Late Blogger - Late Bloomer

Well, I am a late blogger as this race was “last” weekend but I guess I was a late bloomer too (ha ha). Anyway, it was the State 10k Championships which happened to be close to my home so when my sponsor K-Swiss requested I go – it fit as a perfect training run so I was off to the race.

My legs were tired and heavy but I went out at a 5:46 mile and paid for it as I got passed and passed. I was the first female and 10k State Champion but I wished I had ran faster, but hey – I guess that’s why they call it “training” / Anyway the photographer (Robert Petrillo ) got some great shots. Thanks so much Robert !!

Support Team Tony !!

A good friend and local hero here in Sarasota Florida to many Tony McEachern will soon begin his annual fundraising walk - the "Walk of Life" Please take a moment to read a little about Tony and his upcoming adventure.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE WALK of LIFE?

After having lost 95% of his left peripheral vision and losing the ability to comfortably ride a bike but still a competitive athlete, Tony McEachern was not content to let his spirit fade away. He chose to celebrate his life and reinforce to others that they could too, no matter what particular challenges they faced in their life.

"On April 25th, 6 years after my diagnosis, I will begin a 750 mile, 35 day long journey with families, friends and doctors at The Annual 5k Angel's Among Us Fundraiser held at Duke University Medical Center. I will then continue on my Walk of Life all the way back home to Sarasota, Florida.

My goal is two-fold: First, I plan to raise $100,000 for The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke to whom I'm indebted to for my life, in the hope that it will enable them to do for others what they have done for me. My second goal is to meet more people, to share my adventure, and to learn about theirs. Hopefully, you too will join me along the way and take the Walk of Life"

Tony has teamed up with TRAKKERS GPS so that everyone can follow his daily progress. Be sure to visit www.teamtony.org/ to share in his journey !!

Thanks for all you do Tony - We Love You !!!

Georgia Gap Rides

Today our main goal was to cover the six Georgia Gaps over 11,463 feet of climbing. This Florida girl couldn’t wait!! We had some early morning fuel thanks to Tracy’s scones (yummy).Tracy, Frank and I then left the cabin early and traveled to the small town of Dahlonega (figured we should start a little closer to the climbs).

The first Gap – Neels Gap – the climb was approximately steep !! Wow not what I am used to, next was up Jack’s Gap with an extra climb to Brastown Bald. Frank rocked up this and Tracy and I followed some five minutes back. This is one steep climb and not easy on a tri-bike
(I actually liked the climb more than the descent).

Onto the next Gap – we had a screaming and very long descent (we discussed that next time we would do the route in reverse so we could climb this one) it was a seriously long way down. We hit the next Gap starting the climb and hoping it would be like the downhill we just did but we only climber some 10 minutes and were there – what kind of Gap is this, how funny – we were disappointed it was so short.

Looking at our directions we knew which way to go but were not sure of what Gap we were on but as we started climbing and climbing and climbing it was apparent we were on Hogs Pen as we knew it was the longest – not to mention very steep (17% grade at points). It was awesome hitting the switchbacks and going up, up and up some more. Every once in a while I could see Franks red jersey up ahead and Tracy behind as she kept stopping at all the scenic points for photos (these pictures are all hers – thanks Tracy!!) The temperature proved interesting as well as it was hot when we were climbing and chilly going down ! I didn’t like stopping – just wanted to get to the top.

We would have these slight flat areas and a few twisty descents and I would wonder if we were at the top part hoping we were but on the other hand being glad when the climb continued. This is making me strong !! Frank actually thought he was at the top once and put on his arms and vest !! But each time we all made it up another Gap we would celebrate and EAT !!!

Rope Nazi

Ok – here in the deep woods of Georgia there are not a lot of places to swim as the open water is still too cold. I have been working hard at my swim and didn’t want to lose anything or at the very least just wanted to maintain my level of fitness. The only pool we found anywhere near us had no lane lines and a rope half way, separating the shallow end from the deep end (make sense at the little buggers need to know where it gets deep) BUT… what about when there is one kid in a floatie and two teenagers in the corner. Well “NO WAY” says the rope Nazi!! I talked to the mom with the little kid and she is ok with us taking down the rope and the teenagers understand its deep on one end – can we please take it out? NO WAY

So here are some photos of me swimming over the rope each time down


Here it comes !!


Up and Over



Dont catch the feet.......

Ouch my toes !!!!!

Errrr…… FRUSTRATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok – everyone is out of the pool so I take the rope half way out so I can swim without going under and over but within 10 minutes the ROPE NAZI was back in making me put it up – some people love what little control they can yield :)

Fun at Anderson Creek - Georgia

Wow – what a great few days this has been with my family, we have all had just the greatest time!! We spent most of our days hiking the back woods with our kids and enjoying the beauty and serenity of Anderson Creek and the Georgia Mountains. What a terrific place and well kept secret this is. Each day has included a long hike through the woods down to a very quaint picnic area down by the fresh water creek. We built a camp fire while the kids played kickball, football and threw rocks in the creek. They are also took on the adults in a mean game of horseshoes!! Great memories and a very fun Easter

Thanks Borrego Family !!!

Today my sister and her kids are arriving from Virginia, she has three kids as well and my three can’t wait to play with their cousins. We plan on spending the next few days hiking the vast trails here and enjoying a break from our typical go – go – go life!! To that end I need to extend a special THANK YOU to the Borrego family for allowing us the opportunity to use their home for the week. Anthony (age 14) and his family live just south of us in Bradenton and he is a new client of mine. He is an athletic STUD!! A multisport star who is getting into Triathlon and is fast as lightning running, he just threw up a 4:23 mile at his latest track event and he is a Tennis Star!! Not to mention the fact that he is one of the nicest and most polite young men I have ever met. A big shout out to his parents Roy and Karen for that, they are a terrific Christian Family and we are so excited to be working together. Thanks Again Borrego Family – YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!

On to Georgia !!

We were very much looking forward to the next leg of our Spring Break trip to the Georgia Mountains, (although no one loves the long car rides). We split up the ride and after leaving New Orleans stayed in Montgomery Alabama for the night and let the kids blow off a little steam.

The following day we made the final push to the Mountains with a brief stop in Atlanta. While in Atlanta we spent the afternoon with Morgan Clark the new owner of All3Sports. She is such a great person and we are so psyched that they are working with us for the Rev3 Triathlon. Morgan and I did a swim together while Todd and the kids played hoops, then we all had lunch and headed over to All3Sports offices for a tour of the facility and some Rev3 planning time. It was really a fun afternoon, what a great setup they have!! Thanks Morgan for the hospitality – you guys are the best!!!!

From there it was off to the mountains. Before hitting the back roads to the cabin we stopped off for groceries for the week. Ok you will have to check out the photo, the car was absolutely packed to begin with considering all the gear we had and there was nowhere for all the goods.I ended up cramming in the back seat with the kids and the groceries rode shotgun with Todd.

By the time we reached our destination of Anderson Creek it was dark and let me tell you there are very few lights out in the Georgia woods. To complicate matters it began to snow!!! Are you kidding me – snow? We couldn’t believe it but it just added to the adventure and the kids thought it was pretty funny. I made a fire while Todd and the boys unpacked the car – we warmed up and settled in for a cozy night’s sleep.

New Orleans

Cool Kids at the Mall


Dont mess with these guys


Easter Bunny Time - (They loved this :) NOT

Myself, Chris, Stu, Linsey, Desiree

After a lengthy journey we are here in New Orleans. As we drove around to get an understanding of where we were and the race venue itself we couldn’t help but be struck with the existing devastation from the hurricanes a few years ago. It turned out to be a great lesson for my kids as we drove by rows of boarded up/ deserted houses simply destroyed by the floods. You realize truly how lucky you are when you see this firsthand how other people must live on a daily basis, no fault of their own.

We made our way down to the water where the race would begin. A storm was moving in and had obviously stirred up the water a bit. We ran across some dead birds and empty beer cans, my twelve year old son looked at me and said – no way you should swim in that mom !! Time to find a pool for today’s practice swim. It turned out to be good advice as the skies down poured within fifteen minutes with an incredibly hard rain.

On Friday I did an interview with Zipp, a zipp cast actually hosted by Stu of simplystu.com / what a great guy!! Anyway it was myself, Desiree Ficker, Linsey Corbin and Chris McDonald. We had a great time and I always love the opportunity to do things for my sponsors, should be a fun interview – look for it on zipp.com

From the interview most pros went back to their Hotels and put their feet up. For me it was off to the local mall for some shopping and fun with Todd and the kids. I made my kids sit on the Easter Bunny’s lap with me – they were less than enthused but hey you gotta have a little fun no matter what the age. From there we hit the stores, my kids got a kick out of trying on Hats, shades at the Buckle – cool store, lots of fun.

Finally Home

I am so happy to be with my family again. I loved staying with Katya Meyers, a very cool chick, www.katyameyers.com / and absolutely loved training and hanging out with the Lifesport Team. Our Training and the Coaching was fabulous – thanks Lance and Paul and all the coaches!! But, in the end I was homesick and ready to re-unite with the family. Todd said the ten hour drive to New Orleans for 70.3 would cure my homesickness fast. Nothing like a power road trip with the family.

Lavaman

To be honest the day before the race I was not excited at all. I was feeling trashed from the workouts that took place before (not sure if it was the one and a half hour hill climb followed by the 800’s on the track or the ocean swim followed by the long run into the Energy Lab or maybe it was the five and a half hour ride, well whatever the case I was not excited to race.

I didn’t feel prepared, all these athletes with their fancy bikes, race wheels, aero helmets – I didn’t have the wheels or helmet but I did have my cool pink camo QR bike – but since it was a training trip I didn’t bring my ZIPP’s or Ironman Helmet. But that’s it!! Training Race! How lucky was I that I was in Hawaii and had the chance to compete in Lavaman in the pro field. Many athletes dream of this – now it was just time to convince myself.

I woke up at 3:30 (alarm was set for 4:45am) and I couldn’t go back to sleep, (good sign) had the usual nerves and couldn’t eat a ton (good sign) so maybe I was excited to go race. All week we had been doing ocean starts to prepare us for the season. I was psyched to hang on to the second group of women, Bree and Mags, even after Bree dunked me – yes on purpose!! (Bree you were going to teach me how on Monday!).

After all was said and done we hung on to a local boy, made a quick transition and got out onto the bike. I didn’t feel right and thought I must have a flat – looked down – Nope!! Are you sure? You gotta have a flat, are you kidding me – come on it’s just me. Well I wish I could report that I had a flat but the tire was fine, it was just me not moving near my race pace at all. Guess I need to rest up for 70.3 New Orleans next week (Oh and bring all my secret weapons, Todd and the kids, ZIPP wheels, aero helmet, my First Endurance EFS and my massage therapist William from the center4, http://www.thecenterfour.com/

Anyway felt ok on the run – it was an awesome run course – ran through the Hilton Gardens, beach lagoons area where you can swim with the dolphins. I had to remind myself to keep running, couldn’t stop thinking about what an awesome resort this would be with the kids. I was quickly reminded I was racing however as we had to carefully step on the lava rocks run path – that’s why they call it Lavaman !! I finished third behind Lisa Mensick, our Lifesport Olympian won it and miss local Bree Wee was close behind. It was fun to hang out after the race but I can’t wait to go home and see the family!!

Kona Training

On Thursday we did an open water swim then a long run on the Queen K and down into the Energy Lab. WOW - what awesome practice to be on this course. We followed that up on Friday with a 5 and a half hour ride to Havi and back.

I was kinda crabby at the early a.m. masters practice prior to the ride as I was just missing Todd and the kids sooooo much. Part of the give and take with these types of training trips - hard to deal with at times. Anyway - back to the ride ! The head wind was stiff and the cross winds typical Kona - WOW, never a favorite of mine but by the end I was happy I did it - plus enjoyed having Bree to ride with !!

BIG TIME CLIMBING

What a ride we had today – I guess I wanted to do some hills, after all that was one of the main reasons for coming here. WOW – I got all I could ask for !! What a tremendous CLIMB – would it ever end?? We grouped up in town, began a little warmup then the climb up Hina Lani.

This monster climb finishes with a major jump in elevation. The 6.5 mile ride up Kaloko has some big time grades from 17 to some places that measure a 21. The group got pretty spread out as we continued to climb – what an awesome workout though!! I can see why people come here to train, you can’t help but get stronger doing these type of workouts on a continuous basis.

Right after the hour and a half climb I wasn’t sure how my legs would feel transitioning right into our track workout. I was very happy that my legs felt good and I was hitting my times (even sub goal time) and it was absolutely great to have a group to not only train with but cheer for. I find it very motivating personally and hope that I provide a sense of motivation for the other Lifesport Athletes. This is such a great camp – I absolutely love the experience.

Maui to Kona Adventure !!

Today Katya and I packed up our gear and headed off together to meet up with Coach Paul in Kona. We arrived at the airport, began the standard check-in routine which quickly turned strange when the individual checking us in proceeded to ask us not only about the weight of our bags but what we weighed personally. I’m thinking to myself, what is this about? I hear the woman next to me being asked the same questions then hear her response, “I weight 102” Whatever – I am thinking to myself there is no way you are 102, and more importantly what is up with these weight questions?

Turns out the plane we are taking is one of these tiny inner-island carriers. To be honest I have never seen such a small plane and such a low budget operation. When they announced that it was time to board I looked out onto the runway and asked myself “board what?” We were getting on an 8 passenger plane with a max weight limit. Katya and I had all our gear including two bikes, the procedure was hilarious. Poor Katyas temporary bike box for travel was made of cardboard but ultimately too big to fit in the cargo box. We didn’t want to leave it so she borrowed a scissors and began cutting it down to size, finally borrowing some scotch tape to hold it together during flight. Way too Funny, but props to her for making it work.

So we board the plane and the pilot gets on, I’m thinking man that guy looks familiar then it occurs to me, that’s the same guy who was checking us in !!

Oh my !! So I’m in the first row seat and can literally touch the pilots shoulder in front of me – security? What security? Thankfully this is a short flight because every time there was a gust of wind the plane jerked in a different direction. I couldn’t wait to get back on the ground. We made it to Kona safely, the pilot got off the plane and proceeded to unload everyone’s luggage. Wow, this guy is a true one man show !!

I’m now pumped to be in Kona, it seems so different when you are here and the World Championships aren’t taking center stage – it’s a different looking town. Anyway can’t wait for some great ocean swims as well as the opportunity to train on the Kona course. More to come !!

FANTASTIC FRIDAY / SUFFER SATURDAY

So I am enjoying some great training here in Maui. Lance dubbed each Friday “Fantastic Friday” – we were all geared up for some great training. We began this past Friday with a long steady state ride which took us along Maui’s beautiful coast overlooking the Ocean. There was that part of me that really wanted to be able to stop and take some pictures for this blog but I couldn’t because the group was moving along way too fast !! (Thanks Mags and Linsey)

Straight away to a run workout....400's!!!!!!! - I have not done any track work yet this year ( for that matter since about last August) and was so glad to have company for this one – 20 x 400 at 70.3 race pace !

Basically heart rate was high and I wanted to puke!!! - Gotta love it!!!

After our coastline ride and run workout Lance took us to the pool for the following workout:
10 x 400 / we did 5 of them pulling and the next 5 pulling with a paddle. It was another great workout and truly a “Fantastic Friday”

So what could be better than (20) Fantastic Friday you ask? How about “Suffer Saturday” WOW – what another great training day/ workout, it started with a long (3 hours) but somewhat flat terrain ride, THEN we added another 3 hours, this time all Climbing !! This little Florida girl is finally getting some climbing she so desperately needs - yahoo!!!

Lifesport Camp - Maui Fun !!

"The best moments in life are not the passive times,
they occur when mind and body are exerted to the limits !"
Well this is a perfect quote for the Lifesport Camp !!

Training Camp here in Maui - WOW - first, this place
is beautiful !! I have been to Hawaii many times but
never to Maui.

So far I have been:
EXCITED (to be here)
TIRED (from all the travel - 6 hr. time change)
HUMBLED (by the Hills)
THANKFUL (for training partners)
RELIEVED (a break from work as ironedgecoaching
just wrapped up our third tri camp)

A BIG thanks to Lifesport for arranging this great
experience !! And also to all the great athletes for
pushing me to the next level each and every day !!
And to my HUBBY (for encouraging me to go !)

Many emotions go through my mind on a daily basis,
I relish the training opportunities that I am taking part
in daily but so very much miss my husband and kiddos.
A trade off that has always been difficult for me, anyway
gotta rest up for a 2 hour ride with 30 minute TT,
followed by mile repeats !! CANT WAIT !!

Upcoming Lifesport Maui Camp

I have been reading Linsey's blogs which are really getting me excited about my training trip (Maui/ Kona). A lot of the Lifesport gang arrived in Mid February, some late February. They are having a fantastic (which also means hard) training trip and I cant wait.. BUT I have this pit in my stomach .......
I am a HOMEBODY - You would never know as I love to Travel (Is that an oxymoron or what?) but I hate leaving Todd and the kids, or maybe its that I love to travel with them. I just miss them so terribly when I am gone. I did really want to go to the camp starting February 20th but I would have had to take a flight home early for homesickness or family sickness !! Ha Ha but its likely true !! So mid march (have to be home for the big birthday March 9th) will ultimately be long enough for this girl - look for fun photos from Hawaii to come!

March Tri Camp

We recently wrapped up our third and final tri camp for the year. We had another tremendous group of athletes come together to share the experience of training and learning together in a fun environment. Our athletes were from Las Vegas, Maryland, New Jersey, Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida - it was a truly tremendous group !!

I always love the opportunity to get to meet new people who are passionate about our sport and hungry to learn more and take their training and racing to a new level. We packed in three and a half great days of constant activity, enjoy a few photos from the Camp.