Recovery Mama-Style

Hot tub in our apartment complex. Top two pictures courtesy of Max. 

Everyday morning life looks something like this: 

training

breakfast, get kids ready for school

Karl or I bike kids to school

training

rush to pick Max up from pre-school between 12-1

It's our morning routine and I love it. Most days. Usually I have just enough time to take a deep breath and realize how blessed I am and how much fun this journey is. One of my favorite moments is biking home from preschool with my 4-year-old. He is getting so good on his bike! He's been riding it for almost 2 years now but finally he is getting to the point where I can trust him a little more on our commute. Except when we are standing at a light and suddenly, for no apparent reason, he falls over and almost off the sidewalk. Yikes! So I still have approximately 2.5 mini heart attacks every day. But I try to keep my mouth shut and let him do his thing. Unless he goes full speed toward a red traffic light and then brakes hard at the last second. Which he really likes to do. Not cool.  

It's still my favorite. Why? Because riding bikes is the best thing in the world! Doesn't matter what bike, what distance, or what terrain. And I love to see my boys have fun on the bike. I want biking to make them happy. Just like it makes me happy. Max is getting stronger every week and we both get super excited when he makes it up the hill just a few more feet than he did the week before. I can tell that he is amazed and realizes that he can do things which he previously thought were impossible. Awesomeness! 

About 63% of the time I end up picking up Max while still in my workout clothes. Sometimes I end my ride at school and then we bike home together. Which means I get to walk through the entire elementary school in my cycling kit and shoes. Anything to save same time and school fees! Preschool happens to be in the very back. Poor kid! He has no idea though. He thinks this is totally normal. I just try to avoid running into my 1st grader or any of his friends. A mom in spandex is certainly not very cool! The other day one of Max's little friends asked: Why are you wearing just underwear? Haha. I was laughing so hard. Gotta love kids! Oh, and when I put on some jeans a few weeks ago, Noah exclaimed in all seriousness: Mom! You have jeans!?! Aehm. Yes. I do. 

My ideal (and very time intensive) recovery routine after a hard workout goes something like this: 

recovery shake

ice bath

hot tub

hot/cold shower

elevating legs

FOOD!

nap

Clearly, this doesn't happen very often. The nap part hardly ever happens! But I try to do at least some of the above every day. I know people have different opinions on ice baths, hot tubs, etc. I just do what works for me. And usually I have a little buddy who wants to join the fun! So we share the recovery drink, read books while I am in the ice bath, and play together in the hot tub. (Don't worry. The water isn't super hot and he is only in it half the time. The rest of the time he is running laps around it, jumping in, or doing tricks.) Early afternoon is also the (only) time during the day when Max gets to watch a little movie which gives me enough time to make food and take a shower. 

He is a cutie! 

Ideally, by the time Noah gets home from school, everybody is recovered, recharged, and ready for a great late afternoon and evening! Key word is: Ideally. Life is a work in progress and our family certainly doesn't have it all figured out but we are trying to do our best. 

Did Noah say that there are only 6 more days of school??? 

Yikes! There go all my beloved routines... 

I mean: I can't wait for summer! 

St. George 70.3 - RACE REPORT

I can't get enough of this place!

Pre-Race

The day before the race certainly didn't go as well as it could have. I am a planner and I like things to go according to plan. D'uh. Who doesn't? I take pride in being organized, calm, and prepared but ended up being none of those. Go figure. 

Highlights: 

• Remember how I got a ride with a guy I'd never met? His brother joined us as well and it turned out to be fantastic! Super cool guys and a fancy car made the drive go by way more quickly than usual. Despite the detour through Las Vegas because, what do you know, D and P like to gamble, so we stopped at the Mirage and they placed their Kentucky Derby bets. I wasn't about to complain...
• I was fortunate enough to stay at my favorite hotel! Hotel de Rue. Which isn't a hotel at all. We just call it that because C and A Rue are incredibly nice and open up their home to many of us many times a year. Such a blessing!

breakfast with friends

• Potluck breakfast at the park on Friday morning! What a great time to hang out with friends and make new ones before everyone gets busy making final preparations for the race. Thank you, Southern Utah Triathlon Club!

• Bike check-in at Sand Hollow Reservoir. Dropping off the bike was nothing special but I just love that lake and got to take a little 'ice bath' while Colleen's kids played in the water for a while. I didn't get a chance to actually swim in it but I have done so many times in the past and wasn't worried about it. I mean, look at how clear the water is! It just made me even more excited for race morning!

• Getting our number tattoos on late Friday night. This was quite the show but eventually we managed. Can you tell which ones are my legs? 

Lowlights: 

• Having to figure out how to get back home after the race. Traveling to St. George not knowing how I am going to make it back to Flagstaff was a huge mistake. After our accommodations fell through last minute, Karl and the kids decided to stay home. Which meant I had to find yet another ride. Unfortunately, Flagstaff is a remote place 5 hours from St. George and it took most of Friday making sure I had a way to get home. Super stressful and not what I want to be dealing with the day before a big race. It made me want to quit the sport of triathlon all together because, really, we just can't afford it right now. 
• On top of that I got a phone call late Friday morning from the superintendent of Noah's school saying that there was in incident this morning on the school bus. To make a long story short: Some crazy guy at the hospital close to our home broke his hand cuffs and jumped out of the window. He made his way over to our apartment complex, tricked the bus driver who was waiting at her first stop into opening the door, and got on. He was clearly mentally ill and, according to Noah, had a knife with him. While the bus driver is busy calling the police, Noah also gets on the bus not knowing what is going on. The guy, who has been hiding behind some seats, starts freaking out because he is sure that people with guns behind trees are trying to shoot him. Eventually the police comes and gets him off the bus. Craziness! It was hard to find out details over the phone and to know how Noah was really doing but Karl took good care of everything. Not a good time to be out of town! 

Race Morning

I was excited to say the least! I really don't get nervous much anymore and have learned to keep the pressure under control. The work (i.e. training) is done and now it's time to have fun and see what your body and mind are capable of. 

Highlights:

• Race morning was super fun. I lived in Utah for 10 years before moving to Flagstaff, so this was basically a hometown race for me and I loved seeing so many people I know! This really is the best part of racing! 
• The weather was perfect! Warm but not hot and calm winds. This was shaping up to be a great day! 

Lowlights: 

• I was not hungry for breakfast. Big deal, I know. But, for me, this is unusual and not a good sign. It was difficult to get anything down and, as I feared, this was indicative of the rest of the day. 
• I had told Coach M the night before exactly how much salt I was going to take on the bike, which we knew would be crucial on a warm and dry day. But when I was going to put it in my bento box, I realized that I didn't bring any! Craptastic! Luckily, two friends had a little extra and shared with me. Thank you, Mindy and Heath! 

The Swim

30:29 - 1:34/100m

8th ouf of the water

Coach M really wanted me to break 30 minutes today. Well, that didn't happen. As usual. But how was I supposed to know? Not like I am looking at (or even wearing) a watch while swimming. Close enough though! 

Breanna: all focused, Me: adjusting my cap

Highlights: 

• Hanging out with friends right before the start. So much better than alone. I love the 30-34 girls! They are fast and awesome! 
• The amazingly clear water. After swimming in reclaimed water in Vegas, mucky soup in Flagstaff, and the infamous Tempe Town Lake, this was the best thing ever! It might have been a little cold and I had a hard time getting my face to stay in the water but I was loving it! 
• I found some feet here and there. Small miracle. Very simple course and plenty of buoys. Loved it!

Lowlights: 

• Wussing out last minute. I was supposed to start smack-dab in the middle and hang onto the fast girls for as long as possible. This freaks me out because I can't stand the thought of feeling like I am about to suffocate. It's happened before and I don't really need a repeat. Even just treading water in a small space with lots of people touching me makes me want to run and hide. I don't like being touched. (Maybe that's why the bike is my favorite: Nobody is allowed to even get close to me!) Anyway. I ended up on the very right side and had a nice and calm start. Just the way I like it but not the way M wanted it. Oh well. 
• That's it. The rest of the swim was rather enjoyable and I just tried to stay focused and keep up some sort of decent pace. 

The Bike

2:38:19 - 21.2 mi/h

3rd fastest bike, tied for 2nd off the bike

I was super excited for this course and it didn't disappoint! I love hills and there were plenty of them! Unfortunately, what goes up must come down and my descending skills aren't what they should be. Bummer!

Love the climbing!

Highlights: 

• Coachie's race wheels. They rock! Thank you, Heath, for hooking me up once again! He also brought his aero helmet but I decided to ignore it. I am not about to change my mind about that piece of gear anytime soon. However, if he had brought a carbon bike for me to ride I would've been all over that. 

• After an hour or so into the ride, it suddenly occurred to me that I was probably in the front 'group' of our age group. This was a first because a) I don't do a lot of big races and b) The course is usually super crowded. It was awesome! I knew Katie K was a strong biker, I figured the incredibly toned girl might be Rebecca T, and I recognized Sonja W right away when she blew by us. I knew I was right in the mix and I was thrilled! I also knew I had to go with Sonja. Lucky for me we were on a long uphill, so I was able to 'stick' with her. As it turns out, I am a pretty strong climber while Sonja can hammer the downhills like nobody's (especially not my) business. So for the next 40 or so miles we went back and forth, back and forth. I happened to think that this was the coolest thing ever! I have admired Sonja from afar for quite a while but never had the chance to race against her. I knew she is incredibly strong, so I was super happy to be in the same zip code as her on the bike. 

An incredibly scenic 4-mile climb? Yes please. 

• Snow Canyon. I love that place. Everything about it. I was able to get a little gap on Sonja and super swimmer Christine (who we had caught up to at one point and who came with us). Next year we will be more on top of things and get one of those coveted camping spots in the canyon. At least for the boys... 

Lowlights:

• When doing the math after the race, I realized that I didn't get nearly enough calories in on the bike. Dang! I knew that I should be eating/drinking more but I wasn't aware that I ended up only taking in 500-600 calories. I had about 1200 calories with me and was shooting for at least 800-900. Not good. But like I mentioned, something wasn't quite right with my stomach all day and I was worried about making things worse by stuffing myself. 
• It took a long time for my legs to come around! My left calf was a mess from the beginning and my quads felt sore for some reason. I had no idea why. But I just figured that, hey, everyone has a bad race every once in a while and maybe today was my turn. No big deal. Just stay in the game and see how things unfold.

• The last 10 miles were basically all downhill. Bad news for me! Have I mentioned that I need to work on my descending skills? Sonja flew by me like a rocket and so did Christine. And there was nothing I could do about it. So I enjoyed the scenery instead. 

The Run

1:37:40 - 7:27/mi

6th fastest run

I caught up to Christine right before T2 but was able to run by her in transition and get out of there ahead of her. This was good. Now all I had to worry about was Sonja ahead of me. Ha! Who am I kidding? There were a few super runners most likely not far behind me turning on the jets any minute. But I made a conscious decision to focus on what's in front of me and not what's going on behind me. 

One of the many hills. This course was a beast!

Highlights: 

• The best thing about this race was all of the incredible support I had on the course. I love the (Utah) triathlon community and it was out in full force! Thank you for the cheers and words of encouragement. It means a lot!
• Seeing the Pros battle it out on their way to the finish. The run was one out-and-back, so we were able to see the action and cheer them on (in German even) as they went by us on the other side. Loved it!

• Coke! It's all I was able to take in on the run and it definitely saved the day! 
• My Zoot shoes. I am not sponsored by Zoot (unfortunately) but I love their shoes. I decided to go without socks this time and (unlike at Oceanside in 2012) I didn't regret it one minute. No blisters, no chafing. Awesome! It helped that I was able to not pee on myself during the run. (Or on the bike for that matter.) I dumped plenty of water (and the accidental energy drink) on myself but acidic pee is definitely the worst. (I am sure you all really wanted to know that tidbit of information!) 

Lowlights: 

• Took off my sunglasses in T2. How pathetic is that? Still can't get over it. I hate running without sunglasses but here I was taking them off and putting them into the transition bag. Are you kidding me? Good thing I had my TriSports.com visor! 

• I was able to make up some ground on Sonja in the first few miles and was faintly hoping that I would be able to slowly reel her in. Strong and steady was my mantra. But while she was always right there, I never got super close. Around mile 6 I noticed that she started to pull away from me again. Shooters! And then I did what I have been regretting ever since: I settled for 2nd. Instead of putting up a fight, digging even deeper, taking a risk, and leaving it all out there, I  gave up. Because, hey, if I can just keep it together and hold off the girls behind me, I am going to take 2nd behind Sonja. I was hoping to be Top 3 in my AG, so this is awesome! Goal accomplished! Sonja is a phenomenal athlete and I really have no business catching up to her. And even if I did, I know she wouldn't just let me pass her. Do I want a neck-to-neck battle for the next 5 miles? That sounds excruciatingly hard, so no thanks! Could I have caught her if I had been more on top of my mental game and had someone out there giving me splits and yelling at me to go after it? Maybe. I don't know. I don't care. The point is that I didn't try hard enough. So, to quote Andy Potts, I am 'happy but not satisfied'. Lesson learned. Moving on.   

It was a fantastic day. I had been excited for this race since the minute they announced it more than a year ago and it didn't disappoint. You bet I will be back next year! But first I got a few more races coming up this season which is a good thing because I love racing! And guess who signed up for 70.3 Worlds two minutes before the start of roll-down? That would be me. We were already back at Colleen's house when I realized that I had made a mistake by foregoing my spot. So I jumped back into the car, cruised back to the race, sprinted over to the tent, and handed them a check. And I am so glad I did because WTC just announced that this will be the last year that Worlds are in Vegas. I certainly won't be regretting my decision!

Vegas, here we come!

I owe a few heartfelt Thank You's to

• Dave and Paul for the ride there
• The Watsons for the ride back
• Colleen and Adam for their unmatched hospitality
• Karl for being my bike mechanic and best friend
• TriSports.com for their wonderful support
• All of my training buddies for putting up with me
• Kai Bennett for being a great chiropractor and friend
• Stephanie Del Giorgio for providing excellent massages
• Heath and Mahogani Thurston for being the best coaches an athlete could ask for
• All of you who have made it through this very long race report

The following is just data I want to have in a place I can actually find it later...

St. George 70.3 - A Rookie Story

Since I am going to be on the road to St. George today, I figured I would let Karl entertain you. He is good at that! This is my favorite piece of writing by him and thus I had to share. I just read it again and it still makes me laugh! Enjoy!

How I got into Triathlon

by Karl Jarvis

the fam after a double win back in 2006

Had I not met Sarah, life would have been simpler. Running races is much more straightforward when you don't use up all of your energy beforehand with a big swim and ride. If you haven't already slurped all of your glycogen stores dry before you start the run, it's nice and easy. Relatively. But this crazy triathlete I was dating showed me how to make the simplest of sports ridiculously complicated and much more painful than it has to be. Oh well.

I knew Sarah was into triathlon while were dating, so after discussing it for a while, we decided to do a trade. She had to do my favorite race, which also happens to be one of the best trail running races of all time, the Wahsatch Steeple Chase. For the uninformed, the Wahsatch Steeple Chase is truly awesome - a 17-mile trail run on winding singletrack, ridgelines, jagged rocks to scramble over, cool people, great prizes, not too big, not too expensive. Just way cool. I had done it the year before and knew that Sarah really needed to have the best race experience apart from those multisport dealies. I knew deep down that she would be converted to the one true sport of running on mountain trails.

My side of the bargain was the Salem Spring Triathlon. I looked up sprint triathlon run times and scoffed. Being a runner, I was certain I could blast away the competition, with their wimpy hiking-pace 5Ks. Being a mountain biker, I knew I was tougher than all of those roadie types. Never mind that my last swim workout was 13 years previous to that time, and never mind that this swim workout did not exactly involve swimming in any sort of direction. Imagine a scrawny 11-year-old vainly attempting to remove his jeans under water while also vainly attempting to keep his head above water. Somehow the Boy Scouts of America deemed this action worthy of a glorious piece of cloth we call a Merit Badge. This particular one was called something like, um, Lifesaving. Anyway, I knew I could destroy this triathlon. I did not even have to swim with jeans on.

Salem drew nearer and I dutifully worked out. I did a couple of mountain bike races, I got my cyclocross bike set up for road riding, and I even set a new PR in the half marathon. And every day I worked on swimming, too. Although mental workouts are not quite as effective as actual workouts, I am certain they help. Unbeknownst to me at the time, mental swim workouts help your mental swim racing far more than your actual swim racing. I knew I would be all right, since I had a couple of tricks up my sleeve: 1) I had my Lifesaving Moment, with a piece of actual cloth to prove it, and 2) my friend April knew somebody who could get me a free rental of this cool neoprene thing they call a wetsuit, which keeps you warm and makes you fast.

This race thing did not have anything to do with pride, you know. Well, it was not even an issue whether I could beat Sarah in a triathlon or not. Of course I could beat her. That was beside the point. Nope, no pride was at stake here.

Race day... I get my bike set up, lay out my stuff, go for a little ride, help some people out with their bike problems, put on my race face, and go for a little jog. April shows up with Swim Trick #2. I put on this piece of workmanship and notice it has some great built-in kneepads. It's not restrictive at all on my upper body because of the deep scoop neck, and there are not too many rips in it. It's a little on the large side for me, but I have Swim Trick #1 just in case. Even if my Tricks fail me, I can make up a few minutes on the bike and run and still beat Sarah. But I don't think about that issue, since it is not about pride. I know several swim strokes, too. That's Trick #3! The Three Tricks ball up in my stomach and my smirk of running superiority fades.

Several hours later, I think, I got out of the water with some folks that were born before the Great Depression. That was depressing, but not only because I felt the pain of their childhood. My alternating freestyle, sidestroke, backstroke-type flailing thingy, and the deadman float had not served me quite as well as in my mental workouts. The scoop-neck wetsuit turned out to be excellent as a parachute, but poor as a triathlon wetsuit. I swear jeans would have been more hydrodynamic.

Cruising on the bike felt good, except that I had vertigo from thrashing around in the water all morning. I got up to speed, passed a few people, and started to feel good about myself again. Then a couple of dudes zoomed past me on their second lap. “Oh”, I thought, and I realized that I needed to get into triathlon.

My run wasn't nearly good enough to overcome my Merit Badge-esque experience in Salem Pond. Back at the finish, Sarah looked fairly well-rested. My pride was not at all hurt. No, blast it all. In any case, she wouldn't win something like the Wahsatch Steeplechase, even if she was an excellent triathlete.

Several weeks later, I strut through the finish of the Steeplechase near the front. I'm loving it. I am in my element. I sip my Gatorade gingerly, like a cup of tea. I relax and chat with some friendly folks. I get comfortable, since it will be a while until Sarah the Triathlete comes through. I hardly get a few nibbles into my bagel when she comes through with a big smile on her face. She's had way too good a time. “What are you doing here?” I said, and realized I needed to marry her.

One year and not quite enough training later, I found myself keeled over with stomach cramps in the last part of the marathon in the Quelle Challenge (iron-distance triathlon) in Roth, Germany. The swim and bike had again taken their toll, but this time I had done some actual swim training and had borrowed a much better wetsuit and bike. This race was also the result of a trade – a 50-mile trail run and the Quelle Challenge. Our son, Noah, was on the way at the time, preventing her from doing either race and sparing me additional damage to my pride. Sarah cheered me on, and I jogged with her to the finish. I realized then that I was hooked. And watch our for Sarah when she does do an Ironman!

Well, I guess Karl was not quite as hooked as he thought, since he has now returned to being a trail/ultra runner almost exclusively. The swimming is just not his thing. But he is loving the running more than ever and has had some very impressive results lately. If there were more duathlons around, he would dominate most of them. But there aren't. Unfortunately.


PS: I have done an Ironman since then and you can read all about it here.  

St. George 70.3 - What I Will NOT Look Like

Oh my. I can't believe I am actually posting any of these picture on the internet. It's quite embarrassing but also pretty entertaining. But, hey, I have an excuse: It was 1996!!! I am sure not all of you walked around with hideous sunglasses, a race number 3 times the size of your head, and your 'bikini' bottoms pulled up all the way to your belly button. Funny thing is, if I remember right (and I am hardly ever wrong): I thought I was pretty cool back then! Ha! Sometimes I crack myself up... 

These pictures (except for the very last) are from my very first triathlon back when I was 16. How times have changed! I will most certainly not be wearing... What do you call that thing? It's not really a bikini but it's definitely not your regular two-piece either. Whatever it is, I have no intentions of ever wearing it (or anything remotely similar) again. (Although I may or may not still have that outfit in some drawer back in Germany.) I am also happy to report that I have gotten new sunglasses and a new helmet since then. Phew! And chances are, if everything goes according to plan, I will not come to a dead stop (as pictured above) when getting on my bike on Saturday. However, the perfect flying mount is still a work in progress... 

The good news is: I also got a new bike since then! It may not be a huge improvement but at least when it comes to wheel-size I am in style now. (Back then every triathlete was riding 650c wheels which are smaller than what we are riding now. Here is an article on the subject in case you are curious.) More good news: I do NOT look like the above anymore when getting off my bike in a race. The bad news: I am pretty sure I crashed as I was trying to get off that thing. Don't judge, it was my first race. Which I think is why my knee is scraped up in this picture:  

I kinda wish I could go back and read that race report. But I am not even sure my family owned a computer back then. We were just coming out of the dark ages at that time. But, looking at myself sprinting to the finish line, I am sure of one thing: I was just as determined and passionate about the sport of triathlon at my first race as I am now! And I am hoping to replicate that nice little sprint on Saturday! 

Ok. Let's end this post with a semi-decent picture which must have been taken in the same era: 

 (Definitely in Germany. 

Definitely pre-kids. 

Definitely past sweet-sixteen.) 

Fine. I'll tell you when I think this picture was taken. (Mostly because I am really good at procrastinating writing that resume.) Somehow the race that comes to mind is a popular pool sprint back in 2003. I was back home in Germany for the summer, taking a break from my linguistics studies at BYU in Utah. So I signed up for some races. My boyfriend, DP, came to hang out and travel for a few weeks as well, and happened to be there for this one. So I dug up the lovely 'bikini'!?! Actually, I am pretty sure I (mostly) chose this outfit because it was the only suitable thing to for a pool swim followed by a bike and a run. Apparently, he was neither impressed by this race kit nor by my overall win as he broke up with me at the end of the summer... Can't blame the guy. 

St. George 70.3 - Taper Time

This morning, after I had taken a look at my to-do list for the day, the following occurred to me: 

Training is the easiest thing I do! 

Then I told the husband my revelation. And, smart as he is, he says: I am just going to sit here and smile. What's that supposed to mean?!? 

Some people may disagree with me, but let's face it: Training is my escape from real life and its responsibilities. Well, sort of. Ok, not really. But if I have to choose between calling the dentist for an appointment (on my to-do list for months now) or riding my bike for 4 hours, which one do you think is going to be easier for me to accomplish? It seems like I prefer a tempo run over signing up my kid for soccer camp. Writing a resume for a (little) job I want to apply for? Are you kidding me? Please tell me I have double brick on my schedule so I have an excuse. 

And this is why I don't get a whole lot of anything done. I just stick to the basics (you know: kids, make breakfast, lunches, dinner, do dishes, vacuum, clean up, laundry, etc.) and by the time I have taken care of those, I am pooped. It amazes me how people (i.e.mostly women) can balance a job, family, and training. It's a good thing Karl is around. He takes time to do random things like fix the microwave, clean the drawers in the kids' bathroom, and scrub the table hard so it's shiny white again. It would never even occur to me to do that! And if it did, I would think to myself one of three things: 1. Not now. I am in training and too tired. 2. Not now. I am tapering and should be resting. 3. Not now. I just had a race and need to recover. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a good excuse right now not to write that resume, or call that dentist, or meet that deadline for an article I need to write. Because I can do all that while sitting down on my butt. I just don't want to... Why doesn't dedication in training translate to dedication in housework? 

My point is: 

I don't like tapering because my most favorite thing - exercise - gets taken away and is (or should be) replaced with many of my least favorite things - chores. This means: I have a problem. And when I have a problem, I go ride my bike or run in the woods. Except: That's not really an option right now. The following charts explains my situation fairly well: 

But of course I know how important it is to give my body rest. I may be an addict and my drug of choice (as M called it the other day) is triathlon but I am no fool. That said: You'd think I have been in this sport long enough to really have nailed down my taper. But the truth is: I still struggle with it. In general I know what to do but not when it comes to specifics. Of course Coach gives me some good guidelines... Ok. They aren't just guidelines, she tells me what to do. But I am a little rebellious when it comes to tapering. Because I know how personal it is. No two athletes are the same and everybody's perfect way to taper is different. I just need to figure out what mine is. Or maybe I should just take this quote to heart: 

Because I don't want to have to post this one after the race: 

I think what I am going to do is stop worrying about it. Because a) It's too late anyway and b) I don't believe in worrying. So I will go with this one: 

St. George 70.3 - Race Week is Here!

One of my favorite places.

My favorite distance these days. 

Lots of my favorite people! 

5 more days until I get to toe the line at the St. George 70.3! I have been super excited for this race ever since the day they announced it last April. I would have really liked to do the full Ironman there as well but the timing just wasn't right and so I was stoked to hear that they changed the distance and turned this into the U.S. Pro Championships. I am almost a little sad I don't get to watch all of the world-class athletes duke it out at the front of the field because, believe me, it's going to be exciting and, if you are in the area at all, you should definitely come spectate! In case you are wondering, I will no doubt be rooting for my Germans, especially world champion Sebastian Kienle who grew up in the next town over. But I also have a crush on Crowie. I mean: Who doesn't? 

St. George is known to be hot, windy, dry, and... somewhat unpredictable. Just the way I like it. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Saturday looks a little too moderate and perfect so far, but I haven't given hope up yet. However, I am not going to say this out loud because a) I don't want to have to eat my words later and b) I like having friends. Either way it's going to be tough race because neither the bike nor the run are particularly flat. This may or may not be a huge understatement. I like to refer to this course as brutiful: a nice combination of beautiful and brutal. You can get a glimpse of it by watching this St. George 70.3 video. (Please note that I highly disagree with the very first statement in this video.)

Karl and boys were looking forward to joining me on this trip but things aren't working out very well, so they are staying home. Bummer! But we will live. A nice gentleman (or so I hope) from Flagstaff, who is also racing and that I have never met, is going to give me ride. I know, story of my life. At least this time it's not a 20-something-year-old... That said, his reply to my email was the following: 

Yo woman. Going solo in my big ass Tahoe. You are welcome to come with me. Let me know and I'll pick you up. 

Should I be worried? In case I never make it to the race, you know what to look for. Just don't ask me what the guy looks like, I have no clue so far. Should be a fun adventure! And once I get to St. George I will be in the best hands seeing how I will be staying with Queen Colleen. Is it time to hit the road yet? 

 I've decided that (in order to keep myself occupied (despite the fact there is certainly NOT a lack of things I should be doing) and sane) I will be writing a little blog post each day this week about the upcoming race of awesomeness that I can't wait for! Tomorrow I will talk about how good horrible I am at tapering. It's not my favorite thing in the world but it must be done. 

PS: Please note that you can now get 15% off any order at TriSports.com with the code SJARVIS. Different code than last year and bigger discount. I am thrilled to be on their team again and I promise that, if you order today or tomorrow, your order will make it to you in in time for the race. 

HT Training Camp

outdoor swims are my favorite!

Training camps are pretty much the best!!! 

I love, love, love them! 

I wouldn't mind having one every month! 

At this year's HT camp, we had lots of everything , including (but not limited to):

* Some great swimming with plenty of helpful (and fun) drills from Coachie! I do love his drills but I tend to get super cold while not moving much, so I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to drills. My favorite was definitely the one pictured above. Sit on your kick board and skull to the other side. Turns out that if this is how we moved through the water in a triathlon, I might actually make the front pack! 

* Warming up in the hot tub. I may or may not have stayed in there for an extra 10 minutes after everyone had already left. I can always eat my breakfast on the bike... 

* Obviously there was quite a bit of biking. My favorite! Here we are trying to hang on to Coachie while cruising on Red Hills Parkway.

* Some sun, some rain, lots of wind. It could've been worse! 

* A little team time trial. Let's just say that our team should've been the fastest but we were having some issues. Getting a bunch of triathletes and their ego all in one line is much harder than it seems! 

* Colleen hooked us up with a RunnerFit session which turned out to be awesome! This alone makes me want to move to St. George! 

* We ran. D'uh! But we didn't all look as good as Coachie while doing so.

* Hanging out with good friends doing what we love! 

don't Colleen and I look happy?

* I can't believe that I don't really have any pictures of us eating! Because there was a lot of that! I definitely miss that big bag of chips that I would get out of Coach M's suburban and dig into right after biking and while putting my running shoes on. Good times!

While things didn't go smoothly all of the time, I think we all had a great time, learned a lot, and are a little more ready for the 2013 season! Bring it on! 

  A huge Thank You to our fantastic Coaches, Heath and Mahogani, for organizing all of this craziness and putting up with us me! And to Colleen for showing us once again why she is the queen of all things triathlon in St. George! You are the best!