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Mid Summer Ramdom Haze

2008-07-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings fellow blog mates and lurkers!
Thank you for your private emails , cards in the mail, and blog messages about my Gram. Very thoughtful and much appreciated.

FACTOID: It's mid July.
WHAT???? I HATE THAT. Why? Because August is right around the corner
and here in New England anyway, the days start to get shorter and we get less days of sticky, hot and humid summery days and well, it just starts to feel like early fall is starting to push in if ever so subtlety

PARTIAL FICTION: I'm signing up for LP for sure come Monday morning.(This changes hourly mind you) I want to endure another season of IM training and suffering which tends to injure the crap out of me
before I can toe the damn line.

FUN FIND:
Bree Wee gets the credit on this one but you know how you just randomly check out other people's blog favorites and you find a cool one?
I'm thinkin' this must be some chick that models in Hawaii and eats raw meat. LOL.
Wrong-o. Anthony is a successful model based in Manhattan and is a hard core raw foods eater. Lets just say Cheez-Its or Diet Coke don't have a fighting chance in his shopping cart. His blog is quite interesting. It motivates me to take teeny tiny steps and eliminate needless crap in my diet in hopes it gives me more energy for workouts and just daily life.
Ok!... I admit it!!!! Anthony is a bit of eye candy too so it will be fun to see what new ad campaigns and tear sheets he's aquired.... like this one...

Have a great weekend and best to all who are racing.

Good Bye Gram

2008-07-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

....and don't you worry one bit, I'll keep Grampa in line, just like you'd want.
xxxxxx
oooooo

Patriot Man 1/2 Iron

2008-07-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Everything is measured to ensure proper linear set up, note all corners of towel meeting,glasses spit shined, gel flask perfectly balanced against running shoes.BTW.. all planets must be aligned whenever I race too. :-)

Ok, lets start by saying this was NOT a competitive race. Patriot Man is in
it's second year and this year was A BEAR for them to fill. Why? Because NA Sports dumped RI 70.3 the weekend following this race. Anything with an M-DOT attached is going to crush the local race directors struggling to make options available so that we as triathletes are not slaves to the current giant in the triathlon world of Ironman and 70.3. Trust me, I debated whether to do RI or this and honestly, Florida 70.3 ran smooth as butta but the better of me said, go with Patriot. When asked on the application why I chose Patriot Man, I stated, "to support the local race directors" Minutes later, I got a personal email from the race director who said, "Bless You"
Pretty funny...

Wave one Elites (just a handful, which included only 4 women)
Wave two: Men 50 and over
Wave three: Women 40 and over
4 more waves after me

Pretty much a standard swim with nothing worth mentioning. I was hoping for some fast feet to latch on to. None to be found. I led the pack entire way and no one latched on to me that I could tell
29:58

Exiting the water, I was 3rd female I was told entering transition.I guess I must have caught 2 of the women in
Elite wave.

Bike:
I found It thanks to my way cool watermelon mylar dancing around on the rack signaling me to GET OVER HERE!! Off I went feeling kinda lousy until mile 7 and things started to come together but just as things started to come together, the DREADED happened! YES!!! IT DID!!!!
KABOOOM! At mile 24.9/ 1:17 minutes into my ride, my rear tubular flatted.
The color must have drained from my face. I was all alone and all I could think was, YOU ARE DOOOOOOOOMED YOUR DAY IS DONE!
Snap out of it, I said. YOU CAN DO THIS! So ... I did.
4 minutes later. wheel off, tire off, spare on, air in. wheel back on. Don't pull a Bree and make sure brakes are not rubbing (hehe) OFF I WENT!
Back in the game! I was even more focused now to try and make up time.
I passed 2 Elite wave women on my second loop and my friend PUREMADNESSWEAR.COM Jen, (little plug) was the only woman out front. Well I knew I couldn't catch her. We train together on the bike and I knew it would be impossible. I was happy happy happy though cause I kept my head on straight and changed that damn tire QUICK and
didn't let it ruin my day!! Bike 58.3 miles 2:51

T2
HELLLLOOOOOOO WATERMELON MYLAR! I SEE YOU and I am going to have a FAST FAST transition so Jen can't yell at me!!! Woooo Hoooooo!!! Off I went still second woman overall with ooooops NO SOCKS ON. What was I thinking? They were right there, in my shoes. I was a lazy a$$ and didn't want to take the time to put them on. I knew Sarah Keller was a FAST FAST runner and even though I passed her on the bike and re-passed her after my flat, she was gonna mow me down on that run. My goal was to see how long I could hold her off.
6 miles and BAM! there she was like a gazelle, wizbanging by me.
Then the other elite female got me at mile 10 WAAAAHHHHHHHH!
and then a relay girl and one other. My run was subpar with a 1:49. ICK! I needed a 1:44 to be happy and I was running as FAST as my legs would allow but I am still playing catch up with my run fitness, physically and mentally and I will FIX this before Timberpaloosa because I am DAMN tired of hanging on by my fingernails and feeling depleted instead of in control when it comes time to tie up those running shoes.
Maybe I should get some shock therapy? HA!!
5:14
So here i sit, with oosing blistered feet and happy to have raced a great course with great people and most importantly, NEVER will I have the fear of flatting again and if I can change a tubular snappy and efficiently, SO CAN YOU!
Then when you get out on the run course and you (hopefully) pass some guys that zoomed by watching you change your flat, and THEN say.. "Hey, wasn't that you on the bike course that flatted and now your passing me?" You can say, Yup! SEE YOU AT THE FINISH!!!!!!!!

Winner!Puremadness Jen, Team mate Karen, and the tire changer

RACK MARKER!

2008-07-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

CHIN UP MAGGS!!! :-)

2008-07-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Maggie( we both used to be on BTT) who I went to visit today after having hand surgery yesterday to repair damaged nerves and tendons from a thumb she almost left on the kitchen counter and who is also signed up for Lake Placid. Uh oh, is right. The only thing she'll be doing July 20th is ringin' a cow bell.

Maggs...if you REEEEEALY didn't want to do LP, you could have just said so and not
cut of an appendage!

Please send her good thoughts and healing vibes.

I am signed up for a 1/2 ironman on Saturday so wish me luck in finding my bike rack
in T2. Duh...

Happy Happy safe training, racing and travels for the 4th!

Loving words from my coach all in one day

2008-06-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

You and your damn transitions. This is a SPRINT. You must know where your bike is!!!

That means you are going on 4+ hours without any food? Do I need to fly out there and slap you silly?

....If you f8ck that up again you owe me $25 or 1lb of M&Ms.

Pull it out of your ass NOW.

Classic!!!!!! I think I should send her the M&M's anyway.

Wandering Eye

2008-06-25T10:28:00.001-07:00

I have it.

I keep looking at the remainder of the season in terms of IM racing. Since CdA was a bust, I find myself searching around to see what I can come up with.( R U cringing Coachy?) As a age grouper, NA Sports doesn't give us too many options, in fact zero. Usually at this point in the season, I'm locked and loaded in terms of how my race schedule will unfold. This year it's quite different.

If I sill wanted to do a ironman distance race, my choices are:

Plymouth MA.Full Distance Triathlon, held at the end of August
or
Silverman in NV in November.

I'm not so sure either one of these would be right for me, but I'm going to research them a bit if only to quell my curiosity. The better of me thinks I should figure out next season right away, so I can too, rush the stage in order to gamble away another $475+ and pray I make it to the starting line next year!

This weekend is a busy one.
Saturday is Karen Smyer's Kids Triathlon held every year in Lincoln MA. I usually volunteer in some fashion and enjoy watching the kids.

Sunday is a Team Psycho key event in that as many as possible of us will be pouncing
on a particular race that was picked pre season. The Cohasset Tri at Sandy Beach.
This one is down on the south shore of MA. in a town near the ocean. It's a sprint distance tri in which my body is foreign to, not to mention bucket-puking-painful for that matter. We will have a big contingency there including Jarrod Shoemaker, who we sponsor, building up for the Olympics.
Here's the line up for the Elite division. We as a team, are also supplying the prize purse to the top 3 finishers, both male and female in the Elite category in which I'm happy not to be included in. Yikes. Karen and Dede and Alica will be like rabid dogs.

2008-06-20T18:57:00.001-07:00

2008-06-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

I think I need one of these!

More Moosey Pictures

2008-06-09T12:06:00.001-07:00

Mr. TGP Moose antler-ized with me post race
T1 OUT

First in age group/ 2nd in Masters (awarded prize catagory)

BUSY WEEKEND!

2008-06-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

This picture says....
A. Boy, this frosty brew disguised in this water bottle sure is tasty!
B.Q.Why is my face so red? A. Because I RAN AS HARD AS JEN TOLD ME TO.
C.I think I need to go sit down over there.
D. All of the above.
YIKES!!!!!

Who has time to read blogs?? Everyone is busy! Racing, training or just being outside!!!

I've been holding my cards rather tight to my chest lately. I developed yet another
injury right after Disney and frankly, I just didn't want to mention it hoping it would
just go away. No such luck!!!!! Ok, so THREE's A CHARM, RIGHT????? NO MORE INJURIES FOR ME PLEEEEEASE!!!!!! I was very aggressive with this third injury since February, trying
to nip this one but alas, it still here,2 weeks later. The Joy!!

Good old Plantar Fasciitis. Have you had it? You don't want it. This is my second bout with it. I got it in '97 as a runner, so I knew exactly what it was from the onset.
Night splint, icing, massage, stretching, orthotics, no bare feet. I guess it will go away when it's damn good and ready.
I for one, shall not wait. Another set of season goals are in place and I'm sticking
with the plan. I will be smart but I will manage this and not just sit on my ass watching the season go on without me.
First up:
Mooseman International Distance Triathlon
6/7/08

Headed up to New Hampshire for this great Endorfuns event on Friday. Keith Jordan does not disappoint. This race is run just like Timberman, in August. Just a top notch race venue. Every year Keith and his staff think up new ways to improve the whole race experience and it's just awesome.
On Saturday, they have an International Distance race and on Sunday, the 1/2 iron race.
Coming off of Disney, I chose the shorter distance to participate in.
I wasn't quite sure how my foot would hold up but I got a plan in place to try
and race.
First up: Taping my foot. Thanks to Kerrie for reminding me about this little trick.
If you tape your arch properly, it protects the fascia so I started to do this last week on days I felt I would be on my feet for long periods of time or when I would run.How to make it to T2 with my foot taped proved to be a challenge. I decided to duct
tape my foot to try to get through the swim with the tape (hoping) still attached so I would protect it running to T1 or when I had to be barefoot and to do the 10k run.
Houston.. we have a problem. I didn't even get to the second turn buoy and it was
falling off in the water.
I just stuck with the plan and continued on with the day, tape or no tape.
I had a great bike. I took some risks and hammered as hard as I could for the 28 mile hilly course, no one passed me on the bike and I wasn't sure how many made it out of the water before me.
I was in wave 7. The last wave of the day. All women 40+. I haven't actually been
in a (last) wave before and I didn't really much care. I can and will maneuver just
fine around others in the water, I like to slingshot my way though people on the bike, and lastly, it's fun pickin' 'em off on the run.
Our swim was shortened after an hour delay waiting for fog to lift and the water temp. was about 57. No problem. I didn't even notice the water temperature, I was
just focused on a good clean start and getting out front and swimming hard like a
sprint now that it was shortened.
After the bike in T2. I had a senior moment or rather a few moments. I could not find
the rack I was on to rack my bike. What a dumbass. I can't even explain it. I was
just wandering until a spectator at the fencing finally helped me. My T2 time was a cluster F . I'm still shaking my head.
The run was quick compared to Disney! 6.2 miles feels like a walk in the park! It's a
hilly run and the heat had arrived. I didn't notice the heat because I already
paid my heat dues down in Florida on my 13.1 death march.
I was running scared though. I was afraid I would be picked off by women behind me
racking their bikes, so I ran like a muther f-er scared.. scared.. scared....
I ran dancing on that very fine line of blowing up, but I held it together with my non taped foot and I know I ran my hardest because I had to LURCH OVER at the finish
line holding my knee caps while they shook like I just finished my last of 6 mile repeats on the track at LT. OUCH!
1st in age group 45-49 Where the heck did 35-39 go? Someone PLEASE TELL ME!!
I hate this!!! I never got used to 40-44 and now this??
14:44 (shortened swim) 1:17 bike 28 miles (21mph) 45:11 10k (7:17pace) run,JEN..we gotta work on this run thang......

2:22 11th female

I almost forgot!!! I got to meet Danielle and her awesome husband Andrew!!! What a TREAT! Thanks for CHEERING D! XXXXOOOOO

Downeast delicacy

2008-05-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

I'm up in Maine this weekend. It's about a 180 mile drive North and I mean North. Augusta Maine is Stickville USA. I try and get up to visit my 94 year old grandfather who lives up here when I can. He still lives on his own. Quite sufficiently in fact. Some of you might have seen my post around Christmas time. If you didn't, it's worth going back and looking at the photos I took of him snowshoeing with us on Christmas Day.

Here he is at the stove cooking me Fiddleheads tonight. Basically it's a fern that you pick in it's very early stages curled up near rivers or streams. My grandfather is just back from a fishing trip up in Caribou Maine (Super stickville USA) Anyway, trout and Fiddleheads where on the agenda while on his trip so I was "treated" to this delicacy tonight. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical. "Can't we just eat this nice salad from the bag grampa?"

Oh.. and hills. There are hills here. Mile long hills. I never pass up a run here.
Tomorrow morning I have a pre-breakfast date with them.

Closet Envy. Do you have it?

2008-05-24T12:24:00.000-07:00

You should unless of course you can post pictures better than this.
Welcome to my closet. What's a triathlete supposed to do instead of a 7 hour brick that was planned but now cancelled due to pulling out of CdA? You organinzed a new season of racing, you scrub your house top to bottom, pay some bills, clean out the fridge just to name a few.
You stay productive and get sh*t done that never gets done.

You start by pulling all your winter crap out. Sort it, throw stuff away you never wear anymore and pack the rest up in sealed Rubbermaid containers to store in the attic. Then you haul all the summer stuff down from the attic in those Rubbermaid containers that have been sitting up there all winter and go through that and toss out all the crap you never wear and organize
it in your empty closet.

Ahhhhhh.. this purging session was therapeutic for sure.

Happy training. Stay safe.
xx
e

Quick Race Report

2008-05-19T04:15:00.000-07:00

getting ready to chuck my empty Gu flask at Mr. TGP, shufflin' by with 2 cups of ice cubes down my swimsuit..lol

The Good news:
My hip tear didn't bother me at all on the run!
The Bad news: I got my ass handed to me on the run!

The combination of my lack of run fitness coupled with the heat made the run complete misery for me. I never found a good groove. I suffered every mile. 8 women in my age group swiftly caught me and left me practically standing still during my 9 minute mile 13.1 shuffle. Last year I did a 5:07 on this course so yesterday's 5:18 was a true test of where my fitness was. I've decided to pull out of CdA. All I could think of during the run yesterday was, how am I going to make it though 26.2 miles??? After a discussion with Coach Jen, my run fitness isn't going to change much in the time I have to prepare and I'm not willing to go there to shuffle through the marathon.

Off to enjoy my last day in sunny Florida and figure out plan B!! Thanks for all of your support. I tried really hard as to not disappoint especially myself!!!

Oh.. almost forgot.... I ran SMACK into Kate Weaver J. after the race. It was so nice to meet her in person! I had no idea she was racing and saw her family cheering during the run wearing TEAM KATE MONSTER t-shirts. Also big big shout out to team mate and super BAD ASS chicka chicka Dede for clenching 3rd yesterday!!!! She had some serious competition and is really proving that she is a force to be reckoned with out there on the race course.

Cheers!

All's well in the land where happiness lives

2008-05-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

I'm smiling now. Let's see who's smiling come tomorrow where the temps haven't dropped below 86 degrees even at night. Smoooooth sailing so far! I hope it doesn't
rain on Minnie tonight.....

Thank you guys for your awesome support and messages! Congrats to Coach Jen for her win at her race today.

xxxx
e

SOOOOOO BUSY

2008-05-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

This week was supposed to be a nice ez, taper week, right? Between getting ready to travel to Fla, MRI appointments, ( MRI confirms labral tear in my right hip). I'm trying to squeeze in another Ortho appointment to discuss treatment options along with an unexpected delivery of our Team Psycho uniforms that arrived this week on my door step. Since this was my project for the team this year, no way was I gonna let it be a free for all without me being here to oversee things. I felt compelled to do the sorting, labeling and bagging of each members gear with some help that really took up way too much of my time. It's done and ready to distribute with minimal mistakes in the order and none made by me! Yay!

Off I go.... to Sunny HOT Florida. I will run and run as hard as my body will allow and enjoy the start of the 2008 season! Yipppeeeee!

How to prepare your bike for a semi tractor trailer ride

2008-05-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye bike. See you in Sunny Florida. I've chosen to once again use TriBike Transport
to have my bike shipped to Fla instead of packing it up in my Trico case and lugging it to the airport with me. By what I've read lately, the airlines are not letting anyone get by with extra luggage or an over sized bike case without charging you. Tri
Bike Transport does a nice job but don't expect your bike to get there completely scratch free. Last year mine came back with a small dent in the frame. It happens.
So this year, I stopped into Lowes and picked up some pipe insulation tubing and wrapped it up as well as areas I thought might rub against other objects while being transported by truck.

Tomorrow I have my Athrogram MRI at 9am. I'm anxious to hear what they find and
if I can get some cortisone before Florida 70.3 I've decided to do the race to determine if CDA is still in the picture. Wish me luck. I'll need lots of it!!

Embrace your cartilage and other stuff

2008-05-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

Wow.. what a weekend! Lots of racing going on. Congrats to Puremadness Jen. She won a local triathlon here in MA. Congrats to Bree for getting her fiery butt to place third at St. Croix. Kudos to Amanda for her awesome race there too. Her race report sets her apart as a professional in that there is no shoulda,coulda, woulda, you just go out there, you race hard and you deal with adversity and laugh at yourself falling off your bike instead of swearing like a sailor in which I would have done as loud as I could!!! Next time, I will catch myself and "think Amanda like" before I do this if I'm finding myself in this situation. Besides, we as age grouper do this for FUN, right?????

Mel, you've got only a few hours left to sulk and you will leave your St Croix mishap right there and get SUPER EXCITED about your next race just like Bree said, right???
You did a SUPER JOB!

As for cartilage, I am lacking some. I have a labral tear in my right hip. In layman's terms, it acts as a gasket where your bone sits in the socket. Bad gasket= pain. The tear can't heal itself. An MRI is next up for me and then a cortisone shot to dampen the chronic discomfort I have been having for 5 weeks now. It's been a tough spring!! The good news is, it's a mechanical issue and not a inflammatory one in that I can train on it as much as I'm able to bear the discomfort.
Fun fun...
Thanks to my coach for putting up with me and Dede for the most awesome referral to Donnie Strack at Wellesly Orthopedics. He promises to help fix me!

Point To Point

2008-04-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Jen and I are riding to Maine. I thought I might have to do this solo as it proved sketchy whether Puremadness Jen could actually convince her man to drive up to shuttle her back to MA but it's a go. Thanks Dave!!!! You don't want me riding by myself do you? ;-)
We'll be starting from my house in Stow MA heading up through New Hampshire and then to the southern portion of Maine called Eliot. Not massively hilly but it's a good solid century day in the saddle with some coastal ocean segments toward the second half in New Hampshire which are really nice. Nothing quite like the clean salty ocean air.

The best part is we end up at my sister's and all my weekend needs/gear will be carted up there by Mr. TGP/Sherpa dude who will rescue if need be. Wish us a safe and no major issues day!

Have yourself a good training(eating) and racing (beer too) weekend everyone!
xx
e

Women's Olympic Trials Marathon Part 2

2008-04-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Women's Olympic Trials Marathon Pix- Part 1

2008-04-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

I live for this stuff

2008-04-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend Boston is hosting the Women's Olympic Trials Marathon on a tight 4 loop course deemed for some serious spectating of top notch women gutting it out for those coveted 1,2,3 spots to the Olympics. There are roughly 160 women declared.
To qualify one must have an A standard of 2:39 or better
or a B standard of 2:39:01-2:45:00 to race.

tic tock.. tic tock.... I hear little voices in my head

2008-04-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

..... you have 8 weeks left, TGP.. CDA is rapidly approaching.

I've come to terms with the following: My coaches past and present must think I'm a nut job. Picture me.. I have spirals in my eyes and thank god I wear a night guard (the hardest plastic they make) while I sleep or I'd have no teeth left from grinding them down to stubs.
Spastic, unglued, suffering from some undiagnosed mental disorder? It's a rest week for me. LOL.. rest week? Just not good for me or rather my head... If I'm not tired and sore shuffling or hobbling out of bed from a session of suffering the day previously, then I'm not gaining anything, right? Twisted, I know.

On a brighter note, this week has been labeled Shock Therapy at masters. Right up my alley, ya think? Whoo hoo!!! Mit Masters swim coach Bill came up with this one. He is sick of the bitchin', moanin', people coming late and leaving early so he sent out an email Sunday night basically telling us to suck it up, or rather HTFU (my mother loves this btw) and snap out of our little high maintenance-selves with constant whining and incessant need for coddling. Get your ass here on time, complete the given workouts and be prepared. No wussified workouts this week. He wasn't kidding. We did 4100 on Monday and 4300 today. I never wanted my toasted bagel with peanut butter so much.

Happy,judicious, sane and safe training this week!

xx
e

Elaine and Jen's Epic Hilly Adventure

2008-04-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Meet my friend and riding buddy Jen

Here we are at her wedding all cleaned up and partying hard.

Here we are about to challenge gravity and climb some hills today per order of
my coach.

So off we went in 70 degree temps and blue sky.

No toe warmers, no jacket, no heavy gloves and no frigid hands and toes....
Thank you God.

So climbing we sought.

Up to Wachusett Mountain where snow is still on the slopes

The actual summit climb was closed due to snow on the roads. Boo Hoo

But we had a great day. Climbing,chatting,comparing notes and racing schedules and filling in each
other on the latest dirt.

A perfect combination to take the edge off the grinding.. up up up.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2008-04-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining, yay.The flowers are out,double yay, and what could be better than having an entire week off from your job to do what you want? Yay x3.

The original plan was to go out to AZ this week and get some time in the saddle in Tuscon, then head over to Tempe and watch a friend who lives in Chicago participate in his first Ironman. Things didn't pan out with Mr TGP's work schedule and my friend Ali seems to want to go by himself and conquer IM without any fanfare so home I am. It's all working out very nicely though. My new coaching has started just this week and it's great having the time to absorb everything and get into a good routine.
Because I'm playing pro-triathlete this week with this being my only *job*, Jen is working me hard and I love it. I just have to get through this one really tough week and I get a rest week. So far so good. Today is a rest day, but I had the dreaded swim test some of you know about plus a run and an ez bike scheduled. One down, 2 to go which will begin shortly after my Tassismo espresso kicks in and the grogginess leaves me from my power nap I just took. ahhhh. Life is guuuuud.
Yesterday I got out on my tribike for the first time this season. Time to get down and dirty. I did a three hour ride with 3x 10K at LT wattage (ouch)after an hour warm up. It was great getting in my aerobars and big chain ring and firing away at them. The run following this was not so pretty but I was prepared for that not doing any running off the bike since last August.

Minutes into my last 10k interval, I noticed my Team Psycho colors coming toward me
on the opposite side of the road and I thought who the heck is that in the middle of a work day? Of course I had to abort my interval (sorry Jen, that's the blip in my Power Tap file) to stop and chat with teammate, KS All you ladies heading to St. Croix, she'll be there too. She's battling back from the flu and a sinus infection
plus laryngitis but you watch, she'll surprise everyone and pull it all together come race day. I swear, she has a hidden switch that she just flips to ON and
her body just knows what to do and gets it done come race day.

Anyway.. I hope you are all having a great week too and I wish you warm temperatures, blue sky and good training!