropped me... bla. I trucked along through the middle miles and got my shit together once I exited the neighborhood a mile from the finish. I heard a woman right behind me (Jacqui Gordon--another pro Paulo coaches). I didn’t want to be passed and moved the rest of the way to the finish. I need to run like that THE WHOLE TIME.

Dad did not take any stills of me racing, but captured a couple paparazzo shots. I'm shown post-finish with Jacqui and second place finisher Andrew Yoder (who has eaten, showered and napped in the time between his finish and mine).

On the way back to DC, Dad and I stopped at Trader Joe’s to grab a few items. He (who was paying) jumped in line pretty soon after we arrived--PRESSURE: ON. I felt like I was on one of those grocery store shopping spree shows, frantically looking for almond butter (and grabbing as much as my arms could carry).

Anyway, it was nice to have him in town to watch me race. Superfriends Ryan and Caroline also woke up early to cheer me on. :) Thanks guys!

Columbia Start List

2009-05-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

As of today, this is the women's start list for the Columbia Triathlon which takes place on sunday, May 17.

YESTERDAY (or since I last checked), a slog-worthy addition was made to the women's field -- IRONMAN WORLD CHAMP CHRISSIE WELLINGTON! MOST exciting... and Rebeccah Wassner, who is also racing, recently cleaned up in a stacked St. Anthony's field. ooOOOoo

SO - GAME PLAN for next wkd's race. After meeting Chrissie at the pro mtg, I will introduce my dad to her to MAKE SURE he knows he is to photograph HER during the race... more likely I will just stare at her w/ mouth-gapping expression. Continuing, I will, fingers crossed, swim as if I were in a pool (decently) so I can experience first-hand, Chrissie blasting past me on the bike and document experience with helmet-mounted camera.

Wildflower Experience 2009

2009-05-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with Wildflower but decided to suck it up this year and just sign up and do it. I love the race environment but the run part of the course always seems to destroy an ankle, foot, leg, or some other random body part.

I woke up at 4am to work part day on Friday before rolling down to Wildflower. Apparently the powers that be at work have not received my memo on coordinating heavy work weeks with my race schedule, but what can I say...nothing like rolling out a new product the weekend of Wildflower! We finally made it down to the house we stay at every year on Lake Nacimiento with 3-5 families and other rogue invidividuals. By "familes" I mean SUPER FAMILIES, including at least 3 awesome and crazy kids per family. Last year we christened this group "Team Chaos," and believe me, I am not using the term "chaos" lightly! Matt even has a hard time making his voice heard around this bunch. After a brief ride and testing of the new wetsuit I headed back to the Team Chaos HQ for some dinner, chaos, and sleep time. Before bed, I had a small pep talk with the Neal and Johnson kids about how to kill it on the mtn bike tri course. I should have also included myself in this pep talk.

On race morning, I got to use the super awesome elite parking pass to roll right down to transition in the car. This in itself is worth me getting my pro card. I lined up next to my favorite pro triathlete Alexis "the tiger??" Smith and got on with the swim. My goal for this race was to stay with a pack that is faster than me. I accomplished that....for about 600-800 yds... and then I saw them slowly slip away as I flailed around trying to swim straight. I managed to keep the second pack in sight (and yes, i must have really good sight) to some extent for the rest of the swim but knew I had my work cut out for me on the bike. As I approached the swim exit, I heard Matt and other Chaos members yelling for me...once again something about being "only" 6 minutes back. I thought about telling him to shut up, but remembering advice from the last race, I kept my thoughts to myself.

The bike was uneventful. I spent lots of time worrying about the stagger rule, especially when some AG men passed me. I eventually passed maybe 6 girls after what seemed like 300 hours of riding. I did manage to ingest all of my gels...accomplishment number 2 of the day. After the bike, I heard Matt yelling at me once again that I was in 12th or 13th. The ironic thing about super sherpa Matt and his mad timing and counting skills is that between the time i finished my swim and started the run, he had raced the mtn bike triathlon and had ended up finishing 7th. Go Matt!

The run was the death trot into the inner realm of the deep part of hell for me.

My foot had been bothering me going into this race but I decided to just not think about it. For the first couple of non singletrack miles, I managed to keep 2 girls ahead of me in sight. I was excited. I would run down these girls for once in my life. Plans changed, however, when I was graced with the presence of 7 miles of uneven single track. My foot started protesting and decided not to cooperate, despite my attempts to channel Jens Voigt. It was all I could do to just not quit and fill the reservoir next to me "with my tears" as Matt would say. Matt rode down and tried to encourage me at one of the aid stations, but there was nothing he could do. Even the aid station volunteers handing off water were running too hard for me to catch them. I knew at this point I was not busting out my dream minutes per mile splits. I finally was able to pick up the pace when I hit the pavement again, but it was too late. My run split was shot to hell. I ran it in and finished in 12th place with a quite disappointing split and overall time.

After my normal post race yell at Matt, I headed back to Team Chaos Lake San Antonio Park HQ and was happy to learn that all the kids podiumed. It was a HUGE day for Team Chaos! Afterwards, we managed to jam 9 bikes, 12 people, 8 transition bags, 5 Trical plaques, and 6 balloon figures that were all quite phallic in nature into Matt's car (yes this is true) and drove off into the sunset...another pro race behind me....another lesson learned.

Note: I don't have time to upload photos right now, but stay tuned.

Learning to SUFFER

2009-05-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

In last weekend's DOWNHILL 10k race, I fell 63 (miserable) seconds short of holding the Getting the Work Done 10K PR. GOOD JOB LAUREN. For now you are still the hunted!

The following is an excerpt from my chat with Lauren on Tuesday:

Lindsey: this morning I had 2 x 20 min zn 4 bike
I STOPPED after 8 min on the second round
not completely but just finished the workout in zone 2
I am BEYOND TIRED
I couldn't even hold 230!
Lauren: that is okay. just hold what you percieve to be z4!
this is where you get strong. as pataky says..you have to learn to really SUFFER on the bike.
Lindsey: I did not suffer
I was weak
I know this now
Lauren: that is okay...i get weak too!
esp in pool
we have to keep reminding each other to suffer!
today i had swim workout 3x(3x100s on 1:25, 2x100 on 1:20, and 100 all out).
but MATT made me drop the intervals to 1:20, 1:15, and all out
and i cried like a baby about it being so hard and failing the set by not coming in on the right interval.
matt's response: the pool is now starting to overflow with your tears. STFU
Lindsey: HAHAHAHHAH
Laure: yeah it was pretty funny
the chick next to me was like "whoa does he always talk to you like that"
and the masters coach was like "you need matt to swim in your lane more often" HA

Since this chat, I have pushed through the hurt and tiredness. Last night I enjoyed zn 4 biking with my friend Ryan. With 90 seconds to go on the last interval, he mentioned that he was in a world of hurt. I thought to myself: GOOD. MAKE HIM SUFFER!

But don't take it from us - below are Jens Voigt's thoughts on the matter. He gets going at 1:28 in the video:

The Screaming Sherpa, the 10k, and Bi Coastal Competition

2009-04-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

As Purse mentioned in her last post, I ran the Santa Cruz 10k last weekend and am happy to report that I broke my PR (set 2 years ago..last time I ran a bloody open 10k) by around 3.5 minutes to finish in 36:46 and place second overall and first female!!! This was huge for me because it is nice to see some progress in my running with all the painful zone 4 runs Paulo gives me!

I love racing in Santa Cruz and always seem to do well there, perhaps because the chill people there balance out my “high-strungness” or something. Matt decided to come along and be my sherpa (read: scream at me at every mile marker) for the race. At the start of this race I told myself that I just wanted to run even splits and not blow up and die. I have a history of going out too fast and then melting into a pool of death by the end of any race. Matt has plenty of video evidence to back this up. The gun sounded and I took off at a pace that I thought was relatively manageable. I was in about seventh place after a few minutes and then after running up a long, steep hill, I found myself in second place. This was unimaginable for me. I felt strong and smooth…something that I’ve never felt before! SECOND PLACE?!

I continued on and came across Matt (who had ridden ahead) at mile markers. (And no, he does not do this in triathlons and was not riding with me because that is illegal and annoying.). He looked surprised and screamed out that I was “killing it.” He was also cheering on the competition behind me, probably just to make me angry and go faster or something. His surprise and animation grew with every mile marker and by mile 5 the guy was almost peeing in his pants with enthusiasm. Apparently somebody was creeping up on me, because with half a mile to go I heard him scream that I better pick up the pace or was going to get third. At this point I was in some other world of hurt. One of my goals for this race was to just let it hurt, because I don’t think I push myself to hurt enough in triathlon running. As per tradition (I loudly told him to STFU at Kona on mile 25.5 of the race in front of my parents), I told him to shut up, which he interpreted as I must still have something in me. I passed him, ran onto some long sand section and finally crossed the finish line..excited for a new PR! (note to race directors: sand is evil and totally unnecessary. One can evoke the “beach” feeling simply by including a couple of inflatable palm trees and fruity beverages at the finish line.)

Purse, being the competitive person that she is, decided that she would have nothing to do with me breaking her 10k PR, so she promptly signed up for a 10k this weekend in DC. Let the BICOASTAL sloot battle of the 10ks begin! If she does break my PR, I’ll be forced to sign up for another 10k and take along my secret weapon – the screaming sherpa! She is taking applications for her own personal screaming sherpa.