Halloween Photos

The triathletes at the OTC had some great costumes! Left to Right:

Nate and Sarah as Kevin Federline and Britnay Spears

Mike as Hansel, Dave as Marty Ballstein, Jasmine as Mugatu, Tim as Derek Zoolander

Me as a Magic 8 Ball

John as the 'white' Dave Chappelle

Michelle as a hippy

The Zoolander Crew

Ken as Super Mario and Sam as 'Motorcycle Pants from the Past'

Happy Halloween!

I forgot again…I wanted to organize a Trick-or-Treat day at the OTC where kids can come and trick-or-treat at our rooms. But I totally forgot about it until it was too late to organize. Maybe I’ll write this down and remember it for next year.
Umm…two resident modern pentathletes just came ‘trick-or-treating’ to my door…dressed as Romans with nothing but bed sheets on! Too bad I don’t have any candy in my room, it was pretty funny:)
Back to my train of thought that was interrupted…it’s another COLD Halloween here in COS. I’ve heard that for the past three years there has been an ICE storm on Halloween night. I don’t see any ice out the window but I can tell you that I dropped into the 20’s today as the sun went down! I was in the Gym doing my run on the treadmills…then I had to walk to the Sports Med building in my sweaty clothes (I almost froze)…and then after my ice-bath in Sports Med, I walked back to my room (I actually DID freeze that time)! Nothing a warm shower and a hot chocolate after dinner can’t fix:).
The last three triathlon races of the year are finally approaching. The Cancun World Cup and the Treasure Island races are this weekend. I was going to race in Cancun…until I realized that I was burnt-out of racing in ’06. This is the second year in a row where I’ve had Cancun on my schedule and haven’t raced. Anyone remember the hurricane that practically whipped Cancun off the map last year? That was the weekend before the World Cup…so it was canceled in ’05.
Maybe I’ll make it down there in ’07…we shall see. I’ve started mapping out the major races in the world for ’07. USAT is creating a training camp in Australia at the beginning of next year. I’ll probably be training and racing ‘Down Under’ for some of February, all of March, and some of April. The first World Cup of ’07 is in Mooloolaba (AUS) in March…along with some fun SPRINT triathlons that I love to compete in. The camp will end a few days before the second World Cup in Japan so that we can just stop in Ishigaki on the way home!
Other than the ever-changing World Cup schedule…I’ve got the dates for St. Anthony’s in Tampa, FL and I’ve already got a home-stay set up! That’s because Beth and Robert MARGALIS are living in a nice townhouse right down the road from the start and they have invited me to stay with them for the last weekend in April. Speaking of Beth…she just e-mailed me with BIG news…last week she received the first PAY CHECK of her life!! Congrats babe!
The Escape from Alcatraz is on June 3rd…I wouldn’t think of missing that race…after hating it (with a passion) after my race in ’05, I love it after my race in ’06! What a difference moving up 8 places and dropping 8 minutes on the run can do for your opinion of something:).
I’m currently uploading photos and video from our Halloween party…keep posted for a very hilarious video of my teammates Mike and Tim. They were Derek Zoolander and Hansel from the movie Zoolander. I videoed their “Walk Off” in the cafeteria for the OTC Costume Contest (big surprise…they WON)!

What's Happening?

Yesterday in the Florida-Georgia dual meet in Gainesville, lil’Dustin swam the 200 IM, 500 Free, and anchored the ‘B’ 400 Free relay at the end of the meet! All his times were very impressive; especially the 46.8 in the 100 free (personal best time!). Unfortunately, the Georgia men won the meet, although the Florida women beat the UGA girls.
Today, UF has another dual meet, against Minnesota. Dustin is probably going to be swimming the 1000 Free followed by the 400 IM…we’ll find out this afternoon after the meet is over and I’ve talked to the family for the inside details!
After yesterday’s blizzard cut power and put a damper on training…today is another beautiful and sunny day. I’ve already completed my run workout and I’m deciding between a bike ride or a hike later in the day. Both will be pretty cold and slippery…and we know what has been happening to me lately when I’m on my bike in not-so-perfect conditions:).
Anyone looking for some road-cycling gear? I’ve got a few items up for sale on ebay…check them out: a Rudy Project Helmet, a Selle Italia saddle, Look KEO pedals, a 10-speed DuraAce cassette, and a pair of Asics racing flats!!

BLIZZARD TIME!!!

This is my first blog from inside the Raven’s Nest. The Raven’s Nest is the neighborhood coffee shop that is exactly one mile from my room at the training center. I blame Jasmine and Tim for getting me hooked on this place, but it’s so friendly and they’ve got good drinks, and free wireless.
I’m in the Raven’s Nest right now because at 4am this morning, a really big blizzard hit Colorado Springs and there is about 8-10 inches of snow EVERYWHERE! Tree branches are breaking, power is going out, cars are sliding, and snowball fights are going strong!
We all made it too swimming this morning and all the way through a really easy practice (caped off with a water polo game…which I opted out of because my shoulder is really sore). After breakfast, I spent a little recovery time in my room before heading down to the gym for a treadmill run (the only running option was on a treadmill because the blizzard is still going strong outside). I was just finished with my first effort after warming up…when suddenly…the power goes OUT!! Talk about a treadmill stopping VERY fast…I almost ate it:)! I waited about 30 minutes in the gym for the power to come back on…no luck…so I did a few minutes of strength and then headed back to the main building for lunch.
Instead of trying the run again when the power came back on…I dressed up in my snow ski gear and boots to walk with Jasmine, Mike, and John to the Raven’s Nest. The first half of the walk was pretty much a guys-vs-girls snowball fight! It was a treat to walk into the warm café, order a yummy drink, and sit and relax with friends while our clothes dry and we warm back up. Sam, Alan, and Hillary (OTC mountain bikers) stopped by the “Nest” as well and they are trying to convince us to join them for some “behind-the-car-sledding.”
Unfortunately, the way my luck has been lately when I’m participating in extra-curricular-activities…I’m going to skip out on the sledding and enjoy a nice walk back to the OTC!
By-the-way…I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY would like to have a new digital camera so that I can take some photos of the beautiful scenery with lots of snow!!!!!!!!!!

Funny Photos

I just got these hilarious photos from the Westchester, NY triathlon (my last race of 2006). My home-stay just sent an email with these photos attached...I totally forgot how easy it would be to pick me out of the starting line!

Special surprise for the genius who figures out which girl is me:)!!!

Time to Retire my Mountain Bike:(

It’s been a long week of recovery…today was a big milestone because I was actually able to swim!
Now…back to the beginning of the story:
Tuesday was like any other day for me…it started with a hard swim practice in the morning. The USA Triathlon office organized a pizza party/lunch for all the resident athletes so I spent mid-day hanging out with the people that make my world possible. After lunch, I headed out for a 2 hour mountain bike ride which was suppose to be followed by a short run at the track. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative and about 30 minutes into my ride, it started RAINING. Since it was already pretty cold, the rain slowly turned into HAIL…and then it was SLEET…and if you haven’t figured it out already…I was hauling @$$ trying to get back to my car before it started to SNOW!
I was riding with a tail-wind…I was riding down-hill…I was on a paved section of the path…I was hauling-@$$...add those all together and I was going pretty fast. Suddenly, I whip around a corner and all I see in front of me is this IDIOT biking on the WRONG side of the trail!!
In the split-second of time that I had, I swerved to the left, locked up my brakes…and then it gets a bit hazy…I probably flipped over the front of my bike (I don’t think I actually hit the Idiot), nailed my head on the ground (thank goodness for helmets…because I broke ANOTHER one!), smashed my hip really hard, got the wind knocked out of me, and slid a couple yards because the ground was wet!
So after I rolled around on the ground for a good 60 seconds trying to get some air back in my lungs…I just want to get up and finish my ride because I’m freezing. The Idiot that caused this is trying to blame ME by saying I was going to fast!!! Now I’m cold, sore, and PISSED OFF!
Then I hear the ‘Comment Of The Day’ come out of this guy’s mouth: “I’m a professional European mountain biker.” WHAT?!?! Well, Welcome to America…We ride on the RIGHT side of the road!!!
I finally made it back to the track and told Cliff what happened. He excused me from the rest of the training session and I drove straight back to Sports Med (it was a bit of deja-vu from the last time I was on my mountain bike).
I spent the rest of Tuesday night thinking I was going to be fine…I was a bit sore, but nothing that I couldn’t handle. I went to dinner at Carrabba’s with some friends and then we saw Employee of the Month (cute and funny movie, I’d give it a 7 out of 10). As we were leaving that theater, we walked by The Departed theater and since it was starting in 10 minutes, we went in and watched a second movie for free (shhhh…don’t tell:)!
Wednesday morning…I woke up and immediately realized that waking up was a bad idea. I was IN PAIN! My back had shooting pains from this one spot under my shoulder blade (the exact spot that felt like it was moved out-of-whack when I crashed and hit my head really hard). My solution to most soreness problems is to go for a nice swim and usually that will loosen everything up.
Apparently, that was the WRONG idea for this. I struggled through 1000 meters before I was crying so hard that I just gave up and got out. Every stroke created a stabling pain from this one spot. I went to Sports Med and was actually a bit frustrated when their only ideas are: Ice, Advil, and Stem (electric stimulation).
Whatever, I’m in pain, so I did it…three different times on Wednesday. Still no improvement…I would even say that it was hurting MORE.
Thursday morning…I can’t even get dressed with out screaming in pain…so I try swimming again. (Yep, I’m a stubborn athlete!!) Apparently I didn’t learn my lesson the first time…so this time I swam 300 meters and I was seeing stars. Another trip to Sports Med and this time I was serious. I put my foot down with the darn Ice & Advil routine and said I want a solution to this pain.
After a bit of poking and prodding, they decided that I had a dislocated rib!! Yeah…36 hours LATER…someone finally decides that there might be something out-of-whack! I got an immediate appointment with the chiropractor, drove to his offices, lay down on the table, and got the adjustment of my dreams! Since that moment, the progression of pain getting worse has turned into pain getting better (unfortunately, it takes more than 36 hours to de-aggravate the muscles and tendons that were affected while my rib was out of place).
A new week and my training is officially back at 100%...And the weather is beautiful outside. I took advantage of the cool-but-sunny day yesterday to ride all over COS. Today, I’ve got a 2 hour hike on my ‘things-to-do’ and it should be fantastic!

Learning the Reins

That's me on Buddy last weekend when I was in Florida. I'm learning how to ride horses from my mom...I have to take care of the house, animals, yard, and shop for the month of January while my parents are going Around-The-World!!

Margalis Wedding Photos

Beth and Robert saying their vows on Daytona Beach.

That's me...doing my Maid of Honor duities (holding the flowers:)

Sealing it with a KISS!

The wedding party smilling for photos.

I now present...Mr. and Mrs. Margalis!!

The Margalis' Wedding Weekend

I was in FLORIDA all weekend! And I don’t think I had a moment to breathe, never mind finding time to sit down at a computer to check email, blog, or whatever! So now it’s time to catch up with one big long blog about everything!
I flew from COS into O-Town (Orlando for those not familiar:) on Thursday. My mom came to the airport to pick me up…thanks mom! We got back to the house with time to grab some late lunch food, go for a short jog, saddle up the horses, and go on a fun 90 minute ride. This was my first time back on Buddy since he took a month of training classes from a professional horse-trainer…he was fantastic horse! I’ve made a mental note to strengthen my ‘gripper’ muscles in my legs before I go riding again…I’m sick of bouncing around:)!
Friday morning started early with a trip to the Port Orange pool for morning swim practice. Surprising to no one, the pool was a lovely shade of GREEN! But I made myself get in anyways and swim about 4500m with Coach Steve and the masters group. Mom and I stopped on the way home so she could pick up a gift for Beth’s wedding (beautiful wine glasses).
After I dropped Mom off at home, I drove straight to the Grams’ house in Wilber By The Sea to pick up Beth (the Bride), Robert (the Groom), and Ginny and Emily (Beth’s twin sisters) for a yummy lunch of Belgium Waffles at the Dutch Treat Restaurant. Afterwards, I dropped off everyone else and took Beth to our manicure and pedicure appointment at a Spa on the beach. It was a really fun experience to get pampered for an hour and a half and walk out with very pretty nails!
To finish off our “bachelor-ette” day, Beth and I saw Man of the Year with Robin Williams (not the best movie ever) and then headed over to the Chart House to meet everyone for diner. It was a lovely evening with good friends…Paige Kearns (and her boyfriend), Andrew (the Best Man), Billy (Beth’s Brother), Stephanie (Robert’s Sister)…we shared good food and good conversation (all on Mr. Grams’…thanks:)
Saturday morning started with another short jog (all I can do with a bum calf right now) followed by an even longer horse-back ride on Buddy with Mom on Star. I practiced trotting and galloping in one of the big fields down the road…I’m getting the hang of this (Just in time to house-sit for my parents ALL of January!!). After we put the horses away, I helped my parents continue cleaning out my Granny’s house by carrying large items of furniture to the road.
It was a long day…but it was just beginning! Around 4pm, I rushed to shower and change into my “Maid of Honor” dress and drive back to Daytona Beach. I helped calm the nerves of the lovely Bride and get her into her dress (wait ‘til you see photos!!). Then I walked over to the beach with Robert and Andrew and we stood at the palm-tree-arch waiting for Beth to walk down the boardwalk on her father’s arm.
We could not have asked for a more beautiful afternoon on Daytona Beach…the sun was shinning, the sky was blue, the water was teal, the wind was blowing…the ceremony was perfect and I was honored to be a part of such a special day for my Best Friend! Afterwards, I think the photos took longer than the actual ceremony…and then everyone walked down the beach to the reception dinner. Congratulations Beth and Robert Margalis…may you always be happy!
My family drug ourselves home afterwards and straight to sleep. On Sunday morning, I woke up with just enough time to pack my bags, go to the airport, and catch my flight back to COS!

The First Snow!!

It happened last night while I was sleeping…under A LOT of blankets b/c I was freezing…but the cold and rainy weather finally combined to create SNOW FLAKES in Colorado Springs!!
I woke up and looked out the window to see my car under a light dusting of snow…and proceeded to go back to sleep because there was NO way I was going to run a morning track workout with ice and snow on the ground! Well, I should alter that statement because I’m sure that some time this winter I will be running in the snow…I just didn’t want to do it today:)!
Instead, I took my bike downstairs to the basement, set it up on a Computrainer, turned on the TV, and rode for 2 hours! I do not like riding inside…but it’s better than getting wet and freezing outside and then getting sick. I’m a huge fan of biking outside when it’s very cold…but if the roads are really wet it can be dangerous as well as uncomfortable (think about the first part of your body that gets wet on a bike…your behind…BRRRRR!:)After lunch I drove down to The Raven’s Nest Café and enjoyed a warm drink with some friends (Jaz, Jess, and Mike). We just returned to the OTC to get ready for swim practice at 3pm. I’m going to finish this blog, start some loads of laundry, and then head over to the pool.
Timmy looked up the times that the new movie “The Departed” is playing and we’ve got a big group of people who are planning on going to the Tinsel Town movie theater for the 7pm showing. I will post my opinions of the movie later…but it looks exciting and I think it’s gotten fairly good reviews. (At least there are a LOT of good looking men in the movie so if the plot line stinks, I’ll still have something to entertain myself until the movie ends:)!

SLM's Weekend Update (not SNL:)

I’ve managed to crawl my way through my first week back in training. I was ready to go…I was the first one in the pool on Tuesday morning for swim practice. I was shoving my friends out the door to go biking and play Ultimate Frisbee. Sometimes I think I might have been a bit too anxious...
Like when I starting doing my run workouts before I got my custom inserts made…and I hurt my calf. Or like when I went screaming down the gravel trail on my mountain bike and WIPED OUT on my elbow and hip. Or when I was grabbing my running jacket out of the closet and my iron fell right on one of my little toes:)!
But I’ve had a great time swimming, biking, running, yoga-ing, mountain biking, Frisbee-ing, bowling, dancing, etc! Last night was a big party night…I went to a very fancy restaurant with a big group of friends and ordered WILD BOAR and BISON for dinner! I was very daring and I was very pleased with my choices…the wild boar was some of the best meat I’ve ever had! Jasmine ordered the caribou, Cliff had the antelope, Sam ate the ostrich…one day I might get that daring, but my choices were good for now:)!
After dinner we went to some pubs and bars just to hang out and chat. Of course we ended up at the Ritz again for dancing to the live band…my favorite part of the night! Oh yeah, and we kept the tradition of Denny’s at 3am alive with some flapjacks, eggs, and bacon!
As a result, I slept in until noon today…good thing it was a day off from training! I did some bike maintenance and room cleaning before Jasmine and I headed out in the freezing rain to purchase ingredients for dinner. We went to Jessica and Lucas’ place to cook them dinner and dessert (I was in charge of dinner…Jasmine made Nutella filled won-tons with banana topping, yummy!). I downloaded some of Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals and chose the mini Hawaiian Pizzas for an appetizer…followed by the Apricot Chicken and Blue Cheese Salad as a main course. All items were well praised by my friends and I thought the chicken was some of the best stuff I’ve ever cooked!!
Tomorrow it’s back to training (even if there might be some SNOW on the ground). I’ve also got to start getting prepared for the Grams-Margalis WEDDING on Saturday…I’ll be flying from COS into Orlando on Thursday for the weekend. Friday will be completely filled with a fun and relaxing Bachelor-ette adventures before the beach-wedding on Saturday. Early Congratulations sent out to my girl Beth and her fiancée Robert!

Day 2 Recap

Swim practice was great…two hard sets (10 x 150s and 10 x 100s) and I was ready to get out and go to breakfast.
Ultimate Frisbee was great…the sun was shinning, the wind was blowing, and once we moved the dead squirrel out of the playing field…we played for about an hour. This is the “funnest” way to workout!
The mountain bike ride was great…I went to Red Rocks Canyon with 3 good friends and explored some new trails. Unfortunately…I managed to completely EAT SH*T on a gravelly downhill…hit the ground with my hip and slid about 8 feet on my elbow…resulting in some SWEET trail-rash!
When I got back to the OTC and went to sports-med to get the deep scrapes cleaned out…they said I probably needed STITCHES! Thank goodness the doctor had already gone home!! There was NO WAY I was going to let someone poke MORE holes in my skin…so I’ve got a couple of Steri-Strips holding the biggest gash together and I probably wont be in the pool for a few days (easiest way to get infections)!.
Tomorrow…Bobby McGee is in town again and hosting another drill session. All I know is that Jasmine went to Bobby’s last drill session one day after BREAKING her elbow…I think I’ll be able to manage just fine with a little scrape on my elbow:). This is the perfect time to work with Bobby so that I get a refresher course on my running technique before starting into BASE training (so far I’ve run a whopping 4 miles since I started base).
Other than training…the 3rd episode of The Office is on at 7:30pm tomorrow…party in Tim’s room!!

Day 2 Back on Schedule

My 2 week break ended yesterday morning when I dove in the pool at 8am for a 4000 meter swim practice. I also did my first run workout since finishing the Westchester Triathlon on September 17th…that was painful! One option for running was to do the Jack Quinn Pub 5k in downtown COS…but since it looked like rain, I ran on the treadmill instead. When it was time for the Pub run, it wasn’t raining so I pedaled my mountain bike downtown and pedaled around the loop while cheering for everyone who was brave enough to run.
Today’s workout schedule also starts with a swim (I actually need to be heading to the pool right now) and ends with a 2 hour mountain bike ride. I’ve included an Ultimate Frisbee session by inviting friends and teammates to join me outside in the grass field at noon…hopefully the weather will be perfect.

2006 Tiburon Mile

The 7th annual Tiburon Mile (a 2000meter open water swim in the San Francisco Bay) took place on Sunday morning at 9:00am. I was so happy to be on the starting line of this fantastic event again. I participated in 2004, was the Women’s champion, but the race was not held last year. This year the race was SOLD OUT with 800 competitors braving the 60 degree waters (about half wore wetsuits while the other half just went numb:).
I flew from COS into San Fran on Friday morning and spent the day relaxing in my hotel room with some movies. When my roommate and friend, Erica Rose, finally arrived, we drove into Tiburon for the pre-race dinner and celebration. It was a beautiful affair in the Tiburon Lodge with lots of the race sponsors, fellow competitors, and all the Special Olympians who would be competing on Sunday!
On Saturday morning we had about 7 people participate in the “Test Swim.” Erica, Robert, Ryk, John, and myself were some of the brave souls who completed the ENTIRE race course at 8am…I will take ever opportunity I am given to swim in the fun waters of the Bay with a view of the Golden Gate bridge off to my left. Unfortunately, it took me about 2 hours to get feeling back into every one of my toes and fingers…a couple cups of hot cocoa, a VERY warm shower, and an hour curled up in my bed!
For our afternoon adventure, Erica, Robert, and I drove into San Francisco and did a lot of “touristy” things. We walked around Fisherman’s Wharf, I showed them the Sand Ladder from the Alcatraz Triathlon, we shopped in Ghirardelli Square, window shopped along Fillmore St., and drove down the twisty turns on Lombard St! WE ate dinner at a very nice restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf before driving back to the hotel to pack and rest for race morning.
I woke up at 6am and went for a wake-up swim in the warm Tiburon Club pool, just like I did before winning the race in 2004! I picked up my race packet…which included a BLUE swim cap with MCLARTY written on the sides. After I squeezed into my Speedo FastSkin (it’s been a LONG time since I’ve worn a swim-racing-suit!) I hung out on the Elite Athlete deck until they loaded us on the yacht for the trip over to Angel Island.
We got to the starting beach a few minutes late so I ran down to the beach and got a good starting position. The gun fired from a boat in the Bay to signal the start…I was off like a rocket into the water, didn’t even have time to notice that it was freezing! Just like 2004, I swam with the lead men to catch their draft and …but unlike 2004, I could not hang with them for the whole 2000meters, only 500 meters! And then I was suddenly swimming all by myself about 30 meters behind the lead pack (and I knew that at least one or two girls were ahead of me).
So I just enjoyed myself for the remainder of the race…keeping a good pace, but knowing that the win was out of the picture. Right when I was swimming into the Tiburon Yacht Harbor for the last 300 meters of the race, I could see Erica Rose entering it on the left side. We took completely different lines from the start to the finish, but ended up finishing only one second apart (I ran out of the water right in front of her). When we were standing on the beach someone yelled that we were 2nd and 3rd place women!! That was a BIG shock to me…I thought lots of girls were ahead of me (Chloe Sutton was the first girl finisher)…but it was fantastic to know that open water experience sometimes beats pure swimming ability!!
After the awards, I relaxed in my hotel room until Leanda came to pick me up and we did some more exploring of San Francisco for shopping and dinner. Monday morning, I caught a ride to the airport and spent most of the afternoon traveling back to COS!