Death Before DNF

New job, new blog!

2011-05-18T21:48:00.001-04:00


Me, post-Xterra!

Just wanted to let all of you know that I've started a new job as the online editor for Cyclocross Magazine, which, if you've been following this blog you would know, is the perfect job for me. I'm really excited about it!

To that end, I've also started another blog in Wordpress, mollyscxadventures.wordpress.com, which will be tracking my attempts to podium in the MAC and Verge Cyclocross Series' this fall. So stop by and say hello!

In other triathlon-news, I just did an X-terra (my first!) last weekend, and ended up 6th overall female, which was pretty good considering my lack of mountain bike finesse.

That's all for now- hope to see you over on my new blog, and hope everyone's racing/training is going wonderfully!!

Hello (again) and Goodbye (For Now)

2011-01-20T20:39:00.000-05:00

For those of you who still come by and check on this blog occasionally, I again offer my humblest apologies. But, then again, as Adam Myerson told (ok, mocked) me, I seem to spend most of my posts lately apologizing for the lack of posts. So maybe I'm not sorry!!

OK, I really am sorry. But I'm more apologetic towards myself- I didn't give myself enough time during the semester, and now other me-centered projects have taken precedence over this blog, which is why I'm posting this now.

It has been a whirlwind these past couple of months. A full cyclocross season, almost 3 months of racing every single weekend, capped off by a trip to Cyclocross Nationals in Bend, Oregon to race collegiate nats. And while they didn't go quite as well as I had hoped, I had an amazing time! Pat, Charlie, Matt and I had a fantastic trip, we got to spend time hanging out with some of our CX idols, had a wonderful time watching the pro race, seeing friends, and hitting up some of the great restuarants Bend had to offer. It was amazing.

The semester ended, and I made some big decisions. First of all, I realized that teaching is not necesarily for me at this point in my life. Not to say I'll never want to be a teacher, but I want to do what I went to school for in the first place- be a journalist. I'm also looking at working in publishing, given my crazy love for reading. So, I'm taking only 1 teaching class, and the rest of the time, I'm working and pitching articles and looking for real jobs in NYC.

That's the other decision, by the way. When my lease ends here, I'm moving to NYC and working there.

That was always the plan, but somewhere along the line, I let myself be persuaded that a "normal" life in the suburbs being a teacher and being like my parents was the "good" life. I'm slowly re-realizing that that's certainly not the case for me. I'm happiest in a crazy busy environment, and I love working in a field with people who have the same interests as me. My good life is somewhere else, and as it turns out, after a long talk with my mom and dad, they knew that all along.

So a lot of things are up in the air right now, but it feels like I'm finally figuring out just who it is that I really want to be.

Unfortunately, that means I'm going to have even less time for this blog at the moment. I'm working on a bunch of projects right now, so this is definitely going to be put on the back burner. Gone but not forgotten.

For those of you on Twitter, look me up (http://twitter.com/#!/mollyjhurford), since apparently that's a thing you're supposed to do to be "in" in the world of publishing and journalism. My, how the world is changing!

Anyway, thanks for caring, and maybe once the dust settles, I'll be back. I'm certainly not giving up on cycling, triathlon, training, and most importantly, never giving up on the idea of Death Before DNF!

Heading to CX Nationals! (and also, Win!)

2010-12-07T18:15:00.001-05:00

In less than 2 days, I'll be in Oregon, getting ready to race at CX Nationals with Pat, Charlie, and Matt. The ECCC season just ended in a great way: I won the B Women field, got 2nd in the A Women field (since I couldn't do UCI races, I had to race A and B depending on the race.)

I also managed to get third on the second day of NBX, an insanely great race for me. It was a big and really strong field, as the New England women's fields tend to be, so that was a huge victory for me, and a great way to be going into Nationals. I'll post from Bend when I get there, I can't wait!

3rd place at NBX!

Winning the ECCC CX Conference 5 years in a row!

Post-race hangouts in the team van. <3

Dear Blog-o-sphere

2010-12-01T15:57:00.001-05:00

Again, I've gone off the grid. I know that at this point, there aren't many people out there who are checking this regularly, and it's my own fault for being such a bad poster in the past couple of months. This has been what can be referred to as a "transitional time" in my life, and also one of the most hectic semesters that I have ever had. I've had a million huge projects to do for my classes, races every weekend, and next week, I head to Oregon for Cyclocross Nationals. I can't believe it's only 8 days away!

I've been making a lot of big life decisions lately. First, I thought about just finishing the teaching certification program. Then, I wanted to do Teach for America. Then, I decided to forget the certification and just get my Masters this Spring. But...

I decided the most rational course of action: I'm going to take the one class I need to take in the Spring to start my student teaching in the Fall, but rather than starting in the Fall with student teaching, I'm going to defer for a year, and try to find a full time job in journalism, or at least focus on freelancing, working to save money, and of course, focus on my racing. I'll move back to my parent's house, unless I find a full time job in NYC. This way, I'll save money, be able to race and really see how far I can go with that, and really explore my options for that year. If I don't find a full time job I love after that year, I'll start at Rutgers again and finish student teaching and get my certification and Masters.

I'm feeling pretty good about this plan, it definitely seems like the most realistic plan, and the most rational, since it gives me time to figure out what it is that I want to do, since lately I've been kind of freaking out about all of my options. It's been a rough couple of months, personally.

Race-wise, it's been pretty awesome and fun. A few pictures to make this post much less of a bummer:

Super sexy, I know!

I love Pat's face in this picture, watching me take the barrier soooo bad.

At the start at Staten Island!

I look sooooo fast!

Finish at West Point- I got to race with the A/B Men!

Post Race with my fellow racers!

Podium- 1st and 2nd A Men, 1st and 2nd B Men, and 1st and only A woman!

Bad Blogger Award

2010-11-08T16:06:00.000-05:00

So I know I'm in serious contention for the worst blooger ever award. And I know that I was planning on updating more when I got back to school and back into routine. What I didn't anticipate was just how crazy busy I was going to be. Between classes, work, and now, cyclocross every weekend through mid-December including a trip to freaking OREGON to race at Nats, it's been sort of... insane?

This weekend was awesome. We went up to Massachusetts for Cycle-Smart International, a weekend put on by the team's biggest collective crush, Adam Meyerson. It was a super-good time, I had some decent but definitely "needs improvement" results in the biggest field I've ever raced in, and had a blast doing so. It was the first super-cold weekend, which lent itself nicely to lots of hot apple cider and lots of free oatmeal. And a whole lot of awesome team antics. We got amazing seitan burritos at a place in Northampton, which is the cutest town ever, and then got really good beer at a great bar nearby. In general, it was a fantastic time. The only downside is coming home and remembering that I'm not a bike racer full-time. There's work to do!

But there's also a lot to do bike racing. The whole vegan thing is coming along very nicely, I dropped a couple of pounds this week and honestly, I am feeling really really good! I always forget just how good I feel when I'm vegan because, come on, ice cream is delicious. But so far it hasn't been too hard- it also helps that I spend weekends not eating pizza as per usual, but traveling with a lot of vegan teammates. It is weird how easily I've fallen back into the habit of checking labels and paying attention to stuff like that, and I'm eating a whole lot more whole foods- a lot of fruit for snacking! The only problem is that sometimes I get hungry when I'm working a full day- like today- and I can't really hit a vending machine for snacks (this is a good and bad thing, I think). I would pack stuff like trail mix, but nuts and me don't agree in a lot of ways. I could pack pita chips or crackers, easily, but I never think about it.

In addition to the vegan thing, I also need to work on my pitting skills. At Nats, I'll be pitting for three of my teammates at the same time, and my knowledge of mechanics is not great. Nor is my ability to hand off a bike effectively. On the flip side, I need to learn how to take a pit bike and not lose time. So my teammates and I need to start working on things like that. Additionally, I need to work on going HARD for 45 min, my starts, and riding WITH people, including things like bumping, and just cornering with people in front of me- I brake too much as it is. So we're going to start really focusing on those things, and instead of our usual Wednesday night team dinners, we're going to combine dinner with some serious mechanic lessons so I can hopefully be a teensy bit competent in the pit.

I did get new compression tights today, which I'm very excited about! I did a run this morning to drop off some forms, and it was probably a bad idea. I've never been one for recovery, but it's clear I need to start, judging by how much going down stairs is hurting now. I need to do things like stretch, wear compression stuff, and actually recover. And I need to avoid getting sick! I keep forgetting to take vitamins and use my Neti pot on a regular basis, despite really needing to, since I'm outside in the cold every weekend. Also, I keep underpacking for races and end up freezing and/or stealing teammates clothing (I had Matt's legwarmers for the past month, and I warmed up in Charlie's jacket all weekend).

The next few weeks are going to be super fun though- we have a lot of my favorite races, Thanksgiving weekend off, a couple of local weekends and a couple of travel weekends to places I love, and then Nationals! I'm super excited but also really nervous about stuff like getting our bikes there, our flights working out, getting to sit together on the plane, not losing our luggage, car rental, stuff like that. Details are nerve-wracking, but flying doesn't bug me too much. Just the part leading up to getting on the plane and taking off. We still have 5 weeks until we leave, but it's hard to believe that it's already November and most of my classes are starting to wind down somewhat and final projects are starting to be due. This means I'll be keeping my Bad Blogger Award for a while, but I'll try to post more, for my sanity more than anything else!

Vegan Til Nats

2010-11-01T17:36:00.000-04:00

I recently came to a realization: my nutrition sucks.

I realized this when, in one day, and not as a substitute for any meals, I finished 8 Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. That's over 1000 extra calories, in addition to the regular 3 meals (including 3 sodas) that I was having over the course of the day. Not OK!

So, I basically decided to take the most stringent anti-Reeses approach possible: until Nats, I'm going vegan. As some of you may know, I used to be vegan, and I've tossed around the idea of going vegan again. The next 6 weeks will be sort of my testing ground, so to speak, to see if it's a feasibility. This will also make me cut the junk out of my diet, eat more fruit and vegetables, and hopefully shed those few pounds that have not wanted to come off since Ironman. I have faith! It's been a couple of days and I feel better, maybe from a psychological standpoint, but I think in general, I feel healthier. I felt better as a vegan before, but I enjoy being vegetarian more, and it works better in Robbie and my lifestyle. At the moment though, I spend my weekends with the team instead of at Robbie's parents, an half of the team is vegan, so weekends aren't an issue during the season. So it's a tossup, really. Happier with how I feel or happier with what I get to eat? We'll see. I'm expecting to see some major changes in my training because of it though. I'm going to start watching my weight- literally- and weighing myself every day or two on my good body fat composition scale, just to see what happens on a vegan diet. Of course, it's not just a vegan diet, I'm trying to make sure that it's a healthy one: little/no vegan junkfood for me! Of course, I'm still drinking 2-3 soft drinks per day (can't give that up just yet) and eating junk food on occasion, but the focus is on being a healthy vegan, not just substituting the bad vegetarian stuff for bad vegan stuff. That would be what we call counter-intuitive.

To catch everyone up to speed, this weekend was a 12th place at Beacon CX and a 13th place at HPCX. I'm getting better, and I'm beating more women who used to easily beat me, so I'm happy about that.

More later, but right now I'm busy reading a sports nutrition guidebook from 1990 that advocates, when at restaurants and dealing with pasta, to, quote, "PILE IT ON." Also, order extra rice with Chinese food. This author is my hero! She's also really into muffins. I could live with this diet.

Oh yeah- the title of this post! It looks like Pat, Charlie, Matt and I will be representing Rutgers out in Bend, Oregon this December at Cyclocross Nationals. We still have to get final approval and book everything, but it's looking good! I'm beyond excited, we're going to have a blast!

A Long Long Long Weekend.

2010-10-25T16:13:00.000-04:00

Some weekends just don't turn out the way you plan. For instance, this one.

For starters, RedCross 2.0 was a cyclocross race on a motocross course. All mud, all technical. Still, I finished 5th in an open field and won the Collegiate A race.

I got 2 hours of sleep on Saturday night, woke up sick from walking in the cold rain, and drove 3 hours to Saratoga Spa CX. My race there defied description: it was cold, rainy, and miserable, and I was sick and tired, so I was off to a bad start, despite the course being great for me. My back shifter wasn't working, then I tipped over in a corner and managed to jam my brake into my wheel, so I rode a full lap with a brake on. Then, Charlie gave me his bike in the pit. His bike is the same frame, but very very very different setup. Wow. Then, my bike came back to me a lap later, and immediately the chain jammed. Then, the front shifter wouldn't work. I finished last in a field of 11. I may have finished better if I hadn't had mechanical issues, but frankly, I wasn't in the race. On the bright side, I won collegiate A's, since I chose to race the open women's field. It was a pretty legit field too!
The one shining moment both days was when I was taking the barriers and doing remounts. The guys said on Saturday that mine were the best out of the field, and on Sunday, a guy pointed me out as a great example of how you should take barriers.

Finally, we were heading home, and my mom called to tell me that my great uncle, who I was really close with growing up, just passed away on Saturday. So, sick, sad, and very tired, I finally got home. Hearing about Uncle Steve made me realize how trivial one race really is. He was awesome, a minor league baseball player back in the 50s, and he and my aunt owned an amazing ice cream place where I had my first job. I'm going to miss him very much.

I'll end on a happier note though, because there are still plenty of things to make me smile:

Charlie and I with the 2 cutest puppies on the planet, right after my race on Saturday.

Westwood Pictures and general notions...

2010-10-20T13:43:00.000-04:00

It's been a hectic couple of weeks. Not because anything has gone wrong, more because nothing has! (Knock on wood.) What I mean is, no reasons (like getting a car door to the face) have prevented me from doing my full load of tutoring, classes, and work. Plus, I've been racing both days every weekend, except this past Sunday, when I was at a wedding all day, so it wasn't really a day off.

My poor new apartment! I'm there for a couple hours during the day but mainly to sleep, and it seriously needs some TLC. Doing dishes is hard enough, much less cleaning the kitchen and bathroom and keeping my stuff neat. It's making me crazy! I was hoping to have a chance tonight, but after tutoring- after fieldwork with the 7th graders all morning- I have 'cross practice, then talking to the professor for a class that I tutor, then I have to meet my mom for dinner because she has my long-armed stapler, which I need for the aforementioned 7th graders. Then, home to get homework done. This weekend is no better, I'm racing both Saturday and Sunday in upstate NY, thanks to collegiate cross finally kicking off. They're really tiny races, so it should be fun, and hopefully the weather will cooperate.

My real reason for making this entry though, is to show off these amazing pictures I finally found from Westwood Velo (Day 1, 2nd place; Day 2, 1st place)!

The weird part is that I had no idea anyone was taking a picture, I was just looking that way.

And up the hill... again.

And over the barriers... also, again.

It's blurry because I'm going so fast, right?


Is it over yet?

I really like them, and there are more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/groovylab/sets/72157625007828831/with/5071429648/

Back to work!

A Photogenic Weekend

2010-10-18T17:28:00.000-04:00

12th place in a 50+ field at Granogue, which some of you may remember as my first ever CX race last year. Very exciting to see how far I've come in a year, and how different the course felt this time around.

pre-race hangout!

all of our new bikes, in a row!

charlie, one of my all-time favorite people and teammates!

the course- how neat is that tower?

off camber, no problem!

post-race, still stoked!

an image to leave you with- yeah, we ride for raleigh!

Then, Sunday was my best friend from childhood's wedding! I was his first fiance, I'm proud to say. We were 3 at the time, but still! It was a lovely wedding, and I'm putting up a bunch of pictures because come on, how often am I in a dress? And wearing makeup?

we clean up nice.

i don't like this picture but colleen and robbie did!

only time colleen is taller, because her heels were higher!

my crew.

picture hijnks.

More later, but for now, it's a long work-week ahead!

Finally, A Good Weekend!!

2010-10-11T18:10:00.000-04:00

So, as the title reads, I finally had a successful weekend! (Now, if only I could be as successful at figuring out how the new formatting works on this blog. The image upload is driving me nuts!)

Anyway, we raced at Westwood Velo, up in Harriman State Park (I've done tri's there before, it's beautiful) and the weather couldn't have been better. By "we raced," I mean Matt and I on Saturday and just me on Sunday. Of course, I also had Andy, Konrad, Emily, Chris, Liz, Blake, et cetera... mostly kids I met at the track over the summer, with the exception of Blake, but you all know him as the guy who got me into this craziness years ago!

The weekend started off great- Matt and I drove up early in amazing fall weather, got to see some great leaf-changing scenery, and got to the race, which was small, but stellar. My race was at 11, so I was there and getting ready to go. We spun around a bit, and I flatted my rear wheel (somehow, this is entirely Matt's fault) but we replaced it with the pit wheel Matt had brought. We just got our amazing new bikes, so we have the same wheels now, which makes pitting super easy.

My race was 15 women, which is about half the size of a normal race, but I was happy about that. Much less stress! I managed to finagle my way into a good starting position, and when the whistle blew, I went hard, putting all the start practice I've been doing to good use. I was sitting fourth or fifth wheel as we hit the grass, and managed to move up pretty fast to third. I sat in third for the first half, then found myself in second, only a few seconds off of the winner. The course was tough- 2 sets of barriers, a hill run up, a stair run up, some mud, and lots and lots of technical cornering. Still, it was fun! I couldn't close the gap between myself and first, which I believe was primarily a psychological issue as opposed to a real race issue. So, I got my first ever second place CX finish, which included a medal, some oatmeal (!) and arm-warmers. Stoked!!

Very excited about my first 'cross medal! 2nd place, heck yeah!

After that, I stayed and watched Matt and Blake- Blake did awesome and ended up third in B's- and watched all my track buddies race before heading home.


Blake, the one who got me into bike racing, taking a barrier. He also took me to my first cross race 6 years ago!

Matt about to flawlessly go over the barriers!

Matt chasing down the competition.

Sunday was just me driving up to Harriman, but I was ok with it. It was another great day and the drive was gorgeous. I got there, got myself somewhat warmed up (Matt on Saturday: "Rutgers Cycling doesn't do warmups!") and race-ready. The pressure was on!

Got to the line and ready to go, feeling a little nervous about the newly-reversed course with even more mud than Saturday. 55+ men went out before us, and the announcer didn't give us a 30 second warning, just blew the whistle. That threw me off, but I managed to sprint out and get up in the top 4 as they broke off from the main pack. About a quarter mile in, we hit the hill run-up and I passed two women to get into second place. I followed the first place woman closely until she missed a turn and hit the tape, then sprinted out hard, trying to separate from 3rd and 4th. It worked, and I held first place from midway through lap one until the end of the race, beating 2nd place by almost 2 minutes. It was HARD! I just kept pushing and trying to extend my lead, worried that if I crashed, I would lose it. Luckily, that didn't happen.

Despite no teammates being at the race, Blake and my track friends were there cheering. At one point, I saw Blake and he yelled "go faster!" and I yelled back, "I'm in first, what more do you want!?"

After the race, the second place woman came up, hugged me, told me my barriers and remounts were amazing, and yelled at me for beating her by 2 minutes. It was great! So many of the women came up to congratulate me and (I think it's a good thing) claim that I was "an animal" on the course. Hooray!

So, finally, it seems like I don't totally suck at cyclocross. I'm really happy to finally have a few good results under my belt- the first win of the season on the team! I'm feeling really good now, totally stoked for Granogue next weekend.

And, of course, with "great power comes great responsibility," and now I have to really go all out in training now. Not like I wasn't before, but I feel like the pressure is on. I was talking to Joe, a Team Somerset guy, and I said I was glad I was getting competent at CX, and he said, "not just competent... confident." And he's right. I feel much better about racing, and I think that's going to make a huge difference in the way I race. At least, I hope so.

New favorite CX advice from Adam Myerson, cross guru and collective team crush: "If you're not sprinting out of every corner for 60 minutes [or 40 minutes, ed.] like it's the last lap of a crit, you're doing it wrong."

One final picture, and my personal favorite:

The Endless Cycle

2010-10-08T10:45:00.000-04:00

This week has been... interesting. Tutoring has really picked up, as have my classes, and I'm finding myself in a serious time deficit. It's led me to really start thinking about my training and how I'm structuring CX training. Originally, I was following my Ironman mentality to training of More is More, and cramming 3 hours a day of training in. This is neither smart nor realistic for my current situation, which is working 30-35 hours a week, taking 12 hours of classes, doing a solid 10 hours of homework/reading, 3 or so hours of "career development" in the form of independent research/filling out applications, and 6 hours of observations in a 7th grade class, which also involved prep time, since I'm teaching some lessons. Plus, racing on the weekend. Needless to say, I'm a busy girl. Add in trying to have some semblance of a life, and that frantic pace is increased. This breakneck speed is only good for a semester, thankfully, and come December, it'll calm down, but for right now, this is my life. I'm not unhappy with it, just tired.

I started really thinking the other day: between work, school, training, racing, and having friends, it's hard to find enough time to sleep. The question then becomes: when is training helping or harming you when it means cutting out hours of sleep to get it in? I think at this point, my body needs that 7-8 hours of sleep rather than 6, even if it means only training 2 hours instead of 3. Since Nationals are 2 months away, and I have a serious desire to race in them, I need to focus on my training and racing, but at the same time, I have to be doing so with the intention of peaking in December, not crashing and burning long before then. So things like sleeping, staying healthy and taking vitamins and eating well are equally as important as training. And in CX, training isn't just about riding, it's about intervals, riding hard, and also equally about technical skills, and being able to ride with people: all things that I didn't exactly focus heavily on while training for Ironman. And by didn't focus heavily, I mean didn't focus on at all.

This leads me to my switch in training values... I was talking to my new friend from Charm City (a lovely gentleman who, when I finished my race and had my only water bottle locked in a teammates car, offered me a drink. He's also last year's collegiate cyclocross national champion, so I'm very glad I met him!) and asked him what his training schedule looked like. He gave me a basic outline, and I almost yelled out a hallelujah chorus when I realized I could cut back on the hours and just focus on intensity a lot more. So, I'm toning down how much I train, and ramping up how hard I train. It's been going well!

Wednesday CX practice went extremely well (for me, anyway). It was the last time I'll ever ride my old Surly, since it's being returned to the team I borrowed it from last year. I cannot express enough gratitude to them for letting me experiment with cyclocross, it honestly changed my life. Anyway, more on that later. I managed to actually keep up with a couple of guys who had been eluding me in previous practices, actually remounted and dismounted correctly, though I still need practice, and really gave it my all. We do 2 sets of 4 laps, and usually no one finishes the second set, since it gets dark, and normally I stop after 1-2 laps of the second set. Assuming I make it through the first at all. This time, I finished 3 of the final laps, and only stopped because it was getting dangerously dark on course. I was incredibly proud! Practice is tough because it's primarily very talented guys racing each other, which does nothing to prep me for races, since I'm lucky if I have a "race" with 2 or 3 guys. I need more practice at racing against people and taking corners together and whatnot, so I may have to start begging some of my teammates to spend the last lap riding at my pace and trying to beat me up.

After a good practice, to make things even better, our lovely new Raleighs arrived! I could not be more excited about it, honestly. Having this bike is going to be incredible. Mom and Colleen came over for dinner and we had a girl's night of pizza, then it was on to margarita and bike building night with the team. I came home late but with a new bike, and I was ecstatic. Pictures of my beautiful new bike will be coming shortly.

Thursday morning, Matt and I tried out our new rides on the Towpath. At first, I had some trouble remounting, and as I told him when I dismounted to get around a truck blocking the path, "I keep forgetting that I know how to ride a bike." I know one of my big limiters with CX is that I psyche myself out, and I need to stop doing that and just ride. Next week, he and I are talking about practicing running with the bikes, instead of just running, so that should be interesting. After he left, I went and practiced remounts and actually got them quickly once I just told myself I could handle it.

I'm stoked for this weekend's races in Westwood. Plus, since the races are relatively close to home, I can have some semblance of a normal weekend and actually do things like laundry. In the meantime, it's on to other projects and other work...

Forced Rest Week

2010-10-01T12:10:00.003-04:00

In some ways, this is a very good thing. Going from Ironman to Cyclocross with what could barely be considered a rest week was a tough transition, and while I'm having a great time with 'cross, it's been pretty tiring. So, fractured cheek and pain aside, being on the sidelines for a few days was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. Don't get me started on all the health insurance hoops I have to jump through now though. Talk about a hassle! (Especially since I didn't need an ambulance in the first place, but the doctors insisted.)

But my cheek is healing and my body is resting, though while taking a week off (with the exception of a couple teensy tiny bike rides and an hour of running), I've been feeling pretty gross. It's amazing how much time I have when I'm not training, but it's also shocking how out of shape I feel after a couple of days. I know it's in my head, but still!!

Classes and tutoring and work are going... insane. I think my head is about 1 step away from explosion/implosion with the amount of stuff I have on my plate, and to make things nuttier, I'm suddenly re-evaluating my whole 4 year plan in terms of what I want to do. The end goals are still the same, but I've had to start thinking about alternative (money-saving) ways to get to those ends. Regardless of what I do after the semester, I still have to finish this semester, so I'm trying to not think about it too much, but not ignore it either. Some of it is scary because I know that choosing certain routes will leave me out of school for the moment, and it scares me, not being a student anymore. It was inevitable, I know, but I define myself so much as a student that I think I've already made certain decisions based on wanting to stay in school, versus what's better in the long term. Still, I have no regrets. Right now, I love my classes, I feel like I'm doing well in them and I have them well under control. Ditto tutoring. If this keeps up, I see a potential 4.0 in my future. I hope.

In other news, cyclocross is on hold for the weekend because of a work thing, but Sunday will be a solid training ride and skills session with Dad, who raced his first race at Whirlybird CX this weekend, sporting bib shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. I love him. He did awesome, and everyone went nuts cheering for him, since he was so far back but was just having a blast. I was exhausted from being nervous about him (after witnessing him topple 4 or 5 times on our practice lap), and during his race, I was sprinting all over the course to cheer for him.

My race started really well, since I actually had a callup to the second row thanks to racing the weekend before. I started great, got clipped in immediately, and felt comfortable. Maybe too comfortable, since I skidded out HARD on gravel and went down. Two of my other teammates did the same thing- the gravel was super loose and slippery and if you didn't know that, you probably ate $@%#. My leg and elbow and hand were bleeding a lot and gravel covered, but I kept racing. However, during the crash, I got passed by a lot of girls, and because of the discomfort from crashing, I never caught back on.

However, I did FINALLY LEARN TO REMOUNT!! It was very exciting during the race, being able to pass girls after barriers because I was able to hop on my bike. This was a huge coup for me last week at CX practice. Thanks to Mark and Pat's excellent coaching, I somehow managed to go from dismounting on the wrong side and not being able to mount at all to being able to dismount and remount easily. It was amazing. I felt like a little kid, demanding that Charlie and Matt watch me dismount, and I was so proud of myself when Charlie was yelling that I did it perfectly. They said they thought I had known how to do it the whole time and had just been messing with them by dismounting and remounting terribly.

I love my teammates.

So basically, it's been a very long week, and though I should be stoked that it's Friday, I'm more looking forward to Sunday, which for me is going to mean the re-start of my training.

Aside from a shift in training from endurance to a schedule made to emphasize CX training and to minimize time training, I also really need a serious re-vamp of my eating habits. Robbie and I have been super busy lately and I feel like because of it, we're way more willing to eat like total crap. Also, I should never ever ever buy Reeses and candy corn. They're like my Kryptonite. So I need to put some serious focus on eating right. Basically, I need to get good really really fast, since Nationals are coming up, and pretty soon decisions about who gets to go to Nats are going to be made, and I want to at least be in serious contention to go. I think it would be a blast, and I really think that I can improve. I already managed to learn remounts, and they were my "white whale" of cx, so who knows?

And some days just suck.

2010-09-27T20:01:00.002-04:00

Don't I look badass? Got door-ed today riding home, got this lovely cut as my cheek took the entire impact of the corner of the car door. Slightly fractured cheek bone, no stitches, and a whole lot of swelling and pain.

Like I don't get beat up enough during cyclocross. (Seriously, after this weekend I have virtually no skin on one elbow and a whole lotta scratches on my leg. Went down hard on gravel...) Though, thank god for CX, since when I got doored, rather than falling, I swayed left, pushed off a car as it was passing by me, unclipped, and got a foot down. I have no idea how I pulled that off, but if I hadn't, I may have ended up under that car that was passing by, so I'm very thankful. And as always, the RU health center was not surprised to see me bleeding and walking my bike, and took very good care of me.

On the bright side, Robbie and Adam came and hunted me down in the hospital while I waited for a CT scan, and Charlie and Pat were both ready to go beat up the kid who did the door-ing, so it just serves as a reminder as to why I love all of my friends- and of course, how much I really love my wonderful boyfriend! So there is a silver lining, I guess.

Now, I'm off to get a milkshake and watch cartoons. Because my face hurts!

charming race in the charm city

2010-09-20T15:08:00.003-04:00

Can you tell how much fun I'm having? (Note the eyes rolling skyward wondering when the heck this lap is going to be over. Hey, when you just ran up stairs with a bike, it's a reasonable thing to wonder!)

Seriously though, I'm so stoked to be back racing with my all-time favorite teammates again! We had a full weekend in Charm City (Baltimore) at this fabulous park- Druid Hill- where I had actually been before with a great old friend of mine years ago. We played frisbee and rode our bikes then, but it was a little different this weekend. For one thing, I wore way more spandex this weekend.

We got to Baltimore super late on Friday night, but luckily we had a lovely apartment to stay at (thank you Don!!) We all passed out pretty soon after getting there, despite the fact that we all had wanted to stay up and watch Top Gun, thanks to listening to Pat's CX2010 mix on the way down, which heavily featured songs from the movie.

The next morning, David and I left before everyone else, since he raced at 9 and I raced at 11, while the other guys weren't starting until noon. We managed somehow to get our stuff set up and together, and David had a great 2nd race ever. I was getting a little nervous, since it was my first race of the season and I had no idea how it would go.

The race was heavy on cornering, had a regular set of barriers, a set of stairs, and a huge barrier made out of the wooden barrier surrounding a giant tree in the park. It was fine for the guys with long legs to jump over but us short folk needed to hop up and over:

(My right leg has a crazy intense quad muscle showing here, I think it's hilarious.)

Anyway, I didn't have an amazing start, but I had fun and didn't embarrass myself too much. I won't go into a big race report, mainly because it all happened very very fast so it's mostly a blur at this point, but I managed to pass a few people and finished 27th out of 42 or so Cat3/4 women. I'm a cat3 in road, but definitely a cat4 in cyclocross!

Here's the crazy off camber turn- it doesn't look like much but the course was so dry it was falling out from under you as you rode. I take serious pride in the fact that I didn't have to put a foot down at any point during it though!

Going into a corner, looking over at Pat, who was busy yelling at me to go faster!

Sunday was day 2, and it was a lot more fun! For one thing, my good friends from Philly were racing, so got to hang with Dan, Brendan, and Gerry (who all totally killed it in their races.)

My race started out even worse than Saturday's race, I didn't get clipped in until we hit the grass, so I was way behind. Fortunately, that just made me want to work harder to make up the ground I lost, so I started really pushing it and taking more risks than I normally would have. So it all worked out to some extent.

However, at the end it became very very clear that I am, in fact, a road racer as opposed to a cross one. The final bit was a stretch of road, and there were three girls ahead of me when I hit it. In a sprint finish, I managed to pass all of the girls, one of them literally on the line by less than a saddle length, so I finished in 22nd in a field of 45 or so.

Not great results, but a little better than most of last year, and I'm super-focused on improvement. My major limiter is clearly my lack of ability to remount, and it costs me a lot of time. My handling can use some work as well, and I definitely need to work on starts and accelerations, but the remounting is top priority.

I'm getting serious about CX, despite my prior assertions that this was my fun season, since a trip to Nationals is potentially in the works if I actually perform well enough over the next few weeks. The bright side of that is that a full training schedule for a CX pro is under 15 hours a week, so that's pretty awesome. It just means that I'll do a couple shorter runs, and maybe one swim just for recovery purposes, but mainly focus on riding and on skills. I need the time off from a serious triathlete schedule, and this fits the bill pretty perfectly. Plus it'll get me ready to switch back to short course, since it's a lot of focus on high intensity and I've been in low for quite some time now. I'm excited about how this season is shaping up, and very nervous since I have some real goals for the season now that I may not have had before. But above all, having fun is still ranked #1!

And so it begins.

2010-09-17T14:58:00.003-04:00

Heading to Baltimore for my first cyclocross race of the season, and I'm pretty stoked. Also actually went to cyclocross practice on Wednesday night (with my CX bike, as opposed to the week before when I ran to it and didn't ride at all). I'm sure by the end of the weekend I'll have tons of pictures, whacky stories, and of course, plenty of bruises. I'm really looking forward to seeing a lot of friends from last season again, and talking to one of the women of the ECCC about doing Ironman.

In the meantime though, it's been a long week. We finally went grocery shopping, bought the last of the furniture and stuff that we really needed, and basically finished moving into our new place. I've gotten my tutoring assignments, my field placement, and all of my class books and assignments. Starting next week, my life pretty much belongs to Rutgers (not that it already didn't, but with the addition of tutoring and fieldwork, it's going to be insane.) I'm still recovering from a combination of Ironman, the frenetic moving (and all the heavy lifting that went with it) and shopping, the classes and riding to and from them, racing this past weekend, and getting back into training. Sometimes it's hard to tell myself to back off, since I'm used to never wanting to skip a workout. I have a training plan that runs about 15-17 hours per week if I do it all, but for the next couple weeks while I finish recovering and get used to my routine, I'm trying to just do what I feel like doing, and when I feel tired, taking a rest. It's hard to do! I know it's for the best though, especially since I don't want to be burned out for racing every weekend.

My classes are pretty neat. I definitely feel like thinking critically about teaching has already started making me a better tutor, especially now with the student athletes. It's cool when I catch myself teaching and thinking about something I read about literacy. I'm also really starting to get along with people in my class, and man, we are total nerds. Seriously. We had a 25 minute argument about comic books between classes yesterday, and it was amazing. Then, during class, there was a huge thunderstorm and the lights blinked, and one kid suggested we all tell ghost stories. We cracked up. I mean, hysterical laughter. Why? Because one of our readings talks about a teacher learning to relate to her students during a storm when the power went out and she did just that. I'm also finding myself getting excited about lesson planning.

It's funny, I always assumed I wanted to teach high school English, once I made the decision to be a teacher, but more and more, I'm intrigued by the prospect of teaching 6-8th grade classes instead. I'm doing fieldwork in a high school this semester though, so I'll get a taste of that, and maybe in the Spring I'll try for a middle school so I can see what it's like. There are obvious pros and cons to both levels, but I have time to make that kind of decision, and in all honesty, though I may prefer one over the other, I wouldn't be too picky about the grade level, as long as it was sixth through twelfth.

Right now, athletics-wise, I'm trying to get through 'cross season and have a blast, totally recover and recharge, and I need to put a lot of thought into what I'm doing next summer (there might be something travel-wise happening that will impact my tri life, but we'll see), plus I need to figure out the whole college thing, since next year is student teaching and I have to figure out how I'm supposed to manage to teach full time for free and still manage to make rent and eat... I have a couple thoughts but I need to meet with an adviser about it. The long and short of my triathlon plans though, is that I'm planning on really buckling down and focusing on short course next year. I think with the right training and the right race, I can go sub 2:05 on an Olympic, and that's what I plan on attempting to do. I know it's a super-lofty goal, but gotta aim high!

In any event, back to the piles and piles of homework and reading I have to do... I admit, I do love college!

Last Triathlon of the Season... Check!

2010-09-16T08:03:00.005-04:00

Sunday was my last triathlon of the season. I knew going into it that it may not go so great, since it was 2 weeks out from Ironman, and in that 2 weeks, I had been moving, starting classes, working and just starting to do light training again. Add that to the fact that it was a sprint, and I haven't gone short and fast in ages, and it was definitely pretty uncertain how the race would pan out. But, I've done this race for the past 2 years, and I wanted to keep it on my schedule because I like having yearly comparisons of the same course to look at. Plus, the Skylands Tri is literally 5 minutes from my house on roads I know and in a park I grew up in, and it's one of the first races that my dad ever did, back in his tri days. So, it's sort of an obligation, and I love it. Also, it's one of the only races I know of where the winner of each age group and the top 3 actually get cash prizes. When you spend $85 to race, it's nice to be able to potentially win $100 at the end! (And for someone who just had to put down a security deposit, pay rent, buy house stuff, buy books, and deal with IM, that's a very good thing.)

I woke up Sunday to cloudy skies and rain. It was in the low 60s, which is chilly for a race you're doing in a bikini. I hadn't really gotten my stuff together the night before, but the race started at 9, so we didn't have to leave til 8. What a welcome change from the norm! I got to sleep til 7 and still shower, eat and pack.

It was hard getting my stuff in transition- first I needed to find a bike pump, then I realized my towel was going to get soaked, then I was wondering why on earth I was racing at all. I told myself to suck it up though, and pulled on my already wet wetsuit. Not pleasant. The race started a little late, and they had 5 min between swim waves, which is sort of weird to me. The women were the third wave, and a couple of them took off like a thing that swims really fast... a fish, maybe?... either way, they were long gone. I was doing reasonably well, though my arms were killing me. I had done a weight set a few days before and I was seriously feeling the aftereffects. I didn't realize just how much I still needed to recover until then. Still, made it out of the water in 14 min, almost a minute off last year's time. Last year though, I was 4th out of the water, this time I was closer to tenth. There were some FAST swimmers out there!

Got through transition a little slow just because of the rain and everything being soaked. I opted against putting on a jersey, since I knew it would be soaked in seconds. Instead, I decided to brave the cold in just the bikini. Brrrrr!

From Cat Marlson, thank you thank you for taking awesome pictures!

The course was as it always is, but very very wet. We haven't had rain in quite some time, so it was pretty slick from all the accumulated oil. The hill that always kills everyone was particularly brutal, and the super fast downhill was more nerve-wracking than usual, despite the fact that I managed to stay in aero the entire descent. I passed a lot of men and women, so I was feeling better about how I was doing, though I knew that there were a few women ahead of me still.

Finished the bike about a minute faster than last year, which is actually pretty big, given the terrible weather. Came into transition, threw on the shoes and headed out. There was a woman right next to me and at first we were in a passing war, but after exchanging a few pleasant comments, we realized we weren't in the same age group and she asked if I wanted to work together. Yes. So, for the 5k, we each took turns in the lead, we passed a ton of guys and a couple of women, and generally had a good time. When we hit the final part- running up a long driveway and then back down it into the finishing chute, I sped up, and she didn't. Dad was yelling at me to watch my back, and I was pretty much giving it all I had to get to that finish line.

Again, thanks to Cat Marlson for posting some awesome race pics!

Crossed the line as the 5th woman overall (the first two were the 6th and 9th in the entire race. Whoa.) and had a 21:20 5k, a solid minute and a half better than last year. My final time was 1:26:05, almsot 3 minutes faster than last year, despite the longer transitions and other issues due to the rain. I won my AG, and was feeling pretty satisfied. Beating my time from last year by a pretty decent amount given the circumstances surrounding it felt pretty great, and definitely reminded me that I love a good short course race!

More from the grad school files later, but at the moment I have to head out to get tested for TB before I can start observing at schools next week. Then, 7 hours of class. And a couple of homework. And today is my easy day!

This weekend, heading to Baltimore for Charm City CX. Should be a blast!

The Obligatory Grad School Post

2010-09-13T10:50:00.000-04:00

I'm back in school.

I say back in school because last year I only took 1 class a semester. And they were easy. So it didn't count.

Now, I'm seriously in school. Fieldwork, tons of research, papers, projects, presentations, group work... It's a heavy, heavy workload. Seeing the syllabi for my classes has made me super nervous about handling all of it while juggling 3 different tutoring gigs as well as my role as Communications Organizer at the union one day a week (plus online a few hours during the week), cyclocross and training, finding time to work on writing and career stuff like that, and having a social life and getting to spend time with Robbie. It's a daunting task.

Still, I was born to plan. So my agenda is already labeled with due dates and reading assignments, my books are bought or ordered, and every single page of reading that was available online for my classes (and it was a lot) has all been printed, stapled, labeled with due dates, and filed away to be read at the appropriate time. I'm armed with a new desk, a pile of post its, packs of new highlighters and red pens, plans for tutoring each session to the best of my abilities- including a lesson plan outline for the class I tutor- so I should be feeling pretty prepared, right?

To some extent I do. Don't get me wrong. It's just that it's already way harder than I expected. I didn't expect this amount of work from all of my classes, so to be faced with it has been tough. More tough though has been the cost of books. Between Ironman, vacation, being away from tutoring and nannying for a month, paying a security deposit and a month's rent, buying furniture and a ton of household stuff, a frickin' cyclocross bike (the parts for it, anyway. but more on that later), registration for Skylands (the last sprint triathlon of the season), and then having to buy a TON of books, I'm pretty tapped out. I'm not worried, because tutoring starts this coming week and I'll be making more then, but it's still never fun to see money vanish like that, and in such a short period of time.

I'll survive.

On the bright side, my classes are actually pretty neat. For three of them, I'm with essentially the same exact people, so already we're becoming really well acquainted with each other. To the point, in fact, where when the teacher was demonstrating a point and used a picture of a cyclist, and asked what he was doing (a literacy lesson, don't ask), half of the students shouted out "Ironman" and looked at me. I just pointed out how poorly he was cornering. And then yelled at the people who said Tour De France instead of just bike race. Come on, people! There is more to cycling than the Tour! At least no one assumed it was Lance Armstrong in the picture...

Point being, I've made some friends. Including someone who watches the same cartoons like the Justice League and Batman, and can actually quote The Question ("the plastic on the end of shoelaces is called the aglet. It's true purpose is sinister") and actually doesn't think a Booster Gold action figure collection is lame. (He hasn't seen our essentially superhero themed apartment though, so he doesn't quite grasp the extent of our nerdiness.)

In the meantime, before everything gets insane, I've been recovering. I took last week totally off, though "off" is relative, since we were moving, and Robbie and Adam had work and class all day, so I was loading my truck, carrying heavy things, putting furniture together, putting stuff away, and generally getting the place together myself. Mom helped, and Robbie and Adam did a lot once they had time, but a lot of it was me solo. Then, Robbie and I went on a spending spree for furniture and living stuff- I'll post pictures of the place later, now that it finally looks like a real home. It's super nice! Only one of my bikes is living there at the moment, but we'll fix that soon enough.

This week, I rode the Skylands triathlon course. I was 4th female last year, and I'm hoping to do well this year, though who knows, since I'm still technically in recovery. Still, riding the course on my tri bike felt good, and since then I've been swimming and running a little too. Just an hour and a half to two hours a day, and today I'm off because of work and our first date night in I don't know how long! Regardless, I'm feeling good. I ran to the field where we have cyclocross practice on Wednesday to hang out, despite not having a bike just yet, and I can't wait for the season to get underway! After this weekend, it's CX until December, hooray!

I've also been trying to maintain a GoodReads account, though I don't know how successful that'll be with classes and work. But if anyone has it, my account name is MollyHurford, so look me up!

I'm sure posts from now on will be focused on CX and grad school, though of course triathlon is still my #1 love. Starting to plan my season for next year out though, so stay tuned for that...

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

2010-09-10T13:05:00.008-04:00

While I don't have much to report on my vacation, it was an awesome few days at the beach, some great time spent with Colleen, Mom and Dad, and just a lot of having fun on my taper, despite not being able to run on the beach or surf.

The Family!

It starts with just one dog...

And somehow they multiply!!

Faith, my dog, had a series of interesting encounters with the Jack Russells, Hazel, Buster, and Lucky:

(They meet)

(Faith attempts to show Lucky who's the boss.)(Touche, Lucky!)

Colleen and I, looking very freckle-y

Dad and I, post-mountain bike ride right after a rain storm.
...and back.

About to head down to the boardwalk to do some souvenir shopping!

An awesome waterslide on the beach...
And me after going down said waterslide.

(Our Aunt's beach house that we stay in is in the residential area of VA Beach, but we're only a couple of miles from the boardwalk and the crowded beaches, which are great for things like waterslides, though I prefer our nice quiet spot!)

Speaking of our nice spot, here's the dunes and the family again!

Me complaining my stomach hurt.

...and me jumping off the dune.

And my personal favorite picture, the beach right before a storm.

Ironman Louisville (Belated) Race Report

2010-09-10T09:18:00.005-04:00

OK, I know, I know. It’s been over a week and still no race report! And I don’t even have the excuse that I was busy trying to make it perfect. But I do have the excuse that I just started grad school full time on Wednesday, and the past week has been pretty nuts between that and moving. We’re almost moved in to our nice new apartment, and I’m pretty settled into all of my classes, despite the tons of work they’ll be generating, so life is at least semi-back on track. But that’s not what this post is about. This post is entirely devoted to my IMKY race report.

Without further ado…

Pre Race

Transition opened at 5:30, so at 4:30 I was awake, trying to eat a bagel and drink a ton of fluids, and out the door. Because we had stashed everything in transition the night before, it was a pretty simple morning. Got to transition, got everything set up, and was generally feeling pretty calm. Then, a .75 mile walk down to the start of the swim. We got there and were wondering why everyone was sitting in front of the portapotties.

I got bodymarked, and dad realized that they were all people in line. Honestly, people must have been there since the night before- I kid you not, I saw an air mattress. We walked and walked and walked and about a mile alter got to the end of the line. I looked at the guys in front of me and asked if this was the line for Springsteen tickets. They laughed, but I guess that joke makes the most sense if you’re from NJ. Anyway, I chatted and ate, and was still feeling good. The guy behind me kept asking if I was nervous though, which did little to relax me.

The Swim

Once the line started moving, it moved quick. Before I really knew what was happening, I had a surge of volunteers pushing me into the swim chute yelling “keep running!” We went off the 2 docks 2 at a time 2 seconds apart, so before I really realized just what was happening, I was in the water and swimming. It was crazy. Because I started far back, it was pretty rough going. Got elbowed, kicked, and generally manhandled as I crawled my way up. The problem was that I kept getting slowed down because of all of the random people in front of me breast-stroking and popping out to sight. Seriously, there was a traffic jam at the turn buoy! I just kept telling myself to stay calm and just keep going. No crazy antics, just stay calm and KEEP SWIMMING! We swam under a couple of bridges, which was pretty neat, and then before I really realized it, the end was in sight! I got out of the water in about 1:18, which was kind of slow for me, but with the washing machine effect of having to get around so many people, I was ok with it. My only issue with the race setup was that they had so few buoys, it was almost impossible to sight sometimes. You had to assume that everyone knew where they were going and follow blindly until a buoy finally came into sight.

But… out of the swim and into bike transition! I ran into the changing tent and was shocked at how many people were totally changing! I was wearing my bike stuff so I crammed my shoes and helmet on, pulled my Rutgers jersey on over my head and booked it out of the tent, pausing to get copious amounts of lotion everywhere. Ran out, mounted, and took a deep breath… 112 miles to go.

The Bike

The bike started FAST. I was passing people, and feeling really good. (My results are a tribute to this, my average for the first part was 19.5). I was expecting a flat course, but it was more accurately described as rolling. A lot of the time, it was kind of tough avoiding drafting, and I felt like I got slowed down a lot because of it in some segments. I had a nutrition plan in place and I was sticking to it, feeling good, despite the fact that it was getting HOT out. I was refilling my bottles at every station, drinking as much as possible between them, and generally trying to stay calm, but stay going at a steady clip. I didn’t want to be beat for the marathon (though in retrospect I might as well have been) and I was trying to conserve energy. It’s amazing how fast 112 miles goes by, and how exciting it was when we passed through LaGrange and just could hear the crowd going crazy for us. I made a few “friends” on the bike, men and women, because we had a group of about 25 of us that kept constantly passing and re-passing each other. It made it fun, knowing who had just passed you so you could head for them on the next hill. I'm glad I have this picture of me smiling, because honestly, this part was fun:

By the last 20 miles or so, I started having some “respiratory issues,” which made me aware that I was probably getting dehydrated. As I said, I had been drinking as much as I could. Everyone that reads this is all to aware of my issues with IBS, so while I know I wasn’t drinking as much as I should, I was drinking as much as I possibly could without making myself sick or cramping. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. As the miles ticked off, I knew the marathon was going to be tough, but I tried to stay focused. I definitely slowed down a bit towards the end, but still ended the bike with an average of 18.5 mph. Not too shabby, though I wish I hadn’t started losing it at the end.

The Run

… to call it the run is kind of an insult to running. I got into transition, actually changed shorts and threw on a running top with Rutgers Cyclocross written in marker on the back. Represent!! I charged out of transition, planning to eek as much actual running as I could. I made it to the first aid station, got through that walking, and started running again. For the first couple stations, I wasn’t feeling great but I was surviving. But then… my lungs started really hurting. It was like how I felt during Rev 3, but worse.

I found this online about dehydration: When the body reaches 10% fluid loss emergency help is needed IMMEDIATELY! 10% fluid loss and above is often fatal! Symptoms of severe dehydration include:

Muscle spasms (YES)
Vomiting (Dry Heaving, but still…)
Racing pulse
Shriveled skin
Dim vision (YES)
Painful urination (YES)
Confusion
Difficulty breathing (YES)
Seizures
Chest and Abdominal pain (YES)

So I was in greaaaat shape at that point. But still, Death Before DNF! (As my dad reminded me from the sidelines.)

I should clarify- if I was breathing through my nose, it wasn’t so bad. And this was around mile 5 or so. I kept going, running when I could, walking the aid stations, drinking as much as possible. The ice cold sponges definitely helped, and made me feel a lot less gross. The problem was, I couldn’t eat. It was making me super sick and the idea of eating was making me dry heave.

Around mile 10, I started dry heaving. Which is the worst. All I wanted was to actually throw up, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Still, I kept run-walking.

When we hit loop 2, I felt a little better. It is amazing how short 13 miles seems when you have 127 finished! I just kept thinking about how much I wanted to finish, and that kept me going. People were great- I talked to a lot of other racers about IM and about cyclocross, but by mile 15, my lungs were not thrilled with me and talking hurt. By mile 20, I couldn’t really drink, and I was walking way more than I was running. The problem with dehydration, I learned, is that once it starts, no amount of drinking is really going to help when you’re still racing. It was depressing, my legs felt fine but I couldn’t breathe or drink. I wanted to run but every time I did, I thought I was going to fall over. Everything hurt except my legs and I just wanted to keep running. I was watching the clock tick away past my goal times that I could have made, had I been able to take in more fluids. And that hurt. Still, kept going.

Anyway, finally hit those last couple miles and started trying to run from cone to cone- run one cone, walk the next, run one, walk one… And after what seemed like forever, the finish line started to come into sight. Rather, you could hear it before you saw it. A dull roar that you could hear 4 blocks away. And knowing that I wanted to run across the line, and knowing that medical help was just blocks away, I gave it everything I had, ran through the cheering crowd, and finally got to hear that I was an Ironman. Final time: 13:37. Way more than I had planned, but faster than I thought I would do once I started hurting.

It was incredible. Now, I’m not one of the people that had a terrible race and decided to do it again immediately. Maybe if I wasn’t planning on trying out the whole short course “career” thing next summer, things would be different, but as it is, I want to focus on what I’m good at, not keep trying this. At least, not anytime soon. I have very high hopes and expectations for myself as a triathlete, and I realize I need to play to my strengths. But, that being said… it was a pretty great feeling.

I got this finishers picture taken- I felt like I was about to fall over but still remained goofy as hell.

I went to the medical building, met a lovely man who- while waiting for his own medical care- made sure that I got taken in and seen quickly, and got pumped full of IV fluids thanks to a whole lot of amazing volunteers. The EMTs there were fantastic, and super nice, even though they were probably sick of us by the time I got there. When I was shaking like crazy from the IV, one of them even took off my shoes and socks and tucked my feet under the blanket- now how’s that for service? I got a t-shirt they had left over from a local 5k to put on instead of my wet race shirt, and when I got home, I wrote on it in black marker “I was in the Ironman medical building and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” Everyone’s a comedian.

Dad and I finally made it out, I called mom and Robbie to update them, and then we went in search of vegetable broth, which was all I wanted to eat ever again. Nothing was open, but we finally found a grocery store open 24 hours. We went in, but obviously they didn’t have preheated veggie broth waiting for me. We did find a microwave in the coffee area and a can of soup in the soup aisle though, so I creatively decided to buy the soup, pour it into coffee cups and cook it in the microwave. 70 cent broth has never tasted so good! I drank one cup there, and then went back to the hotel, sat down in the hot shower, and drank the other cup. It was simultaneously the most awesome and pathetic I think I have ever felt.

And may I say, I highly recommend getting an IV after any race- I felt great the next day, not sore at all! (though, to be fair, like I said- my legs felt fine during the race, it was my lungs that were failing to cooperate.)

Anyway, that is Ironman in a nutshell. It was an experience. I’m glad I did it, and I’m glad I pushed through to finish. I’d like to say that next time I could do better, but honestly, so much of what happened was because of things I can’t change with my stomach, and the 98 degree heat. I would choose an IM in a cooler location, but other than that, I don’t know what more I could do. It’s been great though- more on this later, but starting school when every teacher has been doing “getting to know you” exercises in class and they ask for one thing about us, I’ve gotten to say, “Well, 4 days ago, I did an Ironman.”

“Swim 2.4 miles. Ride 112 miles. Run 26.2 miles. Then brag for the rest of your life.” -Commander John Collins, Ironman Triathlon creator

IMKY... Report Coming Soon!

2010-09-01T09:43:00.003-04:00

I survived Ironman Louisville!

It started well, it ended badly, but I finished in 13:37, not too bad considering the heat and my "stomach issues." I wasn't thrilled with how it went after mile 80 on the bike, but at the same time, I know that there was nothing I could have really done to prevent dehydration- I drank as much as I possibly could hold, but my stomach just isn't cut out for drinking enough in that kind of heat.

7 hours in the car, 5 days a the beach, 13 hours in the truck, 140.6 miles of racing, one 1 liter IV, and another 13 hours drive later, it's really nice to rejoin the world. Even if it is move-in day.

Race report is forthcoming, but I got home late Monday night, packed my car up Tuesday, and am about to go move in to our new place today, then start a bunch of classes tomorrow. So, since I want to do the race justice, it'll get done as soon as possible, but I'm not rushing. For now though:

If you zoom in, read the knuckles. And yes, that's a children's bathing suit top I raced in!

Kentucky.

2010-08-28T08:17:00.005-04:00

Vacation time is over, and in less than 24 hours, Ironman Louisville starts.

Thursday night/Friday early morning, Dad and I left Virginia Beach after a lovely relaxing few days of beach time, bike rides, off road trails, water slides, and some well spent time with my family, especially my sister, who I barely see at home since she's always out. (Pictures to come but I don't have my upload cord here in Indiana.)

Oh yeah- Dad and I are staying at a Motel 6 across the Ohio River from Kentucky in Indiana. It's awesome. The non-smoking room we're in has an ASHTRAY with a NO SMOKING sign on it. That'll show those smoking bastards! There's an outdoor pool, set right on the highway. Also awesome.

Anyway, Dad and I left VA at 2 a.m. to get to Louisville in time for check in. He drove the first 2 hours but then I took over from 4-10. We stopped for breakfast, made a few pit stops, and arrived without major issues to Kentucky at 2:30. I managed to check in with only minor problems- myUSAT card is expired, they never sent me a new one when I renewed my license, so normally I just bring the old card to races and they look it up on the computer. I didn't have a printer in VA so I figured I would be fine. Turns out, for some reason Ironman didn't have anyone with Internet access, so I had to run to the conference center lobby and use their copy shop to go online and print my license. What a waste of 6 bucks. It's just annoying because a) I should have thought ahead for it, but USAT website only prints out licenses good for 24 hours anyway, and b) it's not my fault they never sent the new license. But, whatever. Everyone was really nice as I signed in, and super helpful.

We checked in to our motel, realized the room was super tiny, so we went out to see the sights after I did a 15 minute run and played around in the highway pool for a while.

It's a Cinderella Carriage! (I'm not a huge fan of horses, but this was awesome.)

I LOVE THIS BIKE RACK! There were artsy bike racks everywhere. Very cool.
Tugboats! I tried to get a picture of me with them, but Dad is not so good with my camera.

He did manage to take this picture though.

While that was all well and good, this sign about sewage in the water made me a little nervous:
(Luckily, there hadn't been much rain recently.)

Anyway, by the time we finished that, it was time for the pre-race meeting. I didn't feel like I learned a whole lot, but it didn't help that I could barely hear anything. Afterward, I really wanted Panera for dinner but they closed at 7PM (!?!?!) So, we ended up getting burritos and going back to the Motel to sleep. Shockingly, I wasn't completely exhausted, even though I'd driven 12 hours and slept for about 3 the night before.

Next morning, up bright and early to get stuff done for transition. But first, a walk to the swim start to get an idea of how it would go:

A swim around the island? Looks nice from here! It's a little tougher when you're in it with 2000+ people.

And we ate lunch at a really nice bar with excellent beer (though I could only try it, not drink a lot of it.) Good pizza for KY, but it's no NY pizza!

Finally, on to transition. It was neat how they had volunteers escorting each person, explaining everything and showing us where everything was. It definitely made me way less nervous.

And there's my bike!

Then, Dad and I bummed around the town, took our mountain bikes for a short ride along the river, went to Big Lots and got mom a pizza stone, went to the grocery store, went in the pool, and basically killed time until I was beat enough to get to sleep, ready to get racing...

T minus 9 days... and counting

2010-08-20T09:41:00.005-04:00

In 1 day, I'll be in Virginia at the beach for a family vacation.

In 7 days, I'll be in Kentucky, getting ready for the fact that...

In 9 days, I'll be racing in Ironman Kentucky in Louisville!!

In some ways, I feel like IM has taken forever to get here. I've been focused completely on it since January, and it's hard to believe that it's all going to culminate in the one race in under ten days. On the other hand, I thought it would NEVER get here! I'm excited- in a very good way- to get there and race. And admittedly, I'm equally excited to be finished with the race, because it really closes the chapter on what's been a kind of crazy summer.

We've moved out of our old place, gotten a new place, been jumping from one set of parent's house to the other, all amidst some crazy training weeks, weird work schedules (nannying in White Plains 3 days at a time!) and generally having bad luck. We've had a good summer and everything, but I'm ready to be a full time student again, really really ready for cyclocross to start, and ready to have an apartment again. So I'm not really looking at wanting to get the race over because of the race, exactly. Just trying to move on to September!

That said, I'm super stoked that I finally get to race again! 2 triathlons so far this summer have left me wanting more! I don't think I'm a long course person, because I like racing too much. Between the cost of IM and the training schedule, it's been impossible to do more races, and I miss racing every other weekend. Still, it's been great seeing my endurance and fitness change so much, and it has paid off even on shorter course races.

So, my bags are packed, plans are sort of made (we still don't have a hotel... yikes!), and I am feeling pretty confident that I can handle this race (knock on wood). I have tons of nutrition, tons and tons of stuff for repairing a flat tire, and while in some ways I feel totally unprepared for the race and completely nervous about how everything works (i.e the transition bags), in all I'm feeling pretty chill about the whole thing. I thought I would be a nervous wreck by now, but I guess when you've been training for almost 9 months specifically for a certain race, you feel pretty darn prepared. And anyway, with such a long course, it's certainly not a sprint for me, so when I do feel any nerves, I've been reminding myself that the way to do well in it is going to be to simply treat it as if it's just a long training day, not a race. I especially think that because I know that stress can be part of why my legs cramp at really inopportune moments- i.e the marathon a year and a half ago. So, the more chill and collected I stay, the better I think I'll do. That's not to say I'm taking this race lightly, by any means. I'll still have "kick ass" and "kill it" written on my hands as reminders to push myself, but I think I've developed a really good understanding of how my body works and how to make it work optimally.

I'm a little nervous about nutrition- my coach has said my plan for the race is a little lacking in calories, and while I'll try to remedy that, my stomach just doesn't like eating much on the bike or the run. And usually, I'm totally fine. 10 days ago, Dad rode with me while I did a 20 mile run, and during it, I had a bottle of water and a pack of Clif Shot Bloks. And that was immediately after a 2 hour bike ride where I drank a bottle of water and ate nothing. And I felt completely fine at the end. 4:40 worth of hard work, with only 240 calories. Not a problem. I'm not saying that's my race plan for IM- far from it- but at least I know my body can handle a serious deficit without an issue. Finally, the one thing my stomach is willing to work with me on!

I just read the athlete guide for IM, and that definitely got my heart rate up. I can't believe it's actually here! (More importantly, I'm incredibly grateful that my taper is FINALLY here!) I have high expectations of myself for this race, as does my dad. I want to have a solid finish time, but more importantly, I want to do the best that I can do- I want to stay mentally focused the whole time, leave it all on the course, and not come home thinking "what if I had gone a little harder?"

Poor Robbie- the day after I get home from IM, we move into our new apartment. He's going to be stuck with all the heavy lifting, I'm afraid. I'm hoping I won't be too messed up from it, I would hate to have my first week of classes and moving marred by the inability to walk up and down stairs! Hopefully wearing compression socks and taking out time on the drive home will ease any major soreness that I have, and avoid more cramping from sitting still too much.

Main point: I CANNOT WAIT!

Also, once school starts, expect more frequent blogging. It's hard to keep a schedule when shifting houses and weird work times, but once we settle into routine, blogging should also make a return.

More while at the beach, I'm sure, but for now... I'm enjoying a rest day!

Most "Pro" Pic of Me Ever.

2010-08-06T11:07:00.001-04:00

From Nautica. I love it!

More here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2703735&id=8829436&l=a3dac3d30b

Summer... Vacation?

2010-07-30T13:54:00.003-04:00

I know, I know... I have a huge backlog of race reports, life updates and whatnot that have gone woefully to the wayside. However, I have a semi-legitimate excuse for this lack of post-age...

It's called Ironman training. And it's really getting to me! Honestly, I've started counting the days until IMKY (29) and while I feel like I should be nervous, I feel... ready. Like I just want to get out there and get it done. I've been training for it seriously since January, and as the hours per week get higher and higher, the more I want to just be done with it. I'm ready for it to be Fall. I have to say, I love training. I love racing more than anything. But I don't love that my whole summer has seemingly dissolved into training and worrying about apartment stuff. One or the other would be fine, but this two-headaches-for-the-price-of-one business is a bit absurd.

The training wouldn't be bad but my two high volume weeks happen to be corresponding to the weeks that Monday-Wednesday I've been/will be living in White Plains nannying. Add to that the full day I work on Friday, and it's a little tough to meet the 28+ hour/week training schedule. In fact, nearly impossible, especially since on Thursday I had to lend my earlobes to a friend who's made his own line of amazing Lego earrings (brickbyshick.etsy.com- sooo cute!) Sure, I didn't get paid for that modeling "gig", but I got a great pair of earrings out of it! Beyond training, I've seen Robbie once this whole week- quite a drop from the every day I was seeing him when we lived together. We have another month before we move into our new place, and the appalling lack of furniture that we have at the moment is making me a wee bit insane. Move in is 2 days after IM, and the same day that classes start. September is going to be a busy month!

I am making fun post-IM plans though. Pre-CX season, I have every intention of "treating myself" to a septum piercing (maybe. not 100% sure.) and letting my cosmetology-obsessed sister potentially bleach out part of my hair. Also, plans for finishing the tattoo on my back are in the works for this winter, thanks to Robbie's friend Tiffany. Add to that the excitement of getting to go to school full-time for a semester, potentially audit a class in exercise science, and get some real work done on my writing, I'm pretty stoked. I'm also insanely psyched about CX season, of course. And lastly, I'm attempting to find a place to do some volunteering a couple hours a week, and I think I may have found a place. So, fingers crossed!

But before all of that, I have to get through Ironman, and Robbie and I need to get through August and moving in September. It's do-able, I know. But it seems weird to be excited more for school starting than for Summer vacation to be happening. I'm not very good with waiting... Even my family vacation to Virginia Beach will be a little less fun, since Robbie won't be going because of work and my IM plans and travel arrangements, and I'll only have 5 days of vacation before we head to Kentucky to race. So it'll be a nervous few days on the beach, but as Dad and his hero, Jimmy Buffet, would agree, a bad day on vacation beats the best day at work.

In other news, I know I promised race reports. So without further ado, the Cliff Notes versions:

Sprintin' Clinton 5k:
Time: 19:37 (PR by 30 sec)
This is a 5k race that's super well known throughout NJ. It has between 300 and 400 participants every year, and it's really a serious race for high school/collegiate runners. It's got a couple of longish not too steep hills, and it's a challenging course, made more challenging by the fact that it happens at 6PM, so you've had all day to eat and worry. The worrying for me is brought on by a day's worth of eating, of course.
I got there pretty nervous about my stomach, since I couldn't exactly have raced on just one bagel all day, considering I had already done a 2 hour ride and an hour long run. I had no idea what to expect, but last year I was 4th female, and this year I really really wanted to be in the top 3.
My cousin was racing too, though more casually. She's a fitness runner, not a crazy person like me. And that's according to her!
We were at the starting line together but I was shifting towards the front line and she was trying to slip more into the back. The gun went off, and I knew that if I was going to top3, I had to go out hard and maintain, not start out and overtake. I'm not so good with doing that. So, I went hard, and for the first half mile or so, I was the first female. There was a woman behind me who had kicked my a$$ in a 5k in Princeton the month before and she got in front of me, then I passed her, et cetera. Sometime right before mile 1, 2 girls blasted past us, looking super casual about it. I was already pushing hard and I wasn't about to kill myself by mile 1.5. We hit mile 1 in 6:01, and I was feeling good. I kept the two girls in sight, but I knew they were actual runners, so I wasn't expecting to beat them. By the last half mile or so, I finally dropped the woman who I had been duking it out with, and was really starting to push for the finish. I knew I was going to be super close to 20 min and if I wanted sub-20 I had to work hard. Came into the finishing straight, heard dad screaming his head off and saw the clock at 19:05, and just pounded the pavement as fast as I could. I crossed in 19:37, my best time by almost 30 seconds on a much hillier course than my previous PR. I ended up 3rd, but it turns out that the 2 winners are 2 of the top collegiate runners in the state, so I don't feel too bad, coming 30 seconds behind them.
Finally got to check off my goal of running a sub20 5k, which felt awesome. For about two seconds. Stupid Type A personality (and a little needling from my dad), now I'm thinking about how soon I can break 19. Maybe next summer. Or this CX season...
The trophy, by the way, is enormous. Seriously, it's ridiculous. And I love it.

And just one week later, it was time for the
Nautica NYC Triathlon:
Time: 2:24 (PR by 5 min)
Let me again state for the record that this race was insanely exciting for me for a few reasons. First of all, it's my first NYC triathlon. Second, it's the only Olympic distance I got to do this year. Third, it was my first race ever as an elite (amateur). That part was cool and all, until I realized that it involved a dive start. Not bad if I had known earlier, but I hadn't had time to practice diving with my goggles. I can dive, for the record, but I also have weird shaped eye sockets or something, because I've never found a pair of goggles that fits just right. And I doubt they would have stayed on if I had done a good dive.
But beyond that...
It was a tough race because of the insanely early start, but of course, I knew I could be done by 8:30 am if I played my cards right. Then again, waking up at 2 am to get there on time was no picnic. Still, Dad and I made it to the city with plenty of time to check on transition, walk the 1.5 miles to the water and get into my wetsuit (just me, not Dad. Dad in my size small women's suit is a scary thought.) Even not being rushed, it came time to get into my corral way too soon, and before I knew it we were walking to the pier for our dive start. I wasn't too nervous, like I would have been a year ago, but still!!
The dive start was... well, if you combine a dive and a bellyflop, you pretty much have what I did. But it worked, since my goggles stayed on! Not that it mattered, since the Hudson is so gross you can't see anything anyway. Because of my crap dive, it was tough to stay with the lead pack. Also, I sight on the right, the shore was on the left, and the buoys were impossible to see. So, I had to stay on pace with a woman who sighted to her left who was swimming at roughly my pace. I think had I been able to make the dive/sight easier, I would have passed her and gone faster but as it was, it was easier to stay with her. The current was awesome, but the water was briny and honestly, pretty vile. I was happy to get out of it, but less happy about how the volunteers yanked us out and onto the pier. I would have liked some warning that there weren't steps we could walk up ourselves, coming out of the water to people yelling is a bit disorienting. Then, a HALF MILE barefoot run to transition. Holy crap.
I got on the bike super fast and was drinking away trying to wash Hudson out of my mouth. I've never used strawberry Heed, but that's what I had at home, and HOLY CRAP I will never use it again. Sooooo bad and fake sweetened. Ugh. But I choked it down.
There was a big hill out of the transition area, but compared to some of the bike races I've done, it was nothing. I could see people having trouble though, since at the top it was pretty rough pavement. Thank you cyclocross!! After that, the biking went well. I got passed by one elite woman and passed a couple myself. There was a 40 year old dude on a Giant and he and I kept passing each other, which was sort of nice. Less nice was the literal PELETON of 40-44 men who blew past us. Seriously?! They were even shouting to each other about taking pulls. W.T.F. Hi, this is a triathlon? As in, no drafting? I can only imagine how infuriated dudes in their age group were when those idiots passed them. I hope a ref saw them, but at that point, there were pros on course and I'm pretty sure the refs were paying more attention to them than the age groupers. Annoying.
The bike went well, I think I might have been able to push it more, I was feeling fine afterward, but without training for this distance, I had no idea how I would be feeling and didn't want to waste my legs pre-run. Looking back, kinda wish that I had. I had a good bike time compared to most of the women though, so I was happy about that.
Then, the run. I had NO CLUE how this would go, since I never run this distance, except as a short "easy" run. I wanted to run 7:00 miles, and on a flat course I might have, but on this course- whoa. Who knew Central Park had so many hills? Getting out of transition, I could hear dad yelling, and running towards the Park was awesome- the streets were lined with people and in my sick KILLA bikini, I was getting a lot of "you go girl" yells. I was also one of the first women they had seen all day and one of the first 150 people overall, so they were still fresh and psyched to cheer for everyone. It made me feel so good!
In the park, runners who were just out on a daily run were cheering for us, and I passed a few of the 40-44 men. I felt good, and I spotted the one woman who creamed me on the bike ahead of me. So, I dug in and chased her down. After I passed her, I heard "I knew I'd see you again." It was the dude with the Giant bike, and he was British! Haha it made running so much easier, trying to keep up with his crazy long strides. We were really egging each other on, taking turns out in front and stuff. I drank at every station, and felt good. We were almost done... I thought.
I HATE this during races- when people tell you the finish is just up ahead, and you believe them. NEVER believe them. I made a turn thinking it was maybe 200 yards to the finish... try maybe 600. Bad time to start sprinting. I was totally beat by the time I hit the finish line but I just kept pushing and pushing, trying to keep sprinting. There were tons of people cheering, and it was just nuts.
I hit the finish line, felt like my stomach was going to explode right after my lungs, and frantically was looking for Dad, who I had heard when I crossed the line but couldn't see anywhere. here's my beef with Nautica. I appreciate their security, but when I walked out of the fenced in athlete area, I was stumbling and completely incoherent, and no one told me you couldn't get back in. Furthermore, I had no idea that there was a spectator meeting area- maybe that should have been in the race packet. Either way, I walked out of there because I saw dad but he couldn't hear me. When I tried to get back in to get a bottle of water and a bagel, I couldn't get back in. It sucks to pay that much to race and get no water or food post-race. I know it's for security reasons, but even if I couldn't get back in, please hand me a bagel and water? Come on now.
My other issue is that while I was done at 8:30, transition wasn't open until 11. I was supposed to be at the track at noon for a track omnium I was racing in, and that meant we would have to book it.
I must have looked like such a jackass waiting for transition to open- when it did, I swear I made a run for it like I was starting a 100meter sprint or something. I have never packed my crap up that fast. I was the first one out of transition (hah!) and we got to the track with 1 minute to spare.
Unfortunately, sitting in 110 heat after eating a powerbar and half a pretzel, drinking 2 water bottles, and racing a triathlon, is not a good idea. I was not feeling great. In fact, I felt like total crap. It didn't help that my new track bike had a)never been ridden and b)had a 15 cog on the back instead of a 14, making it a spin-crazy kind of bike. I don't spin. Ask anyone. I will grind away in the big ring until the cows come home, but I don't like to spin.
So, after one of 5 races (I was asleep/passed out for the second), dad and I decided to just go home. He wasn't doing much better than I was, and I was starting to see spots. I figured being the 28th female overall in the triathlon (in a field of 2000+) was good enough for one day.

So there you have it- race reports in a nutshell. I need to buy pictures from Nautica from Brightroom, since there are a couple of great ones.

Side note, I am soooo proud of my teammate and friend David for finishing his first triathlon last weekend, the NJ State Olympic tri. I wish I had signed up for it so I could have raced with him, but I think we'll do Skylands together in September. I'm so glad I'm not the only triathlete on the team anymore!!

One last note- you may notice on the righthand side of the page, I added a new Widget linking to my GoodReads.com page- I'm a bookworm at heart, and I'm loving a site that lets me list and talk about books. So if you have one, friend me!

My 200th Post!

2010-07-21T10:26:00.003-04:00

I have a couple race reports I'm doing posts on, but first, some regular catching up:

The good news: Robbie and I got our old place rented out, got back out security deposit in full and with interest, and have applied to an apartment building we really like. Hopefully we'll find out today if we get the place or not, so fingers crossed! It's been a long month and we still won't really have a place to live until September (assuming we get the apartment) but since we'll be on vacation at the end of August, living with the parents a few more weeks isn't the worst thing that could happen.

Now we just have to worry about all kinds of fun stuff like sorting through all of our stuff from the old place, getting new furniture, packing up clothes again, moving in, etc... all 2 days after I do IMKY, and the same day that school starts. Woo hoo!

Speaking of school, I am super stoked to be going to school full-time again for the Fall. I missed it so much! If I could be a student forever, I definitely would. If getting an English PhD made any financial sense, I would do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, it doesn't. However, Robbie and I are tossing around the idea of going to Iowa State after he graduates and doing different MFA programs- him in Creative Writing for poetry, me for either CW fiction, or the literature Master's program they have. And bonus? They have what appears to be a really solid tri team at the school, making it way more appealing to me. So, we'll see what happens in the next 3 years or so...

Other than that, not a lot going on. It's been hectic but uninteresting, for the most part. Monday night I managed to get "door-ed" while biking over to a friend's place at night, I was ok but pretty bruised and my shoulder was killing me all of yesterday, so I couldn't swim. My neck felt off too, but with a good night's sleep, it feels much better- last night it hurt to swallow, now it's feeling pretty decent. I need to get to a chiropractor some day soon though.

I've had a couple of amazing weeks of racing, reminding me why I love this sport, but also definitely sending the message to my brain and body that I am much happier on a short course than a long one. I think this year will be my first and only Ironman, though of course, I'm not ruling anything out. 3 days ago, I did the Nautica NYC Triathlon, PR-ed with a 2:24 finish (good considering I haven't trained for this distance at all), and was the 28th female overall, out of about 2000. It was my first elite age-group race, which meant a dive start... but more on that in it's own post. Also PR-ed and got to check off my first summer goal of getting a sub-20 5k- at the Sprintin Clinton 5k two weeks ago, I finished in 19:37, 3rd female and 16th overall out of about 300. Pretty stoked.

Lastly, a list of things I've been thinking about while training, or while thinking about training.

When I'm on the trainer, I ride faster when I watch episodes of The Batman Superman Adventures or the Justice League, as opposed to watching the Tour or a triathlon special.
Also, Hercules and Mulan, the Disney movies. Why? 2 words: training montages.
Sometimes when I run alone in the park near my house, I assume that there are zombies chasing me. This makes me go faster.
Same is true for any open water swimming that I do.
Speaking of swimming, I am steadily liking it less and less these days. Maybe it's because getting to the pool is a pain in the butt since Robbie and I don't have a place in New Brunswick at the moment. Or maybe it's the really long swims that are scheduled. Or maybe I just hate swimming inside when it's so nice out. Regardless, down with swimming!
I did make a new friend while aqua-jogging though. He's racing next weekend in LP, along with a couple other people I know and love (good luck to all of you racing!) He and I have done a couple races together (unknowingly) and we keep showing up to swim and aqua-jog at the same time, so we get to chat while running. It's nice to meet another triathlete!

At any rate, race reports coming momentarily, hopefully there are still people reading this, despite my spotty performance updating and keeping up with everyone else lately!

A Preview of Posts to Come...

2010-07-20T18:47:00.001-04:00

Stupid Zombies...

2010-07-11T04:02:00.004-04:00

If you look at the timestamp on this post, it should read somewhere in the vicinity of 3 am. This is not a mistake, this is the result of a zombie nightmare. I'm such a baby for a 23 year old, but I have yet to get back to sleep from it. This normally happens on a race day, but the only race on tap for tomorrow is the Sprintin Clinton 5k, a big local 5k I did last year and came in 4th in. But that isn't until 6:30 tomorrow night, so I don't think that's much of a stresser. Part of it is probably from the fact that in the past few days, I've spent a whole lot of time in the hospital. Visiting, not being a patient. My mom was super sick the past couple weeks, and it turns out she has Lyme and a couple of other tick related diseases. Left unchecked, they got a whole lot worse, so she's stuck on IV antibiotics and feeling a lot better, just bored and sick of being there. It's been hell on my training and life in general, since I'm currently sort of homeless, but bouncing to New Brunswick to try to rent out our old place, and trying to train like normal. That didn't quite happen, since I'm also trying to spend a lot of time at the hospital keeping mom company. So, it's been hectic. But then again, what else is new? I have learned just how hard mom works to keep her house relatively clean- I can handle a small apartment, but man, keeping a house decent is hard work! We didn't realize she had left a trashbag outside, and this was the result:
Look in the way backyard. Yep, that is an enormous black bear, dragging a garbage bag. It then tore it open, laid down, and chilled in the backyard and had a snack. Gotta love rural NJ!

Anyway, pre-hospital, it was a good week. After Dad and my traditional bike ride to the parade (he's been doing it for 30 years, I've been doing it for 3), my sister and I went to the beach on Monday. She took some great pictures of me, I was super stoked about them:

Other than that, it's been a busy and harried week. Next week is Nautica NYC Triathlon at 6am, followed by a track omnium at Kissena at noon. I'm stoked to do two races in one day! Should be interesting to do my first short(er) course race of the year. No clue how it'll go, since I'm totally untrained for a race of that length, but here's hoping! I don't know how well the beginning will go- pros and elite amateurs get a dive start, and I've never done one before. It's scary, since we'll be the first waves out and if I get separated from the pack I'll be in sort of no man's land. I hate that.

But, I'm borrowing trouble. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to prowl the house looking for zombies and potentially snacks. Hopefully I can get back to sleep, otherwise my poor dad and sister might be confused as to why they hear the trainer going at 4am...

Havin' a Heat Wave...

2010-07-07T13:56:00.002-04:00

If you live in the MidAtlantic, you know what it's been like here the past few days. Hot, hotter and hottest- I did a run in 108 degrees yesterday. This does not make for the most comfortable climate for training or for moving, and I've been busy with both.

We finally got all of our stuff moved out of the apartment, thank goodness. However, I'm beginning to feel like a real estate agent, since Robbie and I are trying to get the place rented- the sooner it goes, the sooner we don't have to pay rent on a place we aren't living in. We'll be free Sept. 1 regardless, but we're hoping to get it rented for August. So, keep your fingers crossed for us! We're showing it a lot this week, hoping someone is interested.

4th of July weekend was just a long training weekend- 6 hour tough ride Saturday followed by an hour long hill run, followed thankfully by an ice bath. Sunday was a bit harder, my stomach was not interested in working properly, so running was tough, and the heat made everything worse. On the bright side, my dad and I completed another year of our tradition- riding our bikes to the parade in Lebanon, about 15 miles of hills away. Dad's been doing the ride on July 4 for over 30 years, and I've been with him on it for the past 3. It's pretty neat, having something like that every year.

Monday, my sister, her best friend and I went to the beach. It was boiling out! Still, I got this picture of me, which I'm kind of fond of:
I need a haircut. Hopefully this week...

Anyway, I have some big plans in the works, writing, life and training-wise. In the immediate future, I'm finally racing at the track again tonight- after 4 weeks of not being able to go- and next weekend is the NYC Nautica Olympic Triathlon, my first elite-amateur event. I'm super psyched, and it's even better because right after the triathlon, I'm driving to Queens to Kissena for a track omnium! The tri starts at 5:56 (or my wave does anyway), so I should have plenty of time to get to Queens by noon, though I may not be racing too fast.

Right now, training (and blogging) are hard because we aren't living in any one place, we're drifting between Robbie and my parents' houses, with the occasional layover in New Brunswick crashing on a couch. That means a lot of time without a computer, and a whole lot of training issues, the main one being not having easy pool access at the moment. The other is that I don't like riding or running at Robbie's- the area is nice but it's just not my favorite for a good ride or run. So it's a struggle, and it will be for a while, I'm sure. Heck, we may end up commuting next year, which sucks but would save money. It sucks being a big kid sometimes...

Anyway, back to work!

The Aftermath and an Explanation

2010-06-30T14:28:00.002-04:00

So before I go into my glowingly happy review of my loooong training weekend in Lake Placid, I'll briefly explain why in the heck I've been progressively getting more and more lax about updating this darn thing.

Really, I blame the bedbugs.

What started out as a problem on the first floor of the house where Robbie and I reside in a teensy attic apartment moved its way upstairs floor by floor. In March, just in time for Robbie's birthday, we had our first infestation. Some of you may know the drill: move every bit of clothing and fabric out, wash and dry on high heat. Exterminator comes in, steams and sprays, life goes back to normal. This happened in March, and until June, it really had seemed like the problem was gone. Then, with my birthday just around the corner- the say after Rev 3 to be precise- I woke up with bites. Last time, I had avoided getting bitten for some reason. This time, Robbie and I were both getting bit. Not great. We tried to write it off as allergies, but we both ended up with infections, and doctors confirmed that they were bedbug bites. Enter the exterminators for round two. Again, everything moved out, cleaned, steamed and sprayed. We figured this had to be the end of it- the universe was clearly testing our relationship, but rather than growing apart and getting in fights, if anything it cheesily brought us closer together. We have a united front against bugs!

So, last Tuesday, we moved back in. Wednesday as I woke up for work and woke Robbie up to say goodbye, he looked at his arm. "Crap." 2 lovely new bites. These are some kind of evolved species of bedbugs or something, a superstrong variety, probably robots put in place by government agents, set up to look like devilish bedbugs but really a ruse to get DNA samples... or maybe we've just been watching waaaay too many seasons of the X-Files.

Of course, this happened less than 24 hours before I was leaving for Lake Placid for training for 4 days, but I was mad as hell. That day, we decided to tell our landlord that we were leaving. The upshot is that we called him when I got back from training, and he agreed to let us out of the lease in September. He's a pretty nice guy and we felt bad about having to leave, but we can't stay there. However, clearly this presents a problem: we move out now, but can't move anywhere else until September, so all of our stuff needs to go to our parent's homes. And since we can't afford to pay 2 rents, we're stuck without our own place until September, assuming we can find one by then. Fantastic.

So, now that I'm 23, the year my best friend's dad once told me was the best age of his life, I'm somewhat homeless. Or rather, we've sort of become vagabonds, shifting from Robbie's parents house to mine. Not the way one wants to go about Ironman training- especially since this limits my pool access a bit.

The worst part about all of this- other than the bites and the inconvenience of moving- is just how crappy it makes you feel, being embarrassed to admit that you have bugs in your house. Even though we did everything right, have a nice clean place, followed the exterminators instructions to the letter, we can't seem to get rid of these godforsaken bugs. They're obviously in the walls, and god knows our apartment is pretty substandard in terms of construction. It sucks to feel like something is your fault when you know you've done all you can.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of moving and the rest of the week will be more of the same. In the meantime, I have pictures and tons of great stuff from Lake Placid, and I'll get them posted soon!

That's really the long and short of why my posting has been so erratic for the past few months- it seems like every time we fix one thing, another minor crisis ensues, so it's been damage control pretty much daily. I find myself wishing I could skip the next couple of months- even though it's summer vacation and my favorite season- and just get everything over with so we can just be settled in somewhere again. Before either of us has a nervous breakdown.

(Bad News)

2010-06-16T10:23:00.003-04:00

While it seems like I'm chock full of good news these days, a lot of why I haven't been posting much has to do with the bad news. Because as we all know, you can't have the good without the bad. So, without further ado, here it is!

1. Asthma: I need to go to a doctor to look into the possibility that I have exercise induced asthma, like I had when I was a kid (luckily, when I was young I was anti-sports, so it was never really much of an issue). However...

2. I don't have health insurance at the moment. My school has a policy that I had been using but it looks like I may be able to get on my Dad's plan since I'll be a full time student in the Fall. But right this second, I am un-covered. This whole insurance issue came about because...

3. I have this charming problem on my inner lip where a membrane went kind of nuts. The oral surgeon told me that I needed surgery, but the day before I was supposed to have it, the thing disappeared on it's own. I was obviously happy, since it was going to cost about $700 to get fixed. However, it seems like it might possibly be coming back. So right now I'm a little on edge about that. And on that same note, I had to take Robbie to the doctor yesterday about a rash that we both seem to have on our hands and elbows. The doctor had the worst possible news...

3. It seems that we still have a bedbug problem in our apartment (thank you guys on the first floor who brought it into our house). Last time, they didn't seem to bother me, just Robbie. Either they've evolved and gotten really angry, or suddenly I'm a whole lot tastier, because now they're going for me too. And naturally this is happening after the warranty on the exterminator who supposedly got rid of the damn things the first time has already lapsed. Granted, our landlord is the one who pays for it, but still, that sucks. Also, now it looks like we have to again tear everything in our apartment apart, clean and re-wash everything, and this time, we can't use my parent's washer/dryer so we have to take everything to the laundromat. I'm not looking forward to living out of bags again, but luckily I can go stay at the parent's for the days that we're banned from the apartment without it being a huge hassle. It's not like I'll be missing much, since...

4. It seems like everyone except Charlie (and my new pals Andy and Konrad) is gone for the summer. Matt is in MA doing a theater internship, Mark is all over the place, and even Charlie is at his parent's house most of the time, so there aren't too many people to hang out with on nights Robbie's at work, which also sucks because...

5. Robbie's schedule is literally the opposite of mine. He works Mon-Wed nights, I work Wed 8-5, and then on Thurs and Fri. Of course, this schedule won't last forever, which is kind of bad because starting in July, I'll be working a whole lot less since...

6. The kids I nanny for are moving a month earlier than planned, which leaves me with a huge chunk of the summer where I don't have enough time to find another job, but I could really use one. I'm talking to one of the mother's of a kid in Ella's class about sitting for her, but it won't be the same. And I'm gonna miss my kids!!

So, that's the long and short of it. It's been a frustrating couple of days, just a whole lot of stuff piling up on me at once. We'll manage to get through it and everything, it just seems like the universe is lined up against us at the moment.

Still, I was reading my old zine that I wrote about 4 years ago, and my New Year's Resolution for that year was sort of the theme of the issue. The resolution was to STAY POSI. So I'm attempting to do so, tough as it may be.

(Good News)

2010-06-16T10:06:00.004-04:00

1st of all, the big news:
I finally got my Cat 3 upgrade in Road Racing!
Very exciting stuff.

Also in the "Good News Category":
1. Won my first track race 3 weeks ago

2. Every week I race track, I get better and beat girls that were beating me the previous week

3. Just got my very own (cheap) track bike. So psyched to use it!

4. My birthday is this Friday- finally I'll be my race age (23)

5. My mom got me some sweet new shoes for my b-day (ok, I picked them out. And went and bought them for her. But still.)

6. I got these excellent posters for my room at my parent's house (don't laugh):
My room looks like a 15 year old dokry kid's room- the walls are painted gray, it's really small, and I've got a record player, my record collection, my sweet posters, and a bunch of stuff my mom picked out, like cute jewelry boxes and nice framed pictures of me as a kid, stuffed animals on the bed (and a zebra print throw and pillows). It's pretty excellent, it makes me feel like I should be talking on my old phone (with my old phone line that was also out internet hookup) to my old best friend about boys and clothes.

7. And this poster was for Robbie and my place in New Brunswick: (We're nerds. Obviously.)

8. Next weekend I'll be in Lake Placid for 4 days of jam-packed solid training time. I'm stoked! It'll be good to refocus, and it gives me a few days to really start thinking about IronMan, spend more time blogging and writing, and do all good for me stuff like actually eat fruits and vegetables and start leaning towards eating more vegan-friendly again.

9. Speaking of vegan, this article on "Diet and Exercise to the Extremes" about vegan ultramarathoner Scott Jurek has me seriously considering a return to being vegan. For those of you who don't know, I was vegan for a couple years, I've been vegetarian/vegan for 6 years now. When Robbie and I moved in together, I went to being vegetarian and he stopped eating meat, a good compromise. Now that we've been together for quite some time, I think it would be possible for me to go back to being vegan. The only problem is that I really really really love pizza...

10. There was also this article, and it made me go out and buy a couple of nifty huge glass vases for a new "project". Just what I needed! I used to have an obsession with terrariums as a kid, it's clearly back again.

11. Speaking of projects, I have some great fabric and I have big plans for it. Also, more changing skirts are currently in the works for Andy, Konrad, and myself.

Lots going on, as per usual. But what else is new?

Rev3 Race Report

2010-06-08T14:26:00.004-04:00

(Finally) time for the Rev3 "race report."
As a rule, I'm not overly fond of writing race reports, but I'm willing to give it a shot. We headed for Connecticut on Saturday (June 5, not this past Saturday!). Dad had to work until alter in the afternoon so mom and I headed up on our own. This wasn't great, as neither of us knew how to get there and the Mapquest directions apparently didn't either. This resulted in sitting on the side of the NY Turnpike looking at a map and trying to decide on the best course of action. Thankfully, I figured it out and we made it in 4 hours- an hour over what the driving time should have been.

I planned on getting there in time to utilize their 1.5 hr open swim time, and I got there with just enough time to sprint for the beach, pull on my bathing suit and goggles, and hop int he balmy water for about 20 min. I chatted with some people, spotted Matty Reed and Natasha Badmann, got entirely too intimidated to even say hello, and generally got used to the water. It was warm, decent visibility, but lots of seaweed on the bottom, which freaks me out a bit.

Then, registered and went onward to our hotel about 20 min away. I had to check my bike but I was waiting on Dad to get there to help decide if I should go road or tri bike (the weather channel was predicting thunderstorms for the race day), and to check my bikes over. We got to the hotel early and had to wait for our room, but it was ok since Antiques Roadshow was actually happening in the hotel lobby (no joke!) It was pretty awesome giggling with mom about other people's "treasures."

Finally, Dad showed up and we headed back to Rev3. While checking my bike (road, in case you were wondering- I race well int eh rain on it and I've never ridden the new tri bike in the rain), I realized my transition spot (they were numbered) was literally the best seat in the house. It was right by the exit, set perpendicular to all of the other racks, and it was my bike and 4 others. Talk about easy to spot! I couldn't have asked for a better spot to put my stuff. While I was in transition, a guy with some really awesome tattoos came over to the fence and asked if I lived in Philly. I said I used to be there a lot and I race a lot in that area, and he said he absolutely had seen/talked to me before. So, I made a friend! Funny, he reminded me so much of Matt form the team, yet rather than only bike racing, he's strictly a triathlete! Matt wasn't thrilled with my comparison...

Anyway, we went to the briefing, got lost on the bike course while attempting to preview it, and got pretty substandard pizza at a place by the hotel.

Sunday at 4 a.m., Dad and I were up and getting ready. Because of the humidity, the Clif Shot Bloks (Margarita- yum!) that I had cut into smaller pieces (the regular size is too big) were stuck together, the tap water tasted terrible when I went to fill my bottles, and generally I wasn't feeling too hot.

We got to the race site and I was attempting to get a bagel down but just couldn't. I wasn't nervous, just kind of queasy. Still, I managed to hit the bathrooms enough times, get my wetsuit on and get down to the beach with time to spare.

I was expecting to be more panicky, but even standing in the water and sneaking up towards the front of the pack, I was feeling pretty relaxed. Then, the horn sounded and off we went! I got out quick, and got into a comfortable stride pretty fast. My goal was just to stay ahead of most of the pack, stay comfortable and not use up much energy at all on the swim, saving it for the bike. I think I could have pushed a little more, but I came out pretty well. There were about 20 women ahead of me, but it was a pretty huge pack we started with, so that wasn't too bad. This was my first BIG race, with an actual pro field and some pretty serious amateurs, so it was kind of intimidating. Still, I was feeling pretty good about my position as I left on the bike.

The bike course was VERY hilly- someone later told me it had about 2000 feet more climbing per loop that IM Lake Placid-- having never been there, I don't know, but it felt like a whole lot of climbing and not a whole lot of downhill or flat sections. I realized just how much road, cyclocross and track have helped my racing though- when it came to corners or technical sections, I was zooming past people! The bike went pretty well overall, nothing spectacular, other than being super stoked I managed to get water twice from aid stations, put it in my aero bottle, and toss the bottle while still riding. I drank, I ate, I felt pretty decent, and I was still trying to save stuff for the run. Finished with about 18.5 mph for my average speed, and with the amount of hills there were, I was pretty happy about that.

By the end of the bike, I was second in my AG, and about 30th overall. Even with forgetting to have my shoes unlaced and ready to go on, my transition time was pretty awesome, but as soon as I started the run, I could tell something was off. By now, it was about 85 degrees out and you could feel the humidity pressing down. I normally have no problems with running in heat or humidity, but as a kid I had exercise induced asthma, and it looks like that kicked in again. By mile marker 1, I was starting to really had trouble breathing, every time I took a breath, it came out a squeak. By mile 2, I was starting to get pretty freaked out. I kept pushing on though, wheezing like crazy and not being able to get a decent deep breath in. Finally, by mile 6, I had to stop to walk for about 150 feet or so, just so I could walk with my hands behind my head to open up my lungs to get some air in. The rest of the race, I was alternating between walking like that and running, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. I couldn't drink or eat, I was starting to feel really sick and generally not good. But still, Death Before DNF!

I kept pushing, running when I could, walking when I couldn't. I was drenching myself in water at every aid station, just trying to keep my body cooled down a little. It wasn't helping all that much, but at least I was moving. Turns out I ran 9:40s, which is waaaay better than I expected, given how much I had to walk.

Finally, hit mile 13, and with the finish in sight, I realized that I had another woman coming up right behind me. I saw the finishing chute, and just gave it everything I had- who needs to breathe EVERY minute, anyway? I sprinted down the chute so I beat her by 4 seconds, surprising myself, and the announcer, judging by his commentary ("And look at her goooo!")

Finished, saw Mom and Dad, and laid down on the ground trying to breathe again. I ended up 50th female (out of 250 including pros) and 2nd in my AG, which earned me a pink Fuel Belt (so cute), and a $75 Cannondale certificate. Not bad!

It took all Sunday before I started feeling normal again, since eating and drinking and breathing were hard even after the race finished.

Pictures are forthcoming, though there aren't too many. Amazingly, my running pictures make me look much better than I felt at the time! Here's a preview:
Please note the sweet RUCX (Rutgers Cyclocross) top that I'm wearing. Represent!!

The Weekend Before Last

2010-06-01T19:59:00.002-04:00

Some snapshots from last weekend and the weekend before up in NY State Parks (Harriman and Bear Mountain.)

Lots of bike riding, gorgeous views, and swimming in a lake that ended up being heavily populated by poisonous watersnakes, as we found out thanks to a Russian fisherman who came up to Andy and I while we were waist-deep in water and said, "no swim. are many snakes." Fantastic.

Isnt' it pretty?

Here's Andy, the poor guy who got sucked into training with me.

The amazing lake we were swimming in.

Can you find the water snake?

It's been HOW LONG since I Updated?!

2010-05-21T11:14:00.001-04:00

It's been a hectic week. We had a rally for state workers to get ready for at work, so I was working 14 hours days pretty much all week. It was all I could do to stay sane, and left very little time for blogging.

So, the last couple weeks in review:
First, the 5k and fun run that I did last weekend. It went well, I managed to be 3rd female and come in in just about 20 min exactly (dammit, I'm gonna break 20 one day!), and had a good time. Race felt good, even if it was a little rushed- I did the fun run with Nethaniel, the 3 yr old I sit for, and it took us 18 min, ended 5 min before the 5k started, so it was a bit hectic getting from one place to the other. Still, I was super proud of my boy!
Here we are:

So, the weekend was good. Then, work work work, but luckily, because I worked Monday and Tuesday, I could sneak out Wednesday at 4 to hit the track for my first ever track races! I got there and Joe, the guy who ran the awesome track clinic I went to, had a sweet track bike for me to borrow, and gave me all kinds of great advice.
I got there and was setting up, when 2 guys my age came over and asked if I knew Charlie or Matt. Turns out, they had met my 2 best teammates at a race in Newark and were really good friends with them. So, we hung out the whole race, and I made two new excellent friends. More on that later though...
Track racing was fun, though with a Womens field instead of categories, I was racing against people who knew what they were doing and were Cat 1-3s. Which I am not. So I didn't do amazing, but I think I held my own for my first race. Joe said I did really well, especially for a first time out, and I had a lot of fun just going FAST!

(Not the best picture of me, but whatever.)

Then, I worked, and worked, and worked. On Thursday though, instead of taking a dinner break, I called up Andy, the guy from the track (who goes to Rutgers Newark) and convinced him to do his first run since high school with me at a nearby park. Thank god! It was a great run, got to stretch my legs instead of sitting in my office eating, and Andy is hella fun. So, good day in all, though when I showed up for the 6-9 shift, my bosses made fun of me for showing up in running gear. Whatever!

At least on Friday, I got to hang out with this little guy instead of being at the office:

Saturday was a huge rally down in Trenton for state workers and teachers- 35000 people, to be precise. It was great, but hot and humid, and I was working taking video and pictures, so I got a teensy bit dehydrated. Working 10 hours on a Saturday is never fun.
Then, right after that, I had to get home, shower and get to my cousin's birthday party where they attempted to get me to play beer pong. Yeah right. I was home and in bed at 9, totally burned out.

I needed the sleep though, because bright and early Sunday, I headed to Fort Lee to meet Andy and Konrad for a 6 hour ride to Bear Mountain- all hills. What a great day! More pictures of that to come, but I was so proud of them for making it for 6 hours, and super proud of me for tackling those hills- especially the 5 miles up Bear Mountain. Then, descending it without using brakes! Charlie and Matt would have been so proud! Andy and I are going to do some open water swimming next weekend, weather permitting, and I'm super stoked. I think I may have convinced him to try a tri with me this summer! Yes, another convert!!

So, now that I had a rest week (not much rest, more work), I'm feeling pretty pumped about the half IM in 2 weeks, and pretty ok about Ironman in general. I'm glad to get back to training a lot, I missed it! Plus, now that I can race track on Wednesdays, that makes things more fun.

Speaking of which, off to ride with Charlie. Hopefully, more time to update in the near future...

Molly and the Bad Mood

2010-05-12T14:04:00.002-04:00

Ever get that "the weight of the world is on my shoulders" feeling? The one where when someone suggests changing a picture hanging on your wall, you end up slamming doors and refusing to come inside the house?

Well, welcome to my world the past few days.

It seems like everything is piling up all at once: student loans that need to start getting paid off after not being aware that they existed, a full semester's tuition to start scrounging for, a bunch of race related expenses looming in the near future, a ton of work at the office that is going to take up most of my free time in the coming weeks, the nannying job that I love so much being over in August because the family is moving, having some kind of godawful sinus infection that's been coming back pretty much monthly for the past 5 months or so, sore legs from something, either track or weight training, an apartment that needs some serious cleaning and repairs, stuff for the cycling team that I need to do but I need other people to start cooperating, and being bogged down with Ironman training. Not to mention friends that have been either busy with finals, missing in action, or just aren't hanging out anymore. So yeah, I'm in a bit of a bad mood. Not even bad, just... and I hesitate to say it, but depressed. Normally I can snap myself out of it, but lately I've been in a bit of a funk and I'm having a tough time getting out of it.

Hence, the lack of posting. I prefer to post less pessimistic things, since I don't like being bummed out and therefore prefer to not write when I am. But I figured an update and explanation was in order, and frankly, I had a desperate need to vent.

Also, I have to admit: I cannot wait to be done with Ironman. It's one of my life goals, and I would kill to race at Kona, but Ironman is just not where my heart is. Give me sprint or Olympic distance, let me go fast!!

Which leads me to the one major high point in my life at the moment. I never thought I would say it, but I loved the track clinic on Sunday. There's something awesome about getting back on a fixed gear bike- I love handling them! And as for the banked corners, bring it on! It was fun, I made friends, and next Wednesday I'm doing my first race at Kissena, thanks to the fact that one of the organizers works right near me so he can bring me to the track and home after racing. Score! It turns out I don't actually suck at it, but we'll see what racing brings. I just need something to do every so often that involves going really fast... endurance is great and all but it's mentally taxing in a way short course never is for me.

This weekend I'm also doing a fun run with my 3 and 4 year old... the kids I nanny for, of course. Them, their mom (my good friend) and I are going to do a fun run, then Mommy and Molly are doing a 5k right after. I'm goaling for a sub20 min race, but with all the endurance stuff I've been doing, I don't know how fast I'll be. Plus, if this stupid cough doesn't go away, that won't be much fun.

It's not to say that everything is terrible. Things really aren't that bad, I've just been letting the little stuff really get to me. Maybe it's because I assumed that when the semester ended I would have a chance to breathe and not feel so busy, but that hasn't been the case at all. I think it's just when a ton of little things get to you, it's almost worse than having one big bad thing happen because it's so much to deal with, but at the same time, nothing particularly tangible.

Enough rambling, time to get back to the next project on the list...

Thanks for listening, and I promise to get back into a good mood ASAP!

Some Goings On and Random Thoughts...

2010-05-06T21:14:00.002-04:00

I know I haven't blogged in forever, I'm sorry! Honestly, I've been feeling overwhelmed and busy and unmotivated and frankly working hard just to stay motivated enough to finish my workouts. Which I've been doing.
So yeah, to sum up: Ironman training = being very very tired
Finals time sucks- not because I have a lot of finals, more that I have to tutor athletes through theirs, plus none of my friends have been able to hang out because of studying and stuff, which hasn't done much for my mood.
I just ate entirely too much pizza just now after a track workout. Blehhh...
I did a 5 hour ride and an hour run on Saturday and got insanely dehydrated
...but I got to take an ice bath afterward.
It was about 90 degrees out. holy hell. literally.
But... I got to spend part of my ride with the ex-mayor of my town, who used to be a cat 2 rider and a track national champion back in the day. He told me I had amazing leg definition. It was weird, but a nice 25 miles!
I also got to ride a tandem bike for the first time ever when my friend Dan finally visited from Maine! We tailgated the NJ Marathon on his porch, cheering on runners, then went to the beach, had the best ice cream ever, and had a really awesome day. He's in a children's band with his brother, and honestly, they kinda rule. I'm planning on visiting Maine in June, if he can put up with me.
Rev3 Half Ironman in Connecticut is coming up the first weekend in June and I'm starting to freak out a bit, but in a good excited way.
I had a 5200 meter swim yesterday. Holy hell.
My coach is planning a training camp in Lake Placid in June- I can't wait!
I'm going to a women's track clinic this weekend at the Kissena Track in Queens, and I'm really stoked about it- Matt and Charlie have wanted to get me to the track so I'm planning on surprising them with it.
Hopefully I won't kill myself doing it.

Honestly, I'm hoping in the next week or so, now that the craziness of the semester is over, I'll be posting more and generally feeling good about training. Things have been kind of rough lately, just hit a mental hurdle, but I think I'm starting to turn it around. Summer vacation, whoot!

It's Because We're a Family

2010-04-27T18:46:00.003-04:00

So we finally got a team shot of our sweet cowbell tattoos:

(Me- tat on the hip, Matt- on the back of his leg, Mark- on his arm, Charlie- on his back)

We are so cute!

Seriously, this is what being a team is all about. Good times, good racing, and some fairly ridiculous decisions...

We're Gettin' Famous!

2010-04-27T18:45:00.000-04:00

(This is my crew.)

Scarlet Cyclists Brave the Jersey Roads and Show their Competitive Edge
A venerable sports club has grown steadily and is attracting more women

By Jeff May

"Spinning your wheels is no way to get through college – unless you’re a member of the Rutgers University Cycling Team.

The team, a club sport established more than 30 years ago, has grown steadily in prominence over the past decade. Rutgers riders are now a force in cyclocross, a deviant strain of steeplechase that requires cyclists to slog through mud and rough terrain with frequent dismounts to scale stairs or leap over barriers.

It goes without saying that training in New Jersey takes a tough mindset. The state has a well-earned reputation as a snakepit for drivers, so it’s not exactly a hospitable place for pedal-pushers who share the road."

And here's the super funny part:
The composition of the team has changed in recent years as more women have joined. Molly Hurford signed up this past year to help with her off-season training as a triathlete, but wound up loving the sport. Her enthusiasm for cycling is summed up by the title of her blog, “Death Before DNF,” a racing acronym for ‘did not finish.’

“Anytime where you get to go 25 mph or 40 mph on a downhill is pretty awesome,” said Hurford, a graduate student working toward a degree in English Education. “It’s just a really, really great way to spend a weekend.”

Hurford doesn’t do things by halves, including training.

“I’m arguably the craziest on the team,” she said. “I train 25 hours a week pretty much throughout the year. Most guys do 8 to 12 a week.”

Check the full article out here.

Hilarious....

Off Road Adventures!

2010-04-19T10:48:00.001-04:00

The Dream Team

Even with a couple weekends away from road racing, I've managed to stay pretty busy. Months ago, Mark and I made plans to do the Hibernia Off Road Duathlon as a co-ed relay team- the Rutgers Cycling Team, to be precise, and since I do love my position on the team as "that triathlete," I very quickly agreed to do the run. Mark was in charge of destroying the competition on the mountain bike section, and my job was to kill it during the run. Can I just say, Mission Accomplished?

From Mark's brief race report:
"Molly and I crushed the team event. Rutgers won this last year, but had a fairly lackluster finish in the overall standings. This year with a much stronger team, we destroyed it. Molly had an amazing run and got me on the bike in third place. I passed the guy and second and got within 45 seconds of the race leader. He was, however, ridiculously fast, and I never made the catch. I did, however, put some serious time into everyone else. Molly and I did a flawless transition, and Molly KILLED the second run to come in 2nd overall.

Yeah, we beat all the other teams, male-male, coed, female-female, AND all the individual athletes (except for the overall winner who was sick,) some of whom were pretty elite."

Mark and I right after the race. Don't I look tired? In my defense, I just finished the second 5k, while Mark had 20 minutes to recover before this was taken!

So, my "race report":

The race was in Hibernia, which is about 2 hours from my parents house. Up at 5, on the road by 5:30- bleck. Dad (our unofficial team Dad, as many of you know) couldn't make it to the race but woke up at 5 am to make sure that I was ready to go and out the door on time with all my gear. Gotta love him!

Anyway, the directions from the website sent me to the right area but wrong Park Avenue- I was about ten miles from the race site, along with a few other SUVs toting mountain bikes, so we formed a small caravan and I somehow ended up finding our way to the park through guesswork and frantic calls to Mark. Luckily, we made it there on time.

It was nice doing a race where the only stuff I needed was shorts, a shirt, and my sneakers- normally pre-race is hectic because of all the equipment, from bike to wetsuit that needs checking, but this race was awesome in that regard. It was less awesome because it was the coldest day of April- hovering in the 40s with some wind. I was not psyched about the middle segment when I'd be waiting for Mark to finish the ride, waiting around sweaty and chilly.

The race was awesomely chill- no racks for bikes in transition, super nice race director that knew Mark (which led to some hilarious antics at the award ceremony), and generally a more relaxed crowd than any triathlon I've done.

The starting line was at the base of a grassy hill, and the course was 2.8 miles of off road, then an 11 mile (2 loop) mountain bike, then another 2.8 mile run. The director yelled Go and we charged up the hill. I knew that the trails would narrow fast, making passing tough, so I gunned it up the hill as fast as I could and hit the trail segment in the top 10, the first female. It took a good mile before people got strung out, and in that time, I worked my way up to 6th or so, still the first female. The trail was awesome- lots of rocks, streams, mud, logs, and general crap to hurtle, jump or run around. Plus, a lot of short but intense up and down hills. This is what I'm good at, so I was happy.

By the time the trail was easy enough that I could look back, there were only two guys in my line of sight, a decent way behind me. The course went way faster than I expected, and when I realized we were almost to transition, I stepped on the gas and sprinted it out. Apparently, I surprised Mark (shocked the hell out of myself too), since I was the 6th or 7th person overall (including some runners just there to do the 5k trail run), and the first woman (I would have won the 5k!).

Mark took off up the same hill I had started on, chasing down two men in front of him. When he came around to start the second loop, he had passed one of the men and was in second. The guy in front of him, as he said, was clearly elite, and he put more time on Mark in the second loop. Mark put a huge gap between himself and the people behind him though, so when he came into transition and I started, I knew I didn't have to worry too much about anyone coming up behind me. Even with the first man 2 minutes or so ahead of me, I still was entertaining thoughts of closing the gap, unrealistic as that may have been, so I went hard.

Mark coming into transition.

The second loop was easier in some ways but mentally harder- with no one behind me and one person way ahead, it was hard to keep my head in the game, but I think I managed fairly well. I have no idea how close we were to that guy's time, but I was really pleased with how we did finish.

Me looking amazingly silly after hitting the finishing chute.

This race was awesome- I realized that I'm better at trail running than I thought, and that Mark and I make one awesome team. Ahem- Duathlon Off Road Nationals next year, perhaps?

When they did the awards and they got to the co-ed relay category, the director pointed out that not only were we the first co-ed team, but we were the first relay team overall, and the second ones to finish the race in general. I was stoked that the director came up to me and said, "you must be a runner, right?" (to which I replied, "heck no, I'm a triathlete!") and Mark got about a million compliments on his mad skillz on the mountain bike. In all, it was an excellent use of a Sunday!

Making the Best of Things

2010-04-12T10:45:00.003-04:00

This weekend ended up being a mandatory rest weekend, instead of a race on Saturday and Sunday. This was both good and bad.

Bad, because it was due to the fact that my leg cramp issues have come back, making it almost impossible to ride a bike at the moment, and they seem to be getting worse and spreading. It's a problem, but one that I'm painfully used to. It sucks that I am, but the fact of the matter is that this is what I seem to be stuck with. Right now, I'm trying a few things, including doing a rest week now, and a 3 day juice fast to "flush toxins" (more on that later). Robbie thinks I should see a chiropractor, and my coach recommended a bike fit for my road bike, since he thinks I may just be hitting a nerve weird. My friend Blake is thankfully willing to help me with that, so hopefully the fitting will help. I'm checking into the whole chiropractor thing, but my problem is that my health insurance isn't all that great. Still, it may be worth paying for even if it is pricey.

But the good side of things meant that Robbie and I had a really nice weekend together. We went to a huge used booksale (I came out with 4 bags of books, yay!), went to a party and saw a lot of old friends, went to a poetry reading where Robbie did a wonderful job reading, got "gourmet" veggie pizza, spent a lot of time on the couch reading, and went for a nice long walk by the Delaware River yesterday, since I couldn't run or ride.

Aren't we cute?

And here's me on this awesome suspension bridge in Frenchtown at a kid's park by the canal. The bridge swings when you walk on it! Awesome. I admit, right after this picture was take, I had a "minor" freak out because my leg started cramping even though I was just walking, and I got pretty upset and frustrated. Poor Robbie, thankfully he's super-understanding and great about stuff like that.
So, this weekend was chill, but in a good way (cramp issues excluded)... It was nice to be a non-athlete for a couple days, and spend the whole weekend with Robbie instead of only seeing him for dinner.

As for last weekend, I have pictures from Bucknell:

Warming up pre-team time trial. That's right, Rutgers Cycling Women's crew REPRESENTED at Bucknell, whereas our men's team only had 2 out of the 30 or so male racers. Can anyone say "Girl Power"? (OK, we also talked about the Spice Girls. A lot.)

Sunday's crit on the university campus- 8 turns, 2 hills, one massive downhill ending in a corner, a chicane, a speed bump, and a lot of potholes. Fun!

We look like we were dubbed into this idyllic farm picture. I love Amish country. We even saw a horse and carriage while racing!

Post race hang time- we're one wild and crazy team!

I'm sure in the next 72 hours there will be more posts from me detailing why I'm very very hungry and very sick of juice. But I think in the end, 3 days of juice fast will do me a lot of good, for a few reasons.

the whole "toxin" thing
the fact that I've been eating like complete crap and I need a serious kick in the ass to get back to healthy habits
it's a rest week, so might as well give my digestive system a rest too
I'll be so much better hydrated!
I'm hoping the toxin thing will help flush the crap out of the muscles in my legs, getting rid of the cramping
I read it does wonders for your complexion, as well as attitude. And with some of the annoyances in my life at the moment (cramping, USAC issues, job, school and financial questions about next year, et cetera), I could use a serious attitude adjustment.

So, wish me luck and I'll keep everyone posted.

Gahh!!

2010-04-05T10:45:00.003-04:00

OK, I promise I'll write more soon. Hopefully later today, in fact. But just to let everyone know I haven't disappeared off the face of the planet:

More soon, I promise. Suffice to say despite some minor setbacks, my cycling season was/is going pretty well, finally got enough points to upgrade to cat 3, though I'm waiting on the approval for that, and while I'm done with collegiate racing for the season, I'm super psyched about doing some real racing this summer. It seems like I'm actually good at this stuff, so who knows? Maybe I'll try to find a real women's team to race with, we'll see.

In the meantime, this weather is getting soooo nice out, it's making me really really miss triathlon!

It's been a really long few weeks, I'm looking forward to some kind of mini-break. We've had a lot to deal with apartment-wise (a bedbug problem that turns out may not have even been bedbugs but meant we had to wash everything and live out of garbage bags...), a lot of holidays and weekend races, watching good friends get crashed, bikes destroyed and pretty beat up- it's scary. Of course, it's also been fun (frozen margaritas in Philly with some super awesome dudes after the insane Philly Phyler race weekend), it's also been tiring, and I've just been beat mentally, emotionally, and obviously physically, and it hasn't put me in a frame of mind conducive to writing.

Like I said, more later. For now, I'm at work, then going out to enjoy the amazing Spring weather.

Race Season in Full Swing...

2010-03-17T10:59:00.002-04:00

Another successful weekend, but less successful on the blogging front, sorry! It may be a rest week, but it's Spring Break. Which for me is more hectic- we've been booted out of our apartment thanks to a bug infestation, and we spent the last couple days cleaning and we have to wash all of our clothes. Super fun. So we're carpetbagging between the parent's houses and trying to get it all worked out before school starts up next week. Between that and work, it's been a tough week. Thankfully, it's also been a rest week, which was sorely needed- and I wouldn't have had time to train anyway, so it works out perfectly!

Anyway, the interesting stuff: it was a great weekend, despite hurricane conditions, ridiculous wind and rain and freezing cold weather.

Grant's Tomb Criterium: 1st B (5th A/B woman)
Steven's Circuit Race: 2nd B (6th A/B woman)

Race season is going better than I could have possibly hoped. And I know it's cheesy to quote other blogs, especially about you, but frankly, I'm not used to reading about myself, so here we go.

From Ian Sullivan (one of the ECCC directors) blog, we have this on his "Quick Thoughts on Leading Teams" post under "Outside Wonders":

Rutgers: With Molly Hurford nailing it in the Bs (soon to be As if I was a betting man) and a decent contingent of men racers, they are certainly a force. If they bring out a few more key players and up their game. They could definitely finish the season in the top 10.

And from Joe Kopena, the ECCC Director's blog, there was this:

Watching from the sidelines, it definitely seems that the Women's B racers are out for overall wins and placings, and if they have to take them from the Women's A racers then so much the better. One of these days one of those B women is going to make the perfect move, have a great day, and totally take a race from the Women's As. I'm going to put my early money on Molly from Rutgers for that distinction.

Freaking awesome. I'm afraid I've become totally intolerable to my teammates and Robbie though. I'm so stoked about how the season is going and I think it comes off as obnoxious when really I'm just insanely shocked and excited. So, sorry to anyone reading this that's finding me annoying. I honestly had no idea that this season was going to go well, and I'm constantly in shock that it has started off this great. Hopefully I can keep it up!

The races this weekend were crazy. Grant's Tomb was some of the worst conditions I've ever ridden in- I legit thought I was about to be blown over most of the time. I missed the 3 woman breakaway, and no one in the pack had the legs for a breakaway except me after that. I kept trying, getting off the front, and realizing I was half a lap ahead of the group but totally alone. Maybe I should have gone solo, since I ended up pulling so much anyway, but the results would have ultimately been the same, so it all worked out. After the race, I got lots of hugs and stuff from a bunch of the other women racers. What awesome ladies we have in the conference- I even met a fellow ex-Irish stepdancer!

I was completely freezing and I couldn't eat for 30 minutes because my teeth were chattering too much. I raced in just a skinsuit and used embrocation on my legs to keep them warm, and I think I was probably better off than the multiple layer girls who were soaked and weighed down.

Steven's Circuit Race had slightly better weather, though we got there with very little time to spare because of a ton of roads closed from flooding. Still, we made it so I had time to register, hear from one of the directors of the ECCC that "don't worry, you'll get the breakaway one of these days" and get on the trainer to get a bit of a warmup.

Kathryn was right on the money though- the race started and here I'll add in part of the ECCC News Network's race report:

With one lap completed, the peloton was comprised of every single rapid racer, A and B riders alike. Buckley was still at the top for the second lap, this time accompanied by teammate Laura Ralston and Elle Anderson of Dartmouth College. These three worked together to pull away from the rest of the field, which instantaneously split into two additional groups. Only two distinct groups emerged the third time around the course, with Molly Hurford representing Rutgers as a B rider among a group dominated by A riders. (Hurford won Rutgers’ Criterium for the Women’s B category the previous weekend, and finished third for Rutgers’ Road Race in the Women’s B category.) The second group encompassed a majority of the B riders, with the exception of several Women A riders.
The field remained split in two for the duration of the race, with a few riders straying. Hurford, Anderson, Buckley, and McLoon refused to slack off in the first group, refusing to allow any riders from the second group to even mildly consider catching up.

Ha! I caught the breakway! The A women work like crazy in the breakaway though, using crazy race tactics and strategy that was totally beyond me. I stayed in the pack, led way more than I should have, started the sprint too early at the end, let them ride my wheel 100 feet to the finish line, and then got outsprinted by all of them. Yeah, I need to learn how to race my bike one of these days. I did get some compliments from the major A women though, and one of them was really grateful for one moment when 3 of the 6 of us broke away and I caught us back on when the other girl couldn't. So I feel like I'm on the map to some extent. I filed for my A upgrade, though I'm lacking a few points, and hopefully I get it before this weekend. If not, I'll just be trying to get it this weekend and with any luck I'll be able to get it for the week after, but I'm a bit antsy and I really want it. I'm landing in the top 6 in every race, so it stands to reason that I should be able to race As. Though as Joe did point out, it would be pretty awesome if a B woman won a race overall, and it would be even cooler if that woman was me!

Philly Phlyer is this weekend and I'm really excited to see some 'cross friends- and the weather should be mid60s and sunny! Heck yeah to running between/after races in short shorts!!

In other news, happy birthday to Robbie! He's finally 20, and even if we can't celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a bar, as long as I'm with him I know we'll have a great time. He puts up with a lot from me, and I love the poor guy beyond reason. Pictures of his birthday present will be coming shortly- I hope he likes it, though I'm sure most of you will feel sorry for him when you see what it is!

Best. Day. Ever.

2010-03-08T22:18:00.003-05:00

Holy Crap:

"The sprint finish also highlighted some of the tremendous strength and speed of some of the Women’s B racers. The Forth spot overall was snatched up by a hard charging B Racer from Rutgers, Molly Hurford. Her appreciation of the win noticeable and audible as she pumped the air with her fist and shouted. As she was able to beat about three-quarters of the Women’s A field, one would have to assume that she will be a force to be reckoned with as the season progresses."
(http://ecccnews.wordpress.com/race-reports/week-1-rutgers-frozen-toed-season-opener/womens-ab-criterium-report/)

Yes!!! (Noticeable and audible, love it!!)

Also, mentioned in VeloNews: http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/03/news/mit-wins-rutgers-race-in-season-opener_107417

And, my article got picked up by Triathlete and is somehow making its way all over the internet:
Running Tops for Women—Science, Fit, and “Feel”
What Finding the Perfect Sports Bra Can Do For You
http://competitor.com/2010/02/sports/running/running-tops-for-women%E2%80%94science-fit-and-feel_4821

So yeah. Today was a good day!

Grade for the Weekend: "Exceeds Expectations"

2010-03-08T10:44:00.012-05:00

Please note the super attractive face that I'm making as I outsprint the A rider at the finish for the crit.

Excuse me for a second while I brag a teensy bit.
B Women's TT: 3rd
B Women's Crit: 1st
A/B Women's Crit: 4th overall
B Women's Circuit Race: 3rd
A/B Women's Circuit: 8th overall
*to explain: the women's A and B fields were combined this year, so we race as a pack. It's generally expected that the A's will finish before the B's, so to be 4th or 8th overall is huge. Hopefully I'll be in the A's pretty soon.

In addition to doing really well, I got to help the team and garner a huge amount of points for us. Between me and the other amazing racers- including a ton of A men- we did really well this weekend. It was a huge shock to start the crit on Saturday and do that well.

As everyone knows, I've been super nervous about the races. I was sick, not feeling up to snuff, and generally nervous as hell. The time trial- 3 miles- went off smoothly, though I wasn't quite as fast as I had wanted to be. Still, it was enough to put me in third, only 5 seconds off the winner. I would have been in the top 5 A women had I been racing A's. I found that out seconds before the crit started, so it was a good way to get going and motivated!

Another major motivator: about an hour before the crit, DON showed up from Baltimore! I don't think I've ever been happier to see someone- I relied on his pre-race pep talks last year, and this year I was so bummed I wouldn't get one. Luckily, he got there right in time.

The crit started and I was literally shaking- so much that the girl next to me pointed it out. I naturally started in the back, as per usual. And got yelled at by everyone on the team, and my dad. So when we started, I jumped up and tried to move up. As we hit the first corner, I realized something: my heart wasn't racing, and I hadn't even noticed that we hit the corner! In fact, I didn't so much as touch my brakes. Very exciting stuff. Suddenly, I realized that I was moving up in the pack, in a very big way. And feeling great. When we hit the second lap, I realized that I was in the top three- out of A and B riders. Whoa.

I passed Cristian, who was marshalling, and he just yelled, "Whatttttttt???" then, "Go Molly!" It was awesome having someone in every turn cheering, and my dad and the A guys warming up were going crazy at the finish line that I was passing every lap. Finally, with one to go and 2 A women off the front of the pack, we were on the road right before the turn to the finish, when 2 other A women jumped. I was leading at the time, so I jumped with them. We hit the corner, and started sprinting like crazy for the finish. I passed the one girl (see the picture above) and then it hit me. I won my first race!

I've won triathlons before, but with them, you never know you won until after results are posted. And besides, you don't get to decide what your "winning stance" is. I found out that mine is a huge grin, one arm in the air, slighlty dazed and confused. I rode my cool down lap very hazily (apparently) telling everyone "oh my god, I won!" After the race, I rolled back to my family, grinned at my dad, who prior to the race I had told "oh god, I just hope I can stay in the pack." He just smirked at me, and says, "smartass."

Later, George said I was grinning like crazy the whole race, and he was right. Because it didn't hurt, I felt great the whole time! I should have jumped with the two A women, but I wasn't sure I could keep up. Oh well, next time... I'm finally thinking about race strategy, not just survival.

I texted Blake about it that night and he called to congratulate me. Apparently, coming in 4th with the A's is a pretty huge accomplishment, and to be honest, it kinda came out of nowhere.

Then, onto Sunday, the circuit race on the 2.4 mile course on Livingston Campus. I was crazy nervous, more so than on Saturday. Having set such a high bar for myself, I was terrified that it was just a fluke.

But, the race started, I positioned myself out in the front, and started another great race. To quickly summarize, I missed a 4 person breakaway by only a few feet and never managed to bridge up, but I pulled off in a 5 person breakaway of my own with some riders who I really have come to like a lot. We had a great few laps, almost catching the lead group, but not quite. Between the 2 A's and 3 B's in our group, we duked it out at the end, and I ended up the 3rd B woman in the race.

Rockin' the pace line in the breakaway

After my race, I had to run the 2.5 miles around the course, so I could get a small brick/cooldown in, and so I could cheer on my A boys! It was a great way to cool off after a long race, and definitely earned me some weird looks. Our team coach told me as soon as I finished racing, "go put on a jacket" I said, "hold my bike, I gotta run." He just laughed.

In all, it was a great weekend. But as my coach reminds me, this is just the small fish in the grand scheme of my race season- the important race is still months away! It's pretty great to get to race again, even if it is only "training" races. I'm having a great time, though the down side (kidding!) is that there's no taper or rest before each race- which is every weekend now through May. I kinda love that though.

So, a thank you to my team, who I most definitely want to stand with, throw down with, and completely and totally love. Mark did amazing racing B's, his leg seems to be in awesome shape and he did great. Matt and Charlie blew me away with their first foray into A racing, Will, Pat, LJ, and Greg all did great in the A's, as we knew they would, and everyone had a fantastic weekend. Charlie did a wonderful job organizing the race, and it was definitely worth the efforts we all put in, between getting race ready in terms of logistics, course setup, promotion, training, and everything in between.

"As for the rewards... For those and what they might be, you only had to watch the ECCC's awesome women for a little bit today and see how much happier almost all of them seemed to be. Sometimes you have a good race." -Joe Kopena, ECCC director

And I leave you all with this final view of the race:
Lovely.

Race Day #1

2010-03-06T19:51:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update-

Time Trial: 3rd Women's B

...and...

Crit: 1st Women's B, 4th Woman in the A/B combined field.

And it felt fantastic. My teammates made fun of me because I was grinning like crazy the entire race.

So stoked for tomorrow!!

More details to come...

Feet don't fail me now!

2010-03-05T21:27:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is race day. In about 9 hours, I'll be setting up the course and getting ready to (attempt to) kick ass on a 3 mile time trial and then a sketchy crit.

Feet (and legs) don't fail me now!!

In less good news, I think the spider bite I have on my arm is making sick. Like, really sick. At first I didn't notice the quarter sized swollen spot on my arm til it got really red. And I guess I should have noticed the two tiny holes in it that don't seem to be healing. But it started to go away... at the same time I started feeling really crappy. So I'm a bit nervous. Nothing like racing while potentially infected with some sort of spider serum. Let's just hope my spider senses are helpful in a race?

Seriously, it sucks to have started this week so positive about the race and now be totally bummed because I feel so out of it. We'll see how everything turns out...

Now, tea and bed.

2 Days Til Race Day, ARGHHHHHH!!!

2010-03-04T11:38:00.002-05:00

Whooo boy.

My arms are sore as hell, my hamstrings hurt, I've done two weight sets in two days- serious legit ones with new Olympic style lifts thrown in- and I've finally seen the race courses. Holy crap.

Luckily, Mark sent us an email with a link from Adam Meyerson's blog (the Rutgers team sort of kind of may possibly stalk him a teensy weensy bit). It's a letter to his team but it might as well be Mark's email to our team, honestly. It's about how being punk rock and being cyclists sort of are similar, and the lifestyle. But more importantly it's about being part of a team, and this was my favorite part:
"Do you love racing your bike? Is this team the gang you want to be a part of, to throw down with, to stand side by side with?"
(Read the rest...)

The answer is a emphatic "HELL YEAH!"

Just thinking back to cyclocross season, to the weekend in Rhode Island, to all the friends we made, and to the friends on the team that I've become so very close to in the past couple months, it's making me stop worrying about being fast, staying ahead of the pack, getting great results and being nervous as all hell about the upcoming season. Rather, I'm thinking about how much fun it's going to be, being with my best friends every weekend.

Of course, it's not without it's down sides. Robbie is essentially becoming a bike widower for a couple months, since between work and school it's not exactly possible for him to come out to races most weekends. But I'll make it up to him!

Speaking of my best friends though, last night I swam, then lifted with Matt, and then we made a huge tofu veggie stir fry for us and Charlie, followed by chocolate peanut butter vegan milkshakes. Sooooo yummy. And of course, we talked nonstop about the upcoming races. Thank god Matt and I decided to go out riding on Monday instead of lifting (45 degrees, perfect running in shorts kind of weather, yesss), so I could preview the courses. A little on the pothole-y side, yikes. But at least I know what I'm getting into. The guys make me nervous though- I hang out with mainly the A men on the team, so they spend race week doing things like gluing tubulars and other various bike maintenance things I've never heard of. And when I talk to them I feel like I'm somehow missing doing a ton of things that I should be doing.

Oi.

Luckily they assure me that I'm in ok shape for it, though Matt may lend me a race tire since my rear wheel is pretty much shot. Hopefully it works out.

So, wish me luck, and hopefully by Sunday at the latest I will have an excellent set of race results and pictures to share with everyone. Saturday is a 3 mile individual time trial, then a 50 min crit, then Sunday is the hour long circuit race. And of course, coach isn't pulling any punches, I still have to do 4 hours total riding on Saturday and and hour run after the race on Sunday. Yikes!

The weather is supposed to be gorgeous though, so I have high hopes. Bring on the hurt!!!

Indoor and Outdoor Training Days.

2010-03-01T10:30:00.005-05:00

It was a very indoor kind of week/weekend...
We were snowbound Thursday and Friday, and Saturday was crapfest '10 outside. I went out for an hour and a half run, and finished, but my stomach was not on board with it, my legs were feeling lazy, and I was just plain not enjoying myself.

However, I did get a lot done after the run. Went to the thrift shop, got great new sneakers at Marshalls, picked up my awesome new Lazer helmet at Effingers, and ate lunch at Chipotle with one of my best friends, AJ.

Then, home for a ride on the trainer:
I know, I look soooo happy. However, it got better when my sister put on Bye Bye Birdie and singalongs commenced:
(I just like the great view of my tattoos!)

Then, Sunday with a 4 hour ride on the schedule. Inside. Whoo!
Lucky for me, the family was around to keep me entertained. My dog wanted to share my oatmeal cookie (ok, so it's not a Powerbar, whatever.) I was nice enough to share.

Then, with 30 min to go, Dad and I decided to head over to the school parking lot across the road for some cornering, u-turn, and sprint practice. So we brought over cones and he basically yelled "go faster" and "stop braking" alternately for 35 minutes. It went pretty well though- I went into u-turns and stayed at 9-10mph, and was up to 22 mph pretty quickly afterwards. And I kept it up for basically the whole practice session.

While heading home, I annoyed/impressed Dad by riding around him in tiny circles.

In other news, we changed around the apartment. Apparently I was taking over our closet, so I fixed my old dresser and brought it to New Brunswick to replace the desk we rarely used.

It had no handles, so I added these all by myself! (So proud...)

And here's one just for fun, after finally finishing a ride and cleaning up!

6 days until the Rutgers Road Race. Thank god it's nice out today, hopefully I can check out the courses finally!!

A few random thoughts...

2010-02-22T19:36:00.004-05:00

Just figured out the downside of riding a century then commencing regular training the next day...

I can't stop eating! Seriously, it's insane how hungry I am today.

On the bright side, had a thoroughly excellent weight set with Matt at the gym today. Hello leg muscles!

And in other news, note the sweet super short buzzed sides... I know the mohawk isn't up, but this is how it looks most of the time:

Oh yeah- I was looking through some old stuff and stumbled across these articles from when I was writing for ELLEgirl, the teen magazine. Check out how "punk rock" I totally am:
(Yes that's my zine Deviant Behavior. And it's me posed on the cover of it. Wearing a Sex Pistols backpatch on my jacket. Whatever.)

My Weekend of "Rest"

2010-02-22T10:04:00.002-05:00

I know a century wasn't on the schedule. But with 40 degree weather and sunny skies, how could I resist? Especially knowing that race season is under 2 weeks away!

So it was an eventful weekend. Saturday was one of the best, most intense runs I've done in ages. 67 minutes with the second half at 1/2 marathon pace. My monitor was dead though, and even if I wanted to stick to 1/2 marathon pace, I don't have a clue what mine would be. So for the last 50 (that's sorta like half, right?) minutes of the run, I was going all out at my fastest sustainable pace. And it felt really fast! But even feeling that fast (probably doing a 7:15-7:30 pace), I wasn't getting tired. This means that my training is clearly working and the slow long runs are paying off. Hooray!

The century was intense. There were only 4 of us, which meant no hiding in the paceline. There were only four of us, 2 of whom were A men, which meant long stretches of riding at 22-24 mph hanging on. And we were in my neck of the woods, which meant hills. Lots of hills.

Yet amazingly, it didn't hurt. In fact, it felt pretty great. When I was hitting tough spots, I had Charlie to chat with, and Will had speakers in his back pocket blasting Lady Gaga and on one particular hill, "I believe in a thing called love" by The Darkness. It was a huge help! It was a lot of fun, and a great way to spend the day. I feel like I should write more about it but honestly, there's not a whole lot to say. We rocked a 4 person century, I think I probably hurt less than at least one of the guys, thanks to all of the endurance stuff I've been doing, and I am feeling a lot better about taking on the B women in the next few weeks.

Speaking of which, I sent coach my race schedule. He responded, "I want to make it realistic for you, as I know you don't know how to go at even 85%!" He's right, of course. I could start out with the best of intentions, but if I'm making the effort to go to a race, I damn well want to do awesome, not just ok.

So the plan is to turn down the volume a teensy bit and up the intensity. Which I'm stoked about. Honestly, race weekends don't take a lot out of me though. Usually I don't take long to recover from hour long races, which helps with training.

This week is all about refocusing. I was definitely lacking in motivation lately, but between a week off, a great run, and an amazing century with some awesome people, I'm feeling a lot more motivated to get seriously moving. Bring on the week!!

Sigh... Rest Week... Sigh.

2010-02-17T21:33:00.002-05:00

I must admit, I was ready for a rest week. I even have a sports massage scheduled for Friday! Granted, my rest week is still going to end up being somewhere between 14 and 17 hours, but it's been pretty awesome.

I've even managed to have some semblance of a social life in the past couple of days- lunch with my friend Melody (the only other tiny super tattooed mohawked adorable girl I've ever met that lifts weights as much as I do), who I hadn't seen in over a year; dinner with Mark that turned into dinner with Mark, Cristian and Matt; and plans for hangouts with a few other people in the near future.

Lately I've been having an identity crisis as well as an identity discovery. The good news is that I'm really starting to try to sort of balance defining myself as an athlete with defining myself as a relatively punk-rock 22 year old. This means instead of wearing gross sweatpants all the time and just buzzing my hair, I have the mohawk, I have earrings in again, I'm paying some attention to how I dress again. I'm making plans to have non-athletic hangouts! Baby steps, but important nonetheless. I feel like when I started seriously training a year or so ago, I lost a lot of what me-ness I had. It was there, but being defined as an athlete was more important. I feel like I'm finding a healthy balance again though. Not to say being an athlete is at all less important! In fact, I feel like this is a turning point in how I feel about being an athlete- I don't have to "act" like one, I simply am one. Which is kinda neat.

Anyway, onto the identity crisis part: I admit, I haven't been enjoying my education class this semester. It's about cultural diversity in the classroom, and much like ed psych, I feel like I'm learning reallty obvious stuff and paying a lot to do so. The problem is that it's the only way that I can get to be a high school teacher, which is what I want to do. I would love to get my English PhD, I miss English classes so much, but it's jut not realistic. So in short, I'm confused. I'm applying for Teach for America because the deadline is tomorrow, and I'm thinking about doing that to get my certification, then working towards my Master's. I'm just not sure about it at all. And of course, I would need to get into the program.

I'm getting psyched- road season starts March 5 with the Rutgers Season Opener, and I can't wait! I'm really nervous about road season, as my handling and pack riding are always a little shaky- I am a triathlete, after all- but it'll be good to start racing again. It sort of crept up on me though, I can't believe that the weekend after next I'll be racing! I need to get to the parent's house next weekend and collect all my race gear, very exciting. I bullied Matt into taking me out for practice and a course preview this weekend, and hopefully we'll get to do a Sunday Century so I can get used to group riding again. I'm looking forward to the season starting though- it's not as fun as 'cross, but it's still a great time! I think Dad's getting excited too...

I broke in new running shoes today- I went with Nike Pegasus, because apparently I needed a shoe with a lot less stability so I won't hurt my foot again. We'll see. I hate breaking in new shoes though, so I'm glad it was during a short run that I christened them. Hopefully they'll hold up now that...

My rest week is drawing to a close, with a total day off tomorrow but then a hour long half marathon goal pace run on Saturday plus course riding, then hopefully a century on Sunday. I'm so glad it was a rest week, I really needed it to get back to being really excited about training! Hopefully the weather will be a bit more cooperative come March, I can't take much more snow.

Hope everyone else is having a lovely productive week!

Snowday, V-day, and Later Days.

2010-02-15T10:20:00.006-05:00

First, a bit of history:
Rutgers Cyclocross Team podium when we won the ECCC Cross Conference! I finally found the photographer that took the picture, so we actually have proof we podiumed! Note the sweet cowbell trophy that Charlie is holding, that was part of the impetus for our cowbell tattoos. (So far, 4 out of the 6 of us on the podium have the cowbell tats.)

Anyway, I also bring you Snowday 2010 with RU Cycling:
I woke up to abot a foot of snow last Wednesday but rather than stay inside when I didn't have to work, I called Crisitian to see if he wanted to mountain bike. The offshoot was the Cristian, Matt, Andy and I took off through New Brunswick getting catcalls from collegiate students about how crazy we were and tried to take the towpath. In a foot of snow, acceleration is HARD! In the picture you can see me and Cristian sprawled out- I hadn't even fallen that much, but it was exhausting... But really really fun!

The snowday also spawned these two adorable pictures of Robbie and I:

As well as an epic snowball fight in the backyard with Robbie and Adam, doing awesome throw and dive motions, leaving us totally snow covered and tired. It also led to hours of shoveling- my back still hurts! OK, and my dad had to come to New Brunswick to get the truck out of the driveway... it was ice covered and our landlord never got anyone to salt it. Mehh.

I'll wrap up the week quickly- yesterday was Valentine's Day, so Robbie took me to Panera and then surprised me with my best present ever:

Meet Skeets, our new Beta fish. He's named after Booster Gold (my favorite superhero)'s robotic sidekick. Here's a picture of Skeets and Booster Gold together:
That's right, we collect action figures.

Anyway, in other amazing news, it is finally a rest week for me! only 10 hours (not counting riding to classes and the gym) on the schedule (though Sunday's 2.5 hr ride may end up a lot longer if the team does a century, but that's at the end of the rest week.) And it has "get a massage" on one of the days, and who am I to argue with my coach?! Fantastic..

It couldn't have come at a better time, too. I've definitely been feeling a bit on the burned out side lately- I blame the snow and being sick for the last couple weeks, but my motivation was definitely waning a bit. It's funny though, as soon as I saw the rest week schedule, I was already feeling more motivated to get back to high training volume again! It'll be a challenge to stick to actually resting this week, but I can use the time to do some much needed bike maintenance, the chance to get out and finally buy new running shoes, and maybe the chance to spend of time working on my new project...

At the bike team meeting on Thursday night, I accidentally got voted and accepted the position as sponsorship director for the team, typically Mark (Mama Bear)'s job. Yikes! Luckily, I'm really close to Mark anyway, so it should be fun. And I already wrote for our team blog, was planning on usurping the website son anyway, and put together the newsletter for sponsors anyway, so really, the job seemed pretty natural for me. I'm excited about it more than I realized I would be, I already have a ton of ideas. I admit, I love stuff like this. I'm nercous because I'm not so good with knowing what gear is good and whatnot, but that's what Matt and Charlie are here for! And Charlie made a good point- I'll pick it up fast enough. And that's good beacuse I really should be doing that anyway. So yeah, very exciting new project for the coming year.

Off to tutor and then gym for a new weight set with Matt!

Not homebound, just snowbound.

2010-02-10T08:56:00.002-05:00

Will I ever get to train outside again?

My sources say "no."

Seriously, first I can't ride the century because I'm sick, then I'm basically out of commission and not riding outside because of my sinus infection, then it snows and the century is canceled, then just as the snow melts, another foot of it gets dumped on New Brunswick.

What the hell!?

That's Robbie, being the best boyfriend ever and shoveling off my truck. Note the snow-hawk that he made on top though! ...Even my truck is totally punk rock.

Anyway, there was one shining bright side to this whole midweek snow debacle. I have the day off of work! Well, so to speak, anyway. I'm still working from home, but at least this means time to clean the house, do a ton of school work and catch up on writing, and of course, build an epic snowman. And hopefully coerce someone into mountain biking with me.

In other exciting news, I have a new addition to my teensy apartment'o'bikes. Well, not new, but I haven't used it in a couple years. My pink fixed gear is making an appearance in New Brunswick for the first time since 2007, and I'm pretty stoked. It has two flat tires that I intend on repairing today, but other than that, it is ready and excited to ride again!

Why? (you may be asking. And I woudn't blame you.) I blame Matt and Cristian. Matt has a fixie, punk rock as he is, and riding to the gym with him on a beater mountain bike is just embarassing. And slow. Not to mention I kinda sorta may have agreed to at least try out riding at the track this summer... Also, Cristian has been bugging me for months to "be more punk" and "ride the fixie again," so I'll make him happy. That and the whole bike handling thing... I think riding fixed definitely helps my handling skills, and the ridicuous gear ratio on mine basically guarantees a workout wherever I go.

Anyway, training... This week (sunday onward) marked the beginning of a finally not sick training week. Between the infection and funeral/viewing stuff, it was a rough week. By the end of last week, I was feeling better but still wasn't swimming, and was taking it pretty easy. Easy meaning a 15 hour week instead of a 20 hour one. And my diet got chucked out the window (happily, I have to admit. I do love pie...)

But this Sunday was kicked off with a 4 hour trainer ride pre-Superbowl (Century canceled due to snow), and Monday was weights with Matt and a swim. It's amazing how slow your swim gets after 1 week out of the water. Luckily, by the end of the set, I was almost back to normal...

Then, yesterday was the 3 hour trainer ride and then an hour run later in the day. Both felt good!

After 3 hours on the trainer, this is how happy I look. On the bright side, I'm wearing one of my favorite t-shirts, it's gross and huge but so comfy!

But... Road season for us collegiate types starts in only THREE WEEKS! And in the past month, I've ridden outside a grand total of 2 times on a road bike, and crashed one of them. Not great odds. The weather has not been kind to us this January. Still, I did a great FAST and HARD trainer ride on Saturday for 1.5 hours, and felt awesome, so BRING IT ON road season!!

And bonus: women's A & B racers will be racing together, thanks to the addition of the Women's C option, which means longer races for us B's, thank god! At least I'll get some decent training in, instead of 20 minute races followed by 2.5 hours spinning on the trainer. (Instead, I'll only spin 2 hours...)

So to sum up:
STOP SNOWING ALREADY!! I am really really really ready for summer, even if summer brings 28 hour training weeks, races galore, and IM nerves.

Sick. Not Tired, Just Sick.

2010-02-02T08:29:00.002-05:00

Not to be all mope-y, but...

I'm sick.

I'm one of those people who will tough it out normally to hit weekly training totals. But when I'm pretty sure that I coughed up a lung and have a whisper for a voice and am working from 10-10 today tutoring and nannying, I draw the line at waking up at 5:30 for a trainer ride and run. Between that and what I'm pretty sure is a staph infection in my finger that makes it hard to grip handlebars, I'm not in great shape. Then again, neither is any student at Rutgers, as apparently, this is the bug that's going around. Which means the health center is not exactly easy to get an appointment at.

I personally blame Matt. I think my training buddy purposely gave me his bronchitis, or whatever this is, in hopes of a week of no weight sets with me. Hmph.

Seriously though, I'm hoping that a day off will make me at least a bit better so I can get back to training tomorrow. I skipped a swim yesterday too- and while I thought I'd feel great finally getting some time off, it sucks.

Thankfully not training does mean that I have time to get to the health center and use one of their emergency appointments today, so hopefully they can give me some kind of antibiotics or something. I hope. At least, I want to make sure that it's nothing I need medicine for! Also, someone needs to fix my damn finger. It's ridiculous.

Other than that, I'd like to say it's been a great week but it hasn't. Mid run Saturday morning, my mom called to tell me that my aunt- who I was going to see later that day in the hospital- had passed away. So that made for a super fun rest of my run. And of course, the whole week is insane because of nanny and tutor obligations (the nannying is going to be cut back in a couple week but not yet so I'm doing double duty a few days), and now adding in going to the viewing and funeral, and family stuff afterwards. It'll be nice to see my family, even given the circumstances. My aunt had been really sick, so it wasn't a surprise, but she was an incredibly sweet lady who I loved very much, and she will be missed. It's a big comfort to know she had been in pain and now she isn't, and now she's with her sister, my grandmother, in heaven.

It's a tough week, to sum up.

So now, I'm going to get up, clean up, and head for the health center. Wish me luck...

...Death Before DNF...

2010-01-27T08:53:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about my motivations lately. And I've been thinking about what it takes to spend so many hours every week not jsut training, but really focusing on an end goal. Sometimes I end up chanting "it's worth it, it's worth it" over and over on a hard swim or run. Mostly, I don't have to remind myself of that, though.

When we were on our bike ride, I had a conversation with Charlie, where I said something about how even when I wanted stop and take a break or something, I was obviously not going to just quit, because everyone knows my "death before DNF" philosophy. And he said that until Rhode Island and NBX cyclocross, he didn't really get what I meant by it. But when I stuck it out through the crappy freezing race, and then sat in the van sobbing for a good twenty minutes while I got feeling back in my toes, he understood what I meant, and even though he totally didn't know how to handle a crying female in the team van, he said that was when he realized how much respect he had for me, that I toughed it out under those circumstances.

And he's right, I was pretty proud of me too. Cyclocross in general really tested me because every weekend I was pushing to get better at something that I really didn't start out doing well in. Short course triathlons, while they're always a challenge, have been things I felt totally competent doing. I knew I could finish the swim, the bike, the run, and probably manage to not get hurt. But then with things like the half Ironman, or cyclocross, all bets were off. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do either. And yeah, I won my first half Ironman, and that was amazing. And I did well as far as collegiate women in CX, even though I got my ass kicked at most races. But I had fun doing both things. Even by mile 13 of the run during the 70.3, I never questioned why I was doing it, or what my motivation was, or thought about quitting. Same goes for during any of my bike races, no matter how poorly I was doing. It's that motivation that I'm trying to channel as Ironman training gets longer, while my diet gets more elaborate, while I'm working 13 straight hours after a 4 hours training session.

Basically, I've given a lot of thought to what Charlie said, even though it wasn't a particularly philosophical conversation or anything, and it really meant a lot to me. It's pretty awesome when you know that people you're close with have a high level of respect for you and your abilities.

That being said, I've also realized how awesome it is to be on the cycling team with a ton of amazing athletes. As I've mentioned, Matt has taken on the role of being my training partner in the gym and on rides and the occasional run and swim, and I have to say, it's done so much to boost my morale! It's a lot easier to push on a weight set when you're with someone, as opposed to when no one is counting how many reps you do. And yeah, I do enjoy being able to lift more or as much as a guy... He's also been great for fixing the 4 bikes that reside in my teensy apartment, helping switch pedals and whatnot. I love that if I have a mechanical issue, I can call him or Charlie and odds are good that someone will manage to fix my bikes for me. And the skill sets that these guys have amaze me! When I needed to learn cyclocross, I got so much great advice and training from everyone, especially Mark. And now that I want to get better at mountain biking, all it takes is a message to Cristian saying "make me a mt biker" and we've made plans for him to ride with me and help me this weekend. I love having such an awesome network of amazingly talented people to go to for any kind of advice or help I could possibly need!

Anyway, in less optimistic and perky news, Coach and I looked at my weight and whatnot the other day in order to come up with a good diet plan for me. I'd love to drop a couple pounds but more to the point, I'd rather naturally hit a good, lean race weight in the near future. This means 2 days of 2000 cal, 1 day of 2400 cal, repeat. And bleck, a lot of it needs to be taken in while working out, my least favorite time to eat! I prefer eating after workouts and really enjoying food, not slamming down energy drinks while on the bike. Still, I know how important it is, and I'm trying! It also involves having lots of small 300-350 cal meals throughout the day. I know it'll work and eventually make me feel constantly full and energetic, but these first days are just tough! I'm a big meal kind of person, and I sincerely enjoy eating 3-4 pieces of pizza at a time. So this whole thing is very hard to get used to. I'm sure I will, but no fun!! (And I do still intend on having a larger meal after a team century. There will be no convincing me otherwise.)

Other than that, the week is going well, training is all on target, et cetera. Now if I could just get rid of this damn cold that I have- I hate being congested!!!

Goooood Weekend!

2010-01-24T19:54:00.002-05:00

So, we had our first long ride of the season, around 60 or so miles, in really crappy 35 degree weather where it was drizzling the whole time. Nonetheless, I had a great time. I stayed with the lead group the whole time without feeling like I was pushing too much. It was fantastic!

We hit one hill and it was pretty freaking steep, but it didn't seem too bad to me. We got to the top and Charlie just yells "Wait, Molly's big-ringing it!" Then they spent the rest of the time asking if I was on steroids. I blame the gym sessions with Matt. And yes, he's still willing to work out with me, despite my bullying tactics in the gym and my epic crashes on the road. We're both getting into really awesome shape, and I'm feeling great.

So after the long ride, we went home, cleaned up, and I rocked the compression socks on a trip to the dining hall (thank you for the guest swipe!) to load up on food after a 4.5 hour ride. This was amazing because the guys were talking about how tough the ride had been and how they felt like crap during parts of it but I had had an amazing easy time! I really can't believe how good I felt on a ride that apparently was pretty tough, so I'm pretty proud of myself, and it shows that clearly my coach is right on the money with my training plan.

Then, home to grocery shop and do an hour of yoga-lates (yoga and pilates combination). The stretching felt great!

Yesterday, I had an awesome hour and a half run- my longest in quite some time- after an hour and a half bike ride, and it was great. I ran through the park and then into my old neighborhood. I saw kids riding bikes outside like I used to do when I was a little kid.

The Up Side of Being a Triathlete...

2010-01-22T18:22:00.003-05:00

Things I did today:
1. Had a playdate with a 3 year old- we played with Legos and had string cheese as a snack!
2. Watched a movie called Chomp Chomp about junkyards with said three year old, and was very invested in it.
3. Splashed around in the pool for an hour!
4. Played- ok, ran- in the park
5. Rode my bike to the gym
6. Took a nap
7. Put off doing homework

Being a triathlete and a nanny basically means I'm a little kid...

In other news, I woke up and my neck was killing me. I guess I got a little bit of whiplash from the crash yesterday, or pulled a muscle, so it's super sore. Swimming hurt just a tiny bit. And my hip bruised up pretty nicely, it's now a 6x6 inch circle of black bruise surrounding a few pretty deep scratches. Other than that, I'm great.

I was exhausted today, since I had to get up at 6 for work after going to bed at midnight, after a day of extra strength tylenol and just my body trying to heal. So I got home from nannying, went straight to the gym, swam, went home, ate and passed out for a hour. I felt a million times better after that, and went for a lovely run through the park right before it got dark out. It went much better than I expected it to, thankfully. My knee seems to be getting a lot better, and my hip didn't hurt too much...

Now, it's a long weekend ahead- bike and a long run tomorrow, then a looong bike (75 or 100 miles) on Sunday followed by yoga. I'm excited!!

Cold and Bloody... First Road Ride of the Year.

2010-01-21T10:02:00.003-05:00

First time out on the road bike in New Brunswick since May when I crashed and broke my bike. I've ridden since then, but generally not with anyone else, and not in New Brunswick. So, I was nervous. My heart rate was higher than normal as we passed the place where I crashed the bike, and I was braking more than I normally would. Still, Matt is easy to follow, so it was a pretty good ride.

The problem was, it was early in the morning and the ground was still frozen in some spots on the road by the canal. We hit a patch of black ice and I went down in a very big way, right in front of a car. Poor Matt, I think he was more freaked out than me. My handlebars were screwy, and my hip got pretty cut up and I bruised my elbow, but generally I'm ok. I guess it's good that the first crash of the year is over with...

This is my seriously heavy volume week, and today was supposed to be a 2.5 hr ride and after a rest, an hour long run. The ride was an hour and a half, and I was going to hit the trainer for an hour afterward, but obviously, tending to my poor bleeding hip was a bit more important. Added to that, my knee has been acting up. Bleck.

I'm taking a rest and then heading out for an easy easy run, then maybe later tonight I'll ride for a bit on the trainer just to make sure that everything is ok.

Other than that, training is going really well. Lots of volume, as I said, but it's feeling really good. I'm swimming again, and it's boring in the pool, but it feels good. And Matt and I have been doing our weight lifting together, which has been nice for getting more done and more effectively. Plus, Mark, Matt and I have been having dinner together once a week after training, and Matt and I make oatmeal mornings after rides or weight sets, which is good for keeping me on my healthy diet.

In other news, I have even more mohawk going on in my hair, since we buzzed the sides even more. I like it!

Here it is a week ago, it's shorter now but this is basically what it looks like:
(And check out the sweet Batman shirt my mom got me for Christmas. Yes, it's a children's shirt. And I love it.)

My friend Cristian says it's my return to punk. I don't think so, it's just something interesting to do, but he is right, I have been hanging out with people and going out more. I get the feeling that's going to change soon though, since I'm already feeling completely crazed with school and tutoring starting up again.

Let's hope this Sunday's century ride with the team goes a bit more smoothly than this morning's ride did.. and fingers crossed that running with a couple really deep scratches on my hip doesn't hurt too too much...

How do I manage to do stuff like this?

In Other News...

2010-01-15T08:25:00.003-05:00

More about my real life later, but I had to share this sweet song called "Molly Made" that my friend Rob wrote in high school and recorded now, 8 years later, in a sweet ska format. It's about when I used to make him clothes and read lots of books. It's basically made my whole 2010 seem a lot more awesome.

Check the lyrics:

She’s got some cloth, needle, and some string
She can make almost anything/
A five speed singer sewing like a dream
She rocks it hard even on a flat seem/
With her thimble she is well protected
Don’t ask her out because you'll get rejected/

Her mom took her dew and they just closed the library/
She’ll go on sewing just you wait and see

Its Molly made she’s sewin’ never know quite where she’s goin’/
Its Molly made it aint kitsch cause it’s made with a drop stitch

I got a problem, don’t know what to where
No need to fret no it’s not time to despair/
I call her up yeah she’s got her own phone line
Tell her that I need a new shirt design/
A dash of glitter from the five and dime
Some safety pins and its done in no time/

She read Nancy Drew when she wasn’t supposed to/
I recited her poem as a Montague

She was a girl scout so her merit badge says
Look at the stitchin’ its so bitchin it’s the best that there is/
Some people buy their clothes at the store
Spend all their money on quality that’s poor/
Abercrombie was never for me
I rather wear something made by Molly/

I love it.

Week One of Training, Check!!

2010-01-13T10:58:00.003-05:00

Pardon me while I fall asleep on the keyboard... zzzzzzzzzzz...

Seriously, this winter break has been more stressing than a whole semester! Because Robbie is at his parent's house, and my parents and sister are home, I find myself running all over the place in order to see them, instead of the normal seeing Robbie every night at our apartment, and seeing Colleen for our weekly dinners and on weekends. Combine that with working extra hours nanny-ing, being alone in a really cold apartment a few nights a week, actually having a semblance of a social life, and of course, the new training stuff, I'm totally exhausted.

Oddly enough, next week when the semester starts, I'm pretty sure I'll get more sleep, even if I'm doing more, just because I'll be on a stricter schedule. It'll be nice to have the gym open 7AM-11PM too, this whole 11AM-9PM thing is total crap. It's almost impossible for me to get a swim and weight set in between babysitting with those hours. Luckily, my boss has offered me use of her treadmill anytime I want to use it after the kids are in bed, and Coach has been awesome letting me use their studio for the day I couldn't run in the gym because it was closed and couldn't fit it in during daylight hours.

In other news... training is going really well, and I have to say that I'm really happy with the fact that I have a PLAN. I know, I train like a maniac year round, always with some goal in mind, but this is the first time my plan has any real structure, something that changes as I progress, factors in rest time, changes workouts to mirror progress, isn't just "Monday: 1 hr run, 1 hr bike" every single Monday. Rather, it's "47 minute run at a 6.2-6.5 mile per hour pace," then an explanation as to why. So, thanks to that, I'm working a lot harder and I'm feeling improvements already, in little things like a reduced heart rate when putting the same power down on the bike during long trainer rides. And recording everything and knowing Coach Keith is looking at it makes me even more accountable.

This week so far has seen a super long trainer ride on Saturday, a long brick on Sunday (running some hills and trails in beautiful but freezing weather!), then a 3200 meter swim on Monday, broken into 800's (soooo long...) and a weight set, then trainer ride and run yesterday. It'll be nice to ride outside with the team once school starts, though I'm enjoying the trainer + TV combo too...

Matt and I are also striving to stay on our damn diet, though it's much harder now that I'm actually training hard and constantly hungry- usually for junk food! We succumbed last night and ended up getting fries and sodas at a Sonic that just opened up, but generally I've been pretty good about eating well. It's hard to figure out how much to eat in a day, since my training is always changing, but I'm trying to figure it out. I'd still like to drop weight but I figure at this point as long as I eat healthy stuff for the most part, the weight will come off on it's own and I'll hit a good race weight fairly easily. It's just a matter of sticking with the healthy foods and avoiding the "8 cookies per night" binging that I love to do.

So, to sum up, hopefully by next week I'll be on a fairly normal schedule and will be able to post more. For now, wish me luck!!

New Year, New Training.

2010-01-06T09:18:00.002-05:00

Enter Day #3 of official Ironman training. And I love it!

It's so nice having a training plan again, especially one this strict that totally holds me accountable. If I skip a workout, not only will I know, Coach will too. So, no slacking off for me! (Not that I usually did, but this makes sure that I can't slack off during a workout either- not when heart rate monitor data gets sent to him too!) It's also nice to not really worry about if I'm training right or enough or correctly. Obviously coaching doesn't guarantee a perfect training plan or schedule, but I think this one is pretty solid, and definitely better than what I would make up.

I've also been keeping a very detailed food diary on training peaks and it's a huge hassle. But, it's just for a week or two so Keith can look at my intake and make suggestions. I'm hoping to drop a few pounds early on in training, since the intensity and volume aren't crazy just yet. I think I dropped a few pounds over my off season because I didn't have much of an appetite, which is good but annoying when it came to trying on and testing out my newest swim suit. I bought a 32 because reviews said it ran small, but it turns out I could have used a 30 or a 28, because it was practically falling off once I got in the pool! It fit ok dry, just a teensy bit loose, and I hadn't tried it on until now (I bought it 2 months ago though). Otherwise I would have returned it immediately after trying it on and realizing it wasn't very tight. But, it was past the return period, so I went in the pool. Now I don't know what to do with it! Is there any way to shrink a swimsuit?

Anyway, all this time spent on training peaks has been detracting from my desire to blog... But I'm sure I'll get used to it and have more time, especially once I don't need to record food.

In other news, I went mountain biking in the snow with Vlad this weekend and had a blast! It was freezing cold but so much fun. I'd never mountain biked before, so this was all new. There was snow, and under the snow was ice, and under that was rocks. It was definitely a challenge. We were out for 3 hours, trying all different kinds of trails (loooong uphills, loooong downhills, rocky mountain bike specific trails with obstacles, walking trails that were just sheets of ice in some places, and one really steep hill that we had to walk up in order to attempt to ride down.) I was so proud of myself when slogging up a super long steady hill, I outlasted Vlad!

This has also led to me getting really psyched about the King of the Hill off road triathlon at Round Valley Reservoir in May. First, because I love trail running. Second, I liked mountain biking a lot. Third, Vlad may come home to race. Fourth, my friend Cristian is a mountain bike lover, so he's going to ride with me a lot more, so I can get better. Fifth, because Cristian is convinced he can kick my ass in an off road triathlon based on his bike skills alone. So it's a challenge in a lot of different ways. And of course, Cristian is going down...

My other friend- and diet/training partner- Matt and I finally started our training now that he's home. Yay! We had a very exciting day yesterday- we went to the gym for his first weight set (I "coached" and did some light sets even though it wasn't a weight set day... oops.) Then, we went to Efingers so I could get some sweet winter riding gloves. Finally, no cold hands! I hate spending copious amounts of money on bike gear, but it seemed worth the $40 to not be miserable the next few months. After that, grocery store! There's nothing like shopping with a vegan who's on a diet with you to keep your grocery cart super healthy...

So, by the end of the trip, I was proud to fill my fridge with carrots, hummus, fresh salsa, whole wheat tortillas, frozen veggies, yogurt, tofu, blueberries, granola, and about a million other things. This whole eating healthy thing seems to be working fairly well. Matt and I cooked with a few of our friends and made a huge stir fry with tofu, kale, water chestnuts, snap peas, broccoli and a bunch of other veggies for dinner last night and my fridge is well stocked with leftovers from that too. Very exciting...

My winter weather gear pile has been growing too, thanks to the gift card to Eastern Mountain Sports my boss gave me. I now have:

Gator tip toe covers! (little neoprene toe booties that go over socks and under bike shoes. Surprisingly great for $8.)
EMS Skull Cap: finally, I have something that fits under a helmet for winter riding...
Face Mask: neoprene, so I can wear it when riding and not have my face freeze.
Yak Trax: they attach to the bottom of your shoes so you can run on the ice. I can't wait to try them out!

I'm a total sucker for this shop now. It's pricey but hey, I have a gift card that still has a good amount of cash on it. And the people who work there have been completely awesome- even suggesting that I try Efingers for cold weather gloves because they didn't think that they had a good enough selection there. I appreciate anyone who's that honest, and frankly, I'd shop there again even if it's a little pricey, just because the people were great every time I've been in.

So I'm pretty stocked up, now that I have all my great Christmas presents and this new stuff. Perfect way to start training!!

(Of course, I still need 2 new sets of pedals and clips, maybe new road shoes, and most definitely new running shoes, and pretty soon it's going to be time to start browsing for new tri shorts and tops for the summer... It's always something when you're a triathlete.)

Last but not least, my pseudo-mohawk hair cut:
(it's not super easy to see in pictures, and it looks even funnier when it's actually blowdried so it's up, but here's the general idea. Robbie and I buzzed it on the sides and then he did some serious trimming for me.)

I promise I'll get better at posting again... Winter break brings out the lazy in me- I finally have time to veg on the couch with Robbie, or hang out with other friends at night (shocking people who haven't seen me in 2-3 years when I show up to hang out with friends...) So it's been a very healthy off season break for me. But now it's back to training and frankly, I feel better (if a little bit more sore) than I have in weeks now that I'm back to training!

New Year, Starting Right!

2009-12-30T10:19:00.002-05:00

I know every year I make resolutions. But this year, I'm already on a very good track towards keeping them. After a lot of thought and inner debate, I decided that the smartest way to get ready for Ironman while not sacrificing road season, killing myself overtraining, and risking some injury, would be to hire a coach. Luckily, there was one right around the corner, or rather, right at the edge of the pool during the Fall semester. Keith Cook and I have known each other for a while, and he's seen me race- including at the half-Ironman in September- and he knows my goals and how serious I am about triathlon. Plus, he's an awesome guy who actually listens to what I want in my workout- more yoga, a real road season, and the Nautica Triathlon before Ironman.

We met a couple times, once for a terrific and very fun workout (TRX workout, so awesome and in 25 minutes hits your whole body), and a couple to sort of get an idea where the season is going. Yesterday, we made it official, and Monday will mark the beginning of a very long and very exciting training season. Hooray!

Not only is that starting, but my good friend from the team, Matt, and I made a new Year's resolution to go on a healthy eating diet together to drop to a good lean race weight for road season. Finally, someone to bitch to about how my diet is going. (If you were wondering: not great. 1 can of Mountain Dew a day is leaving me very caffeine deprived.) In addition, Matt has volunteered to be my training partner on rides and with weight training. Poor guy doesn't know what he's getting into...

And lastly, to complete the triage of good self-improvement news, my foot seems to be healed, and I've been back to running! Just every other day, with my longest run being 45 min thus far, but it feels great. Luckily, I don't think I lost too much speed or fitness, thanks to aquajogging, cyclocross, cross training, and a sweet elliptical that mimics natural running stride. Still, it's slow-going. I think I'm going to treat myself to a new pair of running shoes though. Any suggestions?

That means.... a return to blogging!

Thanks for bearing with me while I struggled through an off-season. I haven't read blogs, written in mine, or done anything that would make me miss training. Instead, I worked out when I felt like it, took rest days, got a tattoo (you can't swim for 2 weeks after you get one), cut my hair into what may or may not be a pseudo-mohawk, enjoyed Christmas with the family and Robbie, and vegged out. Ironically, I think I lost weight.

Christmas came and definitely boosted my excitement about training: I got a Garmin Forerunner 305, a pair of compression socks, a shirt my mom made that says "Kona or Bust" (an awesome nod to my great great uncle who biked cross country in the early 1900's and wrote a book called "Frisco or Bust"), a body stick (my quads are very happy), a shiatsu massage pillow (my back is also very happy), a Road ID (it says "hang in there hurf!" on it, a reference to a banner mom held for dad during his first triathlon) and a gift card to Eastern Mountain Sports (yak traks for running outside, yay!). Plenty of other great stuff, but those were the athletic highlights of the year. (My mom before Christmas: "is there anything on your list not sports related?" me: "no.")

But anyway, my New Year's Resolutions:

1. Blog more. This will happen on it's own, I think, once I get back into a training groove. It's just been tough to blog about, well, pretty mediocre and mundane stuff. Besides, I'll be taking very good notes for Keith anyway, so naturally they'll find their way onto here as well.

2. IRONMAN! Isn't it obvious? Let's be totally frank here: I want to race at Kona this year. Really badly. So I don't' just want to do Ironman Kentucky, I want to kick its ass.

3. Have a solid road season. Last year was understandably bad, I was new to riding with people. After a season of road and one of CX, I don't have that excuse. While none of the races are going to be "A" races for me, I want to do well and be much more confident on the bike. Besides, I have a sweet new women's kit (finally, a kit that fits!!!) so I feel obligated to do well.

4. Have a solid tri season. Same deal- I have a few races before IM, and while they may not be top priority, I want to really push myself this year and see what I can do.

5. Stay in the game, mentally. I want to stay focused, stay motivated, and stay strong throughout the season. No excuses, no whining, just positivity. I've said it before, I'll say it again: "Stay Posi" is the goal for 2010.

6. Get down to race weight. It's tough because of training, trying to lose weight. But I'm going to try to hit a good race weight by road season and get used to it. This means less soda and junk food, smaller meals, and eating more during training for fuel. Keith was saying that by June, most of my calories should be taken in while training, and I want to accomplish that. I love food, and it's hard to think of it as "fuel" instead of "fun" but that's what I'm going to try to do.

7. Do more writing, focus on freelancing. I've done it before, I can do it again! I have a lot of ideas in the works, and a few plans. I'm just hoping to get it together and get motivated enough to get some work done.

Those are the main ones I can think of at the moment, at least for now. I'm sure I'll have plenty more in the coming days. Right now, I don't want to just have 2010 start, I'm ready for Monday and training to start! I'm going to enjoy a weekend of cramming as much family, friends and relaxing in before it starts, but I'm still excited for it!

Happenings...

2009-12-21T14:11:00.003-05:00

My new tattoo:

If you're confused, you've never been to a 'cross race, or any cycling race. But...

The Rutgers Cyclocross team wanted to get tattoos to commemorate the time we've spent together on the team, and how awesome we've done, all our hard work, and of course, our friendship. It's a team thing.

We didn't want a bike, or a Rutgers emblem, or anything really obvious. Someone mentioned the cowbell, and it seemed perfect. Especially appropriate for us, since the trophy for winning the ECCC overall for cyclocross is a huge cowbell that we've now had for 4 years. I'll get pictures of all of us with our sweet tats when I can, but I wanted to show that I'm still alive.

It's been a couple of rest weeks for me, so I've been remiss in blogging simply because I don't want to be tempted to start training without recovering as much as I should.

Posts to Come, I promise!

2009-12-16T22:39:00.003-05:00

I've been a bad bad blogger (hangs head in shame).

Finals, an injured foot, a long cross season, and an actual rest week, plus a lot of extra work have made posting less than frequent. But.... I went on my first run in a month the other day- just a short 30 minute one- and my foot felt ok! So I think the healing process is moving along, I'm just happy that and a lot of my other health issues decided to pop up now instead of earlier in the season. More on that to come later, but for now, I'm going to bed in a few minutes to prep for a day in NYC and a tattoo adventure tomorrow.

Before I go, my friend Matt and I also made a million of these shirts last week:

Cute, right?

We think so.

It's been a long couple of weeks....

The Accidental Cyclocross Racer

2009-12-08T12:44:00.003-05:00

This is my sum up of the season for the RU cycling blog but I wanted to post it here too. Thanks for putting up with my cyclocross ramblings for the past couple months!

As I write this, my first season of cyclocross has come to an end, and it’s bittersweet. It’s nice to have time to do laundry- and not have so much of it! It’s nice to be home on weekends, to get work done, to not be driving all over creation for races, to be able to take a little break for a change, and to not have mystery cuts and bruises crop up every Monday after a weekend of racing. But I miss it so much already!

I miss the camaraderie, the excitement of racing, the sore throat from cheering everyone on, the teamwork, and heck, even the riding itself. I admit, I started out a skeptic, thinking nothing could replace triathlon as my most fun sport. But now, I’m already looking to next year, thinking of how to make improvements, to move up in my category, and to start really racing, not just trying to ride the course without falling down. In short, there is a decided chance that I have succumbed to the desire to be a legit cyclocross racer.

In one season, I went from a new racer to the #1 Women’s B racer and #2 Women’s A racer, and helped the Rutgers University Cycling Team maintain our dominance in collegiate cyclocross. It felt pretty great to be part of it.

Earlier in the season, I borrowed a cyclocross bike, “just to test out and race a couple times.”

Then, I raced at Granogue, in freezing rain and mud up to my shins. I fell, I slid, I was one of the last people to finish, and I ended up with a myriad of cuts and bruises to show for it. But, I had fun. And it didn’t hurt that just by racing, I had accrued a lot of collegiate points for the team.

So, I raced again at Highland Park, and didn’t do too badly- in fact, I was pretty decent. I was 12th in the Women’s ¾ race, and the first collegiate woman. I admit, I was hooked. I was also doing well, by collegiate standards. By my second week of ECCC ‘cross, I was ranked #1 in Women’s B. Mainly because I was the one of about five on the list. However, I had a marathon in late November, so HPCX looked like it would be my last serious race. I hadn’t learned dismounts, barriers, or how to ride anything technical. My season was pretty much over, barring maybe a race or two after the marathon. My ranking went from #1 to #10 or so as other women raced and I stayed home and did long runs.

Then, a tendon in my foot did something kinda weird, and all of a sudden, I couldn’t run for a few weeks. I took this as a sign- I was meant to race ‘cross.

So, I started practicing dismounts in my backyard, signed up for all of the races for the last 3 weeks, and attempted to become a decent rider. While that may not have happened, I felt fairly decent going into the last three weeks.

More than that, I learned how much fun cyclocross and spending time with the team really was. From the killer course at Whitmore to racing singlespeed (not by choice) at Allentown, the team was there cheering like crazy every time I raced. And it helped a lot.

I’m not going to go into too many details, as to avoid the longest post in the world, but Rhode Island and the NBX race was probably the most fun weekend that I’ve ever had. It was great racing, an awesome course, vegan pizza, and serious team bonding. I may not have done amazing in the race, but I definitely realized how much progress that I’ve made in the past months. I only wish I had figured out that I wasn’t going to be able to run the marathon earlier, so I could have been working on my ‘cross skills much earlier. As it was, it was a pretty piecemeal season and training schedule. Next year will be a lot different, and I’m expecting pretty good things from myself, not just in the collegiate context, but in the broader context of the ¾ women in general.

When I joined the cycling team, I had no idea what was so great about cyclocross and why everyone on the team was so excited about the season instead of road season. But after this, I can see why, and I think I’ve joined the ranks of the cyclocross devotees.

So, a final round of HUGE thank you’s to everyone who helped make this season so great for me.

Of course, thank you to the Team. Without them, I never would have been able to have the confidence and drive to get on the bike, much less ride. They helped me whenever I needed it, offered tons of great advice, and cheered like crazy for a newbie racer. Especially to Mark, who kept me and everyone else organized and sane though out the season, and Charlie, who did so much by way of bike repair on my borrowed bike. Everyone: it was much appreciated.

Huge thank you to my Dad, who drove to nearly every race, yelled like crazy and forced me to try as hard as I could and put as much effort possible into every race. He really is the Team Dad, and hopefully next year we’ll get to see him race, since he’s pretty hooked on it too.

My whole family- including Mom, Colleen and Robbie- for not just coming to some races but for being so incredibly supportive and doing so much (mostly laundry) for me as I drove them nuts every weekend with racing.

Thank you to all of the promoters for putting on awesome races, to all of my non-collegiate cyclocross friends (both old and new) for cheering and generally making the season super fun for all of us.

Overall, thank you for a great season, and I can’t wait to kick ass next year!

Some RI Love

2009-12-07T13:11:00.003-05:00

1st Women's B racer
2nd Women's A racer
Rutgers is overall champion of the ECCC Cyclocross season for the 4th consecutive season.

We're getting cowbell tattoos. Also, All American Rejects song Gives You Hell totally got me to pass a few people when racing. Awesome.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

On the Road to Rhode Island

2009-12-06T00:11:00.003-05:00

Rutger cyclocross racers rock so freaking hard.

Rhodie Island for the weekend racing. Had a sweet race, basically sealed the deal for number 1 Women's B racer, and then we went to a sick party at a bike shop with some awesome new friends.

Having an amazing weekend, and I'm very happy about it.

More later, but for now... waking up in 4 hours to race again. In the snow. Excellent.

Catching Up!

2009-11-30T11:33:00.011-05:00

Rather than an obscenely long written post catching up on the last week, here's an obscenely long post in pictures:

It's a long time coming (considering I bought the bike a month ago) but here it is, my WSD Trek Equinox 7, which is (thanks to Blake) now perfectly fit for me! I wish I had had it for Friday since Vlad and I did an awesome 50+ mile ride to burn off some of the Thanksgiving calories, but my Cannondale worked just fine.

Note how wide my aero bars are set apart- as Blake puts it, I have a swimmer/short course build.

My saddle isn't perfect, but it'll do for now:

Just one more shot because I couldn't resist:

And here is my NEW mountain bike! Surprise! Haha it's out of the blue but my friend Charlie was willing to sell it to me obscenely cheap, so Xterra, here I come! I think Vlad and I may race Buffalo Xterra next summer if the timing is right.

Now, onto business at hand: cyclocross!!
I am improving immensely, and having a lot of fun in the process.

For example:

This is the photo in an email we got last week before Long Island cross weekend:

This is the end result:
Ninja camping between races! It was awesome and a great "team bonding" experience.

We also have a few examples of me becoming more competent:

(Mercer Cup CX- lots of mud, stairs, barriers, etc. It was awesome!)

(Actually hopping barriers after a real dismount at Allentown on Saturday)

Catching up and passing girls that passed me when my chain dropped. Yeesh!

Going into a turn, not braking- it's a miracle! (As my boyfriend pointed out, it looks like I'm braking, but I assure you that I am not using them, merely resting on them. Hmph.)

I love this picture, rockin' a particularly off road section in Long Island.

More to come, but suffice to say it's been a nutty and busy week, and racing every weekend both days for the past few weeks is starting to wear me down. But only one week left before the season is over, and I'm admittedly going to be relieved. Thanksgiving weekend was never so crazy!

But, I am thankful that even with a hurt foot, I can still race. And more than anything, I'm thankful for:

my incredibly supportive family- they come to every race they can, they are my best friends, and I love them so very much
Robbie- always there and supportive no matter how crazy I am, including the times I demand that he rub my back and legs while I watch Frasier. He's truly amazing!
Blake, Vlad, Mark, Charlie and the whole darn cycling team- without these guys I would never be able to afford bikes, ride bikes well, or have fun doing it! And I would damn well not be as interested in getting up obscenely early to get to races. They keep me motivated and sane(ish).

The list goes on and on, but those are the big ones. So, a belated happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Confession

2009-11-19T10:07:00.002-05:00

You know the saying "you don't appreciate something until it's gone"? Well, that's how I feel.

I miss running. I miss the lovely crisp fall days and sunshine and trails and roads. I miss short runs, long runs with Dad on the bike, the hills in the park, the sweet long run on half trail/half road at Round Valley, et cetera.

There, I said it. I never thought I would ever even consider missing something as awful, painful, and stomach-cramping as running, but now that it's gone, I want it back.I used to love the elliptical, but being forced to use it after ignoring it for 2 years sort of sucks. It's boring and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get a hard enough workout. I can get a good sweat, breathe a little harder, but really, it doesn't compare.

Sunday, I ran for the first time in a week. And yeah, my foot broke down after about 10 minutes. But seriously, the ten minutes were awesome.

I keep running tiny places, like from the elliptical to the locker room. Just to make sure I still can. I have a doctor appointment with a sports guy tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have answers, and an idea of when I can run again.

In the meantime, I'm getting psyched for 'cross this weekend, along with the sweet camping plan that a few of us on the team have- should be a good time!

I think that this has really been good for me, oddly enough. It's shown me how much I actually enjoy running and how much I would miss it if I never ran again. It was something I needed, it's given me a whole new perspective on my training as something I should love doing, not just as a necessity. It's something I haven't felt strongly about for a while, and it's nice to get this drive and desire back!

But seriously, my foot needs to be fixed now. I want out of the gym and onto the trails!!

Bad News/Good News

2009-11-16T11:48:00.000-05:00

The bad news is that there's no way I'm going to be running the marathon this weekend. My foot still is nowhere near healed. Maybe if I'd taken more time off it, if I hadn't been racing 'cross as much, et cetera, but honestly, I don't think it would have been marathon ready either way. I went on a short run after the cross race on Sunday, and it felt awesome to be running outside... for the first ten minutes. Then, pain and a long walk home with the little sister (she was ower walking in the aprk I was running in.) So, no marathon for me. I was a little bummed, as I'd put in the 23 mile runs, figured out nutrition, done all of the right stuff, only to have it messed up at the last minute, but I'm trying to stay positive.

Since it wasn't a real race, more of a long training session for me, it's not like dad and I can't run (well, he'll bike) 26.2 miles once my ankle heals. It won't be as fun, but equally effective, I think. And having been training for it for so long has me in good endurance shape.

Of course, I'm mad that I wasted an entry fee, and mad that I won't have that definitive ending to my beginning of winter "off-season." I guess the last 'cross race and the Big Chill 5k December 12 (my ankle better be ok by then!) will be my end of season races.

Also on the bright side, I get to race in Long Island with the team all weekend instead- my foot isn't so bad that I can't race 'cross, I just can't do a ton of running. So if it's a run heavy course, I may be a bit slow. But I'll make it!

I raced at the Mercer Cup CX race this weekend. I was very unhappy when I realized that we were being lined up according to when we had registered, so I was literally the last person in line. Not my favorite place to start. There were about 40 Cat3/4 women, and a lot of them had already raced the course the day before and were more familiar with it, so I knew it would be hard to do well. I, on the other hand, had put in a 3 hour trainer ride instead- I have a sinus infection or something, and racing in the rain on Saturday seemed like a bad idea.

But Sunday was mid-60's and warm!! It was ridiculous November weather, and while I'd like a white Christmas, I'm stoked about the weather right now...except that I hadn't packed any shorts or tshirts, so I was stuck wearing my skinsuit halfway and tied around my waist with a sports bra to cool off after my race.

It was a very technical course, and I did better on it than I expected. I think if we'd had another lap, I would have done even better, because as always, I still had more in me after the race. Memo to self: learn how to go hard and finish with the tank on 'empty.' I always seem to end with more in me!! But anyway... fun, muddy, and starting in the back meant even though I passed a lot of people, I was still mid-pack by the end. Which is fine with me. I finished 20th, grabbing the last points, so it could have been much worse. And I'm getting a lot better at cornering and just going for it in the mud!

I had one great moment where one of my ex-boyfriends was standing in the holding area, getting ready to race, and he spotted me. The exchange, done in complete monotones, went as such:
"Hi Molly."
"Hey."
"Gonna catch her?" (points to the girl in front of me.)
"Yup." (I did.)

It was so wonderfully chill for a CX race exchange, since they normally consist of people screaming. Fabulous. I also saw another ex of mine (these were from back in my punk/alleycat fixed gear days) win his race, and since we parted on friendly terms, we actually hung out between races for a bit while I waited for dad to find me. It's awesome, reconnecting with old friends.

Dad has also decided that he wants to get in shape and race cross next year- he almost bought a 56 cm cross bike at the race, some guy was selling it for $800 and Dad wanted it. But he decided against it for one major reason: he wants to get in shape, and then next summer, go halfsies with me on a good cross bike that will fit both of us- we can both use a 50 cm frame, so it'll work. And obviously, we'll never be racing at the same time, so we can go to a race, one of us races, washes the bike, and the other goes! It's a brilliant plan, and I really hope he makes the effort to get in shape for it- Dad doing cross would be excellent. And there are quite a few 45+ men doing it, so he wouldn't be alone! Besides, he looks so stylin' in his RU CX jersey I got him.

Me and my foot are heading to a meeting, then the gym. I may hate the elliptical, but that thing has been pretty useful the past few days. At least I feel like I'm doing something run-related! I have a doctor appointment with the sports guy at the RU health center, so hopefully he'll have some insight. And if I'm not going to be able to run on it for a while, it's time to start working on dropping a couple pounds and logging some serious bike and swim hours. So, like I said, it's both good and bad news, but I'm trying to, as I've said before, "stay posi."

Team Photo Shoot!

2009-11-11T23:24:00.003-05:00

We had our cross team photos today and they came out awesome so I had to share:

The crew.
(Mark, Charlie, me, Marcos, Eric, Pat, and Charlie)

We are the America's Next Top Model of 'cross

We look so collectively badass.

Lookin' tough.
Notice that we all have short brown hair (with the one blond exception in 2 of the shots. But luckily, I still look like an actual girl- thank you fitted skinsuit!!)

For more sweet pics, check out David Wilson's Flickr.

Back in the Saddle

2009-11-11T15:06:00.003-05:00

This week has gone a bit better than last week. Then again, it would have been hard to not be better than last week.

My foot is feeling better but instead of running at all this week and risking it, I'm just aquajogging and using the elliptical machine. And when it was 65 and sunny on Monday, it was tough to get myself to stay out of my running shoes! But it's going well.

I made plans to race this weekend, next weekend (CX and marathon!), the weekend after, and the weekend after. A month of racing! It should be exciting, to say the least. But our team needs points from women, so I'm doing what I can.

Yesterday was a just ok swim session, 3400 meters with 15x100 as the main set, done a race pace. I wasn't feeling very fast, averaging 1:38s mostly, which isn't a huge improvement. It seems like I just don't see a ton of swim improvement, though I feel like I'm going to be a lot better in a race situation now.

On the bright side, today was Veteran's Day, so working from home instead of going into the office, which meant gym time this morning and making cross practice on time. Of course, it also meant trying to stay out of the fridge and keeping the TV off to get work done, and I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't quite get as much accomplished as I wanted to. Making progress though!

I think I've just been feeling very stalled in my life lately- school isn't a challenge, and my jobs don't exactly leave me thrilled, or with healthcare. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and not getting anywhere. Maybe it's just the change in seasons, and the fact that I have no A races at the moment. I need to snap out of it and find challenges elsewhere though- if classes aren't challenging, I should be reading on my own, and if work isn't challenging, I should be finding other things to do that will make up for that. I need to start freelancing again, it's been too long since that Triathlete mag article!

I am reading some books on web design on my own and checking out some books (pun intended) about library science while I consider library school. I want to teach, but I'm progressively more intrigued by the idea of being a librarian. However, with teaching comes coaching and summers off, so it's a toss up.

When I was at dinner with a friend the other night, we were talking and realized we've been feeling the same way about stuff lately- he's my age, fresh out of college and in serious debt, and we really relate when it comes to how we're both feeling about stuff. It was nice to know it's not just me, it's just my age!

Anyway, off to put ona skinsuit and head to CX!

Stupid Ankle, Stupid Week

2009-11-06T17:16:00.002-05:00

So my sprained ankle and I have had a very boring week, hence the lack of posts.

We had viewing and funeral to deal with, which coincided with 2 complete rest days for me and my foot, which was still killing me. It's beena sad few days, and that's all I'll say about that.

By this morning, it felt better but I just did a weight set (skipping anything leg or foot related) and 45 minutes on the elliptical instead of running, which actually felt pretty solid. A 30 minute bike ride to and from tutoring ended a solid, if not minor, day of training. Tomorrow I'm taking mostly off and I have a big weekend ahead of me:

reading the sports nutrition textbook I got out of the library for article ideas
make scholarship list
wash and wax truck
change oil in the truck
fix headlight on truck (sensing a theme here?)
go to Rice's Flea Market with the little sister to get a jump on x-mas shopping
library!!!
Robbie and I are working on some pomegranate recipes for pom wonderful's contest. He's quite the amateur chef and we had some awesome (top secret!) ideas. I'm very excited about it, went to the Farmer's Market this morning and am bursting with energy about this...

I admit it: I'm a total Christmas freak. I love this time of year, and I'm not one of those people who hates when carols star playing in November. So yeah, Christmas shopping will start early this year! And yes, our apartment will be getting decorated. Soon.

In other news, I'm going to be racing 'cross a lot more. We just realized that to win overall in collegiate cross we have to have a lot of women's team points too. Since I'm the only female on the team with a cross bike, that's a lot of pressure! I'm sort of excited about it, but trying to not let the pressure get to me. This is my off season and my "fun" racing, and I want it to stay that way. Also, I'm not positive what's happening marathon-wise anymore. It's in 2 weeks, and I don't know if my ankle will be healed by then. It sucks. On the bright side, if I don't do the marathon, I'll be racing cross Saturday and Sunday. So it won't be time off, that's for sure!

It's been a long week and I just want my ankle to hurry up and get better...

Werd, but True.

2009-11-04T15:11:00.003-05:00

Loving this pre-race picture of me!

Weird thing #1:
I am fairly certain my ankle is sprained, hence the foot pain. This is weird because I have absolutely no idea how it happened. It felt better when I took a couple days off running but 3 miles into my run yesterday I had to stop and limp-walk-run my way back home for another 3 miles, then could barely walk all night. Try chasing a 2 and 3 year old like that!
So I'm taking a couple days totally off- it's Robbie's Grandmother's services anyway, so we'll be back at his house, giving me a good amount of recoup time. Hopefully it fixes itself, because my health insurance bites.
Fingers Crossed!

Weird thing #2:
I was putting in my results to the Rutgers Cycling team and decided to check out the ECCC (Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference) 'cross rankings.
Guess who managed to get ranked as #1 B Woman thus far?
You guessed it, yours truly.
Strange. I'm also 45th nationally for CX women's cat 4.
It's pretty sweet knowing I've gotten a lot of team points, and that I might be slightly more competent than I thought. I'm hoping to race more so I can upgrade and go to nationals, though that's pretty pipe-dream-ish. Still, Dad and I talked about it last night and we agree that with a little tweaking and a bit of practice, I could be pretty competitive at least in Cat 4, maybe even move up to Cat 3 eventually. We'll see. It depends on my ankle, of course, since my main issue is mounting and dismounting, which is a lot of leg twisting action that I can't work on at the moment.

Anyway, a couple more pictures:

Race start!

Ahh, finally, dry ground!

Lookin' cool, post-race.
(I was looking at my mom's camera and dad took this shot from the side,
hence my "off in the distance" pose)

OK, this is from Granogue, but I just found it and I really like it!

Week in Review

2009-10-29T13:33:00.002-04:00

HPCX this weekend:

I've been a remiss blogger this week, with no excuse during the week, but a busy weekend...

When the week began, it was a slow start. And man, it was a long week! My knee has been bothering me on and off, just kind of a dull throbbing thing going in, so I've been taking it easier than normal. It's also been gross and rainy, so motivation has been seriously in short supply.

But still. Tuesday I rode in the rain and dark to Busch to swim class. I was tired, achy and not in the mood. Stuck it out for the whole set and felt better for it, though still not happy. Cyclocross practice was canceled yesterday but interval ride on the trainer went well. Thursday was more swimming and a 21.5 min 5k on the treadmill, so I was happy about that.

Friday I woke up and thought I fractured my foot, it hurt so freaking much. So, weight set and then I headed into NY, forsaking any other workouts in favor of...

BUYING A TRI BIKE! Went to SBR to get the Trek Equinox 7, WSD, in red. It's so cute! I didn't get to take it home with me, Blake is dropping it off and fitting it for me asap.

(So, more on that and pics to come).

Then, Saturday my foot still hurt, so I just helped set of the Highland Park Cyclocross course for Sunday's race (more work and running around than I realized!) and rode a practice lap. Nothing fancy. It was Halloween but Robbie had a project to do and I was with the team, so we just spent the night at his parents' house relaxing and watching TV. And eating halloween candy... a lot of it!

I also, at 12:01, dropped a lot of money on Nautica NYC Triathlon, racing as elite amateur, and I'm so stoked about it!

Sunday was the Cat and Kitten CX race in Jamesburg, and we had to be there super early and I was brining Dad's leafblower. It's industrial, so it was like pushing two lawnmowers... my quads were beat.

The race actually went well. I wasn't amazing, but I was competent. For the most part. I finished 13th out of 30-something women, and I was the first collegiate woman to finish, so our team will get some points. It was a fun course, very muddy, and a lot of powering through muddy but not muddy enough to run sections. (This photo was at the top of one hill, I almost made it to the top and had to dismount about 2 feet from it!)

I think spectating is almost more fun than racing, especially at this race, when the whole team had to be there. I got to see everyone I haven't seen in a long time, and it was cool getting to spend a lot of time with all of them. I miss those guys when it isn't road season!

Before the race, my parents and sister showed up just in time, Don gave me a serious pep talk, and I had another awkward encounter with someone I knew a looong time ago. It was a fun race though, and while I'm still not totally into 'cross like some of the team is, I definitely will be racing more in the future. After the marathon though! I woke up today sore and with a huge bruise on my shoulder from the bike, and my knee is bugging me a bit. So I'll try to take it easy today. I also lost my phone as we were breaking down after the race, so it's somewhere in the Jamesburg mud, which means this morning I have to sit through class and then run to the Verizon store and try to get a replacement, and then get over to the gym, then work. What a huge hassle.

This week may end up being an "easy week" for another much less fun reason. Robbie's Grandma passed away last night, and of course, my priority this week is being there for him and his family. He was really close to her, and I loved her- we spent a lot of time with the grandparents since they live so close to Robbie's parents. It's going to be very strange without her around, and we'll both miss her. It's November, of course, the month that I lost all 4 of my grandparents, and I'm getting a seriously depressing deja vu because of it, and it's bringing back a lot of those memories. It's also hard because we both work a ton and have classes and such, and we don't have jobs that have personal days- we don't work, we don't get paid, and we both can't afford a lot of days off. I'm just trying to be there for Robbie... it's almost our two year anniversary, and with the holiday season around the corner, it's just a really hard time to lose someone. Of course, there's never a good time, but you all know what I mean. So it's going to be a rough week, which means my blogging may be pretty spotty.

More cyclocross pictures and race stuff to come...

Longest Run Before Marathon = Done.

2009-10-26T08:21:00.003-04:00

Got somewhere between 23 and 24 miles finally done yesterday- nice to know that until the marathon, I won't have to go that long again! It was actually a perfect day to be running- low 60's, leaves changing color, the Delaware Canal from Kingwood to New Hope was well-populated with a lot of cyclists and runners, which is always nice because it's fun to people watch with Dad. Who, once again, slogged through 24 miles on the bike in order to shuttle my water, sports drink and gels, as well as warmer clothes, and a bunch of other things that I desperately needed.

It went pretty well, felt good and strong. I was wearing my knee brace, which kinda sucked, but because of cyclocross and last weekend's race, I needed the support. It hurt a lot when I woke up in the middle of the night, but it was fine this morning. Still, I'm going to take it easy today, get some housecleaning and stuff done- we're woefully behind on stuff like scrubbing the bathtub.

But anyway, back to the run. We started late because of family stuff, and I was set for 3-3.5 hours of hell. It turned out pretty fun and felt good though. Legs moving quickly, even passing some casual cyclists. The only thing I hated was at the bathroom stop about 2 miles from finishing, Dad got into a conversation while waiting for me with a woman triathlete prepping for an Ironman. She kinda got on my nerves offering A LOT of unrequested advice. (I had written more, but after snapping out of my bad mood I decided it was a bit harsh.)

I know she meant well, it was just annoying, especially since we were trying to finish a run but she just kept talking. I get frustrated when people see me and assume I need advice or help because I'm young. I'm great when Don or my Dad or someone who KNOWS anything about me (this includes people who read my blog, you know everything about me!) gives me advice. But when you know nothing about me, it gets to me.

Yeesh.

OK, rant over, it was a fun last couple of miles, and when I finished and felt like my feet were on fire, I got to soak them in the chilly Delaware River. Of course, as I walked barefoot out of the woods from the river, I ran into a gorup of men. "How's the water?" one asked.

"Chilly." I replied.

"How far did you go?" (I was carrying my sneakers)

"24 miles."

"of swimming?!"

"No, running."

Afterwards, when I was wondering about why they thought I was swimming so far in the freezing water, my dad made an acute observation: I was running in short shorts and a sleeveless top that basically looked like an athletic tankini. In short, I looked like a triathlete.

Other than that, I watched GI Jane and Domino because I love them, for a hefty dose of badass girl power, and because I was feeling lame about my short hair and wanted to see women rockin' it. And rode 3 hours on the trainer on Saturday. Tame weekend all around though.

Trying to make my knee feel better and get a lot of CX practice in this week, since I'm racing on Sunday. Just happy to be done with the long run!

More 'Cross (last one, I promise!)

2009-10-23T10:51:00.003-04:00

I was in a good mood from all of the positive feedback from my 'cross race, both pictures and post-race discussion. I had a sweet 'cross practice on Wednesday, just learning a lot more in terms of skills. My shoulder is killing me though!

I normally wouldn't cross over facebook to the blog, but these comments were begging to be shared:George: This looks like its straight out of bicycling magazine. sweet pic.

Ken: Now, you look determined....

Vlad: Ooooohhhhhhhh yeaaaa! Now that's a mug I would like to chug - Duff Man

Dan: I feel like most of the time when I comment on your pictures, or status, or anything, I end up writing - "badass
This will be no exception. That's so badass.

Adam: molly "eyes on the prize" hurford

(another picture of me grabbing the guy's wheel: Don replied, "YES! YES, MOLLY! YES! so proud.")

I love all of these people!!

Ahem... (Embarrassing Story to Follow)

2009-10-22T09:13:00.002-04:00

This morning, I woke up bright and early at 6, ready and rarin' to go for Master Swim. Except for one little thing... the past two nights I've had horrible insanely realistic zombie nightmares, and the Halloween spirit has us discussing the concept of zombies on a very regular basis.

It was still really dark out, and embarrassing as it is to admit, I couldn't bring myself to leave the house. So I missed swim class. Of course, I'm still going to head there right after class, now that it's light out, but now that it's light out and I'm fully awake, I'm getting hit with just how silly it was for me to be freaked out about going outside in the dark.

And that's my little embarrassing story for today. It's dumb because now I have to make it up, and I'm in class feeling gross because I didn't get my swim in. Dammit!

Week = Half Over.

2009-10-21T13:35:00.003-04:00

Couldn't resist sharing a few more pictures from the race:(Don was exceptionally proud of this one... he told me to get on someone's wheel on the short pavement part, and I followed directions!)

(Slogging through mud to get up this hill was harder than it looked- I'm starting to master the art of "one foot down and push the bike!")

(At the bottom of a downhill aware that now it's time to hop off and start climbing the same hill, all the muddy, slippery way back up.)

And, the aftermath. My sister and I post-race.

All right, I promise, that's the last of the cyclocross pictures for now! I'm honestly just proud of myself for even trying it. Especially in those miserable conditions- my dad put it succinctly when he said, "well, you learned how to ride in the worst conditions you'll ride in, it should be easy now!"

I'm not sure if that's true, but we'll see. I think my biggest limiter is my not wanting to get hurt- after that tiny knee twist last January set me back months of running, I'm in no mood to do anything like that again. I'm in it for fun, not to get horribly injured. So that will slow me down a lot, taking everything a bit cautiously. My results were pretty pathetic, but hey- it was my first race and I finished it, which is more than I expected. Before the race, even at the starting line, I was wondering if I could just quit and walk away. So I'm glad that I didn't. (We all knew I wouldn't, but still, it was tempting.)

I'm pretty stoked about next weekend, since it'll be our local race, and fun no matter how badly I do!

Anyway... this week so far:

Had Master Swim yesterday morning and managed to swim a 1:25 100 meter after having already put in a 500 meter warmup with drills, followed by 4 x 300 meters at a pretty hard pace. I was happy. Followed it up with another 9 100's, all at between 1:35 and 1:39. So slowly but surely, I am getting faster.
Played with a breathing drill for the cool down, where I think I surprised Keith with how competent I am at holding my breath. "Swim Yoga," he calls it, and it's just 25 yards breathing every 3rd stroke, then 25 at every 5th, then every 7th, and so on... Did two sets of that, then went the whole 25 meters without a breath. How's that for yoga? Thanks to all the ocean swimming and surfing I used to do, I'm good at holding my breath unerwater- nothing like wiping out in a huge wave to teach something like that!
Yesterday I also had what I consider my worst run of all time- maybe I shouldn't have done it right after eating leftover Chinese food for lunch, but I had a growling stomach and only 1:45 before I had to be fed, run, showered, and out the door for work, so digestion time wasn't really on the table. So, ran pretty much right after I finished eating, which just resulted in a quick step to the bathroom, then the rest of my pathetic 30 minute run hovering in areas near the bathroom and praying I wasn't going to throw up. But I went for 30 minutes... sometimes, it's the little victories.
Spinning at night relatively hard for 30 minutes. Why? Frankly, I like cookies. So I decided whenever I want dessert, I have to do something so that way my metabolism is revved and ready to eat, so I don't go to bed with cookies sneaking their way onto my hips.
Getting very tired of school, classes, tutoring, and nanny-ing. Considering becoming a librarian in order to avoid the human race. (I almost went to grad school for library science, got into the program and everything, so this isn't a stretch.) It won't happen, I'm sure I'll get over this hump and remember that I do want to teach English and work in a high school (read: coaching and free gym access, as well as summer off to train and race!), but right now, I'm feeling a bit frustrated and like I'm in a 'cross race, stuck in the mud, and spinning my wheels.

But, it's mid-week, soon it will be the weekend (then again, I have a 23 mile run on Saturday... maybe I don't want it to get here!), and I will be thoroughly enjoying two days of (relative) freedom. Is it just me, or as the days get shorter, does it seem like the weeks are getting longer?

Cyclocross Photos!

2009-10-20T09:56:00.003-04:00

Some photos from the race on Saturday:

And my personal favorite, just before the finish:

First Cyclocross Race, Done!

2009-10-18T10:01:00.002-04:00

Well, had my first cyclocross race yesterday!

And I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Granogue was rainy, muddy, cold, and miserable. But when I was carrying my bike up a hill sinking 6 inches into mud and trying to cough up whatever was stuck in my throat that was making it hard to breathe, coach Ken (Rutgers Cycling's awesome coach) yelled, "having fun yet?"

And before it really registered, I yelled back, "I kinda am!"

So I guess it was fun!

It was freezing rain and my sister was pointing out that my hair was actually freezing. I had to change in Matt's truck and he lent me embrocation to keep my legs warm- thanks Matt! Don wasn't there to go over the course with me, I couldn't find Blake, and we got lost en route to the race. By the time I was lining up, I was thinking "crap, can I just not race?"

Of course, we all know that that's never an option, so I rolled out with the rest of the women. I've never ever ridden in mud before, it's insane. You're sliding, you're slipping, you're almost falling, you're literally spinning your wheels and not moving. It's amazing what your body can do that you didn't expect. Even at the first lap, I had one foot down leading my bike, I was dismounting comfortably, and I was almost always able to clip back in, despite my shoes literally being coated with 3 inches of mud, leaves, and grit. I got smacking in the face with a thorn, fell in the deepest mud, tripped on one of the pieces of tape marking the course, cramped up my hands braking so hard, almost cut my side with my crank, twisted not one but two knees, slammed my pelvis into my stem and literally cried while riding because it hurt so much, fell about a million times, dropped my bike once, but finished the race, and wasn't last!

It was messy and it was wild- I think I'll do it again. I'm not amazing at it, but then again, it was a highly technical course in the hardest conditions that you could be stuck racing in. So I feel ok about it- it was a good first race in the sense that it'll never get harder than that. I hope. And Dad adds that if it is ever harder than that, especially weather-wise, we aren't going. He and my sister were awesome, as was the rest of the team, cheering for me.

And I have triathlon to thank for my doing semi-decently. It was clearly a runner's race, and even better, a triathlete's race. I have upoer body strength that most women don't have from swimming and weight lifting, so I can move my bike easier and faster, and I'm a runner, which most of them aren't. So while they kicked my ass whenever we were riding (or most of the time, anyway), I was passing them like crazy on the runs. Ha! And the guys make fun of me for being a triathlete...

So first 'cross race down. I'm not in love, but I have a bit of a crush on the sport. We'll have to see how the next race goes, but it is great to be racing in general. I don't know that I could go for more than a month without some kind of race- I may hate not getting to sleep in on weekends, but any kind of racing is good for me, it teaches me how to keep my nerves calm and focus.

So yeah. Bring on Highland Park Cyclocross in two weeks- should be an adventure!