And so we start

I have been a little behind the eight ball lately, so many things going on in the last month.  As many of you know school started.  I has some mixed feelings about going back. Like many teachers, I always want a longer summer.  It didn't help that about 3 weeks before school started I got a really bad case of Shingles.  I was miserable and had to take time off from training, I was barely leaving my bed. When I finally did feel better, I would go workout, then come straight home and go back to bed for at least three hours.  To make matters even more crazy, when I did start working out again, I felt terrible on my runs.  What was this all about.  Turns out I needed new orthotics for my shoes and my sciatica nerve was bothering me a ton.  I decided I was not going to compete at the Dells in the Olympic Distance triathlon. I figured I would give myself an extra week not only to recover from being sick, but also to heal from my injury.  Turned out to be a good plan.

I went back to work for institutes and planning on August 13th.  This year was going to be different. For the last three years I have been co-teaching in a classroom and we would sit down to plan once a week. Now I would have three of my own classes and only two co-taught classes.  I have two periods of US History, oh my goodness, I have not taught that since like my first of second year teaching. Lucky for me, one of the co-taught classes I am teaching is in US History and get to work with a  great group.  Phew that was helpful.  I also have an Algebra 1, part 2 that is my own.  I wasn't sure what to expect when the kids came back to school on the 16th.  I will say that after having them for 12 days, I really enjoy my US History classes.  We have some awesome discussions and they ask a lot of good questions when we are taking notes. That is not to take away from my Algebra 1, part 2 class, just a difference in the two subjects and probably the time of the day I have the students.

So during the first weekend of school I decided that I was going to compete in the Pigman Olympic Distance triathlon.  I was suppose to do Age Group Nationals, but between cost and the fact that I would have likely had to take the second day of school off so I could travel to them, I decided not to go. We had a group going out to compete there, I was the only one doing the Olympic Distance, everyone else was doing the half Ironman.  I didn't know what to expect when we got there race day.  This was the first year they had an Olympic Distance. We went off first with a time trial start (1 person every few seconds). Well, in the water they told oh you go to the buoy with the bag on it and turn right.  Nice idea, except none of us can see when the sun in our faces.  I had to make a slight detour, but then I got back on course.  The guys went before the women, so it is always kind of nice to pass them in the water, some of course get me right back on the bike or  the run, but still, I had fun.  I came out of the water feeling pretty good, could kind of feel my rear end starting to hurt, but not enough that I was going to stop. I got on my bike and off I went.  There was a small stretch that was a little bumpy and had railroad track, but overall, I really liked this bike course, the streets were newly paved and you could fly on there.  For the most part I was in no man's land on the bike. The nice part was that it was an out and back (although I do suck at 180 turnarounds), so I could see all my buddies that were in the half Ironman beginning their journey on the bike.  The only bad part about the bike was  there was one hill on the way back that I just felt like I was going no where, the wind was in my face and I was relieved when I was finally up it and got to turn back into the park.  As I was coming off my bike, the announcer says, this is Lisa Simon from Romeoville, she is a special education teacher and she also wants to teach yoga.  I was like how they hell did he know that, oh yeah, I put that in the box when I registered. As I was in the transition area going from the bike to the run, I saw my friend, Dawn. She was there to cheer all of us on, which was so awesome of it. She told me that I was in 4th place overall female. I was like really, that is so cool. I for sure was not expecting that.  Okay, now comes the part that I normally am not nervous about, but totally was that day, the run.  I only had to run a 10K.  So I decided I was just going to take it one mile at a time.  Off I went, okay, not feeling anything here.The run was a course with a few rolling hills, but no shade.  Okay fine, it was so beautiful out.  This was also an out and back course, which was great because it gave me a chance to see where anyone that was female and might be in my age group was. I saw the first 3 females on my way out, they were flying. During the run I got passed by a few guys and a few girls.  I passed mile 5 and I was like okay, 1.2 to go, lets see what I have left.  I knew this was not going to be a day where I was going to run 7:30-7:45.  I knew I had a good swim and good bike under my belt.  I came in and there was Dawn telling me that I was the 6th place overall female.  The announcer again announced that it was Lisa Simon from Romeoville, IL who is a special education and would like to teach yoga. Then he told me to do a sun salutation.  Okay, if you say so.  I am sure the photographer got a great picture of that.  I ended up winning my age group, which was awesome too. Then I enjoyed the rest of the day cheering on my cool Tri Smart friends in their awesome adventure.

Monday I am planning to run the Oakbrook Half Marathon. It will be a fun day.  As the beginning of the training season I would have told you that I wanted to break 1:40 in the half marathon.  I am just going to go out and see what I can do, enjoy the day.  Next up, do I dare say Ironman Louisville?

8 HOT

What is 8 HOT?  This would be 8 hours of triathlon.  Actually you had a choice to do the duathlon as well, but my friend Sue and I decided we wanted to do the 8 hours of triathlon.  7 of us went to Lake Mills to do this event, they also have a 24 hour event. 8 hours sounds much nicer.  We had three 2 person teams and one solo.  The way this works is that you have 8 hours or 24 hours depending on which event you signed up for to get in as many  triathlons or duathlons  in. You can bank the the different areas, but Sue and I decided to just go in the normal order and switch off the entire 8 hours. This worked out nice that this was a Friday event because Sue and I are both teachers, we're off for the summer.

Really, we had no game plan until the night before.  We decided that Sue would start off the first swim, then I would bike, she would run.  The next triathlon, I would swim, Sue would bike, and I would run. We alternated like this all 8 hours.  This worked well.  The distances are one-tenth the Ironman distances, so today the swim was .24 miles, bike was 11.2 miles, and the run was 2.62 miles.  We thought the that after the run, having to bike so close would take it tolls.  I think we were both fine. If we did the 24 hour that way, that could have been tough.  So the whole group starts shortly after 7 AM this morning.  Our first team-Team Tri Smart came out the leaders, then team Tri Buddies followed, then my teammate, then our solo teammate.  I got started on the bike and I was like oh man, I have to bike this again today.  The course was a little bumpy and had a lot of gravel on the turns.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate gravel on turns. I totally slow down. To make matters worse, all the sudden my aero handlebar on the right is lopsided, you have to be kidding me. I fixed it in transition the first time.   Also on the first bike our solo athlete passes me.  My thoughts were , umm, am I that slow on the bike or did he go out too fast?  Needless to say we got back to transition and off Sue went on the run. 

The next time I swam and ran.  So I get ready to go into the swim.  I opted out of wearing a wetsuit because mine currently has a hole in it and I didn't want to try to put on a wetsuit all sweaty.  Sue gets back from an awesome run leg and I head down to the lake. I get into the water and my first thought was whoops, probably should have brought that wetsuit, but after swimming a little bit, I was like, okay, glad I didn't bring the wetsuit.  I caught up with our solo athlete and after taking a few detours on the swim, I was out.  Sue took off on the bike and I started to get ready for the run.  The great thing about our team, is that we are just that.  We had the Tri Smart team tent set up in transition along with a ton of food.  We had a bike rack for our bikes.  It was awesome.  Sue came back from the bike and off I went on the run.  The run is 1.31 out and then back.  It is mainly on the sidewalks of the park area and then the neighborhoods.  I felt good. I was wondering how I was going to feel with all the stop and go stuff. 

The next triathlon I was just biking.  Well, I thought I had fixed my area bar, WAY WRONG.  As soon as I hit a bump I was riding lopsided again.  REALLY, come on.  Oh well, it is 11.2 miles, suck it up Simon. As I get to the turnaround on the bike, it is really tight, so again being a girly I unclip my foot out of my bike and start to turnaround.  I think the nice man at the turnaround gave me a little extra credit, he told me I earned a 6 on that turn.  It was more like 3 or 4. 

I get back and decide that I am going to see how Sue and I are doing.  I look up the current results, wow, we are in first place in the 2 person women's division.  Okay great, we were 7th overall at that time of all the different teams.  That's great.  I kill a little more time in the tent area and then get ready to swim again.

I felt the day went pretty fast, before I knew it we were going in to hours four and five.  Wow, okay I like this.  All through the day Tri Smart members cheered each other on, as did most of the other participants in the race.  We supported one another and helped each other. That is probably one of the main reasons the day went fast for me.  I was having so much fun the whole time.  I think about the only time I had anything bad to say was when I heard the race director announcing that there was a cop driving around threatening to ticket us on the bike for riding through stop signs.  I know this is a safety issue, but I also know that many of us slow down drastically at intersections.  My friends from Team Tri Buddies told me this guy was in an unmarked car and his idea of stopping was unclipping out of your pedal and putting one foot down.  Glad he was gone by the next time I got on the bike. 

By the time we got to the last hour and fifteen minutes. I had one run left.  I figured at this point we could start our 7 triathlon, but we would only get through the swim and the bike.  Sue went off to the swim and I waited for her  after I was done running. I failed to mention earlier, only one person from the team can be on the course at a time.  Sue quickly swam the .24 and then I was off.  Most of the last ride was uneventful, but at the turnaround I saw a lady who was the winner of the 24 hour solo triathlon.  Now we are not even in the same race, but I just felt that I should not get caught by her, so I worked as hard as I could on that last bike.  When I got to the finish, Sue was waiting for me with our other Tri Smart teammates.  We got some pictures as everyone was coming in and then wait for awards.

Awards came and Sue and I won our division. Team Tri Smart also came in first and Tri Buddies came in third in the co-ed division.  Our solo athlete came in third in the men's solo. I got a little chuckle at the end when I finally realized that Sue and I were able to get in 6 and 2/3 triathlons. The winners of the men's 2 person team did the same amount as us.  Way to go us!!!!!!!!!  I had so much fun at this event.  It was great to be around my Tri Smart Teammates.  The people volunteering and organizing were a lot of fun and very supportive.  All and all it was a great time had by all.

Dances with Dirt

When I was thinking ahead to races this year, I said I didn't want to to do anything longer than half marathons and Olympic Distance Triathlons.  I was talking to my friend, Dawn during the winter season and she mentioned that she was doing this Dances with Dirt Half Marathon, which is she last year.  It is a trail marathon, all trails, some single track trails.  I decided to sign up because it was something different.

We left Friday to travel up to Baraboo, Wisconsin, by the Dells.  In our car was Dawn, Roger, Kurt, Amanda, and me.  Kara and Mary joined us later. The trip up was an adventure alone.  What should have been a three hour trips tops, turned into a five hour trip.  We managed to run into every construction zone possible, along with people who just can't drive. We stopped in Rockford to eat because we were starving at that point.  After a few more delays in construction we finally got to Baraboo, checked into our hotel and then went to Sprecher's for dinner. Each of tried a beer or other alcoholic beverage with our dinner.  I enjoyed some beer cheese soup ( can we see how serious this race really is). After dinner we walked around the Dells a little bit and then headed back to the hotel.

We woke up around 5AM to get ready to leave for the race. The nice thing about this race is that it is very low key.  The race has a few races during the day, a 50 mile, 50 K, marathon, half marathon, and 10K. We were walking around to get in line for our bibs and shirts and I see my friend, Paul from high school. We both ran cross-country and track and field. We chatted for a little bit and then I headed back to the car to put some stuff away.  Before the race we took at picture and went to the starting line.  At first there was some talk of running together.

The race started and maybe 100 meters into, it goes to single track, which also meant big back-up, already stopped. Kurt and I got out a little ways ahead of Dawn, Kara, and Mary because they were stuck in the "second" wave ( really no waves were designated). I saw them and Kurt and I turned around to walk back to them.  Being me, I said, okay, we're done, we're calling a day, got a few laughs from people.  We stayed together maybe a half mile, before Kurt and Kara were gone. A little later Dawn went around me, which was good because I was trying to figure out a way to go around the people in front of me, too much walking and slowing down. Dawn, Mary, and I got to the first mile in 17 minutes. WOW, we killed that didn't we.  Keeping in mind, we had to go down the same hill we went up when we were going to the finish.  At some point Mary went around and it was Dawn and me until a little after mile 4, where the second aid station was.  Finally I felt like I was in a groove and just started to go.  The one nice thing about trail runs, at least I feel this way, is when you can get into a groove, you feel faster than you are really going. 

I was kind of in my own little land for the next few miles.  I got to the turnaround and I was told it is beautiful from the bluff.  Only problem for me is I am afraid of heights. I took one look out and freaked. People were stopped, taking pictures, nope, not me. I put my head down and refused to look out. At this point this guy named Dave was running with me.  We ran the remainder of the race together. This was his 4th time doing this race.  He volunteered at Ironman Wisconsin a few years ago, but had no desire to compete in an Ironman. I mentioned that I did Ironman Wisconsin last year and that is was a great town, enjoyed the race a lot.  Before I knew it were were pasted nine miles. Okay, I couldn't believe how fast the race was going, it did help were now going downhill, instead of uphill.  The last 5K was all single track. I was being a little girl at this point.  Several times during the race I nearly bit it and fell over.  Since I had managed not to fall, I wasn't about to start.  I just watched my footing in front of me and tried to make sure that I was picking up my feet.  Then before I knew it, I was in the open field again, 100 meters from the finished.  I heard Roger and Kurt yelling and started to make my way to the finish.  Afterwards I chatted with Paul and my friend Bridgitt for a little bit and then it was time to go back home. 

This course is not a PR course, but it is challenging and a ton of fun.  I enjoyed the fact that it was different and challenging.  So if you are looking for something different, challenging, and fun, I would recommend this race.

New Shoes

So anyone who knows me, knows that there are just some changes that I do not do well with, won't even consider. Imagine that, a special education teacher, who has trouble with change. Funny, how I tell the kids I teach to just go with it and there are many times, that I can't do that.  Anyways, I'm off topic.  I have been a runner since I was 12,  well, I got really serious when I entered high school.  A runner's shoes are their most important piece of equipment they have.  Since I was a sophomore in high school, I have been wearing Asics.  My college coach did try to convert me to Adidas.  That lasted maybe 6-8 weeks and I had gone through at least 3 pairs of shoes.  I kept wearing them back heals. So, as I said, I have been wearing Asics, I believe I started with the 1100 and just kept following the model changes.  At this point I am at the 2700.   I figured they work, let it be.  I have not had any issues, so why change.

A few weeks ago, I was presented with the idea of trying out Mizuno's shoes.  Hmm, well, okay. Wait, again the person who does not change and has been wearing Asics since they were a sophomore in high school, is going to try a different brand of shoes.  What is the world coming to?  It took a little bit, but I finally got my shoes, the Mizuno Nexius 6.  Now this is funny to some of you.  In my Asics I wear a 5 1/2, yes I know my feet are just huge, NOT!!!!!!!  When I was looking through the different models for Mizuno, none of them were below a 6.  Was this going to be a problem, only one way to find out.  I called the representative and asked if they had a 5 1/2, he said, no, okay, I'll try a 6.  Oh by the way, I know my feet are small, but they are flat, like pancakes have more shape then my feet. My feet are so flat, that when I went to my podiatrist in high school to get my inserts the doctor took one look at my feet and say oh no.  Keep in mind when I went to the podiatrist I was sixteen, a junior in high school who was having an awesome track season, had big plans to be All-State. Oh no, really, lots of panic there. Needless to say we fixed that.  My feet are also wide, is this shoe good for those kind of feet.  Yes, the Nexius are a good fit, name and address please. 

So my shoes arrived and I finally got to wear them tonight during our track workout.  I felt great. I was a little nervous about trying the shoes out during an interval workout, but I felt great, I felt light on my feet, no issues with slipping, they fit great.  So change is not so bad after all.  I am excited for my next run and can't wait to see how I feel in my shoes.  

Wisconsin Tritenium

Seems like I have been doing a lot of racing during the month of June, actually this month has just been a lot of everything, racing, yoga training, summer school, but that is me, I just like to be busy and not sitting around. So this weekend I decided to compete in the Olympic Distance at the Wisconsin Tritenium.  I had not heard of this race until my friend, Maxine mentioned it to me earlier this year. I was trying to figure out races to compete in and at the time none were looking all that appealing.  I wanted to keep this year's races to Olympics or less as far as triathlons were.  So I decided to sign up.

Now since I have returned from my yoga training in Sedona, I can't exactly say I have felt like myself. My sleep patterns are all over the place, probably should stop the 2-3 hour naps after summer school. Friday I felt pretty good on my pre-race workout. However, things seem to be a little crazy after that. I went to the dentist, only to have the receptionist tell me she changed my appointment until 10 AM instead of 9AM, really because where am I going to go now.  Then I looked at my checking account, the hotel charged me twice for my stay. I called there and the lady said I had to call me bank, that it was their error, of course the bank says otherwise.  Basically the hotel just had to send me information and a release so I could have the money back in my account Saturday morning.  You would think that would be easy.  Nope, as I am driving up to the Madison/Verona area I get a call from the bank, the hotel messed up some of the information, so I call them and I get the manager.  I have to say I have been so disappointed with customer service these days.  People are just rude. This guy was not any different. He of course tells me it's the bank and I have to call them back, but I better hurry because he's leaving in 20 minutes and if he doesn't fix it, it won't get changed.  Okay, so how bout you just resend the information?  So I call the bank back and asked the guy to three way call the hotel.  The manager starts ripping on me. I was like are you kidding me.  Finally the teller from the bank says umm, she is on the phone.  Then they start to argue with each other. I was like are you kidding me? So finally we get it figured out that the hotel manager is going to send the fax again. He claimed he was hanging up until he heard me say, if this is how they are going to treat customers I will not ever return this hotel.  Then he decided to tell me he was still on the line. Hey good, because I am not kidding and by the way, I have friends that stay here frequently when they come to ride the Madison course. Finally that gets fixed and the money was back in my account this morning. 

I go to the Trek store in Madison to pick up my packet. Now I am notorious for forgetting stuff.  Sure enough I did this time. I forgot a sandwich for the morning and body glide.  I stopped at Walgreens and got some stuff for a peanut butter sandwich.  After eating dinner I finally got to the hotel, a little worried about what was going to happen.  Well, the staff that was there was very nice and made me feel at home. I went to my room and watched the Olympic trials for a little bit and then off to bed.

I got up at 4:30 to get ready for the race, ate my sandwich and then headed over to the course. It is a good thing I like to be early, got great parking.  As I walking in, this is actually when I remembered that I left my body glide at home.  I listen to the race director talking and he said the water was 80 degrees.  This race is not a USAT sanctioned race, so I could wear my wetsuit without missing out on awards if I placed.  I kind of pondered and then asked a lady by me if I could use her glide around my neck, wrists, and ankles, She was fine with that.  Still pondering, I discovered a hole in my wetsuit, okay decision made, no wetsuit.  They have a sprint and Olympic course here, the sprint went first. I sat around and eventually started to chat with some gentlemen around me. I guess last year this race was cut short due to the storms.  As I got to the bike course I realized why the times in my age group from last year seemed so fast.

7:44 my wave took off for the swim.  This course has a three loop swim, you have to get out, run over the map on each loop.  I have to say, I really didn't care for that.  I was fine running around, but getting back in, it took me a little to get back into my groove.  I was also glad that I didn't wear the wetsuit. I am one of those people that is always cold and I felt like I was boiling in that water.  Finally I am done with the swim, run out and get to the transition area, got on the bike, and off I went.

Now the bike is advertised as being on part of the Ironman Wisconsin course.  That is true for about 2-3 minutes of the bike.  If anyone has ever started the bike at Fireman's Park, you head under the bridge and then take the right up the hill. After the hill we went left, instead of right.  This is where I really realized how much of the race last year must have been cut short.  Holy hills.  For anyone training for Ironman Wisconsin, the bike course for the Olympic is a great reason to do this race. There were very few flats and lot of long or steep or both hills.  I am pretty sure that within the first five miles of the bike I MF'ed the course several times. What the hell was I thinking? The bike is a kind of a two looper. We have to do the square twice. There were some hills, I was like are there yet? So on this square is Observatory Road.  We were told in the preview that after the downhill we would be making a left hand turn.  Yeah, this downhill is one of those that you could probably go 35+ mph at least without pedaling at all.  Needless to say I knew the turn was coming, so I kept gently braking on the way down.  Then you make the turn and you have to go back uphill, this is where I made a bonehead move and switched gears too fast. Crap, there goes my chain.  I nearly bit it, but I was able to get over to the side safely and fix my chain.  As I was getting ready to go, one of the volunteers ran over to me and gave me push up to get started.  That was nice of him.  Okay, up there and past a few more hills I am not starting the second square.  A lady from Madison Multisport was passing me and she says "okay, onto loop 2." We went back and forth a little bit on this loop and one time as she was passing me I was like we don't have these hills in Illinois.  She laughed and said, well, this course is tough, even for those of us from Wisconsin.  So the next time I got to Observatory,  I left my gears on a easier gear so that when I switched to my small ring, I wouldn't lose my chain again. I thanked the man who helped me and went on.  As I was going up the hill after Observatory, I felt a mini spasm in my back. REALLY, hell no, don't even start I am not stopping.  This went on a few more times on my way to the bike in.

I started on the run. Now this is usually my favorite part of triathlons, not so much today.  A gentlemen caught me about a quarter mile into the run as asked if I was having fun.  My response was to be honest, no, I feel awful right now.  Oh the run is also 3 loops.  In my head, I am thinking well, the run should be flat.  WRONG.  About a half mile into the run we take a right turn and go up.  My first thought is I have to go up this hill three times, ahh damn it all.  Needless to say my run up the hill was more like a trout, but I was bound and determined that I was not going to walk.  It's six miles, there is no walking damn it. I get done with the first loop and go through to hit the mats (yes we had to run over the mats 3 times to make sure no one cheated). During the run I saw my friend from Madison.  She would say hello Illinois and I would reply, hello Wisconsin.  So now I have a goal, lets see if I can catch her and maybe have someone to run with.  I did end up catching her a little bit after mile 4, but she told me to go ahead because she was going to walk.  There was another girl that I was chummy with on the bike that I would see on the run. We'd cheer each other on too. I have to say, it was a friendly competition, maybe because we were all hurting from the bike.  Finally I see mile 6 and make the turn to the finish. 

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I grabbed some water  and a lady asked how I was. I told her I was a little dizzy. She informed me there were paramedics. Hmm, a few of those guys are cute, but I passed.  The crazy part was that after I went to get my results I stood in the shade for a little bit. I was sweating uncontrollably. That made some sense because I was not sweating on the run, which did make me a little nervous.  Only problem now was that I couldn't stop sweating. I decided to leave. I was 10th in my age group.  While, I was disappointed in my run split, I was happy.  I gave a lot on the bike and it did probably cost me in the run, but I can say that I didn't leave anything on the course. I would recommend this race as a trainer if you are considering Ironman Wisconsin.  Honestly, I didn't like the 3 loops on the swim and run, but the bike course was awesome. If I ever do Ironman Wisconsin again, I would sign up for this race, just based on the bike.  In all honestly the 3 loops on the run didn't bother me a lot because I was like oh I am back here again. Afterwards I headed back to Illinois for a graduation party. My cousins wanted to know why I wasn't swimming, hmmm.  They were like you can swim in your triathlon suit.  Umm, no it is nasty and going into the wash.

I get a little break from triathlons and I think in that time, I am going to work on riding hills.  

Pleasant Prairie

Today I competed in the Pleasant Prairie Triathlon.  We had some Tri Smart people going up.  I went up Thursday to pick up packets for myself and a few friends.  To start today, I got up at 2:15 AM. Now those of you that know me well, know I am an early riser, but even that is early for me.  I was like what the hell am I thinking.  I left my house about 2:45 to meet BFF (Jim) at the Lifetime in Burr Ridge.  We drove up together and chatted about what we wanted to do in the race.  We got there and were able to park near our friends, Bernie and MJ.  BFF and I were competing in the sprint, MJ, Bernie, Forest, Brian, and Liz were competing in the Olympic Distance.  While we were all sitting in transition the announcer stated that the bike portion of the Olympic was short because there was construction.  I wasn't doing the Olympic distance, but that sucks.  At 5:45 we took a group shot and did our last minute stuff before having to leave transition.

The Olympic Distance waves went first.  BFF, Forest and I sat around for a little bit and then Bernie and MJ joined us.  We made some jokes that triathletes make amongst each other. Then Forest's wave took off followed by Bernie and then MJ.  Now for whatever reason, I had it in my head that my wave took off at 7:21.  I was looking for other women with purple caps and they weren't anywhere to be seen. Finally one girl came by me. I was like umm, aren't we suppose to go at 7:21, she said no, we were the last wave.  Last wave again, okay fine.  I wished BFF one final good luck before he took off. Then it was my turn, I put myself in the front with my group.  We took off and I start catching some of the guys from the wave in front of me (white caps), then a few from the wave in front of them (black caps), then some ladies from the wave in front of the black caps. I was like, okay, I'm swimming well, despite that I have only swam once in the last 2 weeks.  I was little warm in my wetsuit, but that was okay, it wasn't that bad. Out of the swim and into transition. I felt like I was in there for ever.

I finally got out to the bike course.  After the first hill, which was shortly out of transition, I felt my legs starting to turn and thought, this is going to be a pretty good bike.  I just concentrated on staying strong and focusing on the person or people in front of me.  There were a few turns that I slowed down because I was like oh sharp turn.  Towards the last 3 miles Bernie caught me. He was on loop 2 for the Olympic Distance. It was nice to hear a familiar voice.  As I was making my way back to transition, there was a section where the Olympic Distance athletes had to make a U-turn to go on the second loop. Well, that was a bad spot. Two bikers collided right there. I was like Oh my god. They both fell hard, but both got up with road rash and carried on.  Awesome.  Off the bike and into transition I got my running shoes on and then put my hat on as I was on the way out.

 I started off on the run and just kept concentrating on my form.  Prior to leaving for my yoga training my read end started to bother me. After looking at my shoes, I discovered I needed new shoes and took care of that before I left for training. I do not start my watch in races because then I am constantly looking at it.  Basically I just kept trying to get the people in front of me. The run does a lot of out and backs on the Olympic course. Needless at our turnaround I was happy to be going the opposite way.  So okay, just a little over a mile to go, lets see what I have left in the tank.  Normally this is a bad idea for me, but today I did alright and did not throw up at the finish (sorry that I disappointed you Bernie, I will try not to disappoint you in my future races).  After I finished I went back to find BFF and we cheered on the others as they came in.

We had a great showing by Tri Smart. BFF was 2nd in his age group, MJ was 2nd in her age group, Bernie won his age group, and I was 3rd in my age group.  Overall I was happy with my race, I would have liked a faster time on my run, but that is okay, there are plenty more races this season.  WAY TO GO TRI SMART!!!!!!!!

Baptiste Level 1 training

Wow, so much has been going on in the last two weeks,   I went to my Baptiste Level 1 training in Sedona, Arizona. I left Friday June 8th to travel to Sedona. I had to fly into Phoenix and then we took a shuttle to the information center in Sedona.  From there we took another shuttle to Mago Garden. This was an experience.  We drove 10 miles up a bumpy dirt road.  It was very secluded.  During the course of the ride to Mago Garden, I saw something fly in front of the car. The driver told the four of us in the van that it was a bat.  I was like are you kidding me, bats, I do not want anything to do with bats.  Then he also proceeded to tell me that he had seen a mountain lion once or twice.  DUDE, why are you telling me this, I am going to be walking around at night.  Are you kidding me? We finally get to the reception area. They were nice and stayed open because we arrived late.  I found out what room I was in and went to meet my roommate. My roommate was from Boston, awesome young lady. 

Saturday we didn't start anything until 6 PM, so we spent most of the day walking around the retreat area and taking pictures.  At dinner, the assistants that were a part of the level 1 training gave us an idea of what kind of time schedule to expect and who we would need to go if we needed something.  Now, this retreat is secluded as I mentioned, once you are there, you are there, if you leave, you leave for good. There are no stores like Walmart, Jewel, Walgreens, etc.  We did have coin operated laundry, but most of us decided to wash our clothes in the shower and let them dry in the heat, after all it was dry.  There was a gift shop in the Welcome Center where we could get some supplies if we needed them.  There was also a lounge in the Welcome Center with WiFi.  Cell phone reception was not very good.

After dinner we all went into Mago Hall, where we would have chair sessions and practice yoga.  It was there that Baron Baptiste made his appearance.  We practiced yoga for about an hour and half, then had a few minutes to change and come back to a chair session.  Afterwards we went to sleep for the night. We were up early the next morning for breakfast and a hike. During the hike we talked with people in the group.  After the hike we went into Mago Hall for a yoga practice.  This was where I lost it the first time.  We were in the middle of a practice and my mind was all over the place. Baron stopped the practice to break down some of the poses we do during yoga. I kept thinking to myself, what am I doing here, I am going home, what was I thinking.  Funny, how the mind works because as soon as I thought to myself, I am going home, my next thought was, umm where the hell are you going to go, you don't know anyone here, your flight does not leave until Saturday, get it together.  I was also crying at this point, but no one would have noticed because I was so sweaty.  Finally I got it together and I was like, just take it one hour at a time, stop thinking so far ahead.

I got to realize this was going to be intense, but in the end I would be happy and enjoying life.  To describe the intensity, mentally I felt like I was doing an Ironman everyday.  The physical practice itself was fine for me for the most part.  I did struggle with the chair sessions, but I am glad we did them. The chair sessions gave all of us a chance to work through junk we were going through. I was not one for getting in front of the group for my own personal reasons, but that didn't mean that I was not going to be in front of the group.  Tuesday night during a chair session we had to make a commitment to the group.  We each stood up and made the commitment. As I started, Baron stopped me and told me to come in front of the group.  Funny thing was I was talking to a gentlemen prior to having to do this and I said I am sure at some point I will be in front of the group, kind of figured it would that night after I said that.  After I went back to my seat, he was like oh you didn't seem nervous at all.  I was like I just wanted to make my commitment and sit down.

At night, starting about the 3rd day of training we started to do practice teachings.  We were in groups of 6-7.  My group was a group of 6 and we were called Fireworks, basically if you sing the lyrics to the Katie Perry song, that was why were called Fireworks.  We had a lot of fun with each other.  My birthday fell on that Wednesday of the training. They made it so special since I was not at home in my friendly confines.  Wednesday was also one of those days, where I could have done a swim workout on my mat based on how much I sweated. I believe we did 10 wheels ( back bends) that day. I had put a towel under my hands so they wouldn't slip, I should have got one for my feet. On probably the 8th wheel, I started to slip at my feet, but then all the sudden there was a hand under my back.  It was the gentleman next to me, giving me a boost. I was like thank you so much. Wednesday night instead of doing a chair we met the director of the retreat area.  He did a practice with that followed the Tao Fellowship. For a portion of this, I laughed hysterically.  As we were warming our bodies up, we would pat our bodies.  So whenever any of you hear me say something like hello sexy thighs, I love you. This is where that started. 

Wednesday night, we were told that Thursday was going to be the most intense day.  It for sure was. The practice probably went for about four hours.  I think we did 8-10 crow poses and then a ton of hip openers.  Now I was warned that Baron liked to hold certain poses for like 20 minutes, that didn't happen.  However, for whatever reason I was going into half pigeon on my left side and just started to cry. To this day, I really don't know why. I was trying so hard not to cry.  We went into savassana ( final resting pose) and I was just whimpering because I was trying so hard not to cry. I could feel my lips shaking because I was trying so hard not to cry.  One of the girls from my small group was practicing next to me.  She must have heard me whimpering and grabbed my hand to give it a squeeze, as if to say, it is going to be okay.  When we ended the practice, I looked around, I was not the only one that was crying. The room was filled with people.  I finally left with my new friends and went to shower. In the afternoon we had a 75 minute session after chairs. The only thing I am going to say about that, is that you really learned a lot about yourself and personality during that time.  Kind of like sending mind messages to one another.

We did some fun things at night. There were a couple times we danced and let loose. 
The rest of the week I felt so good about my decision to stay.  I enjoyed myself, met a lot of new friends.  The assistants that were there were awesome. Many of them have their own studios and projects.  Two we heard about were the Africa Yoga Project and Yoga for Wounded Warriors.  I plan to support both as much as I can. Overall, I enjoyed my experience.  Everyone was awesome and made me feel right at home.  I am looking forward to teaching yoga and doing some other certifications that relate.   I am attaching some pictures that I took while I was out in Sedona.

Tri for two

This weekend I decided to compete in two triathlons. I have never done two in a row, so I figured what the hell. My goal coming into the weekend was to place in my age group in both races.  I fell short of that, but none the less I am happy with what I accomplished this weekend. 

Saturday morning I got up and met up with my friends Jim and Bryan in Lockport.  We drove together down to Bloomington for Tri Shark. Tri Shark was a sprint distance triathlon which was a 600 swim, 13 miles on the bike, and a 5K run. Sprints kind of vary.  I kind of felt like I was back in college since ISU is not too far away from where we were at. I actually remember that I did a run there while my friend Kim was racing.  We got to the park and set up our bikes and stuff in transition.  Before the race started, the race director took time to honor our friend Bernie's son. Brendan returned home after serving in Afghanistan and was getting married on Sunday.  Then the Star Spangled Banner was played, totally AWESOME!!!!!!!!!. I was in the 5th wave with all the 39 and under women. A few friends from Tri Smart were in there with me and my friend, Christine from school.  We took off for the swim. The first few strokes out there were fast because I wanted to get away from people and I had the oh crap (insert other word) effect when my first hit the cold water. After a few more strokes that went away.  I got into my grove and the next thing I knew I was getting out of the water. The one thing I didn't like and I have seen this at a few triathlons was the mats that catch you time were at transition and not right when you got out of the water. Just me, but I feel it is not accurate. Anyway, moving on, I got onto my bike and off I went. I felt awesome on the bike. I have been working my bike a lot over the last year and a half.  The last few weeks I have taken some computrainer classes and also added CrossF.I.T. to my workouts. I have to say along with the awesome training I receive from my coach MJ, I felt great on the bike. The next thing I knew I was riding 25 MPH and I wasn't going downhill, I was on a flat.  YAY ME!!!! Got back to transition and got ready for the run.  Now before the race, I was with my Tri Smart buddies and Christine. We were all chatting and BFF (Jim) comes walking up. I introduce them and Jim says "oh are you the one she works with?" Christine says yes.  Jim say " oh she's going to kick your  ass." I am now totally red in the face.  The week before on a bike ride, BFF and I were talking about the race and I mentioned Christine would be there.  Christine is an awesome runner, did a 1:32 at the Chicago Half Marathon and 3:30 at the Chicago Marathon.  Of course there is always some friendly competition.  I knew I had to have at least 3-5 minutes when I got on the run.  I was a little ways out on the run and I saw Christine coming in on the bike.  At that time I was thinking, oh she's going to catch me. I kept trying to get my legs loose and increase my speed on the run.  I saw her again at the halfway point and thought, she's coming, I need to really go.  After that I caught up with Bryan, told him to get on my shoulder and run with me, trying to be encouraging.  I saw mile 2 and I said, okay you have 1.1 to go, see what you can do, so I went in and gave it everything I can.  I got to the finish and I didn't disappoint Bernie, at least that is what he told me.  By this I mean that I lived up to my reputation and threw up at the finish.  This has been a common problem for me this year, So common, we kind of make a joke out of it.  I don't know what the deal is, just one of those things that happens and right after I feel great again.  Who knows? I ended up 3rd in my age group and we had a fantastic showing by Tri Smart. BFF (Jim) was 2nd in his group, Melanie was 4th in her age group, Liz won her age. 

The next day I got up to head to Hammond for Leon's.  Leon's is an Olympic Distance which is always 1500 swim, 24.9 on the bike, 10K run. I got there early and as I was walking in, I saw my old masters swim coach, Coach Steve.  At first I didn't know who it was because the sun was in my eyes. I just see this guy switching directions and I was trying not to hit him as I was walking my bike in. Finally he took off his sunglasses as I am sure that he knew I was clueless at that point.  We chatted a bit and he told me that he was a USAT official today. I asked him not to ding me with any penalties. I went into transition to get my area set up.  Leon's transition area is probably the best one I have been too. Instead of using bike racks, they have wooden racks on the ground to rack your bike and then a space you can put your gear in.  I was the first one from Tri Smart there. We had a few of us that were pulling the twofer and then probably about 25 people from the team there. I walked around a little then came back to the transition area, where there was a TV crew from Comcast.  Since I nominated myself to be VP of our club and MJ was outside of transition, I got to be the voice of Tri Smart that day. Of course they decide to interview with the sun in my face.  I talked about the team atmosphere and how cool it is to have your teammates at events and during training.  Hopefully, I did a good job.  We took a team picture and then off to the start.  This year I was the last wave to go. Okay, no biggie, let me see how many people I get find on the course.  During the swim I don't know who I was passing, all I knew was that if you were in front of me, I was going to try to catch you.  The start was a little rough, but then it smoothed out.  I like that they have the buoys numbers going down.  They are the left side, which was great because I breathe out to my left during races, so I could see the numbers.  I got out of the swim and there was Laurie and MJ, along with the Urban Tri kids (love those kids). Gave some high fives and then went to transition.  I got done in there and off to the bike. Now last year the bike course was 3 miles too long. They did fix that.  We had been warned ahead of time that the course was bumpy and could damage our bikes. So I was careful, but still tried to maintain a good speed. There are a lot of hairpin turns on this course. I think I handled them a little better than last year, but still not something I like doing. The bike is a two loop course, so I saw MJ and Laurie when I was heading out to my second loop. I was waving and I about fell off my bike, but that is all good.  One thing I love is when I see people I know, it is always uplifting.  I got through the bike and back in transition for the run.  Off to the run I went and I knew it would be a little hot.  I tried to just take in water when I hit the stations and I took in a little gel before I got onto the run and at mile 3.  I saw Tri Smart people all along the course.  It was awesome. One person I would like to give big kudos to is Courtney.  She got a flat on the bike. Instead of sulking and being upset, she went on the run, ran with people and cheered everyone on.  We could all learn from that.  Way to be strong and awesome Courtney.  You ruled!!!!!! My goal for the run was to keep trying to pass people as I went along, just trying to maintain pace or get faster as the run went along.  Before mile 1 I saw Brax (one of the Urban Tri kids ). He was all over the course, loved it.  As I am running by, he was like go faster, go get people.  AWESOME!!!!!!!!!. I would see people and kept trying to be encouraging as I went along the course.  I got back towards the finish area and there was my friend, Dan from school, cheering me as I was coming in, then I knew when I hit the turn, I would see the most awesome tent, TRI SMART and there would be the crew cheering me into the finish.  I got in and I was sure that I had a PR for an Olympic Distance course. I did.  However, the really fast chix were there. I believe that girl that won my age group was like 2:15 or 2:19 and I think 3rd place was 2:26.  I gave it everything and I know there was not 7 minutes hidden some where that I could have taken off.  So I didn't get my goal of placing at both races, but none the less, it was an awesome weekend. Thank you to all my friends from Tri Smart for being so awesome and supportive.  It is so great to be part of such a great group and we do have more fun than those other teams.

Summer season and changes for the future

Well, the school year has come to a close. I am very excited for what the summer is going to bring. I started my first day off by running the Soldier Field 10 Miler this morning.  I really enjoy this race because it is another great chance to honor the soldiers, past and present that have given us our freedom.  The only bad part about the race this year was packet pick-up. In the past we have been able to pick our packets up race day, but this year, we had to go to a store in Old Town. That was minor and I was glad that my friend Travanna drove up with me, she just drove around the block while I went in and got the packets.  Thank you again. I got to Soldier Field at 6 and parked my car. After doing some pre-race rituals, I went to the starting line for the pre-race ceremonies.  They are very inspiring. Before the ceremonies started I saw a friend that ran in college with my brother, so I made sure to say hi. As in the past, the announcer brought up three soldiers and discussed their contributions to the service and some of the difficulties they have encountered since being in the service, yet, they still have a positive and upbeat attitude.  They had a trumpeter play Taps, which always brings a few tears to my eyes, even when I just watching TV, then a lady from Chicago Endurance Sports, sang the national anthem, and off was the first wave of elite runners. I was in corral 1, so while waiting for my wave to go, the buggler from Arlington Race track played the call to the start that she plays for the horses, okay, now I am ready to go.


         Our wave started about 2 minutes into the actual race, I tried to go out easy because I didn't want to be sucking air at the end. I felt ready good and hit mile one on pace, but it felt way to easy.  It hit me as to why when we were going up one of the on ramps to get on Lake Shore Drive, the wind was totally at my back. Some guy was passing me and he was like this is great, I said yes, but be careful when we turn around.  He didn't heed my warning and flew by me( by the way I caught him on the second half). I completely ran past mile 2. I kept thinking to myself, my gosh this mile seems to be taking forever, then I saw mile 3. Oh okay, makes sense now.  I got to the turnaround and felt great, but still realized that we were all heading into a very strong headwind.  I past mile 5 and was listening to a girl talk to another lady about how she was running under 7:30 like it was nobody's business and now she hit the wall. I still felt strong, so I said, well lets just see what I have. Other than 2 miles, I was under 8:00 for my pace. My goal was to average 7:45's.  At mile 9 I saw my friend Matt, and thought oh good, I can see Jenny too. I got to about an half mile left in the race and the announcer that I knew says I can see you Lisa. I was like where the hell did he come from. Until I was walking back to my car, I didn't realize where he was standing why I would have stuck out so much. I even told him that I had no clue how he saw me, but then it did make sense.  I came into the finish and not surprising to anyone who knows me, I saw a bunch of people I knew, some from high school, which was awesome because I really only see them on Facebook, some from the Lisle Windrunners, who I first started running with when I got out of college, and then I wait long enough and found Jenny. It was great to catch up with her and Matt. Afterwards I went to one of the area you could see people finish, I got to see many of the friends finish the race. I was happy with my race. I averaged 7:50/mile and I feel that without the headwind, I would have been under my 7:45 average.

       I have a pretty packed schedule for the summer, but anyone who knows me, knows that is typical for me. I am not good at the whole sitting around thing, although I did pull off a 2+ hour nap this afternoon. I am going to pull a twofer next weekend and do two triathlons.  Then the next week I head out to Arizona to do my Level One Baptiste Yoga certification.  I am hoping I can start to teach yoga soon.  Many know that I gave up coaching girls' track and field at the end of year.  It was a tough decision, but it was time.  Along with races I am planning on learning how to make t-shirt quilts.  I am one of those that just can't part with them, too many memories and you never know, maybe that is something I can do on the side to make a little extra cash.  At the end of June I am going to compete in an Olympic Distance triathlon in Wisconsin. Then my friend Dawn and I are going to run the Dances with Dirt Half Marathon. It is a trail half marathon, something I haven't done and a hard course from what I heard, not a PR course. The next day we plan to go watch Ironman Racine 70.3 and cheer on many of our Tri Smart friends.  I will also ride the 4th of July ride in Joliet. In August I am doing two Olympic distance triathlons, one at the Dells and then age group nationals in Vermont.  I plan to finish out my season on Labor Day by running the Oakbrook Half Marathon.  If you have not done this race, it is one that is a lot of fun.  It has some rolling hills and is run partly on the streets and partly on limestone trails.

     I am looking forward to a fun summer with family and friends.  Hopefully, as much fun as I am having, it will be a slow summer. I know I just feel that way right now because it is only my first day off.   In the future I really would like to open a studio.  It would be like 3 places. One part would be the yoga studio, another part would be a triathlon coaching/spin classes side for the winter, and the third side would be a triathlon tore ( thank you Rich, from the bike shop for putting that idea in my head).  If I have it my way, the studio would be sandwiched between a Chipolte (because I never eat there, hahahaha) and like Jamba Juice or Starbucks.

Happy Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!

40 Days

You might think with Lent starting on Wednesday that this blog is about that. Sorry, I am sure that I will be still going to straight to hell for saying that. For those that don't know, based on some things that fly out of my mouth on occasion, I am in the captain's seat on the airplane ride that is going straight there.  This blog is about the 40 days personal revolution that I did through the yoga studio I practice at-Power of Your Om in Naperville. I met the owner, Adrienne a few years ago through my friend Elizabeth. Since that I have enjoyed the inspiration she has given me. I have been practicing yoga there for a little over 2 years now. I previously tried yoga at other place and hated it. I was bored and couldn't get connected. One Saturday morning a couple years ago I went to the studio, not only was I connected I was also having a good time in yoga. I did try Bikram and hated it. I think one of the reasons that I love going to Power of Your Om is the practice (Baptiste) is where you are at on that day. There might be days when you are not balancing and you fall out of a pose. Oh well, or in the words of Phillip Urso, hahahaha. In the words of my friend Cindy-SHIT!!!!!!!!! I have used both. The other part of the practice that I enjoy is that I an be myself and laugh and it is not strict. I don't know what is coming next, yes there is a certain flow we follow, but all the sudden it may be crow or half moon poses. I think in my life I am so routine and structured that is nice to not have that, even it is only for a short time.

So now that I have got off task, here is what I have learned through my 40 days.  I learned a lot of good and bad things about myself. First and foremost, I can do things I never thought possible. Kevin, one of the other instructors pulled me aside a couple weeks ago.  He had just returned from a yoga conference in California and was doing a handstand. He said, hey, come join me. I said, oh Kevin, I don't think I can do a handstand. Needless to say in short time, convinced me to try one. What do you know, with a little help from the wall, I did one. I actually did three that night with some assistance and on one of them I landed on the crown of my head (don't worry, the damage was done way before that). I actually thought that was funny too. That Thursday night after Amy was there and was going to make it her mission to get me to do a handstand without assistance. It is a go and will happen. I also learned a lot about myself as a person. Something bad I learned about myself, I have a lot of resentment and now that I have seen that I am learning to move ahead and just let stuff go. To be honest, it is not worth keeping it.  I also learned that starting a fruit fast (only eating fruit for 3 days) is not a good idea when you are also going to do a bike threshold test (still really sorry about that Bernie). Although, my friends got a good kick out of that seeing as I just kept going.  I have learned to be more connected with myself and listen.

So what next, well, I will be getting my triathlon coaching certification and I also am going to go to the Catskills on August to get my Level 1 Baptiste yoga certification. I also plan to compete in Olympic Distance triathlons, see if I can qualify for Age Group Nationals. I will run some half marathons and try to break my 1:40 time.  I have a lot of support from a lot of great people. I am lucky. I am enjoying the journey and I enjoy the friendships I have made along the way.