Heather Takes on Ryan Hall !!

Ryan Hall, the 2008 Olympian was in Tampa Florida for the Gasparilla Festival this weekend

Gasparilla is a Runners Dream!!
15k / 5k on Saturday

1/2 Marathon & Marathon on Sunday

Prize $

Huge Expo

Tons and Tons of People
It's a Festival & Totally Cool !!

You can even be crazy and do the Triple Crown 15k / 5k / 1/2 or the 15k / 5k / Marathon! WOW!!

As for my race, I didn't want to start off too fast and have the Olympian feel bad. Actually, it was funny because there were a few guys that took off in front of Ryan but on the out and back he was what seemed like an easy 1/2 mile to mile ahead of the pack. (His photo is in this post - no one else around him).

He was flying!! Such a genuine great guy! I was standing next to him during his pre-race prayer, it was a special moment to be standing right there, hearing him and witnessing the very things I've read about him - wow, its hard to put into words.

Originally I had a long run on my schedule so I was planning the 15k with an hour after - but after running a good 15k I was jogging and ran into friends doing the 5k, so I hopped into that race as well (little harder to go out the 2nd time) - luckily it wasn't fast.

It did give me time to realize the achievements of all these runners, whether its winning your age-group, breaking 30 minutes or just finishing - its inspiring. It reminds me on a great quote by Basketball Coach Bobby Knight, "Failure, to me, is not having the desire to try. Having the desire to try is in its own way success" The middle of the pack runners push themselves just as hard in their own way, as those who are winning their categories. Congrats to all - it was a special day !!

Sports and More Sports......

There never seems to be a dull moment
around the Gollnick House. One of the great
things about Florida is that the kids can be
outside actively involved in sports year
around. Makes our already busy life even crazier
but I love seeing them out there being
active and enjoying themselves.

My nine year old Zach was re-united this year
with his old baseball coach from a few years ago.
He is a real fun guy and the kids love playing
for him. HIs Team name is the Bulldogs
and he cranks up "who let the dogs out"
every time they run out of the dugout.
Zach loves it.

My oldest Josh is getting into Tennis and
is taking to it rather quickly. My husband and
I both agree that he has the build for it and he
is quick on his feet. Yes, its a busy life but
when you see your kids happy - its all worth
it !!!

Sharks Swim Team Practice

Today I swam with the kids - yes, they are all little whiper-snappers, 13-17 years old and FAST!! It was a great practice. We did lots of IM, Free, Kicking, Pulling - basically lots of swimming. The first "set" was 5x 300 mixed IM, which I never fully grasp - fly, back, breast, back, breast, fly, breast, fly, back, etc...

I do Free in between so as not to get lapped. We did 3 x 200 kick (yep, do get lapped) oh boy another kick set - at this point I would in the past have switched to free, drill or pulling - or put fins on!! feeling as a triathlete I dont need to kick but coach Paul taught me through his actions/workouts at Camp that kicking was important as they did it frequently. I vowed not to bow out of kick sets and even made the 10 x 50 kicks on 1:05 today. It's all about achieving these mini goals :) Now where are the chocolate chip Pancakes??

No Picture of me doing butterfly - that would be quite the photo - ha ha

CAMP TWO - Day 3 & 4

Our final two days of camp were fantastic, what
a GREAT GROUP !! We enjoyed some great rides
in the Florida sun :) and everyone had the
opportunity to work on and learn some valuable
bike handling skills. You guys did a great job navigating
through the cones.

The run drills were a blast as well. We did a short
run today as everyone was conserving energy for the
Sarasota Half - Marathon on Sunday.

Monica enjoyed a Valentine Treat from her boyfriend,
what a thoughtful guy !! By the way why didnt you
share with everyone??

In closing I am happy to report that everyone did a
great job at the Half - Marathon. Keep up the good
work everyone and if you are reading this blog and
thinking - That looks like fun - then come join us for
our final camp March 5-8th !!

CAMP TWO - Day 2

Another great day at Camp. One of the highlights
was a trip to the Ocean for some Open Water
Swimming. It was a beautiful day and the Gulf
felt great !!

On Sunday all athletes are going to run in the
Sarasota Half Marathon. I had the opportunity
to speak Friday evening on running your best
race. It was a lot of fun with some great questions :)

CAMP TWO - Day 1

This afternoon we started on second camp for the month of February. Our campers this week are from Chicago, New Jersey, Kentucky and Florida. It is another great group and we had a fun time in our first day together.

We took a trip to Fit2Run where our athletes went through a video gait analysis. Fit2Run is a fantastic store, clearly the best running store I have ever been associated with. From there we went back to Village Bikes for a great dinner followed by a discussion on The Mental Game and training your mind to succeed in Triathlon. I have always believed that this makes all the difference when those challenging moments come throughout training and competition. Anyway, looking forward to a great day again tomorrow. Talk to you then........

Long Day

The worst part about today was the dead, drained feeling I had in the a.m. I kep talking in circles, my kids thought I was crazy - Oh Yeah and the Colonoscopy (yuck) at least I was put out........

The BEST part was all the FOOD I planned on eating after from my favorite restaurant the Pancake House. Check out my diet which included peanut butter and banana and chocolate stuffed french toast. Yes, it comes with 2 halves but I ate one on my way home. 3 large pancakes with wheat germ, strawberries and chocolate chips, a tuna sandwich, corn bread (of course with chocolate chips) !!! I bet I wont feel drained after I get just a few calories in - Ha Ha

MONSTER WORKOUT

MONSTER WORKOUT

Today I went up to San Antonio Florida with friends Monica, Tracy and Tom. Its about a 1 hour 15 minute drive from here but there are HILLS!!!

We started out riding mellow but picked up the pace after 10 miles. At 20 we did 4 Hill Repeats on the longest hill around (about 7 min.). We then rode 10 miles to another big hill and did 4 more repeats (about 4 min. each). We did an out and back where I just wanted to keep Tracy in site. I then decided to make this a long 5 hour ride.

WHY DO YOU THINK:

A). I just love to ride and train

B). Wednesday all day until Thursday I cant eat anything (I dont workout well on no calories),
so get it in Tuesday?

C). The roads up here are amazing - hills, twists and turns - much different from our long flat
roads - I did drive 1:15 to get here.

D). All of the above

ANSWER (D)
I am having a colonoscopy on Thursday so no eating Wednesday (I really dont do so well working out without calories). I have had some issues with needing to stop in the woods (not to look at the leaves and collect pine cones) I doubt anything will show up but its very frustrating (especially in races!!)

Sorry, no pictures - was too tired when done - ha ha

CAMP - FINAL DAY!!!

WOW - All I can say is WHAT A GREAT CAMP
I included lots of pictures from our Strength
Training Session this afternoon. We started the
day with groups either getting in a long run or
one last ride in the sun before packing that bike
back up.

After a quick re-fuel we went outside for a fun
strength training session. I think everyone went
home with some new ideas for strengthening
their core. Nice job ladies !!

I must say that I had an absolutely fabulous time
working with all of you. This is without question
one of the most enjoyable camps I have ever been
part of. The All - Woman dynamic was simply
AWESOME!! I am so glad that I had the opportunity
to meet some great new friends :) I wish you all the best
in 2009 !! Will be following you all via the BLOG !!

Thanks Again - Heather