Catching Up

Yes I've disappeared from the blogging world once again! I always have an excuse but this time there are more than I can count. Let's just say a combination of: an extensive A.R.T. course, Arizona for MLB, Boulder for Rev3, entertaining several Mardi Gras guests, and planning a move to FL have forced me to put blogging on the back burner temporarily.

So let's play catch up! I started off the year with a quick, fun 5k in Nola during a monsoon and was able to take home some prize money!

After that I was fortunate enough to jet set to Scottsdale AZ to perform some MLB Umpire screenings. Scottsdale was the bomb and I easily fell in love with all the desert had to offer especially the hiking.

Following the quick work trip, I shifted gears and headed north to Boulder, Co to hang out with all my awesome Rev3 teammates. Pictured here: Frayed Laces, Jill Poon, and Nina Jack.

It was a blast as always! I even got to hang out with RunThis Amazing Day, her hubby, and her awesome dogs. And gotta love the Chatauqua hike Royal Arch view. Breathtaking :)

As I headed back to Nola, Scott and I made sure to partake in the Super Bowl Festivities and then easily transitioned to Mardi Gras. With this being our last Mardi Gras, let's just say we went hard.

And a result of these fun festivities and a combination of 2012 post 140.6 burnout, training has been hit or miss. To top it off, I'm paying for it with the flu.

Ick. As for the Rock n Roll half marathon this upcoming weekend, I would say it's 50/50. And that my friends is why once I kick this cold thing, it's time to get serious!

And by the way yes we are moving to Jacksonville, Florida :)

Florida Race Report

I was pretty ambitious heading into IMFL with a goal time of breaking that 11 hr barrier. With my current training and new coach, I thought it was realistic and achievable. Although I didn't reach my goal, I did shave off a solid half hr from my previous IM PR.

The race went something like this...

I spent pre-race finally meeting up with my teammate Kristin. I did the usual bag drop off, porta-potty lines, and kissed my loved ones good bye.

Swim

Goal time: 1:00-1:05

The waves were definitely a little kicked up on race day. I went out hard per coaches orders. The first loop was the usual brawl. With the chop and battle with the other swimmers,  I chilled out on the second loop and coasted in. Knowing how long of a day it would be, I felt like a was red-lining a little early.

First loop:31:27

Second loop:35:15

Actual: 1:06:42 (The chilling "out" clearly reflected in my second loop. *oops way slow)

T1-5:04

With a history of having excessive transition times in 140.6 distance races, I made a solid effort to keep T- times to a minimum. Anybody who has done this race before knows how crazy long T1 is from the run from the beach to the bags and then back into the hotel. 

Bike

Goal: 5:40 

Esperanza excited for her debut 140.6!

I went out onto the bike with the goal of nailing my nutrition plan and keeping my HR where I needed it to be. With my wheel switch out, I would be power-tap-less. Despite my efforts to go out easy, my HR was off the charts from the start. This trend continued until the first hr. After that I settled in and stuck to my plan. It was very disheartening to see peleton after peleton pass me. I knew Chloe would hopefully catch some of them red-handed :) Other than the excessive drafting, the bike was pretty uneventful.

I accidentally forgot to pick up my Powerbar energy chews at the bike special needs but made up for the calories on the course. Total nutrition was 7 salt tabs, 8.5 bottles (2.5 water, 6 infinite), 5 hr energy, and 6 gels (powerbar chocolate, cafe latte, and kona punch). Despite sticking to my nutrition plan to the T, I was a little worried as I didn't have to pee on the bike. The temperatures were definitely rising and I just shrugged it off.

Real Time: 5:44:11 I will take it!

T2: 2:55
Big improvment!

Run: 
Goal 4:00 

I headed out on the marathon feeling pretty good. I went out around 8:30 pace keeping my HR only 5 beats over what it was on the bike. My HR was cooperating and I just went with it. The first few miles flew by but as we approached St. Andrews Park the sun started beating down. After a few times of burping up/slightly vomiting my previous gels I knew it was coke time. As we exited the park and hit the next aid station, I began the coke-water routine. I felt better immediately. As we returned to the finish for loop one of 2 I caught glimpse of Chloe, Scott, and my mom. I was instantly energized. Scott told me that I was outpacing the next few girls in my AG and I had to keep it under 9s if I wanted to pass them and have a chance at the podium. Despite my best efforts and although I was passing people left and right, my pace was fading. I tried my best to pick it up after mile 20. There was nothing left until I hit mile 24. Those last 2 miles on the IMFL course woke me up and brought me home quickly. The end time was still far from pretty but close to a 20 minute improvement from IMTX.

Actual Time: 4:17:54

Total: 11:17:54

I gave it all I could. No -11 hour breaking today but still a pretty large 30 minute PR....

After getting cleaned up, we went back to the finish line to cheer in the final racers. We turned the finish line into a bud-a-rita dance party with Chloe. (In my opinion-the best part of the race)

We spent the final morning enjoying one last beach day and saying our farewells. Until next year.... (as a draft marshall lol)

A Girly Girl's Guide to Buying a Bike

Given that QR is one of the awesome Rev3 sponsors for the year, I was sold on the brand from the start. Buying a bike can't be that hard right? Wow-sers was I wrong. Despite the long, challenging, and sometimes intimidating process I'm happy to say that I've learned a lot and have a brand spanking new bike vocabulary.

Meet:

Esperanza!!!!

Looking back 5-6 years ago, one of the first questions that Scott asked me when researching my first tri bike option was "What kind of bike do you want"?

My reply, "A pink one".

Since those days my friends I've come a long way.  (Although I still had A LOT to learn). How does one go about buying a bike? How long does it take? What parts do you need? So many questions! I'm going to share some of the steps that I went through in hopes that maybe I will help some of you all in reducing the headache. For the illicito, it came with frame and brakes only. Everything else I had to figure out. Below are 10 of the big decisions that I had to make.....

1. Brand: This is obviously the best starting point. Things to consider when making this choice: Do you have long legs and a short torso or short legs and a long torso? Certain brands are designed for certain builds. You really don't want to go wrong with this decision. I'm pretty average and made sure my dimensions of of my new bike closely resembled the old one.

2. Size: How tall are you? How much do you weigh? Again no-brainer for me the "shorty". I went with the smallest bike QR had.

3. Crank Size: I had no idea what this meant until my recent new bike purchase. I went with 170 cm as my old bike was 172.5. This is a controversial topic but I decided  that for my height I definitely had to go smaller. To go with my Rotor Q rings, I ordered a Rotor Crank set. And wow does it make my bike look even that much sexier.

4. Bottom Bracket: These size vary. I would check with your bike shop to make sure you get the right size for your frame.

5. Aero bars: What kind of materials do you want? Are you a carbon junkie? Do your bars need to move backwards because the bike is longer? I went with Profile design to give me the extra flexibility to move them back again because I'm short.

6. Wheels: Do you want race wheels? Do you want power? My coach has been pushing the idea of power --so luckily I found a  used powertap from my coaches friend. It was a huge-huge-huge pain in the butt to set up and figure out. The batteries were dead and my Garmin had a bug so the 2 would NOT sync up. After a day with garmin on the phone and new batteries, the power was ready to rock. And coach is happy :) Hopefully having the objective power numbers will lead to lots of good things in my last few races of the season.
7. Pedals: Do you want knee play? I have been using speedplays for years and yes-wanted something pink. I stuck to the same brand with these.

8: Saddle: My philosophy ladies is once you go ADAMO ISM, you NEVER go back. After switching out my old saddle to put the Adamo on the new bike, I learned the hard way. I had to train a few sessions on the old saddle and old bike and forgot how uncomrtable regular saddles are. Ouch...

9. Handle bar tape/Wiring: There are so many more options than ugly white handle bar tape! I love pink handlebar tape and it definitely stays cleaner longer :)You can get pink wire covers too! This was probably frivolous but a must for my QR. Loved how it turned out.

10: Components: Almost forgot the most important part! I went with middle of the line Shimano Dura Ace Components. I had Shimano Ultegra before and had zero problems. I thought Dura-ace was the safe middle of the road option.

I am not yet capable of putting a bike of this magnitude together. I ordered mostly everything and had the bike shop do the assembling. Anyway this list of 10 things includes most but not all of the decisions you will have to make when buying a new tri bike. Once everything was ordered, it took about 2 weeks for assembly and another week for a proper fit. This is NOT something you really want to do mid-season. Big mistake for sure. This is an off season TASK ONLY.

Please email me if you have questions. Some bikes come with components and wheels. I went the customized route to get the best bike I could and because my bike was sold as  "frame only" option.

Thank you Thank you Thank you most importantly Rev3, Alex, QR, and Bicyle World for making my dream bike happen!