My first pro race! What fun! Unfortunately, I’ll have to mark this down as a good learning experience since it definitely didn’t go as I had hoped. The weekend started out well. With the Philadelphia Triathlon being a hometown race, I had a lot going on (in addition to the pressure of my first race as a pro!). I spent Friday evening at the expo helping Dan from Zoot Sports. I had a great time talking to people about the new line of shoes from Zoot and lots of my friends stopped by to say hi. Saturday was as uneventful as a pre-race day usually is except for attending my first pro race meeting.  Ahhh! Am I really a pro?! I woke up Sunday morning with high hopes. Being the first wave, there was no time to spare and since I had to take a bus to the swim start I needed lots of time. Much to my dismay, the water temperature was 75°, which meant no wetsuits for the pros. Oh no! But, as my coach was quick to point out, this is something I am going to have to get used to. I was pretty nervous on race morning and felt very out of place next to all these super fast women. Once our wave was called and we were in the water I thought to myself, it’s just another triathlon, let’s go! And off we went… Well, off everyone else went. I swear I was swimming in place. The swim felt like forever and I knew I had lost a lot of time.  But I thought about what my husband had told me the night before my race and that was to be brave. So, I fought my way back on the bike (fortunately I love the Philadelphia triathlon bike course!) and I managed to put myself in a decent position for the run. But, it just wasn’t meant to be.  My run was pitiful.  As I crossed the finish line I knew I would be disappointed with my results. I expected better of myself, especially in my pro race debut.  I felt like I disappointed all my friends and family who had come to support me. That’s the problem with hometown races. They are great when you are great but that much worse when you fail. Looking back, I realize I had a lot more to learn than I expected. It wasn’t just another triathlon, it was my first race as a professional athlete and a whole new ball game. And as I said in the beginning, I will use this race as a learning experience and one to push me to the next level. After all, that is part of the reason I became a pro, to help me be a better athlete.  Until next time... 

What a day! This was one of the hardest races I have ever done. I had heard stories about this race before I signed up but I really had no idea what I was in for (which was probably a good thing!). The race site was great. It was in a beautiful state park with lots of picnic tables, a nice beach and great mountain scenery (unfortunately these were the same mountains I had to climb). I woke up race morning and the weather was perfect, warm but not too warm. The water was 69 degrees and I was all ready for the long day ahead. Little did I know… I got off to a good start on the swim and felt strong the whole time. The only difficulty came during the second half of the swim.  We were swimming right into the sun and which made it impossible to see where the next buoy was. I ended up following a group ahead of me whom I discovered, almost too late, were swimming off course.  I managed to get back track just in the nick of time and make it around the buoy. After that, I got my bearings and made it out of the water 5th female. The uphill trail run to transition seemed to take forever but I was spurred on by my husband who started running alongside of me giving me race updates.  He then decided the hill was too long and he was too tired so he stopped. But I wanted to stop too!  The rest of transition went well and I was off on the 2 loop bike course. OH MY!!! The hills just kept coming. Actually, the first loop didn’t seem all that bad but I swear the hills got steeper the second time around. I came through my first loop and saw my mom and dad cheering me on as I headed out for my second loop. I was happy for some encouragement. And good thing my mom was standing there behind the bike marshal waving her hands for me to go left, just in case I didn’t see the bike marshal directing me left, or the arrows in the road, or the instructions he yelled at me as I got closer… Thanks mom! The bike course was mostly shaded which was nice but I could still feel the temperature getting warmer as the race went on. I really concentrated on getting in enough fluids and calories. I really don’t like to eat when I’m racing but I knew I had to. All was going well until one of my water bottle cages came loose halfway through the bike course. It kept falling off to the side so I couldn’t pedal. I finally had to stop, get off my bike, and take it completely off. I was one water bottle down but knew I had a water stop coming up so I didn’t worry. I was frustrated to lose the time though. I finished the bike course with no other glitches and off onto the run. Wow, my legs were beat up! As I ran, I kept hoping my legs would start feeling better but my quads just kept getting tighter and tighter. Hang on I thought, I need to run far and I need to run fast! Unfortunately, my legs never really recovered but as I plodded along, I saw lots of my friends out on the course cheering for me which really kept me going. And, just when I thought I would never see the finish line, there it was!  But not before I heard my dad yell out asking me if I stopped for lunch. I guess I really was plodding! But, I finished and, I won! The race was tough but it really was a great race. The race directors, Larry and Michelle Redrow of CGI racing, really do a great job. The venue was beautiful, the course was well marked, the aid stations were well set up, and everything seemed to run efficiently. I will be starting my celebration once I am able to walk again.

WOOO HOOOO!!!! What a feeling! Columbia turned out to be an amazing race. After all my anxiety I had going into this race it was amazing that I was able to stay focused and race well. It was a week of restless nights and days spent worrying about how I felt. Part of the nerves were due to the fact that I DNF’d at Columbia last year due to illness but also that I’ve never had a good race here and this was the first one of the season… who knew what kind of shape I was in? As I packed my bags and went through my usual pre-race routine I finally started to feel some excitement. My husband and I hit the road Saturday and met up with my parents and brother who were coming down to watch me race.  Race morning went on as usual, me cranky and quiet wondering why they have to have triathlons so early in the morning, and this morning praying that it was warm and not raining outside. Thankfully, no rain and not too cold. But what was cold was the water! 68 degrees doesn’t sound cold but when they called my wave and I jumped off the dock into the water my feet immediately went numb. I had no time to dwell though, I had a race to do! The swim started and as always it was complete chaos. And yes, as always, I panicked a bit. After swallowing a huge gulp of water I was forced to stop for a few seconds and catch my breath or I was going to drown (well, it felt like that anyway!). By the time I started swimming again I had lost some contact with the lead group which was unfortunate but did give me some more space to swim and the rest of the swim went on without a hitch. I felt strong swimming but Columbia is always a pretty calm swim and with the sun behing the clouds I had no trouble sighting. I came out of the water exhausted but hoping I had put in a good swim. I really can never tell if I swam fast. My always reliable husband was waiting at T1 with my update, 7th place, 1 minute down. Hmmm… not too bad I guess but I had some work to do. I took off on my bike and happily, I felt great. My new Scott Plasma felt fast and my legs felt great. I managed to catch some women early on and spent the second half of my bike by myself. I had no idea where anyone was. As I rode into T2 I heard my family cheering and I could tell by their surprised and overly excited shouts that I was in first. As I left the transition area and headed out on the run, I caught out of the corner of my eye, the first woman coming in off the bike but couldn’t see who it was. I knew she was too close for comfort though. I was going to have to run like hell. One mile in and I was worried. My legs were like bricks. Please, please, please hold on I thought.  After way too many glances over my shoulder and none that gave me good news (can't she slow down so I don't have to run so hard?!) I finally made it to the last mile. Okay, I can do this I thought. There is no way I am going to lose this race in the last mile. I saw my dad with 600m to go and he warned me the next woman was coming hard. As if I didn’t know! But I also knew there was no way I was losing this race now. I put my head down and gave it everything I had. I saw the finish line and heard Jerry McNeil screaming my name. YES! YES! YES! What a day! It felt so good to have a great race here and to win a race like Columbia. I saw my husband and gave him a big hug and for once, did not have anything negative to say.  I was happy my parents were there to witness it and to see how proud of me they were! We celebrated by stopping on the way home for softshell crab at a restaurant on the Chesapeake and later, champagne!  (Check out the picture gallery for some pictures of the race.)

The MORE half marathon is finally here which means triathlon season is right around the corner! Finally! No more cold weather and gray days. The MORE is one of my favorite races. It’s a great chance to see where my running fitness is and to visit NYC with my friends. We left for NYC on Saturday so we could check out the expo and pick up our race information. We met up with our friend who has this beautiful apartment in Greenwich Village and who was letting us crash at her place for the night. I would have loved to be able to walk around and shop and eat and enjoy the nightlife in the Village but no, it was the night before the race. Instead, we ate at a sushi restaurant around the corner. It was some of the best sushi I’ve ever had but not really what I would normally eat the night before a race. I do really love sushi and since this is only a fun training race I just went with it. After a quick stop for some chocolate we headed back to our friends apartment, organized our stuff and went to sleep. Some fun guests we were! Race morning, especially the first one of the season, is always rough. Well, it is for me anyway. I’m definitely not a morning person and this morning was no different.   We got our stuff around and headed uptown to Central Park. The weather was typical for MORE. Cold and damp. It was threatening to rain anytime and I was praying it held off at least until we started the race.   One of my most vivid memories from MORE last year was having to take off my warm-ups at the finish line and then walk/run across the park to the start freezing my butt off and standing around praying for the race to start. It was no different this year and I was miserable! There’s nothing I hate more than being cold! Finally the gun went off. Three women took off immediately and were never seen again. I started off running with the 2^nd group of women and not feeling that great. Would I really be able to run a 1:25? I really thought I had it in me but my legs felt so stiff. Around mile 3 the group I was running with seemed to be slowing a bit and I knew I would have to pick it up if I wanted to reach my goal. Plus, I was starting to feel better. Thankfully my legs responded. I got through the first lap right on target although I do remember wondering where all these long endless hills came from. I definitely don’t remember them from last year!  At mile 9 I began to really hurt. I knew I was close to my goal and really hoped that I could just hang on for the last few miles. I gave it one last push at the end and yeah! finished in 1:25:42.   Happy, tired, and cold, my friends and I headed to our favorite brunch place, Le Pain Quotidien, for some food and after multiple stops at Starbucks, finally made it home.