11:38 and 1.5 Miles

It's been a great morning so far on this last day of the official Clermont training camp.
The 11:38 refers to my time for the 1000 meter swim that we did for time in the pool. That was the main set, just warm up and GO! I think I split it at about 5:48 and 5:50 at the 500s so I was pretty happy with a 1:10 pace today.
The 1.5 miles refers to the distance that I ran on the treadmill after swim practice! Yes, I am RUNNING again! Finally, took long enough, lets celebrate, do a little dance, etc. But the main point is that I am back on my feet and looking forward to a slow and steady increase of miles...eventually hitting that magical number of 6.2 miles! The rough deadline for reaching 6.2 would be in the middle of April, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at the next Olympic Trials event...not surprising, I will be keeping everyone posted on my progress!
As I mentioned before, this is one of the final days of camp, so most of the refrigerators at the Swiss Ski School are looking a bit bare. Our solution this morning is to stop by Crispers (a chain restaurant) for a relaxing lunch. Our last official group session is the 3:00pm bike ride this afternoon.
I believe that after the ride is over, there will be a mass of packing and organizing rides to the airport tomorrow...while I will be calmly tossing things into my car and collecting leftovers from all my departing teammates! I'm collecting anything EXTRA that they aren't packing with them...this includes toilet paper, paper towels, dishwashing detergent, foodstuffs, etc. After that, it's just another relaxing drive back to DeLand!

2 Days, And Counting!

Only 48 hours remaining of the 2008 Clermont training camp! Everyone has flights out of Orlando on Friday...and I'm driving back to DeLand on Friday. I've started packing up my clothes and toiletries, except for what I might need in the next few training sessions, and looking forward to getting back in my comfortable bed at home:)
I have volunteered to take all the remaining foodstuffs from the house...with 5 other people, there is going to be a LOT of leftovers, mostly non-perishables, but that will make for some yummy dinners on the McLarty farm! I am also looking forward to cooking for my mom and dad (cooking for one is never any fun) for the next few weeks.
Today was not an easy training day, we started with a killer 3 hour bike ride with about 90 minutes at race pace...followed that up with a run off the bike (or later at the NTC)...a 4pm swim practice with a nice up-tempo main set...and finished off the day with a half hour of weights/strength!
I'm still at the NTC, taking advantage of the free Internet. Tonight, I've got nothing but leftovers in the fridge to make into some kind of dinner and then I'll be chowing down in front of the hilarious American Idol try-outs (our house has become addicted in the past few weeks)!

The Grand Ole Opry Square Dancers

Nashville Photos

One section of the expo...

Another section of the expo...

The section of the expo with the stage for all the talks, fashion show, and awards presentations.

Michael, me, and Bob...the three guest speakers for the event.

John Couzins and I posing with some of the Grand Ole Opry caracters.

My view of the stage from the church pews. The building is actually a church converted into a musical theater.

Shelby, me, Bert, Kathleen, and Rod (John is taking the photo)...all enjoying the Grand Ole Opry show.

I can't remember her name, but this was one of the many performers of the evening...I think she was in her 80s but could still get out on stage and belt out her country hits! Impressive!

Give Me Some SUNshine, Please!

I'm back in Florida this afternoon and taking full advantage of the sun that is shining in the sky by sitting outside on a picnic table to check emails and post this blog. I don’t think I experienced a minute of being warm since I got off the plane in Nashville on Friday morning! Nothing against Tennessee…but it just goes to show that I’m a very spoiled warm-weather athlete that gets to follow the high temperatures all year-round.
Of course, another aspect could have been that I didn’t pack much appropriate clothing for the weekend…not a surprise; I usually check the weather before I depart and it’s usually completely different by the time I get to my destination. There is obviously a pattern here and I’m sure that you are as tired of reading about my weather mishaps as I am tired of HAVING the actual mishap! I should just start packing a tiny bikini AND a full parka along with an umbrella AND sunscreen on every trip…that way, I can’t possibly be wrong when I arrive:).
As I mentioned in a hurried blog post last night, the Expo on Saturday was a success. I made the rounds, talked with and met a lot of great people, listened to Bob and Michael give great speeches, judged a Triathlon-wear modeling show, ate some yummy BBQ from a local joint for lunch, gave away some Speedo and Orca gear in a raffle, and spoke about my life’s journey for an hour.
I talked about the path that I took from a youth athlete to the professional ranks and why I think that I’m still racing and loving this lifestyle while 100s of other kids in my position are no longer competing. I spoke about some of my greatest race memories from this last season…especially how and why I was able to compete for the USA at the Pan American Games in Rio (must say THANKS here to Laura). I finished up by emphasizing how important it is that we rebuild the relationship between the amateur triathletes and the pros because we can get more out of this sport in America by supporting each other rather than by envying or disliking each other.
At the end of the event, I was completely exhausted but I was still looking forward to the REAL Nashville experience that I had been promised that evening. The Grand Ole Opry was so much fun and it really does embody all of what Nashville is about and what it is famous for: great country singers from all generations! We got Bluegrass, banjos, Vince Gill, square-dancing, electric guitars, honky-tonk, and some southern Cajun flare from about 50 different musicians, singers, and dancers. I can’t thank my hosts enough for an amazing weekend…John was my home-stay and pre-expo party host, Shelby provided the Opry tickets and yummy dinner reservations, Kathleen organized the whole darn expo, and Rod, Richard, Ashley, Matt and all the others provided a warm Tennessee welcome! Big thanks to everyone involved with the Southeast Triathlon Expo!

Nashville is Beautiful!

I'm hanging out in my home-stay's home right now. We just got home from the all-day-expo and we've got a few minutes to sit down, relax, and watch some TV. In a few minutes I've got to go shower, change and look presentable for a night on the town in Nashville. I'm being taken to the Grand Ol'Oprey and a great restaurant for dinner...what could be more Nashville-ESQUE?
The expo was a lot of fun...and a very long day! I've got some photos that will be posted when I get home (I'm on John's computer, not mine:). I met some great people and hopefully entertained a few people with my one-hour talk. We also judged a hilarious fashion show that was the highlight of the day because the models were just average-joe-triathletes and they had the best time wearing all the new race gear!
Other than enjoying all my time here, I'm also completely FREEZING and wishing that I packed. Got to go get ready for a night on the town!

Blogging from a New Location

I love posting from new locations...it just shows how amazing technology is today and it also proves that I do a LOT of traveling:)
I'm sitting in Dr. Keith's offices down in West Palm Beach (Lake Worth, FL to be exact) checking my emails before heading back to my car to drive home. His offices, Advanced Wellness, are worth making the trip from Groveland, Clermont, DeLand, or where ever I might be in the world. Actually, sometimes, I don't have to travel to his offices, because he now travels with the USAT National Team to our big events (World Champs, Olympic Trials, Olympic Games, etc).
I just drove 3 hours down here, had treatments for an hour and I'm trying to take a quick break before the 3 hour drive home. I've already got my bags packed for my weekend in Nashville so there will be no running around the house tonight...just getting home safe and going to bed.
Tomorrow morning I will be up early to drive to the Orlando Airport but I will have Julie Ertel with me in the car to keep me awake...she has promised to buy me a hot cocoa at the airport in exchange for the ride!

Photos from Clermont

I finally got my camera out of the bag and took some photos of the house that I'm living in in Groveland. My roommates are Matt, Jasmine, Joe, Mark, and Brian...we've been here for a little over 2 weeks and we've got about 12 days left. The weather has treated us pretty good, only a few slightly cool days (a basic Florida winter) and lots of sunshine. I forgot my camera at our last two events...Cliff's Birthday Party on Sunday night and the BBQ at my house on Monday...fortunately, both times, someone else had a camera and I'm just waiting to snag photos from their cameras:) Until next time, enjoy these photos of our living room, dining room, kitchen, and pool in the backyard.

It Was NOT My Day!

Wow, my legs were not responding to the signals that my brain was sending to pedal harder! So the group ride was pretty much a disaster this morning. It was freezing and very windy, I was riding solo, yada, yada, yada...I'm glad that event is over!
I got back to the Ski School, at lunch, and took a short nap. I wanted to sleep until the Pizza Party tonight but I had to get my butt out of bed and over to the NTC for a run before the place closed (I'm just glad that the NTC is even OPEN on a Sunday!). Now I'm taking advantage of driving all the way here to use the free Internet and catch up on emails.
On my way back to the Ski School, I'm going to stop by Publix (the best grocery store EVER...for those of you who have never shopped in Florida!) and pick up the ingredients for a really yummy guacamole-chip-dip that Cheryl showed me at the Christmas Party. Today is my coach birthday and we are having a little Pizza Party at one of the Ski School houses. I never like to show up empty handed and I've been looking for an excuse to make this dip again!
Tomorrow we will all be back here at the pool for an early morning strength session and swim practice. Afterwards, I will be driving over to DeLand with a few of my teammates to hang out at the McLarty Farm. I did invite the WHOLE team but some people have a desire to go to Disney World and some people want to just take a rest day. Oh well, I am still looking forward to having a great time with the people that do come over...we are going to grill some chicken and burgers, explore the farm, play some games, and maybe check out the manatees at Blue Springs!
I've got to go purchase some avocados and get home to mash them up! It's PIZZA TIME:)

It's Raining...

it's pouring outside! But my Dad reports that the weather will be cleared up by tomorrow morning so that we will have no problems on the Windermere Group ride! Darn, and I was hoping for a weather-related excuse for a day off:)
I took a work-related day off today...I was up at 5am working until 12 noon at the St. Pete Beach Classic 5K and 10K run. Again, I was working for Event-Tech (the same people who time all the IronKids events). After lunch with all the race directors and crew, I headed home through Tampa for another uneventful two hour drive.
As soon as I got back to the Swiss Ski School, the rain started and it hasn't let up since! I did get a lot of paper-work and computer work done...which is also very important in my business. I'm working on my ideas for my talk at the USAT SouthEast Expo next weekend, planing some flights for the upcoming months, catching up on emails with my family, etc.
I've got nothing else worth reporting today on my glorious blog...we'll see what happens with the hard ride tomorrow and then it's time to plan a fun BBQ at the McLarty Farm on Monday.

SportsPerson Banquet

This is Elenore and her sister, Libby. 8 years ago, they awarded me the Pug Allen award for being a talented multi-sport athlete at DeLand High. Last night, I sat next to both of them again as I received my SportsPerson of the Month award and they gave another multi-sport high schooler the Pug Allen award. (The Pug Allen was named after their father and they attend each year in his memory!)

Feels Like a Training Camp

I feel like I've been run over by a train! Someone get the plates off that truck!! I'm exhausted...burnt...done...toast...wiped!
Anyways, I'm pretty sure that it is a combination of the training and all the functions/events that I have been trying to squeeze into my days here in Florida. At first glance, I thought I was going to be lucky to be one town over from my home at this training camp. Well, now I don't have an excuse to turn down invites to things in my hometown (or college town).
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't miss watching my brother swim for the world, but add the driving up and back to Gainesville...the 3 hour drive to Dr. Keith's offices...the hour I drove (each way) last night to the West Volusia Sportsperson of the Year banquet...and it is all starting to catch up to me!
I've got Post-It notes and scraps of paper all over reminding me to not miss anything important. Let me give you a run down of the next few days. I'm actually supposed to be heading over to yoga tonight (30 min drive each way), followed by a small group dinner at the Crisper's down the street. Tomorrow morning we are heading out on a 3 hour bike ride followed by an afternoon swim (30 min drive). After the swim, I'm going to drive to my house (at least a 1 hour drive) in DeLand, pick up my Dad and then go over to the Plan B bike shop in Port Orange (another 30 min of driving) to host a Q & A session for all levels of triathletes in the area.
After the Q & A, I'll drive home (30 min again) and spend the night at the McLarty Farm. I'll be up early on Thursday morning to get behind the wheel of my car for another 3 hours down to W. Palm Beach to see the amazing Dr. Keith. I could head right back to Groveland after our appointment but that would just suck...so I'm going to hang out with Margie (another triathlete) and probably go for a bike ride. Eventually, at some point, I will have to get back in my car and do the reverse 3 hour drive before Thursday is over.
Friday morning probably has another swim on the schedule...30 min each way to the pool...and then I'll pack up for St. Petersburg and start driving in the afternoon (I haven't MapQuested it, but I'm sure it's at least an hour each way). I'm going to be working for J-net and Event-Tech again at the St. Pete. Beach Classic (a 5K and 10K run) on Saturday morning. After working at the race, I will be racing home to make the 3-hour group ride with my team.
At this point, if I'm still alive, I will be looking forward to another 40 minute trip, each way, to the Sunday morning Windermere group ride. After the ride on Sunday, you will probably find me face down on my bed, snoring like a chainsaw! But...I will need to conserve and rebuild some energy for Monday because the team is finally coming over to the Ol'McLarty's Farm in DeLand for a fun and relaxing (??) BBQ lunch and play-day!
That is as far in the future as I am looking right now. If I make it through Monday, I will give my self a little pat on the back, suck it up, and get ready for another week doing what I love to do!!

G-ville Trip

Tomorrow afternoon the UF Gators are swimming a dual meet versus LSU in Gainesville. I have no clue yet as to what Dustin will be swimming in the meet but I'm just looking forward to watching and cheering for all the kids in Orange and Blue!
I will have to finish up my workouts earlier than what is posted on the group training schedule so that I can hop in my car and blast up 1-95 to Ocala. Yep, I'm only driving to Ocala:). It works out great because I just park my car at a gas station next to the interstate and wait for Mom and Dad to drive by and pick me up. That way we are carpooling and saving a bit of gas for the last 30 minutes of the drive. And I've got no complaints when I'm NOT driving lately...my bum is getting a bit sore from my car seat...it's not designed to drive long distances. I think I should go invest in something soft and comfortable to put on the driver's seat!
Today was a nice 'lite' training day. We got to sleep in a bit, 9am practice instead of 7am practice, and had a easy swim followed by a team breakfast and a shopping run to Target and Publix. I actually skipped out on the team breakfast...I don't need to consume to many syrup drenched pancakes, runny eggs, and sausage. Instead, I stayed at the pool for some extra time to do an aqua jogging session...it was a great sunny morning and I was rocking to the tunes blasting from the stereo on the pool deck.
One of the vans stopped back by the NTC to pick me up on the way to the Super Target. I did a lot more browsing than shopping because I had just been to the store last night...but, I was able to come up with a lot of creative menu ideas for my future meals! Another exciting aspect about the trip to Target was that even with all that walking around the store, my foot was NOT sore.
When I visited Dr. Keith, he did some treatment things on my foot and calf and then at the end of the session he did a special taping method on my foot that allows me to use my foot but keeps the stressed area from being used. So I am actually giving my foot a chance to heal! This doesn't mean that I'm going to head out and join the team for their 75 minute Fartlek session tomorrow...but it does mean that I'm NOT in pain...plenty of reason to celebrate! Who's buying?!?!:)

One Talent I DID NOT Inherit

My Mother and Father (okay, mostly my Mother) just built this bed for some of her friends. Here is the email my Mom wrote and sent along with these photos:

hi friends,

thanks to nicole for the opportunity to use my brain a little bit!!

attached are some photos of the resulting project

the inspiration for the design is Cirque de Solei

anybody else out there looking for a special wood project? please keep
me in mind...

thanks, karen

As she mentioned above, the bed is designed around the Cirque de Solei theme: dancers, colorful, elemental, graceful, artistic, etc. There are four dancers in the headboard, each in a different position. The bottom of the bed has four drawers and each drawer has a handle that represents one of the four elements: Earth, Wind, Water, Fire. The posts are also very original and are stained to match the dancers and elements!

Learning to LOVE to Drive

It all started with the decision to drive my Xterra back to Florida this winter. I knew that I was going to need my own transportation around DeLand when I was visiting my parents. I knew that to get around Clermont, a personal vehicle is the only way (riding my bike to and from the pool and the grocery store was NOT an option!). If I wanted to go up to Gainesville and watch my brother and the rest of the Gator swim team, I would need my own set of wheels.
So, the decision was easy (especially when my Dad agreed to fly out to COS and help me drive home:) and I'm very thankful and glad for my decision. I would not have been able to do one-tenth of the things I've done during the last month and a half...go ride the Wednesday night airport ride, drive back and forth between Koren's place in Clermont, the pool, and the grocery store, take a quick trip home to attend the Plan B Bike Shop's Swap meet in December, etc...the list goes on.
Well, now, the list REALLY does go on...once a week for this month of January, I will be climbing behind the wheel and heading from Groveland to West Palm Beach to see Dr. Keith and get treatment on my foot. If you would like to MapQuest the distance and time between those two previously mentioned places you will see that I'm not lying when I tell you that it's a 3 HOUR drive, ONE WAY! Yep, and I just did the drive down there on Wednesday afternoon (after swimming solo and biking with the team). It was BRUTAL! I had to eat my way from Orlando to West Palm Beach in order to stay awake and not drive off the road:)
It was great to see Dr. Keith at his offices (Advanced Wellness) and then he had kindly invited me to spend the night, check on the foot in the morning, and then send me back on the road to Groveland. His offices in WPB are just the hopping place...people were in and out and around and doing all sorts of rehab and treatment stuff. After he was finished for the day, I got to meet his beautiful family (wife, Colleen, and two adorable boys, Zachary, 8 and Ethan, 5), eat a fantastic dinner (even after eating my way down there, I was still plenty hungry for Colleen's amazing dinner), play some Wii baseball (I stunk and got beat by an 8 year old:).
This morning I checked in, ate some breakfast and hit the road before 8am. I was in a time crunch to get back before 12 noon when the team here was rolling out for a 3-hour ride. Fortunately, I made it back to Villa 27 with plenty of time to grab a quick bite, fill up my water bottles, and hit the hills of Clermont for 3.5 hours (68 miles total)!
By the way, Jasmine arrived in Florida last night and it was great to see her today when I finally got back. She's my roommate for the month...we've got two little twin beds here in the 'kids' room. I guess I've already shared enough info in the previous post about the beds not being the greatest...but I'm on my way to the department store in a few minutes to pick up one of those 'egg crate' things that I used in college. It will be just like my solution in S. Korea...pull out the padding in my bike box and lay it under the sheets...except I don't have my bike box with me and I can just go get some real bed pads this time:)

Posting from the Swiss Ski School

I’m in Water-Ski heaven! And I’m sitting next to a gorgeous guy from France that lives and trains here year-round. I might have to investigate spending more time at the Swiss Ski School:)!
I’m also in cyclist heaven and I just got back from another killer Sunday morning with the Windermere Roadies. This time I actually hung on for the whole ride…we go up every major hill in Clermont, some of them more than once…and I finished with a faster average than last week. Now, I’m about to collapse from exhaustion but I need to check my emails and stuff before I can lie down for a late afternoon siesta!
By the way, I should explain that my teammates also went on a ride this morning but I opted to join the Roadies for a more intense training session. I’ve been riding hard all winter and consider myself to be in decent cycling shape (actually, the best cycling shape that I’ve ever been in) while most of the other triathletes have been stuck on indoor trainers or not riding at all. So, while they get back on their bikes and ready for some killer hills, I’ll be out on the roads waiting:).
I guess that sounds kinda cocky but let’s put it into perspective, shall we: I CAN’T RUN TWO STEPS! So being able to ride kinda fast right now is not all that amazing or beneficial to me…I’m supposed to be a TRIATHLETE!
Back to our new residences in Groveland…the houses are huge and really pretty. We have a great view out the back of one of the ski lakes and we can enjoy the Florida sunshine in either the pool or the hot-tub! The furniture and appliances that fill these huge houses, well, they are kinda lacking. I understand that these are people’s vacation homes or second residences…but if you are going to spend that much money for another house, or if you are going to spend your VACATION here…don’t you think that you might want to be comfortable? My main complaint is that I’m stuck in the hardest, smallest, creakiest twin bed that I have ever been forced to sleep on! Fortunately, I can sleep well under the best or worst of situations so I will survive this experience…and if we are training as hard as promised, I won’t have a single problem sleeping at the end of the day!

Electric Blanket = Survival

I survived the huge dip in temperatures last night...thanks to being wrapped up in an electric heating blanket on my bed! The sub-freezing temperatures were mighty convincing to keep me in bed this morning and I couldn't drag myself out in time for morning swim practice (a later call to the Port Orange pool revealed that the pool temp. was 75 degrees...combined with a 31 degree air temp. and strong winds equal a SMART decision to remain warm and comfy:) The sun has come out strong and I might motivate to get over to the pool around noon in the warmest part of the day.
Other than that, I'm getting all packed up for a move back to Clermont...well, Groveland if you want to get technical about where we will be living. The coaching staff is arriving at the Swiss Ski School sometime today and the tentative plan is to meet Cliff, Sam, Nate, and Sarah at the NTC pool tomorrow morning for a swim practice. I'm tossing all my bags and gear back in the Xterra (sometimes I think it would have been smarter to just leave most of it in my car because my little bedroom here at Ol'McLarty's farm is only big enough for a 10 year old girl:)
After swimming and seeing my chiropractor at the NTC in the morning I'm going to be able to move into my room at the Ski School. I'm in Villa 27 with Julie, Bec, Joe and Justine. I'm sure that I will be one of the first to arrive (and get first dibs on what room I want:) as most people are flying in to Orlando.
After spending a bit of time getting used to my surroundings and visiting with my coach and my friends I get to get back in my car and go driving again! This time I'll be heading up to Gainesville for the Gators vs. Purdue in the pool at 7pm. I haven't seen Dustin swim in a meet for a long time. Since this is his last year and he's faster than ever it should be very exciting!!

Snow Flurries?!?

WHAT...Excuse Me?? Did I just mis-hear what the weather guy said on TV? Or am I listening to a report for Colorado?
Nope, none of the above...it is actually dropping below FREEZING tonight! That is the way the world works...I have been enjoying temperatures in the 70s and 80s all month long and bragging about it to my teammates stuck in the North. As soon as they load up their gear and start heading South to join me in the Florida sunshine, the temperatures decide to reverse and drop below freezing!
After the Holiday Adventure on the house boat, I've been enjoying some relaxed training. Just heading out for a ride here and there and dropping by the pool every once in a while. That's what was on my training schedule...and I'm not complaining.
Instead, I'm enjoying the free time and spending it with my family. Dad and I drove over to Windermere on Sunday morning to ride with the Roadies...I went with the fast group for 65 miles in the hills (averaging above 20mph!!) while Dad joined a group that road 55 miles in the flats. We pulled back into the parking lot within minutes of each other:)
I just got back from a two hour horse-back-ride with my Mom (and with Buddy and Star...can't have a horse ride without the horses:). We made sure to get back before the sun started to set and the temperatures really started to fall. Buddy and Star are in their stalls with warm blankets and a big dinner to keep warm through the night.
Dustin is back in Gainesville, back in the pool, and getting ready for the last half of his last year at Florida! He's got one serious class remaining and the rest of his credits are just 'fluff' to fulfill requirements to graduate. I'm looking forward to driving up on Saturday to watch the Gators swim in a dual meet (I'm not sure who the other team is and I'm too lazy to check online)...especially since our football boys couldn't pull out a Bowl Game win yesterday in their HOME state!
Right now, I've got to head back up to the house because I've got an oven full of goodies cooking for dinner. I stopped by the farmer's market this morning (didn't know we had one close by until my Grandmother mentioned it on Sunday!) and picked up some fresh produce. I've got "Slow Baked Cherry Tomatoes with Herbs" and Acorn Squash halves cooking and I should get to work with the ears of corn on the grill (at least, I want to do them on the grill...the near-freezing temperatures might deter me:)!