Thursday, November 20, 2014

Sometimes things just don't work out as planned

“Promise me you’ll always remember, you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” - Christopher Robin to Pooh

The above quote screamed loud and clear to me. The journey to Ironman is long. It starts to take a toll on you emotionally, physically, spiritually. But somewhere, way down deep in your soul, you know that the journey is worth it - no matter the results.

The past few months have been very difficult for me, to say the least. It has made me question a lot of things, but the one thing that I never questioned was my training for Ironman. Here’s a little quirk about me: When I am upset, angry, stressed, pissed off, etc. I work out.Sometimes, not the best thing for me, but this is my way of coping.

I was starting to feel really good about my training while everything else was coming apart at the seams. A lot of things started coming together. Then, a crazy idea popped in my head. Maybe, possibly, I could go under 16 hours. But, you never know what may happen on race day. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and be ready for whatever may happen. This proved to be the case for me on Sunday.

I’m not going to go into the days leading up to Ironman, but to just say I met some of the most amazing people: Simba, Morgan, John, Mark, all my new favorite peeps at Tribe Multisport in Scottsdale, cool dude at the Hippie Gypsy, the woman who remembered me from Candy Addict and just about everyone else that I met and just had cool ass conversations with.

Now let’s get to race morning:

I set my alarm on my cell phone, my heart rate monitor and my iPAD since I am always paranoid that I will be that one athlete who misses the start of the race. What happened? I woke up before all 3 alarms. So, I proceeded to make my oatmeal and get ready to head out the door. The ONLY good thing about where I stayed was the fact that I was 9 blocks from the race site. Walking distance! So, I gathered my jacket, my morning clothes bag with my wetsuit, goggles, cap and extra munchies and my 2 special needs bag for the bike and run. This year, I decided to go very minimal. For the bike special needs bag, all I had were 2 water bottles: 1 with water and 1 mixed with 3 scoops of eFuel Tropical Punch (this is the good stuff) + a bag of sour patch kids. My run special needs bag had a bag of Swedish fish and a pack of Hall’s cough drops (trust me on this). On my walk down, I had to make one key stop. Yes, you guessed it: Starbucks for a Grande Blonde Roast. It was needed.  So, I start walking some more with other athletes when this one woman bursts out crying. Why? Her son flew overnight from Boston to see his mother compete in Ironman. How effing cool is that?

Anyhoo, back to my story. I get to transition and first went straight to Beeker. I filled up all of my water bottles and made sure that everything was ok. With so many people around me, I started to get overwhelmed. Some random man gave me a hug and told me everything would be fine. Don’t worry, Ironman is full of people giving encouragement, hugs, just plain positive vibes all around. He was also cute. Oh, I digress. After my bike was set, I headed straight to my bike clothes bag. I opened up 4 hand warmers and put them in my socks and shoes since I figured that it was going to be a cold swim (68 degrees) and wanted my feet to be warm. One thing that I should have thought of and didn’t: arm warmers. After I did that, I received a text from the fellas on where they would be at but I needed to first, get in line for the porta potties! Oh yeah, but guess what? I found a very short line and lucky for me, I had a flashlight because it was still dark. After that, I walked over to drop off my special needs bags and then off to find the fellas. So we were waiting around before it was time to start lining up. Small chit chat, the putting on of the wetsuits. Can I just say that no one looks sexy in a wetsuit. No one. So, as we are slowly walking, I think I lost the fellas, but then that little thing called anxiety started creeping up but a couple of ladies hugged me and thanked me for being positive and cracking jokes in the porta potty line. A few guys decided to give me a hug also. I felt okayish, but I had to get into my own little world. Found the glasses table to hand them over. The woman who I gave my glasses to remembered me from last year and wished me luck. Suddenly, I hear someone yelling my name. It was my friend Amy, who had to tell me it was her since I couldn’t see a damn thing (no, I do not wear contacts. Long story) She wished me luck and I proceeded to walk the plank, I mean walk down the stairs to jump in the water. Why not dive in? Well, do you remember when Lake Michigan was about 3 feet lower than it should have been. Well that was Tempe Town Lake. It was much lower so you had to jump in or in my case, sit on the bottom steps and ease myself in.  Oh the water was effing cold even with the fact that I had poured water into my wetsuit before hand to try and get some warmth. I swam towards the middle back to start treading water and just wait for the cannon to go off. In the minutes and seconds before the cannon goes off, there is a lot of nervous energy, fears, doubts but I was just thinking, “Can we get this swim on? I am COLD.” The cannon goes off and I started swimming. Here was my plan for the swim: swim close to the buoy line (since I’m blind and I knew it would be super sunny), swim a straight line and try not to get hit, kicked, punched or swam over. Very lofty goals. After about 15 minutes or so, I was able to get into a real comfortable rhythm but I felt slow. I was getting colder by the minute but I just kept swimming. 4 buoys down, 5, 6, 7, 8...Ok, I’m doing fine. I was sighting roughly every 12-15 strokes. I couldn’t see the first red turn buoy until I was almost in front of it. Told you my vision sucks! This is where the bottleneck happened. I had to do some aggressive swimming just to get out of the bottleneck. Then, I had clear(ish) real estate to get to the next turn buoy and then another 1.2 miles to go. At this point, I was starting to get hungry but I was not getting warm. Mind you, I had on a full sleeve suit and it was not helping me at all. Just keep swimming! At about a ¼ mile left, I got hit by a kayak. That seriously hurt. The kayaker apologized but I was concerned about getting to the finish. Finally, the last turn buoy and it was a straight shot to the stairs. I finally got to the stairs and I literally couldn’t pull myself up. I know that I am strong but damn! The volunteers were amazing helping me up. I made it up the stairs and then I started shaking...bad. I.WAS.SO.COLD! I was trying to unzip my wetsuit but I couldn’t but thank God for volunteers. I had to be eased down for the volunteers to strip my wetsuit off of me, but then I had to get help back up. I was so happy my friend Amy was there as a volunteer and she was so positive and reassuring. Thank you!

So, I ran towards the changing tent, or my version of running. The volunteers handed me my bike changes clothes and I made my way to the tent. When I sat down, I was still so cold that the volunteers were doing as much as they could to warm me up. Luckily, there were 4 nurses in the changing tent volunteering. Unlucky, no chicken broth. Grrrr…….They used a Mylar blanket to help me warm up but when that wasn’t working, one of the nurses cut the blanket, set it out in the sun and stuffed it into my tri top to try to keep my core warm. I had about 10 minutes to get out of the tent so I slammed a fruit squeeze pack (similar to applesauce), donned my socks and cycling shoes (at least they were warm), sunglasses and goggles and made it to my bike. Since I was still so cold, the volunteer took my bike from me and walked with me to the mount line. It was hard as hell trying to get clipped in so I held on to the railing and who do I see, my friend Tim who knew I was cold but encouraged me to get a move on. I did. Once I got up and over the ramp, it was go time.

Let’s talk about the bike for a minute. My bike is a size too small and I really do not like the bike but I will fake a damn smile in a Chicago minute. I’m riding and I like, ok, I got this, but I.WAS.STILL.COLD!!!!! Once I got to the first aid station, I had to get off my bike. I was just trying to warm up but the sun was not helping nor was that damn wind. We will get to that in a few. I was chit chatting with one of the volunteers and lo and behold, there’s Hootie. If you don’t know Hootie, then something is DEFINITELY wrong with you. He was like, “Aren’t you suppose to be on the bike riding?” “Yeah, but I am cold.” Luckily, one of the volunteers handed me a discarded Mizuno running vest. Oh, I think she may have saved my life. I got on the bike and proceeded on my merry little way. The wind was bearable as in the past 2 years but as soon as I hit Beeline HWY, BAM!!!! That wind hit me like a sack of bricks. At one point, I was going 7.7 mph. No joke, that’s how bad the wind was. I knew if I could just keep going to the top of the turn, it would be smooth sailing until the next 2 times (it’s a 3 loop swim). I made that tight turn at the top and I was FLYING at 30mph (oh shit!). Yep, I felt like I was gaining some momentum. This is fun until loop number 2. Damnit, that wind. The best way to describe this wind, which was a head wind is to imagine being on a stationary bike outside with one of those special effect industrial strength fans blowing in your face while some dumbass decides to put the resistance on the bike at the highest level and you feel like you are pedalling through quicksand. Yeah, it was THAT BAD. I was gripping onto my bike for dear life just so I would not be blown over. My main focus was breathing, keeping (or trying to keep) a high cadence and keep saying my mantra in my head, “I’m strong, I’m Fierce, I’m super Iron Fit Fro!” Don’t laugh. It was working. Made it to the top of the 2nd loop and made my way back. I was at this point racing the clock. I had to make that final loop. I made the turn but it was really tight and I crashed into an official. I was apologizing like crazy but he was more concerned for me. I REALLY LOVE IRONMAN RACES!!! I had a problem clipping back in but he held my bike for me to get clipped back in a shoved me on my way.

Being the analytical person that I am, I started to do the math. I had an hour and 30 minutes or so to make it to the top of the final loop. I was pushing as hard as I could. It was literally a fight to stay upright, to stay hydrated, to keep on my nutrition and to keep pedaling. I felt as if I wasn’t moving. I made 80 miles and I was like, keep going. I knew I made another key check point at mile 83 or so. But the clock was ticking. I was fighting for dear life, but with this fight were 2 women who were also struggling so we decided to work together. Amber and Justine were from Colorado and they were awesome. We had the Salt River Police hanging with us in the back plus a Sag vehicle. We were talking and struggling with the wind in our faces. We figured, let’s do this until they pull us off the course. It was there first time and we were just chatting away. Amber had 3 flats on the course. Justine had a major panic attack on the swim and barely made the cutoff. We kept riding. They kept telling me how strong of a rider I was. I guess I am. The only thing that was killing me were my hands up to my elbows. Even though I was wearing gloves, thank you Tribe Multisport, it wasn’t enough. Lo and behold. There was no way in Hell that I was going to make it to the top of the turn by 4:15. I figured I had 8 minutes and roughly 4 -5 miles to go. It WAS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. So, me and the girls got off our bikes and it was a wrap. Darin Lewandowski, our awesome SAG vehicle support guy asked us if we wanted hot chocolate and chicken noodle soup. Oh my GOD, can I tell you that I wanted to kiss him but my lips were so damn windburned I couldn’t. It was the most amazing hot chocolate ever and then couple that with chicken noodle soup? You would have thought that I was eating at a Michelin 5 Diamond restaurant. We loaded up our bikes and piled in. He asked us if we wanted music, and yes, we were singing to Katy Perry songs. Shhhh…..I was making the best of a situation. He asked if we needed any aspirin, ibuprofen and what did we ask for? Well I asked for tequila and chapstick. Someone else asked for Xanax. While we were driving, we kept rolling down the window to cheer on the final riders and kept trying to encourage them. I called my partner in crime to let him know what happen and everyone kept looking at me like, are you okay. No, are you okay. We’ll get to that in a moment. So Darin dropped me off and I walked with my bike towards the transition to get my clothes where I ending up seeing Shelley and Chris in my tutus. Damn, did anyone get a picture of Chris in my tutu? This would be the best post ever. When they saw me, Chris and Shelley both gave me a hug per Sally’s request and were asking if I was ok. I was just cold and hungry and sore but the good thing, I was able to drop off my bike early. I grabbed my bags and we ended up at Loco Patron. I had a beer and some chicken taquitos. Soon, more friends came. The whole entire LifeTime Fitness gang minus the Panda. Everyone hugged me and my buddy Tommy and we ended up doing tequila shots. Not one but 2! What I really wanted to do was to just walk back to my hotel to shower, change and get back to the finish line but that didn’t happen. I showered and changed but I crashed soon after and I woke up at about 1am. But, I needed the sleep. I checked my Facebook, Twitter and email to see the various comments from friends and family and proceeded to start packing while watching more Law & Order reruns.

As I said in one of my Facebook and Twitter posts, it was not a good day at the office but I did the best that I could under the circumstances. Am I disappointed in myself? A little. Am I upset? Not really. A little depressed? Kind of. I actually do not know what type of emotions that I’m feeling but I gave it all I could. Could I have changed things? Maybe, but you can never predict what may happen on race morning. This was the worst hyperthermia that I have ever dealt with. I really should have went to the medical tent, but I am soo effing hardheaded. I did not warm up for damn near 40 miles on the bike. It was miserable, it was brutal but the support from the volunteers and all of the other athletes made my day and made it possible for me to believe that I had a chance of finishing a 2nd Ironman. I did not have anything to prove to anyone, because the greatest prison people live in is the fear of what other people think. I came, I saw, I attempted, I made friends, I inspired, I was inspired. That’s all I can say. I’m an Ironman already!

So, what’s next on the radar? Hello Ironman Cozumel 2015! I need warm, I need sun, I need a beach. Am I going to take time off from working out? Well, it worked out for all of 2 days. So, it will be back to the drawing board and get ready for my next adventure.You would think I would just sit my ass down. Y’all should know that is not going to happen, AT ALL.

Lastly, I just want,no I need to thank the following folks and places for all of your support:
  • Fitness Formula Clubs (especially FFC East Lakeview and FFC Lincoln Park)
  • TriMonster
  • Sole Tri Sisters
  • Team Dream
  • Black Triathlete Association
  • Element MultiSport
  • Live Grit
  • Tribe MultiSport
  • REI
  • Starbucks (no, really)
  • Crank Sports
  • Newton Running Shoes
  • Moxie Cycling Tops
  • 2XU (the best tri shorts EVER!!!!!!!!!)
  • Chris Navin
  • Scott Lewandowski
  • Ed Dailey (The Leadman/Ironman guru)
  • Gillian Forsyth (the original Honeybadger)
  • Johann Baniqued (I still hate track workouts)
  • Derrick Milligan (The Tempo Trainer was the best thing you could have ever introduced me to)
  • Maurice (Mo) Wills
  • Sally Stresnak (coffee lover and Prince aficionado)
  • Erin Kelley (the AWESOMEST BARISTA)
  • Terri Friel
  • Joe Linkous
  • Tommy Grace
  • Greg Weyer
  • Curt Hupe
  • Fred Critch (Iron Guru)
  • Becky Critch
  • KD Richardson
  • Lovie Twine
  • Batavia Choctaw
  • Donnie DeMary
  • Darnell Bolton
  • Larry McDowell
  • The Miles Family (yes, my last name is Miles and I do a lot of miles in this crazy sport)

If I forgot you, I’m sorry. For everyone who has supported me, thank you. I know that I can get a little overly passionate about what I do since I am also in the Fitness Profession, but all I can say is thank you for accepting me as I am.

Like Bugs Bunny said, “That’s all Folks!"

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Meep, Meep, Meep and T-minus 7 days

"I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can make it." - Gale Sayers

“Meep, Meep, Meep!” That’s what my bike is probably saying as he is making his journey to Tempe, AZ. Why do I mention my bike? Well, my bike’s name is Beeker (yes, after the Muppets) and this is his final journey at the Ironman distance. Beeker and I have had a love/hate relationship for the past 5 years. Beeker is too small for me (didn’t know that when I purchased him) but he is the little bike that could. He’s not the fanciest or the latest bike (oh, we get bike envious), he gets me from point A to point B. He’s taken a beating and keeps on kicking but this is his last journey with me. He will hopefully have a new home with another triathlete sometime in early 2015.

Most of you know that I don’t like the bike portion of any triathlon. If it could be shorter and both the swim/run much longer, I would be a happy, happy girl. But, that is not to be. So, one week from today, I will be on the race course of Ironman Arizona. It’s been a journey, too say the least. I’ve put in all of the work and now it’s show time. I’m going to let my work speak for itself. All of my frustrations/angst/etc. that I have been dealing with, I’m just going to leave it out on that course one last time because this is my last year at Ironman Arizona because in 2015, this girl is going to Ironman Cozumel (any takers?? Bueller? Bueller?) and I may even take a vacation (oh my!).

So, if you want to track me next week, I am athlete number 1385. If you are racing down there or spectating, I’m easy to find (look for the ‘fro). I have a finish time in my head that I’m not telling anyone but just rest assured that I will be over 12 hours and under 16. My luggage is packed and now I am soo ready to get to Arizona for the simple fact that it is going to be like 23° on Thursday.

Again, I just want to say thank you to EVERYONE who has in some way helped me on this journey. But I will also like to say that I am so humbled for inspiring so many people to the wonderful world of Endurance Sports and making a positive difference in their lives. 

And yes, I will be back in Chicago on Monday, November 16th in the evening and back at work on Tuesday. Don’t judge if I am taking the elevator eating Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey Ice Cream for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Until Saturday for my final post before race day...Peace! Love! and Afros!!!!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

T-minus 14 days

It took me a while to write this. One of the things about the Endurance Community, regardless of running, swimming, biking, tri-ing, we are a big (dysfunctional) family. We encourage each other, we motivate each other, we inspire one another to continue on-even when tired, willing to give up, etc. As of today, I am officially 2 weeks away from the start of Ironman Arizona (tapering SUCKS). This will be my third time starting but will be my second time finishing. I have put it out in the Universe so it must be true. So, what’s different you may ask? I’m not stressed out about the race itself. Surprised? I know I am but I’m not worried about it. I have a lot of other things going on in my life that has me stressed. The past 3 months, I’m not going to lie about it,  have been very challenging for me personally and professionally. Those who know me know what’s going on. When I’m stressed, upset, pissed off, angry, sad, mad, happy-I work out. When I say work out, I mean I work out EXCESSIVELY. I don’t eat my emotions, I work them out which is not a good thing because I end up forgetting to eat and then a day or two late, I realize I haven’t eaten. See, I get a little tunnel vision when it comes to following my training plan. I get uber disciplined like a military sniper (or assassin) and get to work. It’s the one thing that has held me together in addition to my friends, training partners, co-workers and you know who you are because you are effing AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

This has been a completely different journey than in years past. I don’t know what changed but something in my mind snapped. Maybe it was the encouragement from other athletes that I look up to who have seen good things that I don’t see since I am overly critical of myself. Maybe it was going to track practices and finally tapping into that sprinter gene that my family is known for. Or maybe I’m getting better. That’s it...I think.

I’ve had some interesting training days/races that I used as a training barometer.
  • ITU was fun except I ended up in the Emergency Room (severe dehydration-won’t make that mistake again)
  • Rock n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon was just me having fun wearing purple and chitchatting the whole entire run with 5 Ironman athletes. I learned with that one I could have pushed the pace a little more but it was a training run but also I need to take in more salt than a normal person since I am a salty sweater.
  • Chicago Marathon was just me in the role of coach jumping in and out of the course helping out my athletes and friends and random strangers along the way. I realized then and there that I could pace anywhere from a 9:30min/mile to an 11:30min/mile pace and still hold a conversation while looking fierce wearing a pink tutu.
  • The Thursday in track practice where I was hitting an average of 4:30 on 9 or 10 sets of 800s. What the what???
  • Going to Thursday morning CompuTrainer classes and having Ed push me more and more each week.
  • Doing Thursday night CompuTrainer while watching some of Grey’s Anatomy and all of Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder (this show is the SH!T).

It’s been a journey, none the less. Do I have a time in mind? Yes. I do but I’m not going to say what it is. I have a worst case, best case and ideal case scenario. All is dependent on my migraines. They have been getting worse and I am at a loss. Some of it is stress induced. Okay, maybe 76% of the time it is. The rest, weather, smells, sounds, lights, yadda, yadda, yadda. So, I’m going to do my best, smile on the course, make friends and enjoy the race. It’s not my first rodeo nor will it be my last. Come next season, look out Cozumel. I’m gunning for ya! Now, back to work.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

It's not about the distance, it's about the community

For those of you who don't know, I'm a music junkie (my B.A. is in music). This past weekend was the peak culmination of marathon training-the 20 miler. Now what does this have to do with music? Well, this particular line in one of my favorite hip hop songs will explain it all:

"One fly tune, that have black and white vibe in one room; No confrontation, parlay all night; It's just the sensation."

This line is from "Music" by Erick Sermon which samples Marvin Gaye's , "Turn on Some Music". Now what does a 20 mile run and this song have in common? Music and athletics brings everyone together. The 20 mile run this past weekend brought everyone together up and down the lakefront path. No matter race, gender, orientation, economic status, sports brings people together, just like music. It's a community, a crazy endurance community at that.

I've been blessed to be a part of the endurance community regardless of it being swimming, running, biking, triathloning (that is a word). Its this community that inspires me and leads me to inspire others. I know that I'm a social butterfly but I would have never met so many amazing, truly amazing people without being in this community. Well, maybe not-I am in the Fitness Industry. : P

I've learned so much, hung out with some awesomely cool people, discovered new things (last year was my first time ever having Nutella) and got out of my comfort zone. So embrace the community, it's really not about the distance. Get off the couch and either walk, run, swim, bike or dance your way to new friendships...

That's it until next time...54 days and counting til IMAZ 2014!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Failure is not an option-just keep TRIing!

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” – Johnny Cash

It's been a trying couple of weeks filled with a lot of self doubt. Only a few of you who know me very well know what is going on, but I appreciate the friends that I have because they are just absolutely amazing in every sense of the word. Let me clarify a little for you...it's not my training for Ironman Arizona that I have doubts about. I feel surprisingly calm about it even if my bike is not the right size, that I don't have the latest and greatest of electronic gadgetry and I can go on and on. Most of the self doubt is outside of my own individual training and coaching/teaching/training. 

I have been dealt with some very real challenges that is really playing a number with me. When I am out on a run, swimming in the pool or even in CompuTrainer, I can disregard everything and focus on the activity at hand. Perfect example is last week in CompuTrainer, I was by my lonesome because everyone else was getting ready for IMOO (Ironman Wisconsin). It was threshold testing time. I went from 151 Watts to 171 Watts!!!! It did help that I was listening to Metallica to get me there. 


I feel as if I am on track with my training with the addition this year of track workouts (I hate speedwork) but add that to Pilates training, I'm reaping the benefits. I'm not going to say what I my goal is for this year, but let's just say that I am happy with my progress (even if my schedule is very dysfunctional). The only thing I need to do is to transfer all of this into the rest of my life and close the door on all of this self-doubt and just look ahead. It might mean some changes down the road but I do not know that as of yet. I need to just keep TRIing! Just keep doing for myself what I do for my athletes and clients. Then just maybe, just maybe things will have a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 

The countdown and the saga continues...

Sunday, August 17, 2014

60 miles + 4 miles: What's going on?

A little over a week and a half ago, I received some news that was not so good. I could have just shrunk like a violet or rise to the occasion. In this case, I rose like a Phoenix rising from the ashes-cue:X-Men comics. What did I do? I ran and swam and ran some more. When all was said and done, I had did damn near 60 miles of running and 4 miles of running in a week-its what I do when I am upset, mad, stressed, have something on my mind, trying to find a solution to a problem, etc. (Hey, it's a whole lot better than punching a brick wall.) On top of that, I started creating workouts in CompuTrainer and some swim workouts (not for the faint of heart).  It's a way for me to figure things out. But one thing that I have figured out is that I am happy I have fitness as a way to work out my problems (also train for Ironman Arizona). As in any long course endurance training, you will have hiccups and bumps down the road, but don't let it deter you from your ultimate mission. For me, it's crossing the finish line but there are some other things as well that I can go on and on about, but will not. Don't let a hiccup stop you from succeeding.

Peace, Love and Soul! 

Saturday, August 2, 2014

A tale of 2 Saturday training runs and a Rock n' Roll

So, this blog post is about running today. I apologize on how long it is. So, let’s talk about 2 of my training runs and then the Chicago Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon that I did (it was just a training day).

On July 5th, I was suppose to fill in for one of our marathon run sites due to a lot of coaches being out for the 4th of July. I only had maybe an hour or 2 of sleep due to everyone shooting off their illegal fireworks. I finally went to sleep around 4:30am and then wake up at 5:30am to get out the door by 6:15am to get to the gym before 7am. I got there right before the club opened and prepared everything for our 8 mile run. I get there and lo and behold, one of our coaches showed up. He indicated that he had everything and I should go home because I looked exhausted, but if I could do the warmup , that would be great. So we did our half mile warmup run to the lakefront (with my big ass backpack on my back) and proceeded with our dynamic running exercises before they left. I went home to actually get some sleep. By the time I made it to my apartment, I got my second wind. I changed tops, filled up my hydration belt and headed out the door for an 8 mile run into Evanston and back.

It was warm when I started, but so what. I started running North and was in my little groove but this is what happens while I run by myself. “Is my running skirt too short? Oh, my butt’s way too big for this shirt. Ooh, a whistle. The skirt is not too short. Ooh, here comes a runner. Am I looking strong or defeated? Oh, I’m a strong runner! Let me do the head nod as acknowledging him. Ooh, he’s cute but sloppy running form. It’s only 3.5 miles…..uggghhhh….it’s hot.” As you can see, I keep myself thoroughly entertained. It was a peaceful run along the lakefront although it was hot and humid. I even ran through a private gated community, saw a bootcamp class going on, a few people swimming in the lake and a couple of rabbits and squirrels. On my turn around back, I ended up speeding up because a raccoon scared the living daylights out of me. They’re cute and evil at the same time. By time I made it back to my place, I was a hot, salty, sweaty mess. 8 miles with an average of an 11 min/mile pace. Not bad with it being hot and humid.

Now on to training run #2: Just 1 week later, I filled in for 2 of our coaches at another location. The forecast called for passing storms. Cool, I can deal with this. While riding the bus to the gym, the skies decided to open up. No problem, we will just delay the start by a bit. No biggie, it might rain on race day. I get to the club, get everything prepared including making the Gatorade (oh, yummy) and gathered all of our runners to the group exercise studio to start our dynamic warmup exercises, listen to a speaker and explained the route. We then proceeded to head out the door. It was only drizzling-no more rain….stop the brakes, it opened on us. What did we do? We ran. I usually lead the rear because I just do. There was a lot of foul language coming from everyone, rain pouring down with everyone trying to dodge puddles. It got to the point where I had everyone go single file. You know that the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. Our shoes were already wet, a moot point. I can truly say that every group that was out there running were probably thinking, “This is nuts!” There were times that the rain started, stop, thought about it, downpoured, repeat. But you know what, it was wonderful except I have to wear glasses at ALL TIMES (read: I’m blind as a friggin’ bat!). I really wanted my goggles but I can’t see out of those either. However coming back on the lakefront path, I forgot one key thing: The underpass was FLOODED! Yep, we ran through it. The water on me was mid-calf deep. I figured, I was wetter than Lake Michigan and this would be excellent training for the Steeplechase event (umm, no). I was never so happy to be in a scalding hot shower in my life and my Brooks running shoes (Pure Cadence) survived another run.

Now, on to the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon Chicago on Sunday, July 20th. I treated this race as a training run. As you know, I’m racing LifeTime Fitness Half Iron Distance race in October and Ironman Arizona (again) in November so this is just training. I decided that I was going to have some fun on this course. I, of course, always think of my outfits beforehand. I was completely decked out in PURPLE! Purple running shoes, purple compression sleeves, a black running skirt with a purple tutu over it, a purple top and my purple road ID! Hey, I need to feel good, look good for my photos and have fun.


The weather was overcast which made me happy but a tad bit warm. While waiting in my corral to start, a guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked if my tattoo was indeed an M-Dot. It sure is. We chit chatted about it since he was a tattoo artist. He was running with a lot of his friends who were seriously trash talking. This trash talking was worse than watching an NFL game. So, while waiting, a friend of mine tapped my shoulder. The purple tutu helped to identify me since my signature afro was hidden under a baseball cap-don’t ask how I was able to conceal it. About 15 minutes after the start of the race, my wave finally went off. The longest wait EVER! No, not really but it was still annoying all the same.

And we're off. There's something about running that just makes me so happy. Seeing the multitude of runners in front is just freaking AMAZING! So, back to this training run. I was in my little groove and around mile 3, a guy yelled, "Hey you! In the purple tutu, is that an M-Dot tutu?" I turned around and said, "Yeah." I ended up speaking with him and 4 other Ironman athletes for another 4 miles. We are just chit chatting and running. Meanwhile, there were runners looking at us and trying to figure out how we are running and talking at the same time. It's a training run PEOPLE! Now, we were weaving in and out of the Loop due to all of the construction going on in Chicago. I ended up leaving the guys because I had to find a restroom (aka Portapotty). I get back on the course and I started to pick up the pace because someone was playing "Talk Dirty To Me"-the remix. I don't like the song but the beat was really helping me out. At this point, we are on Michigan Avenue going South. I was like, "YES! Finally no more weaving and bobbing throughout the Loop. Around 24th and Michigan, there were the Japanese drummers. Something about the beat of the drums can get you moving. I knew at this point that we had another mile or so before we turned on 31st Street and head back Downtown! As we are heading towards 31st Street, I saw a friend of mine who I had not seen in about 5 years so I did something that you should never do in a race. The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. What did I do? I went at a complete diagonal to go to my friend and give him a hug. (Don't do that people!).

Now we are at 31st Street running East. Yes! We are almost done...NOT! At this point, they were starting to hand out Gu (It's a gel). They had Salted Watermelon. Oh God, that stuff is gross which is why I bring my own eGels. Thank you cranksports.com! So, I took my gel and some water and kept going. I see the Lakefront and I think that we are heading back downtown. I read the map wrong. We had to go to 3500 South THEN turn North on the lakefront path. I was not to happy with this but when we hit mile 10, there was a DJ and he was playing some music with a serious base line to it. It helped. A little ways down, not only was there an aid station with water and Gatorade, but cold sponges! Oh, I thanked the volunteer. I almost kissed him because I am usually a hot, salty, sweaty mess when I do any long endurance anything. I wiped myself down and continued on. At this point, we are headed towards the underground passage way of McCormick Place. Umm, it was way too dark to the point that I had to flip the shades of my sunglasses in order to see and not trip over anyone. In particular, the two guys in front of me who were HOT!!!

We get out of the tunnel and I know we are near Soldier Field now and I ran into 2 more friends. I'm still running at this moment but people were walking. I encouraged a few folks to keep it up, you look good, yadda-yadda-yadda. It worked for some but not others. I saw the finish line, but it just seemed so far away so I decided that at mile 12.5, I would pick up the pace. It was the common game called how many runners can you pick off before the finish. I counted over 135. I crossed the finish line, my friend Tina took a finish line photo of me, I took an official finish line photo, got my bananas, ice cold towel, water and walked towards our FFC Tent. It was so far, but I made it. Plopped down on the grass and chilled but then walked back to the club to shower and change. Walking back, I didn't feel sore at all. I felt great but tired because I had to wake up so early. After I showered and changed, I went home to take a nap. I felt remakably refreshed and ready to take on the world or at least a Monday.

That day was a good day!





Tuesday, July 1, 2014

It is only a training day...ITU Chicago race report

On Sunday, June 29th, I raced ITU Chicago Olympic distance Triathlon. So, what's an Olympic Distance Triathlon? It's a 1.5K swim (1 mile), 40K bike (24.8 miles) and 10K run (6.2 miles). This was my first venture at this distance and I had no real expectations. I was treating this as a training day. Leading into it, I had a feeling that it would be hotter than all hell, and it was! With a start time of 10am, we were going to be in the heat of things.

A lot of things were still up in the air in regards to the venue, race logistics, etc. The one thing that I think floored everyone during the course talk on Friday evening was that we were not able to have our bags in transition. Bags were to be checked into gear check in a clear plastic bag due to security issues. Hold up! Gear check is only in road races. Whatever! I was ok with this since we had a tent. I felt ok at the time about the swim, bike (4 laps) and run (3.5 laps). I like to count. They also indicated that there would be a special needs table at swim exit for glasses, inhalers and insulin pumps. This will only be a training day.

One of the things before racing is that I realized that a lot of my athletes have never seen me race. I'm always on the sidelines coaching. But even while racing, I find myself coaching or giving words of encouragement.

RACE DAY
I woke up at buttcrackassofdawn 2am to get on the train by 3:15am to get to transition by 4:15am'ish. Transition was open from 4-5:45am for Olympic Distance athletes. There is never a dull moment when I ride the CTA Red Line, especially that early in the morning. The car I stepped in was full of folks going to work. So I popped open my Kindle and read. We got to the Addison station and a group of loud, drunk ass girls boarded. Within 10 minutes, one threw up. At the next stop (Belmont), a woman got on, looked in her purse and pulled out a roll of toilet paper. Who does that? Only in Chicago.

Well, anyhoo, I get off the train at Harrison and make the walk (long ass walk) to transition. It's funny when you are walking in downtown Chicago at odarkthirty and there are people STILL in the bars. Really people? I get to transition to get body marked where I run into my favorite hippie, Jacob. He has coffee, I have a gallon of water, the universe is in order. While setting up my transition, it starts to rain....AGAIN!!!!  So what do I do along with my teammate Sally? We start singing Prince's "1999". What? You don't sing in transition. Oh, you poor souls, I digress...

We leave transition and we head to Buckingham Fountain where our tent is...or was suppose to be. Our tent kind of had a slight accident. Apparently it was partying too hard with the other tents in the rain and it broke in 2 pieces. My thought was, "Duct tape. It solves everything!" WRONG!!!!!! My partner in crime in all things endurance had to pick up our boss who was also racing, go to our Corporate office and get another tent. So, we created FRANKENTENT! Since we did not have to go off until 10am (the race started at 6am), I just sat around and ate and drank and stretched and chilled as best as possible.

GROUP PICTURE TIME
So we all got together to do our prerequisite class, I mean team photo. OK. I'm ready. After pictures, I was on sunscreen duty...basically spraying everyone assembly style, including my girl Emily hair part and all my bald fellas. I did good deed #1: I gave a girl my spare pair of goggles for her very first Sprint Distance triathlon. Good Karma comes back!

SWIM START
By this time, it is hot as F$%&! I had my wetsuit partly on, walking over to see the other competitors. I ended up getting called by a friend of mine to see if I could help her with her wetsuit: I did the best that I could but her wetsuit had seen its last days. But, I did another good deed. The wave before me, I helped a guy with his wetsuit. Did I mention he was a hot cutie young thing? I digress again...

Now at this same time, my vision is getting worse. I lost vision (temporarily) in my right eye. I was having an occular migraine and this has NEVER  happened. It was freaking me out. On top of that, I put my phone in my sports bra because I needed them after the swim. It was time for us to jump in the water and I sat until it was almost time. I have to get in my calm place before race day, but that was not the case. Once I jumped in, I could only see with my left eye only and I couldn't see the buoys. Panic set in! Holy F$%&!!!! The air gun went off and I couldn't calm down. I couldn't fucking see! I had to breathe to my left-I can but it is not pretty. I got on my back to get my breathing under control but then settled down when I heard my friends Fred, Becky and KD encouraging me on. Quitting was never an option. One of the things that I will say is that there was not enough buoys (large ones) AT ALL!!! I kept swimming one stroke at a time singing in my head, "Girls & Boys" by Prince and the Revolution over and over again. Finally, I was out of that damn lake! I really love swimming though, so this sucked monkey balls! Finally got out of the water, stripped my wetsuit halfway down and took my glasses out of my boobs. Hey, they were secured!
Time:  52:46 seconds
Feeling: Defeated and NOT HAPPY!

TRANSITION TO BIKE
That was the longest ass transition EVER!!!!!! Can they improve that? I finally got to Beeker, my bike. Took off my wetsuit and quickly got to my helmet, sunglasses and cycling shoes and took off. This bike course was a 4 loop course up Columbus drive, down lower Wacker Drive and back again and again and again. Did I tell you how much I hate to bike? Yeah, I do. It was hot and I took the first loop conservatively! I had so many people cheering me on which gave me some confidence. As soon as we hit lower Wacker Drive, it was game on! OH.MY.GOD! That course was FAST I tell you. It was FUN! I will never say that again. But every time you came back onto Columbus, it was hot ass Hell! But I was hydrating with water, eFuel (cranksports.com) mixed with base amino (baseperformance.com). The second loop, I started to get confident. I picked up a little speed. The third loop, more speed. The final loop, 30 km/hour. What the hell>?????? I don't go that fast. Hot damn! But unfortunately somewhere between lap 2 and 4, I lost feeling in my hands. I think it was due to gripping my handlebars too hard.
Time: Loop 1: 22min 22secs; Loop2: 21min 13secs; Loop 3: 21 min 10secs; Loop 4: 21min 12secs: TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 25 minutes 58 seconds
Transition 1: 8 min 15 secs
Transition 2: 6 min 45 secs

TRANSITION TO RUN
So I dismounted my bike (without falling y'all) and ran, well actually a slow jog, no..it was more like a slow pathetic trot with my bike back to transition. Have you ever tried to run in cycling shoes? Oh, it sucks. By this time, it was gradually getting hotter. I finally made it back to my spot on the rack and changed to my running shoes (Hello Newton Gravity's in...PINK newtonrunning.com), hydration belt and Visor. My whole thinking on the run was to NOT WALK! Even though it was hot, I was not going to walk. One of the things that I noticed on this 3 1/2 lap run was that it was not shady. Sun, sun and sun. Oh boy! So, I'm running and I'm singing in my head "Controversy. Oh yeah, I had to dig deep. I was seeing so many people that I knew on the run and in the crowds. It made me so happy even though I was in the pain cave and I know some of them were too. Deep in the pain cave and running with a blister on my foot. Never, ever happened in my life but it was due to having water doused on me. It was that damn hot. Did I say how hot it was. On my last lap, I went straight game face. Some of y'all have seen this look on me. Fierce determination, no expression or as my best friend have told me, "You look like you're gonna take someone out." I started to pick up the pace and just went for it. I crossed the finish line in 3:49:55. Not bad. I'll take it.
Run time: 1:16:13

THE AFTERSHOW
I really wanted to pass out at the finish line. My friends Shelley and Cristina were at the finish line taking pictures. I walked through the finish line but was not really feeling great but convinced myself that I was ok. I somehow made it to the tent and felt like SH&*. Thank you to my hippie Jacob, my girl Jenn S. (a lot of my friends are named Jennifer of some sort) and Perla for looking out for me, because I am stubborn and hard headed. Instead of going home, I stayed at the race to see the Men's pro race but also to sit in more sun (read: Joy is a dumbass when racing) and helped to break down our tent (read: I'm too responsible and I should have taken my ass home). I finally left to make it to the Harrison "L" stop. Bikes were not to ride on the trains due to Pride parade. I'm sorry, Pride parade ended at 3pm. It was 6:45pm at this point (do the math on how long I was up). I was going to put my bike on the train. Yep, I made it by lifting my bike up and over the turnstyle (oh, sooooo classy). I made it to FFC Lincoln Park to drop off my bike and shower/change in a span of 12 minutes flat.. Since I was hungry, I went to That Little Mexican Cafe down the street from my place and ate. I was eating a recovery meal (black bean and goat cheese empanadas, chips and salsa, chicken tacos, water, water, water and a margarita-it has salt in it!). After that, I finally went home. This is now 9:30pm. I fed my cat, dumped my bag and crashed.

Around 1ish, I called my friend (AKA ex whose dad is an emergency room doctor) and went to the emergency room. Well friends, I was SEVERELY DEHYDRATED. 3 IV bags later, I was feeling somewhat normal. No, not really. I had to get the speech on dehydration and racing in the heat. Oh yeah, I got reamed but it was good. I have an appointment next week with an opthamologist (boo!) since My ex's father was concerned about my vision. He did ask about Ironman, which I told him all about and asked about what happened with me and his son (sorry, none of your business). I finally went home at around 4ish and ended up going into work a few hours later. Yes, I was a hot mess wreck, but hey I did it.

TAKEAWAYS
  1. Hydrate
  2. Try to take it easy leading up to a race. Don't work an expo for 3 days
  3. Still have tons of fun
  4. Listen to your body
  5. Stop being stubborn
So, it was just a training day. That is all. Until next time....

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

5 Days: This is only a test...

It's been a while. In 5 days I race in ITU Chicago. Am I worried? To be quite honest...not really. It's a training day, except that pothole that is on the bike course which is when we come back onto Columbus Drive for the first of 4 loops on the Olympic distance, oh and the potential heatwave (Thank you Mother Nature...not). To be real, I have so much on my plate now that I'm lucky that I know the day of the week.

So, what have I been up to? Well, you know the usual: Teaching, training, coaching, working out, dealing with a lot of my own personal annoyances, working out some more, drinking copious amounts coffee...you know, the usual. The not so usual: well I became a USATF (USA Track & Field) Level 1 Certified Coach and a USAT (USA Triathlon) Level 1 Certified Coach. Getting back on track....

Now as I reflect on racing this weekend (not including the clients that I am coaching, my athletes that I am training, my Pilates Clients that I am training), I'm using this as a training day. I'm in a very competitive age group (go figure, but the men have it worse) and I'm just seeing how thing are going to pan out. I have a race plan in effect (A, B and C), I can still fit in my wetsuit and I'm just going to have fun. Anyhoo, I have IMAZ in November.

I have used all of my workouts as my stress reliever. See, I don't eat when I am stressed, upset or anxious. I work out. Sometimes, a little too much. Today, for instance-I had a very bad case of insomnia. What did I do about it? I ran 10 miles before I did some work before I had my last performance review. Did I forget to say that the run happened at 3am and that I am a Fitness Professional? Yeah. I have a fitness problem, but I'm looking at Sunday's race as cheering on my friends who are racing, having fun with my teammates, cheering random folks on and making more friends. What? You don't make friends when you race? Shame on you. But, I also get to work the expo and network.Who wouldn't want to work in at an outdoor expo by Buckingham Fountain.

So bring on the sunshine, humidity and race day. Hey, if you aren't doing anything on Sunday, come to Grant Park in Chicago and check out ITU Chicago. You might be inspired to do something EXTRAORDINARY. I'm going to sign off so I can go home to do laundry (the struggle is real y'all).

I will let you know how Sunday goes.

Peace out to you and you and yours! Later!


Monday, April 7, 2014

I'm baaaaack!

Oh yes, it's true-I'm BACK! Spring has finally (not really) shown its face in Chicago after that horrific Winter that we had (Chiberia, Polar Vortex, etc, etc) it's now time to look towards 2014 and racing. Why now? Well, I had to run the entire Indoor Triathlon Series (I survived all six fueled on coffee...thank you Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts). So, let's rundown my racing for this year: June 29th: ITU Olympic Distance October 19th: Life Time Tri Soma (half iron distance) November 16th: Ironman Arizona Also on the radar (but not a race): September 21st: Northshore Century STRONG POSSIBILITY: June 8th: Long Course Triathlon National Championship (Grand Rapids,MI) Why is this list so small? Well, I do not race a lot due to coaching my marathoners and triathletes to cross either their first or tenth and I work a lot. Now you have it and may the saga continue...