SNOW, COLD and more SNOW

When my Dad and I were driving through Kansas and it started snowing and sleeting on the car...I was very tempted to turn around and head back to sunny Florida!! But, instead, I'm currently residing in my new room at the OTC in Colorado Springs! It's HUGE and I can't wait to collect things to decorate it with! So it's really COLD here...I went for a jog yesterday and got snowed on (that was a new experience for me!) and when I woke up yesterday, my car was covered with snow (that was a new experience for my car:). The weather is forcasted to e really cold and snowy all through the weekend...but I'm hoping that it will start getting nice and good weather for training outside (b/c EVERYONE knows how I feel about riding my bike inside!!!)
It was cool to check into the OTC on Friday afternoon and discover that the World University Games swim team was here for the weekend to train and have meetings. (the actual WUG event is in August in Turkey!) So I've spent some time visiting with friends from my former life...Leah Retrum, Daniel Cruz, Justin Mortimer, Bryce Hunt, Elizabeth Hill, Alyssia Keil...etc! They are here until Sunday and then its back to their home teams to train until the meet!
I got to swim with Andy Potts at practice this morning, finally. He's a guy on the triathlon resident team...swam for Michigan a few years ago...sponsored by Speedo...first guy out of the water in every race...made the Athens Olympic team! So it was nice to finally have some one to swim with at practice...we were holding 1:09ish on a bunch of 100s...then we had a 300 hard and I only beat him by a little bit. (I will admit that my heart was about to burst out of my chest when I was swimming fast...it's going to take a few more days/weeks to get used to the lack of oxygen up here at 6000feet above sea level:)
Off to lunch and then a movie while riding my bike on a trainer in the basement! Later Gators!

Cross Country Driving

Really quick...we are busy packing the car up...we are leaving DeLand bright and early tomorrow...heading to Colorado Springs. My next post will be from there!

The DeLand Gang Mixed Relay team...3rd place! Left to right: Dustin the runner, Karen the swimmer, Brent the biker.

FINISHING! It was a great feeling...5th place in my first professional triathlon!

This is like mile 24.5...I'm heading into T2 in 4th place with Michellie Jones right on my heels!!

BANG!!!! And we were off! (I'm on the right, #8...in between ALL my IDOLS!!!)

Sometimes my technologically defunct mom can manage a decent photo or two...this is definitely one of those!

IronKids National champs reunited!! Jamie Weiler and I met when we were 9 yrs old in San Antonio, TX...last weekend we celebrated her 22nd b-day in West Florida! Triathlon creates friends for life:)

Pre-Race Prep

It's Thursday night...we are all ready to go, bikes are loaded, bags are packed, bottles are filled...tomorrow morning (at the crack of dawn) my family and I are heading out for St. Pete, FL.
No, the St. Anthony's triathlon race isn't tomorrow...we are just heading over early for training and work related reasons. First, we are going to get there before the mid-day Florida heat kicks in and ride the bike race course. Then my parents have workworking stuff to install in a house not far from the race (it's the house of none other than my Ironkids-triathlon-career-arch-rival Jamie Weiler!:) After all that is done, we are heading back to jog the run course and have a short swim session in the pool. The day will be topped off with a spaghetti dinner hosted by the race people (which we have never been in St. Pete early enough to enjoy!)
After a good sleep at the Holiday Inn...more rest is on the schedule for Saturday. Maybe a light jog, a spin out on the bike, and a fun dip in the bay...but a majority of relaxation, some browsing at the expo, maybe working at the Speedo tent, checking in for our race gear, attending the pro meeting (yea), and dinner on the pier with friends. (Actually now that I write all that out, Saturday doesn't seem very relaxing:)
Sunday is the big day. I'm looking forward to being on the start line with some of my biggest idols. Jones, Smyers, Lindquist, Williams, Bennett...WOW! I know that the results will probably be in my favor for the first 1/3 of the race, but my goal is to have a successful finish of the ENTIRE race...swim, bike, AND run!
I will try to write a race report as soon as I return to the vicinity of my computer...but if anyone out there is really interested...you can probably find some results soon after the race at: http://www.satriathlon.com/ (click on 'Race Results':)

Moss Park Sprint Triathlon Report

I did it! I actually did it! I'm officially a triathlete again!
I completed an entire sprint triathlon in Orlando, FL this morning in 46 minutes! It was absolutely FREEZING when I woke up and when we arrived at the race site. It seemed like this was going to be a brutal experience: to swim in the lake for 5 minutes and then be all wet with cold lake water. Fortunately, by the time the race got underway, the sun was out and helped warm up the air for my 21.5mph bike average for all 9 miles of the race!
Everyone in the race started in one wave (I was going to write 'big' wave but that would have given you the wrong impression on the size of this race) so I enjoyed leading the swim and hammered out front on the bike.
Scratch that, change it...I didn't 'enjoy' being out front because I had NO idea where I was going...no lead vehicle and a poorly marked course causes lots of anxiety during a race!
But I made all the correct turns, rode all 9 miles, returned to the transition area in the lead, and headed out for a run on the dirt trails. My feet were a little numb from the cold but they cooperated and held me up while I was running until I got a bit of feeling in my toes. My support crew, aka Mom, was on the run course helping me figure out where to go and how far back the first guy was. I held my lead, worked on my run form, enjoyed the race feeling, and finished FIRST Overall in the race!
I'm BACK and LOVING it!!!
Now I've got 1 week to get prepared for St. Anthony's Triathlon. Starting with a easy, spin-out ride this afternoon to help my sore legs!

Lil'D with a shaved head!!!! That's my little brother, Dustin, a freshman member of the Florida Gators Swimming Team, at the SEC conference meet in Gainesville, FL in February. 

Sarah, Nate, Jarrod, Jaz, & I relaxing in the sun at La Jolla Cove after open water swimming. We watched the seals playing in the surf down below.

La Jolla Cove...about 50 minutes from the OTC...we drove here on Friday's to practice open water swimming. The water is crystal clear, there are bright orange fish swimming in the huge kelp beds, and the water temperature is perfect on a hot day!

Logan Wealing and I at a group dinner in Chula Vista to celebrate Sarah Haskin's 24th Brithday. 

Brian Fleishman and I at a group dinner in Coronado Island...representing the wonderful state of Florida! 

The amazing/gorgeous/fabulous/breathtaking/unbeatable/magnificent view off my balcony in Chula Vista at the Olympic Training Center. This day had an unusual amount of clouds blocking the blue skies! 

Nate, Sam, Sarah, Jaz, Catelin, & TJ at Buca di Beppos celebrating my 22nd birthday on Feb. 25th. 

Sarah Haskins, Jasmine Oeinck, and Rebecca Wassner; the Triathlon Resident Women's Team; after the road race (Tour of Murietta) in California. (not pictured: Kelsey Withrow because she was on her way to the hospital & Sara McLarty because she is taking this photo!) Notice how dirty Jaz is...that's what we ALL looked like at the finish...it was a crazy muddy course! 

Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?! Look at those big BLUE eyes! 

Raking the front yard in January...Trek was helping out by guarding the wheelbarrow:) 

Photos (finally:)

I'm sure you've already noticed...but I've just uploaded a photo summary of my life for the past 2 months! I hope you enjoy them and can put them together with the stories that I have been writing. I am having a great time at home with my parents...still training and getting ready for St. Anthony's...but relaxing at the same time! I am packing up most of my things to take with me when I drive out to Colorado Springs...It's like going off to school, all over again!

Jasmine and I at the track after a session of Medicine- balls. (don't tell Denny that we used his camera to take a picture of ourselves:)haha 

My coach/dad/biggest fan/Gator/feeder and I at the finish of the 15K open water swim in Mexico. I couldn't have finished that race if my Dad didn't fly all the way to Mexico to help me! 

Yep...that's the canyon. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!? That's where I swam for over 3 1/2 hours. That's where the winds were blowing over 50kph. That's where I swallowed 2 gallons of bad water. That's where I won the Chiapas World Cup Open Water 15K! 

That's me swimming in part of the canyon called "the Christmas Tree" 

COMPUTRAINER HELL!! Lets just say that we are hurtin' a little bit right now! (and sweating A LOT!) 

After a killer Tuesday morning track session...the USA Triathlon Resident team stretches out on the track. The 'throwers' fields are in the immediate backgroud...and the mountains of Otay are in the distant background. 

Group ride on Otay Lakes Road...you can finally understand what I was forced to look at EVERY day:)...the scenery was absolutely beautiful! 

1 Day with the Navy Seals started on the beach with the logs...this was the team of Boat 2...left to right: Doug, TJ, Sara (me), Jasmine, Nate, Kelsey, Matt.  

Boat 2...later on that day...we got very familiar with the boats, the paddles, the waves, the cold, the sand, and physical pain!

Leaving, on a jet plane!

I'm spending my last 3o min in California right now! I just ate breakfast, my bags are all packed, I'm checking my e-mail, and catching a ride to the San Diego airport at 9am! I will be in Florida at 10pm tonight and at my house around 11pm! I've had a great time at the training camp in Chula Vista...I'm looking forward to racing at St. Anthony's...and then driving out to Colorado Springs for the remainder of my year on the Resident team!

EARTHQUAKE!!!!

I've been living in California for a little over 2 months. I leave tomorrow and fly home to Florida. How perfect for me...there was a 4.0 earthquake in the cith of Jamul last night!!! Jamul is a little town that borders Chula Vista and we ride our bikes through it every day. It hit at 4:10 in the morning...I know that because I was awake and I looked at my watch after the loud rumble and the shaking passed through our dorm. I was so excited that I called home to tell mom and dad (it was 7:10am for them and they were wide awake!). I turned on the news this morning to get the details...size and location of the center...and was glad to hear the earthquake professional say "This was the kind of earthquake we can enjoy because it did no damage, just a little shaking." Now I can check off 'Earthquake' on my list of natural disasters to experience...I know it was just a little baby 'quake but it was still fun:)! This morning at breakfast everyone was chatting about how they woke up and were wondering what was going on. It was a conversation starter...that's for sure! Check out the news report here: http://www.10news.com/news/4370206/detail.html

Race Report Continued!

So the race was down to a group of 13 people, we were approaching about 6K into the race, the pace was steady, feeding was going good, and I was sitting about 5th in the line of swimmers. Then, there was a change. 1 or 2 of the guys in front of me swam out to the side to feed at their boats, I picked up the pace to close the gap they created in front of me...the guys who just went to there boats came back in and joined our group, the pace picked up and it was now a lead group of 6 people (5 guys and I). The next 6 kilometers were FAST. The pace was steady, but I was forced to stay at my maximum effort to hang on to the guys feet. That was all I was focused on, the feet in front of me. I communicated to Dad that he was only to offer me drink when the other guys were drinking so that I would be able to hook back on some feet after slowing down to drink.
The water was SOOO choppy and the winds were so strong that water would be blowing off the first guy's arm and hitting me in the face...5 people behind him. Combine the spray from swimmers and boats with the waves that I was drinking...I was good and hydrated...unfortunatly from a sketchy source of water! After the race my dad told me that he counted the boats around the lead group to be about 24...for only 6 swimmers! He also said one of the press boats pulled up to my boat and interviewed him while the race was going on!
I was repeating one thing to my self as I am swimming at max effort: "just stay on their feet...just stay on their feet...just stay on their feet!" I knew that the race was going to be a lot tougher and more boring if I dropped off the lead group and had to finish the swim on my own! But it was inevitable that the pace would increase again and I would be on my own.
It finally occured with 3K to go...we were going around the last corner and entering final stretch across the lake to the finish and the guys started to pick up the pace. I got the work from dad that I had put at least 400meters (1/4 mile) on the next girl (which converts to about 7-8 minutes with the conditions we were swimming in). I put my head down and started my trek across the wavey lake to the shore where the finish banner was hanging. At this point we were out of the canyon and going straight into the wind. The meant that the waves were HUGE and crashing right on top of me!
From my low poisition in th water, I could not see 5 feet in front of me...and I couldn't pick my head up any more anyways...so I yelled to dad that he needed to keep the boat right next to me and point to the finish. This way I could see him when I turned my head to breath and I would stay on a straight line to the finish. (Giving directions is legal for open water swimming...but if he'd put the boat in front of me to block the wind and let me draft...that would have been illegal.)
In the end...this was a good idea because the lead group of 5 guys took a very curved line to the finsh (whether they were trying to stay on the shore line to block the wind...I don't know) but they only managed to put 5 minutes on me at the finish. I keep focused on putting one arm in front of the other and hoping that I was moving forward and not being pushed backwards by the wind...and eventually I was able to see the huge crownd standing on the shore. I knew that Dad would allert me if there was any competition creeping up from behind (I can't be certian that I would have been able to go any fast if that was the case) so I kept a steady pace...added in some kicking at this point because the arms were turning into jello!
As slowly as possible, with out drowning, I made my way to the shore...finally spotted the tiny finishing area, and didn't make ANY attempt to sprint there:)! The nicest feeling was when I literally peeled my goggles out of my eye sockets (I think I was the only one in Sweedish...lessons for the future) and rubbed my eyes! Of course I was chosen for drug testing...but I would have drank the same 5 bottles of Gatorade at that point in time anyways! I was correct in predicting that Petar from Bulgaria would be the men's champion...he won the sprint between 4 men at the finish for 3hours and 35 minutes.
There was a great crowd of specators at the end who wanted photos and autographs...most of them had probably competed in the 5K age group race earlier in the day...but sport is such a big thing in other countries that some people were just there to watch the finish. I had some fun experiences with interviews in Spanish...good thing they had translators all around to help me out with the media. My favorite question was something like: "How did you win the race, you weren't one of the favorites?". I was a bit speachless:)
After all the post race activites were taken care of, they loaded all the athletes and their coaches back onto a bus and headed back to the hotel. I spent the whole bus trip waiting for some signal to show up on my cell phone so I could call Mom and tell her how the race went! Of course she was happy and in return, she filled me in on the pool swimming World Champ Trials and how great Ryan Lochte and all the other Gators were swimming!
At 7pm, the race director put on a nice dinner for all the 15K racers in a big banquet hall...food was good, music was great, and the awards were beautiful. I won a big Myan carving of a warrior's head. It was really cool, and heavy...so dad carried it home in his luggage:) I also got a gold medal, a finishing certificate, a Chiapas cross, a lei of May Flowers that smelled amazing, and (the most important part) a white envelope with $$!
I had a great time hanging out with the other swimmers, talking to them about their other race experiences...Erica Rose told me all about the LONG races in Argentina in March (22K, 56K, 88K!!) Although I look forward to more open water swimming races, I think I have gone as far as I ever want to go...and I will stick to the 5 & 10Ks from now on:).
My next open water racing will be to qualify for the World Champ team in the 5 & 10Ks...I will be competeing in Ft.Myers, FL in the Gulf of Mexico in June. See you in the water!

Chiapas, Mexico 15K Open Water World Cup Race Report

I know this has taken a long time to show up on my blog...but if you read the complete story below...I hope you will understand! Enjoy! I will start the story of my weekend on Thursday, March 31st. The day started at 6am, when I woke up and grabbed my bags, then headed outside and waited for my teammate Joe to wake up and drive me to the Mexican boarder. It was really nice of him to get up early when he could have slept in and rested for the hard bike ride at 9am...thanks Joe! After the short drive down 805 to the last American exit...I got out, grabbed my one bag, and started walking. I found a shabby little area that looked like it headed to Mexico, there was one small gate to walk through, and then I was there: In TIJUANNA! The taxi stand was close by and I loaded into one and got a nice ride to the airport (this way it cost $13). I only had a few problems in the airport but I just acted like a dumb Engish speaking American (which I am) and people usually just pointed me in the right direction! The flight from TIJ to Mexico City was a little over 3 hours. I think I read a book and slept a bit. Then it was time to find DAD! The Mexico City Airport is anything but well mark and easy to understand...we were both just wandering around and managed to run into each other...he said I looked TAN:)! It was great to see a part of my family after 3 months of being away! We boarded our next flight to Tuxtula Gutierriez and sat back to enjoy the views of Mexico. The airport in Tuxtula was so small...we just kinda exited the plane onto the tarmack and then wandered into the terminal...luckly, there were actually people from the race waiting for us in the terminal so we grabbed our bags and headed to the hotel. We were provided with translators who helped us with the day's schedule. Most of the other swimmers were already at the hotel and they had gone to see the Canyon (race site) earlier that day. When we got to the hotel, we relaxed for a bit, grabbed some food, and then got on a bus with all the other athletes. They drove us all to the middle of the city, a little park place, where they intorduced us to a huge crowd and then played some traditional music...but it was late and most of us just wanted to go home and rest. At dinner, Dad and I made plans with some of the race people to drive us to the Canyon on Friday so that I could see the race site and try swimming in it. The next morning, they had a van waiting...there were also 2 Mexican swimmers who had not been the previous day who joined us. The drive to the dam was about an hour but I got to see the country side and I experienced a bit of culture shock. It was the dry season in the area we were in so it kinda made everything look sad and dead, but I don't think green plants could have made much of a difference in some areas. At the dam, we got into a boat (much like the ones we would be using the next day) and motored up the canyon about half way (7K). Here, we got our swim stuff on and jumped in the beautiful water that was a perfect temperature for swimming and racing! I swam for about 45 minutes, taking the time to adjust to my surroundings, and enjoy the scenery because I knew I would not be able to 'enjoy the scenery' on race day! We got back in the boat, motored back to the dam, got back in the vans, and drove back to the hotel. Spent most of the mid-day relaxing in the room and then attempted to get a taxi to a pool around 4 in the afternoon. That was a disaster, the taxi took us to the wrong pool where we had to pay a fortune to swim. I made the decision to forget that, get a taxi home, and swim a few fun laps in the little hotel pool. Getting a perfect swim in this afternoon wasn't that important...a 15K pace is a little different than a 400m pace in a pool and I was on a much lower stress level than I would be if the next day was a pool event:)! RACE MORNING: about 20 buses were lined up outside, some for the World Cup athletes and all the rest for the 150+ people who were competiting in the 5K age group swim. This time, we drove to a place above the canyon to load into our boats. We got body marked at the docks (I was number 34), and found our boats in the water that were marked with our # and our country flag. There were only 2 American's in the race so it was easy to find mine! As we pushed off from the docks, there were 5 people in boat #34: the boat driver, the Fina judge, a translator, my dad, and I. For the next 20 minutes, we all enjoyed a high speed ride into the canyon...there were about 50+ boats all going at full throttle to the race start; 33 boats had swimmers then there was the lead boat, the press boats, the judge boats, the VIP boats, the medic boats, and plenty of others! Suddenly the boats slowed down and it was time to get ready! Two of the judge boats strung a line between the boats for a start line. One by one, swimmers started diving off their boats and doing a few warm up strokes, and then heading over to the start line. I was all greased up with body glide to prevent suit rubs and hydrated to the max with Gatorade and water. I had 2 Clif Shots shoved into my suit legs (I was wearing a FS2 kneeskin, Speedo of course:). The water was a bit chilly this morning, probably because the sun wasn't shining and the winds were blowing about 50kph!!! I stuck to my race plan at the start: line up next to the fastest guy and hang on his feet...I was right next to Petar when they finally fired the gun...and we were OFF! Of course the first K or 2 is just fighting it out for position...I was on Petar's feet for the very begining, but then I noticed a group veer off to teh left so I hooked on their feet and they pushed the pace up a bit to distance themselves from the slower group. After about 3 or 4K, what was left of the main pack, joined our little group, and we had a group of 13 swimmers with 4 of them women. The whole 'feeding' thing was pretty easy to do, I practiced with dad the day before when we were testing the race course. The most dangerous part was the wind and when it would push a boat right into the line of swimmers...they cut the engine and just drifted through! The wind was also creating MAJOR waves...in a 400m CANYON...it was like swimming through the first 30 meters of the ocean...but for 15K!

More to come in next post!