Tribirdie Musings

Motivational Music

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:02:00 +0000

So the girl who can't train, apparently, finds lots of music to get her excited about when she can train... Here are a couple I've found/refound recently...

I'll take these storms away, start a brand new story, I'll make it through each day singing death or glory!

But there infront of me, lights are glistening Calling out for you, Think you should go, oh just let go

Oldie but goodie...

Phineas and Ferb, one of the best things about being a mom. haha

More to come!! Training is just PT and swimming for me right now... but it's going well and I'm seeing progress!! Still hopeful! Train safe y'all!

Mission Accomplished!

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:04:00 +0000

In my last post, I set my three goals for Boston:
1) Run Heartbreak Hill
2) See the CITGO sign
3) Cross the finish line

check, check and check! Whew! That feels good!

But it doesn't tell the story of the day...

Meredith left a comment on that post "...Boston is the celebration of putting in the hard work to get there"

And before that, Kelly had mentioned to me that all things, even strange injuries, happen for a reason.

Because I knew I most likely would not be able to run my goal pace at Boston, this seemed like the perfect way to approach the race.

I am so glad that I did.

Boston Marathon was like no other race experience I have ever had. People tell you before you race it how special it is... they tell these stories of crowd support that seem that they must be tall tales... and then you get there and it's all 100% true!

Friday Arrival, Saturday Expo, Sunday Brunch

Alex picked me up at the airport on Friday (he had driven up from work in CT for the weekend). I was on a flight with good friends, Brett and Leslie. Brett was ready to have a great race in Boston and was noticeably anxious to get going. Since I was coming up with absolutely no expectations, I realized I'd never been so relaxed before a race. That being said, I was still hoping for a miracle. My last chiropractic adjustment on Monday had dramatically lessened the pain under my left heel, giving me hope that I might be able to run pain free on race day.

Alex and I had a homestay with friends from Atlanta that had recently moved up to Boston (THANK YOU TJ and Bethany!!) This just added to the relaxed atmosphere. Great dinner out with these guys on Friday, Saturday we spent 3 hours at the expo (totally worth it!!! and I stocked up on lots of Boston Marathon stuff!!)

Dinner out on Saturday night with my Rev3 Teammates made it the perfect day. I love this team, such awesome people!! Always good to see Jamie and Sam, and I finally got to meet Jordan!

On Sunday we WALKED (loved that about boston!!!) to the home of a friend of mine from college. It had been 10 years since I'd seen him!!! Crazy!! It was a lovely relaxing way to spend the morning the day before the race. It puts things into perspective to spend time with people outside of the triathlon/140.6 community. At one point he said, "I see these thing you post on Facebook, and I think 'that's just crazy!' But the crazier part is that it's clear from the comments that folks leave, that these things are perfectly normal to them." It's true, we start to forget that completing the 140.6 or even the 26.2 is an unfathomable accomplishment to some. I always tell people, finishing a half marathon used to be unfathomable to me... you just start our with 5k and sprint triathlons and build from there.

Patience and perseverance.

Race Day

I honestly didn't know what to expect of the day... I woke up feeling apprehensive for the first time about the task that lay ahead of me. Let's face it, the training I'd put in was not ideal... I hadn't had a run without pain since January. I hadn't run faster than 9:00 pace since February... and my longest run (other than the 30 miles I walked/ran "pacing" Dani at her double) had been 17 miles back in February (8 weeks before the race), a leisurely "recovery" day with Andree. I'd been running in the water but not as consistently as I should have been to really make a go of this day. I've been busy with work and made the decision after my aborted run mentioned in the previous post, to just do what I could to finish Boston and focus on work. Starting a business and training for a marathon were just not compatible for me at this time.

The beauty of doing things like Goofy and pacing a friend for a double ironman is that miles don't seem as far as they did before... I knew I could finish, the question was how long it would take...

So as I boarded the bus outside of Boston Commons to head to Hopkinton my mind was decidedly on the task at hand. I met Nicole standing in line, a stranger who turned out to be a great person and exactly who I needed to hang out with before the race. Nicole was excited to race, she'd had great training behind her and was really ready to go! With all of that though, she was very relaxed, easy going and since this was her 2nd Boston, full of good information for me! We hung out in the athletes village until it was time for her to head to her corral.

Me and Nicole in the athletes village before the race! Doesn't it look like we've known each other forever? that's what it felt like!! Great to find a new friend!

I was supposed to meet my friend Mike from ATL in the Athletes Village. I felt like we had a fool proof plan for finding each other, but I completely underestimated how BIG athletes village is! Turns out we were probably with 10 feet of each other at one point... I was a little worried about missing him, we'd planned to run together for several weeks (he was unable to train because of an ailing calf) and I was really looking forward to the journey. I knew we would have a fun time and it would make the pain easier to take. haha

When they called my start corral, I headed (or should I say herded) to the clothes drop off with everyone else. We got bottlenecked and by the time I dropped off my clothes I had mere minutes to make it to the starting line! It was a bit nerve wracking!! As I approached my start corral (jogging so that I could make it in time) like a mirage I see Mike waiting for me at the entrance of the corral! In the first of many "over the top" greetings I had that day... or maybe the entire weekend since I'm pretty sure I did a little dance when I found Jamie and Sam at dinner on Saturday night... I gave Mike a huge hug and about 10 seconds later the cannon went BOOM!

It took about 4 min for us to actually make it to the start line and in that time Mike cleared up the game plan of the day... I'd made a reference to him a few weeks before that I wanted to go 3:30 so that I could qualify again with a good enough time to register for the race before it filled. Based on the runs I'd done in training, if my leg/hip held up this was a fairly reasonable goal. What I didn't know was how I'd feel after 17 miles (my longest run) or how long my leg would hold on.... so since I was trying to BQ, if Mike started to feel bad, but I felt good, I was to go ahead; but if I started to feel bad, he was going to stick with me... THANK GOODNESS :D because I started to feel bad around mile 3.

We were able to hold 8:00 pace (right on 3:30 goal time) for the first 8 miles... Mike's race report is a fabulous recreation of our day out there... Almost to the point where I hesitated to write mine at all... I was just going to link to his... but then I wouldn't have the chance to write about how amazing Mike was as my sherpa!

As I said, around mile 3 is when my hip started to twinge... and shortly after that pain under my heel and at the top of my hamstring... my biggest concern was doing any serious damage to my leg... I was concerned about muscle tear, tendons, etc. So I started to favor my left leg, really just moving it through the motions... Luckily Boston and mostly downhill in the beginning (you hear people say this, but you don't really believe it until you get there... it is VERY downhill) so it was pretty easy to just swing my leg through... the only difficult parts were the uphills... these were the times that I really needed Mike... I had him tell me stories about anything and everything... I don't even know if half of them were true... when we ran through Natick (I think) he told me about a guy in school, Naked Ned from Natik or something like that... he used to come to every party naked and it was no big deal after awhile... then one day he got pulled over coming home from a party... yep, he was naked... and they didn't see him much after that.

So as you can imagine... yes, I was in serious pain, and yes, it was damn hot out there... but really it wasn't so bad, I've never had 4:15 go by so quickly.

So thanks Mike, seriously, I wouldn't have finished in 4:15 without you!!!

"Let's turn this into a party"
I think it was around mile 9 or 10... that point in the marathon that if you are already feeling bad the idea of running the rest of it starts to feel a little insurmountable... so I turned to Mike and said "I'm about ready to turn this thing into a party!" what did that mean??? It ment, we were going to have the quintessential Boston Marathon experience!! We were high-fiveing as many people as we could, we were kissing girls in Wellesley (no were weren't, who said that!?!?!), we were getting pushed up the hill by the drunk, I mean, enthusiastic, college guys at Boston College... and we were going to tick off my goals (running heartbreak hill, seeing the Citgo sign, and crossing the finish line).

If I hadn't been in the situation that I was in going in to boston... if my training had gone to plan and I was really going to race it... I wouldn't have taken the time to do these things.

So from that standpoint, I am grateful!! Grateful to have had the opportunity to really soak it all in, the chaos, the screaming, the fan support, the craziness of it all! I've never experienced anything like it, and I don't know if I ever will again.

Grateful for all of the folks we had along the way (our mini-goals), Mike's Dad at mile 16, Heartbreak hill at mile 20 - where Jordan and the RaceMenu crew were a welcome site with their ice cold sponges!! When I saw Jordan I hugged him like he was a lost soldier returning home - yeah, I'd met him two nights before, but he's a Rev3 teammate, so it's like he's family!), looking for Alex starting at mile 22 and not seeing him until mile 25 - scanning the crowd really keeps your mind off the pain), TJ and Alex at the top of the hill at Mile 25, so happy to get a chance to see Alex out there!!

And speaking of soldiers returning home... Mike is right I was tearing up under the cover of my sunglasses, but it wasn't from pain... it was only when I saw the soliders hiking the 26.2 with their full rucksacks and one with a sign on his back regarding a fallen comrade who would "never be forgotten" and I wanted to hug every single one of those guys. They are my heros and my heart aches for them and the pain of war and lost friends. and I am grateful to them for keeping it all in perspective.

I am grateful to have had Mike there by my side, to remind me to go high-five some kids on the side of the road, to fight over grape flavor flav-o-ice popcicles with, to point out the huge crowds during the last mile of the race (40-50 people deep for a mile for a RUNNING race!! crazy!!!), to keep me fighting till the bitter end, and all the high five's along the way.

We turned it into a 26.2 mile party! A celebration of life and accomplishment.

I saw a quote a week before the race

"I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my HEART" (attributed to Vincent Van Gogh)

and yes, I can say with this 26.2 mile run into Boston from Hopkinton...

Mission Accomplished!

Epilogue

Mike and I crossed the finish line in Boston with a time of 4:15:30... and it took another hour to walk the 500 feet to meet Alex at the family meeting area... I was a hurting puppy. :D

Nicole had an amazing race and PRed!! (Not many PRs were made on this toasty day in Boston. I am so excited for her!! I love it when someone who has committed to the race, done the training, has a fabulous race!)

Brett also had an amazing race and ran 3:09 - great effort and another shining example of hard work paying off!! So glad you bought the cooler cloth Brett and didn't pass out 50 feet from the finish! :D

Mike continues his shepherding ways and ran a 5k this past weekend with his daughter. Very impressive considering he has a massive infection in his left shin!

and for me? I'm doing exactly what I said I'd do at the end of my last post... I've pulled out of all the races I had on my schedule for 2012. I will be volunteering instead at as many Rev3 events as possible. I sat down with Dr. Pam and coach Laura and put together a 1 month plan to get the muscles supporting my hips and core stripped down and rebuilt in a more balanced fashion. I have faith that I'll be back to running and biking soon.

Thank yous

A big thank you to my mom and dad for staying with my boys from Friday until Tuesday!! It's a tough run with after-school activities, lunches to pack, etc. They were awesome!!

Thanks to my kids for being excited for me and cheering me on.

Thanks to Alex for being super husband and enjoying the weekend with me. I loved having you there to hang out with :D

Thanks to Dr. Pam, Eileen Steil, and the folks at Synergy Release Sports for all banding together to figure out my problem and doing their best to get me to the start and finish of this race.

As always a huge thanks to my coach, who worked WITH me when everything started going pear shaped! Thank you Laura for always believing in me and never letting me give up. I loved the hand written note she sent me before the race that said "You don't need luck, you've got you!" it was the perfect reminder that I finish what I start.

Pictures to come!!!

It's not just a river in Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:19:00 +0000

Boston Marathon Start Line

Hi! My name is Jill and I am injured.

I will finally admit it. I've been calling it an "issue" and an "impediment" but it's time to call a spade a spade and deal with it face on.

I've been lying to myself a bit for about a year and I think if you find yourself in a similar situation as you were in a YEAR ago, but now worse, it's time to admit that what you are doing to "fix your issue" isn't working.

And that's just the problem, I never took the time to fix the issue. Like so many before me (and I always said I wouldn't do this!!) I kept racing and training hoping that if I put up with enough discomfort it would eventually work itself out. Guess what!?!

It didn't.

My problem is a little tricky to explain... My left hip for various reasons is rotated and tilted back. The chiropractor and massage therapist can put it back in place, but as soon as i swim, run or bike the hips pulls out of place. Add that to a leg that is jammed up in the hip socket and a year of my body working around it. The result is diminished power in my left leg. My body found many different ways around the issue in order to attempt to follow the commands my brain was giving my muscles. So I'm a bit of a mess now with secondary muscles being strong than they should be compared to primary muscles (an adductor trying to do the work of quad and hamstring). For the majority of last year this also caused a dull ache and numbness down the left leg. But no sharp or throbbing pain.

The pain started coming when it pulled so far backward the hamstrings pulled on my calf which is pulling on the place where it attaches just under my heel. This causes a plantar faciatis like pain under my heel. Also my hip is so far out of place that if I sit on a couch when I go to stand up it is stuck forward and I can't stand up straight.

So this is my PSA: Don't get caught up in the I've got to race so I've got to train cycle!! It's going to be okay of you stop racing for a bit and stop working out at the same intensity,

better to make yourself take a brake than wake up one day unable to walk. And then say to yourself, "it sure hurts like hell to walk, but it doesn't hurt as bad when I'm running so I'll just keep running. Who cares of I'm hobbling around like my 92 year old grandma!"

A couple of weekends ago I was heading out for my 18 mile run. A bit about where my head was at... It had been months since I'd had a good run. I blamed it on my job, being so busy I'd not had time to train the way I wanted. But it had been since even before that... As far back as June I was getting frustrated, I was putting in hard work but I wasn't getting any stronger, I wasn't getting any faster. Then around the end of January the pain started. I thought it was residual soreness from Goofy. But I couldn't take time off running I had to start getting ready for Boston!

So I'm frustrated and desperate and frankly scared - what the hell was wrong with me??

Back to that 18 mile run... My heel is causing a lot of pain (as I mentioned before, I'm not able to walk on it, but since I don't land on it when I run, I'm able to still run, so I do). I say to myself give it four miles if it's not feeling better by 4 miles call it a day... Not better by 4 miles but I think just give it another mile... At this point I realize that the only reason I can get my left leg up high enough to run up a hill is by hitching up my hip using my obliques and swinging the leg up the hill. I'm basically running hills on 1 leg with the left just along for the ride and a little stability. By mile 6 I head back to the house. I'm done. No Mas.

I quit.

That part sucked. Plus I was still in pain with every step I took so there was no solace in "at least the pain is over with"

My massage therapist kept telling me "what I'm doing is just maintenance eventually we will have to really fix this". I guess I never really thought about what that would mean - what "fixing" it would entail.

It turns out fixing it requires: no more running, very light riding, weekly massage and weekly chiropractic adjustments, strength training, core work and YOGA, lots and lots of Yoga, about 60-90 min daily. I've been doing these things for the past week and I am just now feeling like I'm moving in the right direction.

So I haven't had a real run on land in over 4 weeks... not the ideal prep for running a marathon.

But this just isn't any marathon, it's BOSTON...

and I'm going to run it.

I don't care that I haven't trained properly for it, I don't care that I'll most likely be a mess at the end of it...

It's the DURING that is important to me now. I'm going to give it the best shot that I've got in me. I'm going to soak in those crowds, the excitement, the energy!

I've been feeling sorry for myself for the better part of the last 6 weeks, and now 6 days away from one of Marathon's most storied races, I'm saying SCREW THAT! It's time to get out of this experience all the good that I'm able. I'm ready to give it all that I have.

No more excuses.

I show up on race day and I'm going to race, because, it's for me, it's for all those hours I ran in the pool, it's for Boston, it's for all the people that would love to be there someday. I don't want to disrespect this moment. Yes, I wish these last few months had played out differently, but these are the cards I pulled from the deck...

I'm the one that didn't make the time to take better care of myself. I'm the one that put work ahead of training, and so I'll pay for that. I wont have the race I dreamed of, I don't deserve it, I didn't put the work in.

But I'm not going to go up there and boo hoo and piss and moan.

From this point on, I am not injured. I am a runner. I am a racer. and maybe, with the right attitude I can pull out a miracle. and if I don't? It's still Boston... I'll hear the crowds, I'll run Heartbreak hill (Damn it I will RUN that hill) I'll see the Citgo sign, and then however long it takes, I will cross that finish line.

and then I will heal and I'll take care of myself...

and if that means taking some time away from racing, that's what it means. I'll take a page from the Laura M playbook and I'll be the best damn volunteer I can be for Rev3.

So CHEERS! In 3 days I'm Boston bound and by golly I'm going to enjoy it!

Carbohydrate Utilization - the fun way

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:32:00 +0000

In September of 2011, I had an amazing opportunity to spend a day at Gatorade Sports Science Institute or GSSI. You can read my post about the experience here.

It's not every day you get to see a professionally produced "webisode" about your GI issues in racing, so I had to share it with everyone! :D

If anyone watching the video has any questions for me about the topic, PLEASE leave a comment. I have been putting these protocols into my training on a weekly basis and it does help!

Enjoy!

If you are interested in reading my race report from the HalfRev in Anderson, SC you can check it out here.

ooooh pick me! pick me!! (11 things)

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Several weeks (eek!!) ago the lovely Laura of WIFE MOTHER ATHLETE fame tagged me in the 11 things list, so here I go...

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

Random things about me:

1. I've taught my kids to really consider if "it's okay" is appropriate when people apologize to them. If it really isn't "okay" they can say "thank you for apologizing"

2. I didn't find out how great running to Lady Ga Ga is until about 1 month ago.

3. I hate getting my picture taken if it's just me in the picture (poor Andrea, she said I was a difficult subject when she wanted a picture of me after my big haircut)

4. I don't like to talk on the phone; especially calling businesses or making appointments

5. One of the lessons in life that I value the most, I've learned over the last 5 years: You can't let what other people might think about you stop you from attempting, well, anything. I'm still working on always following it though...

6. I never wanted to have kids... until I had them, now I can't imagine life without them

7. I never wanted to get married until I met my husband (see above)

8. If I had to pick between never skiing again and never doing triathlon again, I would pick being able to ski (not being able to do triathlon) and yet it's been over 4 years since I've skied and only 4 months since my last tri.

9. I can't stick to a diet to save my life.

10. I am really bad a keeping in touch with people, and I'm sad about how many people that used to be good friends, that I don't talk to anymore.

11. I have a very NON-addictive, NON-habitual personality... That can be good AND bad - There are some habits I wish I could stick with.

Questions from Laura:

1. What is your DREAM job?
Psychologist - I would only meet with clients where we could workout and talk (go for a run, bike ride, etc.) because I think life just looks better after a workout.

2. If you could live ANYWHERE where would you go?
Anywhere with mountains (with snow) and water - I'm a big fan of Lake Tahoe and Ketchum, ID

3. Tell us your BIGGEST secret! ha.. okay a smaller one you are willing to share.
My husband and I once spent a straight 26 hours watching the first season of 24 on DVD.

4. How often do you weigh yourself?
about once a week but it's always the same so I don't know why I bother. I've been within the 5lbs of the same weight (except during pregnancy) since I was 22 years old.

5. Do you keep up w/ politics and current events?
I wish I did more. I get freaked out and so I stop paying attention...

6. What is your favorite time of day?
Picking my kids up from school.

7. How many hours do YOU sleep a night?
I do best with about 7 but mostly get about 5 and then about once a month I'll sleep for 12 hours straight.

8. What is your BIGGEST lifetime goal//dream?
Sporting wise? Kona and/or a 3:10 marathon. (And I still want to compete in biathlon but it's probably not going to happen until I move west)

In life: To raise my two boys to be good friends and partners to others. I also want to speak Italian.

9. Would you consider yourself a half empty or half full type?
haha - I was born half empty, but now I am definitely a half full type

10. Do you reduce, reuse, recycle?
of course - working on increasing the amount of reduce and reuse at the moment :D

11. Do you strength train?
I know I should, but I don't (maybe if I knock it down to 4 hours of sleep haha)

Questions for others:
1. Do you consider yourself a person who uses time efficiently?
2. Would YOU wear a Rev3 Sparkly Suit?? (you know you would!!)
3. What was your Best Moment in Sports?
4. What do you think of "Shock and Awe"?
5. What one thing would you like to change about yourself?
6. What one thing do you love about yourself?
7. Why is Rev3 Running Across America? (yes, shameless promotion plug)
8. What is the first thing you would do with a million dollars? (you can't say "invest half"; okay you can, just also say what you'd do second.)
9. Which is better, Long Run? Long Bike? or Long Book?
10. What is your current "favorite" song?
11. If you had the chance to implement one change in America what would it be?

Okay, now for the tagging:
If you've already been tagged - I apologize! but let me know, because I was to read your answers to the other questions :D And any Rev3 Teamers that aren't on here - I'm pretty sure you've already been tagged! :D

Kristin D
TriMommyKelly
Dani G
Colleen L
Kacie (you can wait until after Double IRON)
George (we can talk about your answers this wekeend)
CarmaTri
Robinbn
IronMikeTri (you've been too quiet lately, what, are you training for a race or something? maybe a local
5k??)
Jennifer (@runlikeagrrl)
secondmercedes (girl you need a blog haha)

It's just hair

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:39:00 +0000

I am a lucky girl. I happen to have a lot of hair, that I can grow fairly long...

It's a good thing for me because I tend not to be very good about getting around to getting it cut... So, I've developed a pattern... grow hair long... donate hair... grow hair long... donate hair... repeat...

This was the fourth time I've donated my hair to Locks of Love.

I am pretty sure this is the longest and largest donation I've ever made... I was lucky enough to be able to donate 4 braids each one about 15" long. I really hope it makes someone feel better.

I was also lucky enough to have my friend Andrea along for morale support. She's an amazing photographer (check her out here at www.andreamagesphoto.com) and documented the entire process.

Swinging it for the last time :D - It looks pretty good for being almost 4 years old! Thank you TriSwim for keeping it healthy!!

As ready as I'll ever be!! I was actually VERY nervous!!

LB isn't certain that I'm ready for this big of a change

Braiding the hair

Pippi!

cutting time!!

Donation

One last cut and then...

short hair!!

A moment with hair that was with me through, birth of 1 child, training for 2 140.6 tris and a whole lot more! I think it's got a lot of strength in it and I hope it helps someone out there fight the good fight!

finished product

Self Portrait with new hair - no worries, I was in a parked car :D

Big thanks to LB at Soda Salon in Roswell, GA for an amazing hair cut! She spent 2.5 hours on my hair!!

SODA

Also, of course to Andrea, for coming along to make sure I didn't chicken out! She also was the person that picked out the new hairstyle.

Thanks to my Husband, for NOT freaking out about it, and actually liking me with my new short hair.

Huge thanks to TRISWIM for keeping my hair healthy enough to donate!! Seriously, can't say this enough, this is a huge deal!! When I think of the miles and miles of swimming that this hair went through with me, the fact that is wasn't damaged is unbelievable! I wash my hair with TriSwim products every day and I know that's why it was still looking good in the end :D

The Good Stuff

How do I feel?? Well strange, actually... I don't recognize myself in the mirror and it's a little hard to get used to, but I feel good about make the change and hopefully helping folks in the process.

and as my friend Kristin says... "It's just hair!"

at home

1BandID - maybe you need one too!

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:45:00 +0000

As a wife, mom, daughter, friend, etc. I am a big fan of the RoadID idea... always have your info on your person so that if something happens while you are out running or riding you've all the necessary info with you.

If you think about it, how many times are you out there on your own?

or even when riding with friends, do they even know your emergency contact? I've ridden with groups before that I bet might not even know that I'm married, let alone my husband's first name and contact info!

So I went ahead an got my RoadID... first a very good friend gave me one for a Christmas gift. It fit on my running shoe, which was great for running...

My husband got me the bracelet one for when I was riding my bike...

Great! Except that...

I KEPT LEAVING IT AT HOME!

I know a lot of folks that wear their's all the time, but that's just wasn't working for me either...

Then I saw my friend Jamie's twitter post about his 1BandID!

It fits on your watch band!

GENIUS!!

I mean, I always have my watch on me! running and riding AND open water swimming!

I did have a question about it though... my wrists are fairly small and I wasn't sure if there was enough real estate on my watch band.

I contacted the awesome folks at 1BandID and asked the question, have they ever had an issue with it not fitting on someone's watch?

Joe told me that they haven't had any issues, but that I could send him a picture of my watch on my wrist and he'd let me know if he thought it would fit.

Joe's response was very honest... he wasn't sure if it would fit. He offered to send me one so that I could try it out before I purchased.

How awesome is that?!?!

So I gave him all my info and in the end he actually just made it for me and sent it to me to try out.

My first time running with it I loved it. What ended up happening is that where the band wraps around my watch band, it ends of making my wrist "bigger" and making the watch actually fit more comfortably! So while my watch as I had it before wouldn't have "fit" the ID, once I had the cushion it made the band big enough.

So happy!!!

I wore it during the Goofy Challenge last weekend, no chaffing, and to be honest I didn't even notice that I had my watch on during the race! Usually it bugs me a little because it bounces around and starts to bruise my wrist when I run a marathon. This was 39.3 miles in two days and it was perfect!

Thanks 1BandID! I love how comfy this made my watch and now I'll never leave home without my In Case of Emergency info!!

Disclosure: As a tester I received my 1BandID free of charge.

Project ReUseIt - Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:11:00 +0000

So excited my awesome Rev3 Triathlon teammate Laura has joined the challenge!!

Laura, awesome teammate and inspiration!!

Check out her post about it here (as usual she was much more compelling about it than me! haha)

So far things have been going well; except that my husband delights in pointing out all the things he can technically buy USED but are completely not in our budget (race cars, hunting rifles, bikes, etc.) I've had to point out that he doesn't get to just buy anything he wants as long as it is "previously owned", it still needs to be in the budget. haha

My biggest challenge to date has been finding my 7 yo swim flippers that he needs for swim team. Before the start of ReUseIt I had purchased him new swim flippers, but they are too big for him and fall off in the pool

Poor kid, I made him dive 7 ft down in the pool to retrieve them because we happened to be trying them out at the pool on a day when I didn't have my bathing suit :D He did it though!!

So if anyone has a pair of size 12-13 swim flips, and you need a size 1-3 pair, I'll trade ya!!

I did have to buy something new that I was trying to avoid and that was DIAPERS. My 3 yo is potty trained, but still wears a diaper overnight, so I moved him to cloth diapers and everything is great! Unfortunately, the pool that we swim at requires a suit AND swim diaper for any child under the age of 4. In the interest of time, I purchased a rubber swim diaper from the store at the gym. Strike one!

So to follow in Laura's footsteps... who want to join us?!?!

Also, Laura challeged a wager, and since I already have one strike, I say we keep a running tally on anything we have to buy new (agreed run shoes, bike tires, etc. are freebies) and then see who wins at the end!

If Laura wins donate $25 to Rev3Tri Run Across America. If I win, PLEASE donate to Rev3Tri Run Across America!!

What? You haven't heard about Rev3Tri Run Across America?!?! Well, my super awesome team and the fine Staff of Revolution 3 Triathlon are RUNNING ACROSS AMERICA, to raise money for Ulman Cancer Fund.

They are taking 21 days to run 2,300+ miles. It's going to be excited and there are going to be lots of challenges along the way... i.e. can YOU find a group of people to run a cumulative total of MORE miles during the same 21 day period?!?!?

I'll have more details about the challenges and such here, but go check out the Rev3 Page for all the DETAILS!!!

My Big 2012 Goal - ReUseIt

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:55:00 +0000

Project ReUseIt

If there is one thing that I didn't like about Ironman training it was HOW MUCH I USED... from clothes, nutrition, gear, etc. it seemed like every month was a new purchase...

So my big goal this year is to go the next six months without buying anything NEW. It wouldn't really work if I did this by myself, so my poor family is getting pulled in with me.

So far the rules that I have come up with (and my lovely husband Alex has agreed to) are as follows:

1) Nothing brand new - i.e. purchased from the store

2) Exceptions will be anything that you can't reuse, resell or borrow such as Food, Vitamins, Underwear (I have my limits haha), toilet paper, gasoline, car engine oil... I'll might have to add as we think of stuff...

3) If we need something (clothes, electronics, furniture, HRM!!) we must find it used (i.e. second hand shops, garage sales, reclamation, etc.) but the whole idea is to really examine if we need it. If it's more difficult to obtain, we might find another solution.

4) Food: I guess part of the impetus of this idea is to have less environmental impact so we are going to go for at least 3 vegetarian meals a week and buying local and seasonal fruit and veg. I plan to hit up the new store, Roswell Provisions, as it's on our way home from my son's school and our other local awesome food store: Harry's Farmer's Market Alpharetta.

This is what I'll be using to start my vegetarian journey! Wish me luck!!

5) Paper products - aside from toilet paper the goal is to not buy any new paper products (I have some in the house, but once they are used up, that's it!). This includes paper towels, napkins, notebooks (ack!!), printer paper, etc.

6) Workout clothes - first of all, no, I am not planning on buying second hand workout clothes. Gross!! however, I am committing to nothing new for 6 months unless my bathing suit and tri shorts become see-thru... nobody needs to see that!! I will curb any "it's just so cute" purchases though. Guess that first trip to lululemon will have to wait until July!!

7) The rest of my tri-gear... oh boy, tough to say... but everything else will follow the same rules, if something breaks in the next 6 months, I'll be going used! Excepting my helmet, safety first!

If I break a rule, then I have to post about it and why I broke it... so I'd better have a good reason.

I'm curious to see what challenges this leads to...

The one staring me in the face is that my 7 year old son needs a watch for school... will I be able to find one at a second hand shop? Let's see!!

What other rules do you think I should add?

Special People - an Update

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:17:00 +0000

THEY DID IT!!!!

Congratulations to Dani and Jason for accomplishing the "impossible" and proving that with hard work and dedication "impossible" becomes "possible".

Of course it took a lot of grit and determination along the way too!!

Dani broke the solo ride across florida record. She rode 422 miles in 27 hours and 54 min. Here is her post about the event: Relentless Forward Progress

Lots of folks have asked me why Dani chose Florida. Several years ago (Nov 2006), she was down in Florida to support friends racing Ironman Florida when she was struck by a drunk driver while on a training ride. Drs told her she would never ride or run again. This ride was her way of saying "you didn't get the best of me". Way to Go Dani!!!!

Yesterday Jason finished EPICMAN in Oahu. He toughed it out when his body was screaming at him to stop and finished in 49 hours 10 min; FIRST OVERALL MALE!!

I think Jason may still be sleeping :D but once he posts his story, I'll be sure to link to it!!

Also, it is NOT too late donate to the charity he was racing for: Humble Heros

Humble Heroes Mission Statement: Humble Heroes is a 501c(3) charity committed to standing behind the men and women in public safety. The purpose of Humble Heroes shall be to assist Police Officers, Firefighters, and their families by providing financial and moral support to those who have been seriously injured or fallen ill, while building solid relationships between public service and the communities they serve.

For more information on how to donate check out Jason's blog: My Humble Attempt at a Charity Drive

Special People

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:02:00 +0000

I realized the other day that I am very lucky, very lucky in that I am surrounded by talented friends. Folks that are amazing photographers, writers, painters, business folks, therapists, community services savants, athletes, etc... the list goes on, I promise.

It's pretty freakin' awesome!

But today I want to write about two folks that are very special to me. They inspire, they have drive and commitment and talent.

Some folks might say they need to be committed but I don't think so, I just think they are very special people, attempting things most people wouldn't even try...

Enter crazy #1 - Dani

You may remember her as the awesome support crew for my friend Jason's 100 miler (Best 13 mile run ever!) Well now it is Jason's turn to crew for her.

This sunday Dani is racing across the STATE OF FLORIDA!! She is attempting to break the record of fastest solo ride across the state...

How far will she be riding? roughly 420 miles

How long will she be riding? hopefully less than 27 hours and 58 minutes (the current record)

Her attempt is this SUNDAY, so before she leaves on Saturday it would be so super awesome if folks could head on over to her blog and tell her that she is so incredibly ready (BECAUSE SHE IS!!) and that she's going to kick some serious ass :D

at the very least, think of her on Sunday and send her some positive vibes and any extra energy you can spare!!!

GOOD LUCK DANI!!! Love you and I know you are going to be amazing!!!

SO, who is CRAZY #2??

Her sidekick/partner in crime/support crew etc... Jason

Yep, that guy from the best 13 mile run ever! The original inspiration for the quote

"No quit in this body. No quit in this mind!"

Jason will be doing EPICMAN on December 29... well, it STARTS on December 29... and finishes on the 31st... cutoff is 60 hours... what is EpicMan????

a TRIPLE Ironman... in Maui!

Yep, that's a 7.2 mile swim, a 336 mile bike and a 78.6 mile run for a total of 421.8 miles.

For more info, check out his original explanation.

as part of the lead up to the race, Jason is raising money for Humble Heroes in a very unique way, check it out over on his blog and I DARE you to not want to get in on the action!

and come December 29th send him your vibes and positive energy!!

Both of these guys have been training like crazy and they are already amazing rockstar athletes just for the INSANE amount of training they've been putting in... can't wait to see them both put it all on the line this december!!

Way to go Jason and Dani!!!

Get Seizure Smart

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:15:00 +0000

Today is the last day of National Epilepsy Awareness month!!

That doesn't mean that education has to stop. I am committing to posting at least one seizure awareness post each month of 2012 (and a bonus one this december!) :D

Did you know that 1 in every 100 americans HAS EPILEPSY?

For those folks out there racing triathlon with me, that means that in a race of 1000 people, 10 folks have epilepsy and they are possibly pushing their bodies to the limit.

Do you know how to help someone who is having a seizure??

Please take the time to head over to GetSeizureSmart.org and take their seizure smarts quiz. Just scroll down the the graphic "take the quiz". It is a pop up quiz, so you may need to "allow" for turn off your pop up blocker settings for this site.

I can't stress this enough... knowing this information could SAVE A LIFE!
One last thank you to everyone that followed me on twitter in the month of november for Epilepsy Awareness!!! I was overwhelmed by all of the incredible support!! Thanks to you all, I'll be making a nice donation to Epilespy Foundation, but more importantly we raised awareness and reduced the myths about epilepsy!!

If you are wondering why this topic is so important to me, please read my story here: Tri and Stop M.E.

My Favorite Race of the Year - Meadow Mile 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:06:00 +0000

My oldest son started at High Meadows for Preschool. As soon as he was old enough, we started running the meadow mile each year. It is a mile fun run that they hold on the morning of Fall Festival. The emphasis on spending time in the outdoors is one of my favorite things about High Meadows, and the Meadow Mile is an extension of that.

The first time we ran, I'm fairly certain I piggy back carried him for part of it...

There was last year when he held my hand for the entire race (but he didn't walk any of it!!)...

Then there was this year... no more hand holding (except at the start, whew!) and he ran the entire course... but this year the memory that will stand out is the look of determination he had on his face! It was so cool to see him set his mind to something and accomplish it.

And a day in which your kid says "I'm really proud of myself" is a wonderful day.

He fought hard and finished strong!

and I tried really hard not to be "that mom" as I encouraged him around the course. I was pretty vocal though :D

Congratulations to my big boy! 1 mile in 10:27 and he earned a medal placing 3rd in his AG.

post run celebration dance?

isn't this what we all run for? :D

"Mom, I'm really proud of myself"

Proud of his big brother

the vanity shot

We won the cake walk at the festival!!

Playing in the teepee at Fall Festival

What happens when you miss the moon?

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:41:00 +0000

Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.
W. Clement Stone

I'd heard this quote before or other variations, aim for the stars, you might hit the moon or something like that. In fact, I wanted to make sure I was getting the quote correct, so I went to the tome of truth, GOOGLE... and I found some funny stuff... My personal favorite being a comment on the quote above

When you miss you will end up in the vacuum of space where there is no air to breath and the half of you facing the sun will fry while the other half freezes solid. Source(s): Ask a science/physics/astronomy major.

And as much as I like to be a sunny, positive person, there are occasions where the above comment strikes me as completely appropriate. This post is not so much "how I'm feeling about missing out on Kona this year"; but more what I learned on a journey that had me reaching for stars, had me positive I could make it there and then fall into the vacuum of space where for a bit, it felt like I had no air to breathe...

I had heard about the five (or seven - depending on which article you read) stages of grief, and while I am not purporting that failing to reach a goal is the same as loosing a loved one, when you dedicate so much of your life to something (the healthiness of THAT is left to another debate haha), and it doesn't turned out as hoped, you experience a loss.

The five stages of grief
Another tome of truth, WIKIPEDIA, was consulted for the following:

The Kübler-Ross model, commonly known as The Five Stages of Grief, was first introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying.[1] The stages, popularly known by the acronym DABDA, include:[2] Denial — "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me." - Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual Anger — "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; '"Who is to blame?" - Once in the second stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage and envy. Bargaining — "I'll do anything for a few more years."; "I will give my life savings if..." - The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow postpone or delay death. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made with a higher power in exchange for a reformed lifestyle. Psychologically, the individual is saying, "I understand I will die, but if I could just do something to buy more time..." Depression — "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm going to die soon so what's the point... What's the point?"; "I miss my loved one, why go on?" - During the fourth stage, the dying person begins to understand the certainty of death. Because of this, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time crying and grieving. This process allows the dying person to disconnect from things of love and affection. It is not recommended to attempt to cheer up an individual who is in this stage. It is an important time for grieving that must be processed. Acceptance — "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it." - In this last stage, individuals begin to come to terms with their mortality, or that of a loved one, or other tragic event.

These "stages" are interesting to me, because I would think a "stage" would be something you move through and leave behind... that doesn't seem to be the case as I feel like I've gone through several of them, several times and I think I'll keep doing it for awhile.

Denial
I'm pretty much done with this one... I went through it right around mile 10 of the run. For anyone looking for a sporting accomplishment you really can't be hanging around here too long... it's pretty in your face. Guess what, Kona doesn't roll down to 11th place.

Anger
now this one comes up more likely than I would like to admit... especially because the only person to blame is myself. "I should have had a better nutrition plan" "why did I stop taking in calories at mile 90?" "I should have thought to start eating on the run or at least take some Liquid Shot" As my mom used to tell me "we 'should' all over ourselves"

Bargaining
I'm not certain about this one... I do tend to bargain more like "next time". Next time; I'll eat better, I'll train harder, I'll train smarter...

Depression
I tried to stop this one from happening, or at least rush my way through it... I signed up for a sprint race two weeks after Louisville, I went to Chicago and GSSI determined to solve my GI issues, I decided to race the HalfRev in Anderson to prove I could be faster... but it happened anyhow. If this were written on paper you would see tear stains. I have my moments where I think "what the hell was I thinking, I can't do that!" "all that effort wasted, all that time away from my family" This where all the GUILT comes in to play. I feel so GUILTY about, not only, taking all that time to myself to train, but also the times I was present but not "here" because I was exhausted. To think, "it's okay, because I'm being a positive role model for my kids about taking a chance, trying to achieve a goal, etc." but then you don't reach the goal. So now I'm trying to show them how to take that and turn it into a positive and lean from it... that doesn't mean I'm not still pissed and upset (oh look, here we go through those "stages" again) ha ha

Acceptance and Hope
So we come to Acceptance and Hope and you'd think once you got here, you'd be done.... well, that would be wrong, at least in my case.
About two days after Louisville I was already here. Well and truly! I was proud of what I'd accomplished on the day and hopeful that I would be out there again giving it a shot. I believed in my abilities almost more than I ever had. This was pretty cool.

I'd reached for the "moon" and had fallen among the stars... I wasn't in a vacuum of space, but floating and light and able to accomplish anything I set my mind to.

But life isn't a neat little set of stages that you can put into a book... life is sometimes a freezing vacuum of space, and sometimes is bright and sunny and floating and filled with immeasurable potential.

You hear people say "I don't regret taking the chance"... you hear it so often, it starts to loose it's meaning... or maybe I never really understood it until now...

I really laid my heart out there this year... I recently re-read my posts from the beginning of this journey
"Believe"
"Dreaming"
"Step 1: Get a Theme Song"
and the comments on them are so awesome! And reading them made me ask myself... am I sorry that I put all of this out there? Do I wish I had kept it to myself so that I didn't have to feel embarrassed (for lack of a better word) when I didn't reach my goal.

And the truth is simply "NO"

Perhaps there are people out there who thought "my, she's a little full of herself" or something along those lines.

and I really don't care.

I DO NOT REGRET TRYING TO MAKE IT TO KONA
I certainly don't regret having everyone who reads this blog and leaves awesome and lovely comments in on the journey. :D

I have no idea how I'd be feeling as a person sitting here a week and a couple of days since starting the race in Kona. I don't have a picture of that person.

However, I do know one way that she'd be much different than the person sitting here writing about NOT getting there.

The person sitting here right now knows that it is OK to reach for a goal and not make it. and sure, we do this a little bit each day... but those really big goals, the ones that you have make changes for, the ones your FAMILY has to make changes for, the inconvenient and tricky goals. even those, it's going to be okay if you fail.

You have to take that experience (and all the mess that went with it) and learn something new about yourself. You take your opportunity to PAUSE and think about what it would have meant to you to achieve it and do you want to keep fighting for it.

Your life continues on and it is still at turns amazing, crappy, mundane and glorious.

Goals keep us focused. They keep us motivated. They keep us moving FORWARD.

They help us DREAM and BELIEVE

and I don't ever want to give up on that.

Do you have something you want to achieve?!? Don't bottle it up, put it out there!
Comment about it, Blog it, tweet it, Facebook it, or just tell your best friend. Make yourself accountable and GO FOR IT!!! You might achieve it!!!

and there is always a chance you might fail. WHO CARES?!?! You will gain something from the experience either way.

I wanted to write a post about missing your goal without making it personal. I failed miserably. You know what? I don't care. I learned something about myself.

So, tell me, what do you want to achieve??

Rev3 Anderson SC HalfRev Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 03:34:00 +0000

I was really excited to race at Rev3 Anderson, mostly because not only were a TON of my Trakkers teammates coming in for the race; but, because it is so close to Atlanta, a lot of local tri friends were going to be there as well.

I was also excited about implementing my new Nutrition Plan for the race. I'd kind of "Frankenstein-ed" a nutrition plan taking what I thought were the best parts of all of my plans from the past and combining it with the information that I received from Gatorade Sports Science Institute on what works well for me. If anyone just wants to read the nutrition bits, I've put them in orange blocks below.

I was worried about how my body would race - after IMLou, my priorities took a definite turn and triathlon moved pretty far down the list. As any Mom knows, anything out of the ordinary (in this case, mommy being gone for a day and two evenings) can really throw the kids for a loop. While I received great data from my experience at GSSI, it definitely made things difficult at home and after that trip I just focused on staying healthy and taking care of stuff around the house. I stopped making workouts a priority, so you can imagine how many of them I completed. :)

While I wasn't positive I would have a bad race, I knew I wasn't going to have the race of my life. Knowing that, totally took the pressure off. I was ready to head up to SC and just race for fun, because after all, isn't that why we do this sport? For the joy and sense of accomplishment?

So on Friday night I headed off to Augusta, where I was meeting my Dad to hand over the boys. My Mom and Dad watched the boys at their place for the weekend, and I drove north to Anderson.

I almost ran out of gas in an area without cell coverage... but that's another story.

NUTRITION PRE-RACE

One of the biggest reasons for racing was to test out my new nutrition. This included changing my pre race eating. Friday I ate fairly normally, maybe had a bit more protein that normal (not by design, just because the food at the restaurant was yummy! - We ate at Club Havana in downtown Anderson. I recommend it!! - it IS a cigar bar, but the ventilation INSIDE is amazing, but there is smoke so just a prewarning) It was nice to just eat like a normal person and not pay attention to EVERYTHING I put in my body. So the big change here - RELAXED

Saturday Morning
I woke up feeling awesome on Saturday. I'd had a great night of sleep and I was able to sleep in until almost 7:30! Then I lazed around a bit. I had a meeting with a potential client at 9am, and it went really well. It put me in a very positive mood. As soon as I could I headed over to the expo to meet up with my friends (who also happen to be my Trakkers teammates). There were a ton of us and soon enough I'd found two people to ride and run with before the practice swim. Or at least that's what we were supposed to do :D Anthony, Josh and I rode all around Anderson trying to find the road in the directions, turned out, we had made one TINY wrong turn. It was fine, but we did end up missing our chance to spray folks down with TriSlide before the practice swim.

I wasn't too upset about the getting lost, I think we got in a better ride because of it, and since I'd been on my bike so little, I wanted to get some cobwebs worked out.

Practice swim felt awesome and then Josh and I went for a nice 15 min easy run. That was great because I'd been wanting to get a chance to chat with him and I hope he didn't mind me trying to give him advice on his downhill running. I love running downhill and just letting gravity pull you down the hill (hips first keeps your feet under you)

Saturday night the team all met up at SummaJoe's again in Downtown Anderson. Kristin and her friend Sarah and I all drove over together, anxious to get dinner and get back to watching Ironman World Championships on the computer :D SummaJoe's was also yummy and I ordered Shrimp and Grits and they were delicious. We also had a great waiter, Brayden, so if you go ask for him :D

Night Before Nutrition
I ate shrimp and grits the night before. My usually pre race is Chicken and Sweet Potato, but to be honest, I haven't been able to eat a sweet potato since Lou so I knew it was time to try a new pre race meal. I was planning to avoid dairy and I really didn't think about how much dairy would be in Shrimp and Grits when I ordered it... but it was super yummy and I ate a lot of it. That night right before bed I also had a lean performance Mix1 to top off the tank as it were

RACE DAY
Alex had to get up early on race day to set up a sales location at the swim start (it was several miles form the expo) so that if people needed last minute items they could get them. This was nice because I knew I was going to wake up in time for the race... less anxiety meant I slept better than usual.

I'd put all my nutrition together the night before... here was the new plan:

Breakfast - same as always, 1 pack Justins Maple Almond Butter, 1 banana, 1 Mix1. This is what I'd had for IMLou too. I didn't drink the Mix1 right away, but sipped on it once I got to transition. Now for the new stuff...

I mixed my First Endurance Pre Race with Gatorade Prime. I drank half the Prime about 40 min before race start. I drank the rest of it mixed with PreRace about 20 min before race start. The good news? I finally found something that covers up the taste of PreRace haha. The bad news... the Grape Prime, while it tastes great, turned my toungue black ha ha.
My tummy was feeling a bit full at this point and I was a little nervous about getting through the swim without puking, but I was fine in the end.

SWIM

I lined up for the swim with my friend Andree. It was a comfortable moment as we both were in our own heads a little. A light moment was when Sean, the race announcer, spotted me lined up for the swim start and told everybody that it was Alex's and my 12 year anniversary. It put me in a good frame of mind and helped remind me of the great support system that I have. Happy Anniversary Sweetie!! (I know some folks might think it strange that he was working and I was racing on our anniversary, but it worked for us :D)

Me and Alex pre-race - Celebrating our 12th Anniversary

The swim was fairly uneventful. I found a little pod of ladies and so I swam in the back of that group. I'm still not super great at swimming straight so I would find myself veering away and have to swim back to them. I was super comfortable in my TYR Cat 5 Wetsuit, it is so easy to swim in, but I knew I wasn't swimming "fast". I was at a comfortable pace and I chose not to push it because I knew it was going to be a long day for me. Again, I was really unsure of how much fitness and endurance I had remaining from Lou training.

As I exited the water I was feeling pretty good (always glad to get the swim done) and headed up to T1. I pulled me arms out of my wetsuit and was pretty happy with the time I saw on my watch.

Swim 1.2 miles - 34:17

T1
I know it sounds silly but as I ran through T1 I felt like a rockstar because there were so many teammates and friends doing the Olympic and they were all in and around transition (the Oly starts late to allow them to reset the swim buoys). Everyone was yelling out times to me and how far people were in front of me. It was fun! I was giggling though, because I knew I didn't have a "race" in me, but that doesn't mean I wasn't going to try :D T1 went smoothly and pretty soon I was out on the bike course

BIKE
I had heard that this was a tough bike course. I figured since it was in the same area as the Tugaloo Olympic that the terrain would be similar. This actually turned out to be the case. I really enjoyed this bike course. It was a lot of turns, also a lot of up and down, very rolling. A lot like the loops on the IMLou course. There were also some good long sections of just steady slight uphill, I really like that type of terrain and I knew it was a course that suited my strengths. Unfortunately, my legs just never had that extra "oomph" in them.

So I tried to ride smart and really pay attention to my nutrition. I passed a lady possbily around mile 20? I passed her on a flat, then she passed me back on an uphill, then I passed her back... etc. We were also mixed up with some guys at this point and I think both of us were doing our best not to get caught in a "drafting" situation. At one point I'd passed her and she came by fairly quickly and I wasn't expecting her and she kind of shocked me and I said "Geeze!". Well of course I was really worried that she thought I was complaining about her conduct, so I hurried to pass her back and explain. I said "sorry, you just scared the crap out of me when you passed!" when I rode by her. Well, then of course I started worrying that THAT sounded like I was upset... I didn't see her again so eventually I stopped worrying about it.

Nutrition Plan on the Bike: 1 salt stick every half hour
1 NUUN (iced tea - has caffeine) in my aero drink to start - drink during first hour
Drink 1 bottle of liquid every hour (I need to increase this to 1.5 bottles I think)
Take 1 Gatorade Perform at second Aid Station mix with water on course to total 3 bottle of liquid during bike
1 Flask of First Endurance Liquid Shot - take a "sip" every 15 min (alternated with Gu chomps) - this totaled three servings during the ride or 300 cals
1 package of Gu Chomps (peach tea - has caffeine) - eat one every 15 min (alternate with LS) - this was four chomps or 90 calories
Total Calories on bike : 550 (as opposed to IMLou where I took in 650 for the ENTIRE 112 miles).
I almost doubled the amount of calories I was consuming - I did it with products that I know have been sitting well in my stomach all season added to the cool weather my stomach didn't have any issues with this at all.

Around mile 35 I had a guy fly past me, it seemed like maybe he had had a mechanical and was trying to get back to where he was. I must have been motivated by him because I kept him in my sights for a bit. Then he sat up a bit to eat, and I passed him on an uphill. Oh we was NOT happy about that!! He goes flying by again and we start the dance all over again. This was EXACTLY what I needed to keep me motivated to keep working to the end!! Things were actually going pretty well for a bit... Then as I'm making a left turn I hear a high pitched WHINE and I though on no I have something rubbing, I was checking my brakes, etc. and a guy rides past me and says "your spare tubular is rubbing on your wheel in case you don't know!" THANK YOU!! So I pull off to the side and try to figure out what happened. I don't know how long it had been rubbing, there was a HUGE hole in the spare. I re-cinched everything up and was on my way again PRAYING that I wouldn't flat. I noticed about 5 ladies pass me while I was on the side of the road. OH WELL.

T2

I made my way back to transition, still feeling pretty good, but emotionally I really wanted to be done. My friend Carmen had mentioned that after mile 10 of the run it was mostly downhill, so I tried to convince myself that I only had 10 miles to run haha. As I pulled into transition, I spotted Alex standing on the side of transition next to the row that I was in. There weren't many bike around, but there was one RIGHT next to mine, so because of how the racks were done, and we'd put our run stuff in the little "boxes" once I'd racked my bike I basically boxed myself out from my run stuff. I had to shimmy in between the two bikes to get to my stuff. I also had a smorgasbord of food because I wasn't sure what was going to sound good to me on the run and it took awhile to stuff all of it in my pockets. It was a really long transition. :D

I had an entire conversation with Alex.
Alex: How are you feeling
Me: Not too bad
A: you are about 10 min behind the leaders
M: yeah? how are you feeling?
A: tired
M: yeah, I bet. Okay, see ya later!

As I ran off Alex yelled, YOU DROPPED YOUR CHOMPS! I turn around and decide they don't sound good and just leave 'em behind. One of our friends was working transition and was able to run them over to me as I made the u turn at the end of transition. So nice!! Thanks Scott!

RUN

Nutrition Plan for the Run
My plan in Louisville was simple... COKE, seriously I had no other plan for the run.
In Anderson I decided to try the Gatorade Prime. It had worked so well during the carbohydrate tolerance testing at GSSI that I thought it would be worth a shot.
Just in case I also brought along another flask of Liquid Shot,
a package of Chomps,
a GU in my bra strap
and salt tabs in my SpiBelt.
My plan was to start with the Prime (in a flask in my back pocket) and Salt Stick.
This worked great. The PRIME didn't upset my stomach and the types of sugars it's made of seemed to give me a more sustained energy than just the pure sugar of coke.
I also grabbed coke at almost every aid station. I felt clear headed for the first time EVER on a half or full distance run

The only problem with being clear headed - I FELT EVERYTHING!! My legs were moving but not moving fast. I made a promise with myself that I wouldn't look at my pace until mile four. Because the Olympic folks were out on the run course as well, there were lots of folks out there, so I just used people as "goals" and tried to pass them. I was serious "muscles screaming at you to stop" pain but because of the extra calories (or so I think) I was able to stay mentally strong and not give in and start walking. I saw my friend Shanks at one of the turn around and he seemed so close, I just kept trying to reel him in, but it seemed like we were running the EXACT same pace.

But it kept me going... I told myself, I don't care what your pace is, your goal for today is to stay steady and strong - no walking no stopping. I also pulled on the knowledge that my friend Jason was 22 hours into his 24 hours mtn bike race and I knew he wouldn't quit. What I didn't know at the time was that he was in first place and ended up winning it and breaking the course record.

Around mile 5 or so I passed the lady from the bike. As I ran past her she said "did you have a flat or something" and I said "yes" (just easier to explain while running). She was so sweet, she said "I think there are two ladies in your AG up ahead, go get 'em!" I said thanks and then we ran our own races. (I actually saw her as she finished, she was very cool, came over to me to say hello, we exchanged "congrats" and "good race"; I love meeting people like that on the race course!)

I only stopped once and that was to stretch my quad when it started cramping around mile 10 (which by the way was a long uphill, you were SO WRONG Carmen ha ha). I was popping Salt Stick like it was candy and was genuinely bummed when I drank the last of the prime that I'd brought with me. I finally passed Shanks in the last mile, on an uphill. I was so sure that I was almost done, when the nice volunteer told me I had to take a left turn AWAY from the finish line I about collapsed. But again, I say it's because my mind was working because I had enough calories, I was able to keep my wits about me and finish the last section.

FINISH

As I am coming toward the finish line, Alex is waiting for me. I thought "that's nice, he's going to run into the finish with me on our anniversary". But then I noticed he's got a HUGE grin on his face. He says "You are going to finish with a great time, so I'm not going to mess with you, but listen to the music" I can barely hear it, which is odd, because Rev3 finish line is usually ROCKIN' and I'd heard the music for about the last mile of the race... then I realize they are playing "Endless Love", the song we had played for our First Dance 12 years ago. As we are running down the finish line, I can see a ton of our friend lining the barriers with cameras. Alex says "look up at the Jumbotron" and as I look instead of the picture that they took of me at check-in, they have posted our wedding photo with a message from Alex at the bottom. SO SWEET!! It was a very special moment and I'll remember it forever. Thank you hunny!!!

I ended up finishing the race in 5:23:07 which is an 11 min PR. It was probably the easiest Half course that I've done, so I was hoping for a PR, but I really wasn't at my "fighting fitness" and I wasn't sure how far I'd be able to go on that day. I was ecstatic about the PR, I was especially happy with my nutrition on the day. I would not have been able to do it unless I stayed mentally tough on the run and I believe that having more calories in my system gave me a big boost of mental energy. The other awesome part of the day, after a quick break for my legs (I had Alex let me lay on the ground once we got out of the finish chute) I was able to be up and around pretty quickly NO MED TENT!!!!

This report has been a bit all over the place, but the big thing was nutrition break through. I found that my body can actually handle a lot more calories than it could previously during a race. I know some of that has to do with the temperatures being so mild, but to almost double my calorie intake and NOT suffer GI distress is a HUGE boost of confidence and it gives me HOPE that I can perform to me expectations in a half and full distance triathlon soon!!!

The Rev3 Age Group Highlight Reel: (my anniversary kiss at 8:05 thanks rev3 :D)

I haven't mentioned it yet, but I had made a bet with my friend @ClydeWatts (Slayer) over twitter and Facebook. We were racing for charity - whoever won all bets would go towards their charity. No one really bet on us (I was told it was because picking between the two of us was like choosing which one of your children you like better, you just don't do it). So if anyone didn't bet because they didn't want to choose sides... now is your chance. The Slayer kicked my little patootie!! He won by 22 min (the spread was 18 min)!! Congratualtions Slayer!! Please consider a contribution to his charity the GA Transplant Fund, please consider making a contribution because not only is he an incredible athlete he's one heck of a person and it's a worthy charity!! http://www.active.com/donate/gtf/HGayer

This is how awesome Rev3 is for families, just a little picture of what they have available:

Big thanks to my teammates for their support throughout the day, you guys were awesome!!! Of course a big thank you to my awesome husband for being so thoughtful and making a big deal on our anniversary!

Also, I have to thank the folks at Gatorade Sports Science Institute and the folks involved with Inside Endurance. It's been such a fun experience and the fact that I have been able to make positive changes in my training and nutrition gives me so much hope for the future. I look forward to implementing the Gatorade Pro Series products in my training and racing next year.

Now it's time for a little rest before I ramp up for BOSTON MARATHON!!!! Whoo hoo!!!!

My visit to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:27:00 +0000

Sometimes in your life things work out very nicely...

and so it was that 2.5 wks after Ironman Louisville, I found myself with an opportunity to go to Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) in Chicago for a day and a half to undergo some sports performance testing.

The testing was done under the umbrella of the "Inside Endurance" project. From the press release:

This year, Gatorade is following amateur endurance athlete Ryan Sutter as he trains for and participates in four uniquely challenging races as part of the online content series, Inside Endurance. The weekly, documentary-style program will follow Sutter as he works with the world’s leading sports scientists from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) who will help him make small changes to his training and nutrition that can help lead to improvements in his overall performance.
To fully understand what it takes to prepare and fuel like a pro, Sutter will also train with and receive insights from elite athletes like Chris Legh, Dathan Ritzenhein, Shalane Flanagan and Michellie Jones. These immersion sessions, coupled with Sutter’s work with GSSI, will provide endurance athletes of all levels with tangible methods that they can utilize as part of their training.

If you haven't checked 'em out yet, they have already posted 3 episodes of the series at Triathlete Magazine: Episode 2

The goal of the testing was to get an insight into why my long distance races have been plagued with GI issues.

Normann Stadler puking it all back up in Kona - an example of my unfortunate habit on the bike of most half and 140.6 distance races.

My difficulty has been trying to figure out why I have issues in races, when I do not have issues during training. My nutrition issues are very frustrating to me because this is something I can control, but it seems so far out of my control. I know that it is holding me back from breaking through to the next level of racing. (As evidenced by my nutrition breakdown at Ironman Louisville - I do think it is fair to say that my nutrition is the biggest contributing factor to what kept me from reaching my goal of qualifying for Kona)

I was lucky to be traveling with my friend Shanks. Shanks is getting his graduate degree in exercise science so it made for pretty interesting discussion.

Shanks and I had a bit of a laugh when arriving to the airport in Chicago. We'd been told there would be a car waiting to take us to the airport (how very posh) and we wondered whose last name would be on there... how could they pick between holding a sign that said "Shanks" or "Poon"

They went with the safer one:

We were supposed to fast after 10pm so our first order of business was to head to dinner and eat something. This year I focused a lot on my nutrition and had been following Metabolic Efficiency Training (MET) all year. I stopped following it strictly when I started heavy training for Ironman Louisville. (basically in the month of July). Since the race though, I'd been pretty much on a normal diet but I hadn't really introduced pasta and bread back into my diet. So when we decided on Italian - bread knots, pizza, beer (for Shanks) - I was wondering what it might mean for my results. But I'd decided I wanted tests that reflected my NORMAL eating habits as much as possible. So Italian for dinner... YUM!!! I hadn't eaten like that in months!!

After dinner it was off to bed and early to rise!

TEST DAY!!!

We met everyone in the lobby of the hotel at 7am. I was STARVING and had no coffee... probably wasn't at my most cheery :D

First order of business: Bod Pod

Okay, I'm a girl, so I have to say the idea of knowing my body fat % kind of scared the crap out of me. Going in to IMKY I was definitely the leanest I'd even been in my entire life.

But let's be honest, that was two weeks ago, I'd been eating ever piece of chocolate and bowl of ice cream I could get my hands on! (no bread though haha) The BodPod was fairly painless, the only tough part was tucking all of my hair up under the little lycra swim cap. They warned me that it would be a bit claustrophobic, but the little window helped. I sneaked a peak at my results before they ushered me into my next test (of course). ha ha

The next step was Vo2MAX testing.

The Vo2Max Testing (or FATMAX as they referred to it) was designed to identify the point at which my body burns the most fat as fuel. The test also takes us to our Vo2MAX point so that we can see how our body uses fat v carbohydrate fuel in every zone.

Here I am with Shanks learning about the protocol from GSSI scientist Melissa:

They put a mask on you to collect your breath and then pinch your nose so that you can only breath out of your mouth. You've all seen the Nike ad with Lance doing the test (What am I on? I'm on my bike...)

What you don't realize watching someone take the test is that your mouth gets so dry and you can't swallow and the really not so pretty part? Your drool drains out of a tube onto the floor... yeah no one ever pointed that one out to me before.

They start you out super easy at 90w. You ride for 3:00 and every 3:00 they jump up the resistance by 35 watts. So with about 10 min you go from super super easy to about half IM effort by 12 min you are pushing it... I lasted 21 min.

So that's the science - how did it feel? Very easy at first and then a bit harder, as it the increased the resistance watts it felt more and more like climbing a hill and then it became like climbing in the north GA Gaps. The resistance felt like much more than what they were saying - more like 400w than the 200w (and eventually 305w that I ended up at). As soon as my cadence slowed the resistance became greater and it was impossible for me to pick it back up. The test was supposed to be done when I called it because I couldn't keep going; true to being a triathlete I just kept going until they called it for me... No Quit right?

It's pretty interesting how that all showed on my results.

After that we were finally able to eat!!! They gave us some G Pro Series Recovery Shake and it was like manna from Heaven!! That stuff is packed with calories but they recommend you drink half immediately after workout and the rest as a snack several hours later. I've heard that recommendation before, but this is the first time I've seen it on the packaging. Pretty interesting.

After a bit of lunch we hung out for a bit before heading out to a park for a 90 min run.

CARBOHYDRATE TOLERANCE TESTING

The point of the 90 min run was two fold. The first was what they call "Carbohydrate Tolerance Training". This sounded very intriguing to me. If there is one thing I don't tolerate well during a race it's too much carbohydrate. And here I had these guys telling me that I can actually train my body to accept more carbohydrate and they were giving me the protocol with which to do it.

An Aside: Once I returned home and saw the first episode of Inside Endurance I was surprised to learn that 5-time Kona finisher, Asker Jeukendrup is a Senior Director at GSSI. These theories had sounded familiar to me and I realized the were more refined versions of the theories I first heard from Asker in his inerview on Competitor Radio; one of my first introductions to sports nutrition. It was pretty exciting to me to know that he was involved with this project.

I've got one word for this... SWEET!!

The other point of the 90 min run was "Fluid and Electrolyte Balance testing". This entailed putting big square band-aid like patches on our forearms to collect sweat while we ran. They would then run the collected sweat through a machine that would analyze the concentration of electrolytes lost through sweat (i.e. are you a salty sweater) They also weighed us before and after our run. This was to determine how much fluid we lose.

This brings me to my favorite part about the testing - every part of the day, whenever it made sense, they gave us tricks/ideas to take home with us to improve our training and increase our knowledge of how our bodies need to be fueled. It was a rather cool day in Chicago (about 60 degrees) which meant I was barely sweating as I'd been training in 100 degree weather all summer in Atlanta. Melissa stressed to us that they were just showing us how to weigh ourselves before and after our workouts and run the calculation, because our fluid loss would very based on conditions. One thing I found very interesting is that our concentration of electrolyte per liter of sweat would not change. That is not to say you don't loose MORE electrolytes on a hot day, just that the reason you do is because you are sweating more.

So the way the Carbohydrate Tolerance Training works is that we ran 1 mile loops around the park. At the end of each loop we would pick up a water bottle filled with G Pro Series Prime. We were instructed to drink as much as we wanted, we did a smaller 1/8 mile loop and hand the bottles back. Here are Shanks and I on the bottle hand back:

They tracked how much we drank in fluid and carbohydrate. Shanks and I decided to really test it, we started out slow (about 8:00 /mi pace) and then progressively increased our speed to sub 7's... the idea was to see if our bodies accepted the carbohydrates differently at different HR.

First of all, I have to admit, I really liked the flavor of the Prime, even though it was super sweet. Secondly, I had one of the best long runs I've had in awhile. It wasn't until mile 11 that I started to feel the effects of the Ironman in my legs.

Throughout the day I spent at GSSI, once I got over the awe of being in the same testing facility of some pretty amazing athletes (pictures of Mia Hamm on the walls were a pretty cool reminder), I was impressed with the attention to real quantifiable science. Anything they presented us with was backed up with numbers and data, not just anecdotal evidence.

Shanks and I heading to the airport still sweaty from our run :D

MY THOUGHTS

I started the day with a bit of a chip on my shoulder about Gatorade products. I thought that they were for high school kids and recreational athletes. I think it's pretty clear that through the time spent at GSSI and my data results meeting afterward, I've changed my views. I'm still trying out the products and I'm a bit wary of HOW MUCH carbohydrate they recommend using, but after seeing the results of my testing I have to give it a shot.

TEST RESULTS

If anyone is interested in the nitty gritty data, let me know, but in a nutshell I found out the following things from my testing:

After a year of using MET diet and training protocol my FATMAX watts are still disturbingly low. My crossover point (where I start burning more carb than fat) is also disturbingly low. To fix this the folks at GSSI recommend doing more training at my FATMAX point, after a 10 hour fast and without carbohydrate. This is fairly similar to MET, but the training is at a much lower intensity, and they recommend these types of workouts only 1 a wk or every 2 wks - instead of ALL of your early season training without fuel.

On the flip side of this coin, they also recommended the Carbohydrate Tolerance Training (CTT) at least once per week.
I like this plan because it seems more balanced. One on hand, they agree the best way to fuel your Ironman would be using mostly fat stores in your body. But they also recognize that our bodies really like to burn carbohydrate so let's training ourselves to be able accept as many of them as possible without getting sick.

FINDINGS INTO ACTION

I'm really anxious to put all this to the test. I'm going to try some new stuff at Rev3 SC HalfRev this weekend, but not too much new stuff. I'm certainly not ready to the full dose of Carbohydrates they recommend.

The nutrition plan that I followed at IM Lou had me consuming at total of 650 calories for the entire ride. Yes, that is about 110 calories an hour. Before anyone jumps down my throat I will clarify that this is EXACTLY what I trained with ALL SUMMER. This is the amount of carbohydrate (CHO) that I can currently take in over many hour ride without getting sick on the run. It equates to about 43g of CHO per hour.

GSSI reccomends that I shoot for 70-90g per hour... yes about double... can you say GI distress!!!

So they recommend that I do the CTT and increase by 5g every week. Right now I'm ready to try about 50g per hour at Rev3 Half Rev in Anderson this weekend. We will see how well the tummy tolerates it.

ANSWERS TO MY PROBLEMS IN LOU

I love the fact that I have an action plan to try for the next few months and test out. It also makes me happy that I'd already decided no 140.6 next year. It gives me a chance to really flesh out the theories and put them into practice and determine what works best for me. (Another thing I liked about the Gatorade folks, the stressed over and over that they are designing a system that will work for most, but everyone needs to determine what will work best for them specifically - this is exactly the type of stuff that we hear from the folks at First Endurance and I trust their products and science too).

So do I know what happened to me in Lou? We don't have a definite answer for the actual lower GI distress (I think I might have eaten too differently that week); but we do know why I couldn't run faster between my potty stops :D I know why I felt like I was running in a tunnel the entire run and why I couldn't think clearly. My FATMAX testing showed that at the watts I trained at all summer long, 110 calories an hour would cover my losses because I was still burning mostly fat... however, increase that by 10 watts and we are looking at a very different Fat Burning v Carb burning ratio... yep, just 10 watts harder on race day pushed me into the red zone... I was "bonking" coming off the bike... how I managed the run??? well, I guess I have the simple sugar of Coca-Cola to thank for that!!

PUTTING IT TO THE TEST IN SC at REV3 HALFREV

Like I said before, I'm not going too crazy in SC. Just going to increase my calorie/carb intake a bit. Thinking I might try bringing the G Pro Prime in a hand-flask with me on the run. Originally I was pretty pumped to have a great race in S.C. but after fighting some cold/allergy issues over the last few weeks and limiting training for fear of being un-recovered from the IM. So I'm either going to be out of shape or I'm going to be well rested. I'm going to go with well rested :)

The numbers in case anyone is interested:

FATMAX watts: 100
Crossover point: 150w

Max watts: 274w
Vo2Max (bike): 52 ml/min

Body Fat%: 19%

Sweat Rate: 0.83 L/h

Sodium Loss: 0.9 g/L

I'd like to thank the folks at GSSI for treating us so well and taking the time to meet with me individually to go over my results and setup a training protocol. I'd also like to thank them for sending me the photos included in this blog of the testing we did at GSSI.

Disclosure: As part of the this testing, I received from Gatorade the testing and results data as well as a nominal amount of the G Pro Series Product.

Let me know what you guys think of the testing and nutrition protocols!! Are there any things/topics I didn't cover? I look forward to reading your comments!

Tri the Parks 2011 John Tanner 2 Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:42:00 +0000

Alrighty... I have a few thoughts swirling around in my head for some serious posts, some "almost off season thoughtful" posts, but I'm just not in the mood for writing them right now. I want to write about something FUN!

When people heard that I was planning to race John Tanner Sprint just two weeks after Ironman they frankly thought I was nuts. This coming from people who would think about running a marathon after Ironman...

I am the first to admit that to be successful at sprint triathlon you have to have a considerably different fitness than you need for IM, but it sounded like fun and I wanted to see my friends. To be honest, I needed to race again after Louisville, and I needed a race that was just about enjoying the sport.

Alex was out of town (at the Rev3Tri Cedar Point race!!!!) so I asked a friend to come over to watch the boys while I raced (Thanks Kelly!!!). She arrived at my house at 5 am, so she got up pretty early to do this.

The drive to the race was uneventful, I was excited to race and a little nervous. It did occur to me that if I raced a solid race I would most likely be done in about the same time as it took me to swim 2.4 miles in the Ohio river two weeks before.

It was fun hanging with my friends, All3Sports folks, Endurance Concepts folks, Team Trakkers folk, etc. before I knew it, it was time to head down to the race start. I turned my watch on only to find that it was out of battery. I had it charged full the day before, but I must have left it on in my bag overnight.

So I went for it and just raced Colleen style - naked. :D

SWIM
From the get go, I felt great! There was some jostling at the start but I soon found my rhythm and a pair of feet. I followed those feet around the course because they seemed to be doing a pretty good job at sighting for the both of us. As I neared the last turn around I realized that I'd been following my friend Yvonne's feet the entire time. I also figured out pretty quickly that we were 1 and 2 out of the water. This was a bit of a HUH?!?! moment for me as swimming is not normally my strong suit.

T1

This is where the hilarity starts... as in Jill removing her wetsuit, which thanks to my TriSlide came right off, but I have really bad balance and it took me awhile to get the suit off my feet. As I'm removing my suit, Yvonne (with a fast T1, I need to take lessons from her) runs past me with her bike out of transition. I was a bit slower (about :45 second slower), but quickly (for me) got my shoes, helmets etc on and headed out of transition.

BIKE
Now before the race I was super smart and put my bike in the small chain ring. I did not think to look at my rear cog... yep, hardest gear, bike start is up a hill.... I could not for the life of me get clipped in! I probably got off my bike (so that I didn't fall) 4 times before I was finally able to clip in and be on my way. Such a rookie mistake!! Clearly, I am a woman who is used to long distance races, where seconds don't really matter. I think conservatively this took about 30 second - possibly 45. If I have one word of advice for people - CHECK YOUR GEARING BEFORE YOU RACK YOUR BIKE :D

Now on to the bike itself... LOVED IT!! It was just a gorgeous morning, sun was shining, blue sky, cool air. It was just lovely out there! The course itself is pretty downhill in the beginning, then moves to constant rolling hills (with some raised effort level), the very end is downhill back into the park. Since I didn't have my watch I had no idea how fast or slow I was going, so I just kind of went for it. I was also trying desperately to catch up to Yvonne, and while I knew I most likely wouldn't see her again I used her as a carrot.

The miles were ticking by quickly and before I knew it I was back at the park!

T2
This went MUCH better than T1 but was still considerable slower than other folks. Oh well, I'm a long course racer, we are just lucky I didn't put socks on :D

RUN

The first part of the run felt great. I had a bit of cramping in my calves when I started, but I always get this on this course (or maybe all sprints). I took a quick shot of GU Rocktane and was able to keep the cramping at bay. This was also my first influx of calories and I'm glad I decided to take it. I was having a good time on the run but the hills were really slowing me down. I had been at probably low end Z4 for most of the race (a place I'm just not used to lets be honest!) and getting my body to respond to those hills was a task. There is an out and back section and I was able to confirm that I was still in second. Yvonne was much too far in front of me at this point to contemplate catching up with her (and she's a much faster runner than me anyhow), but I was pretty ecstatic about being in 2nd! So I just willed myself to keep running as fast as I was (a pretty slow 7 min mile pace for a sprint but folks, that's about as fast as I go these days so believe me I was feeling it!!). Thankful for the out and back because I knew how far I had to go to the finish!!

As I headed into the finish section I was running next to a guy that just wouldn't let me pass him (there was plenty of room and I was fine with it) I wanted to get past him, but I just didn't have another gear. I pushed it as hard as I could to the line.

After we finished he thanked me for pushing him :D of course he had to reach down to shake my hand as I had collapsed at the finish; more from relief at being finished than anything else!
And for the good news - NO MED TENT !! yeah, I know it's a sprint... :D but it's the first race this season without a med tent visit (BTW something I'd NEVER done before this year, so I guess I was just catching up)

I had no idea of my splits or time, but I didn't really care, I was really proud of my race and just simply happy that I was able to RUN to my expectations!

As we looked at the results it appeared that I was in fact 2nd Female overall, so I decided to stick around for the awards ceremony.

As it turned out, someone from the wave behind us sneaked in and beat me by :39 seconds. :D Oh yeah, I was totally regretting those lost seconds trying to get on my bike, but that's sprint racing!!

So I'm completely happy with 3rd and so glad that I raced. I think it helped me see that I really have improved this year and that I have a lot more potential in me.

Final Results:
600m Swim: 0:10:53.1
T1: 1:14.9
13.8 mi Bike: 39:38
T2: 1:01
3.1 mi Run: 21:58
Total: 1:14:46

The cool thing about these numbers:
I swam 1:30 faster than I did in a 600 m sprint race last year
I have REALLY slow transitions :D
My Bike is the fastest MPH I have ever biked on this course (they changed the distance of the course to be a bit longer so I can't compare times)
the Run was actually a bit slower than I have run at this race in years past - I'm using the "I just completed an Ironman" card for this one :D

It was a great day and I think the Tri the Parks series is one of the most well run race series around. We are so lucky to have them for our local Tri series!!

Now if someone can tell my where the rest of my right arm is in this picture, that would be great!

Probably my favorite picture of the day, yep, that's our Clyde Watts!:

IM Louisville 2011 Finish Celebration and Thank yous!

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:50:00 +0000

I mentioned at the end of my race report that you can't do IM alone. It is so true, you draw support from almost everyone you know.

To view the MIDNIGHT finish line CELEBRATION video, scroll to the bottom of this post.

My race report was in three parts:
Pre Race and Swim
T1 and Bike
T2 and Run (and FINISH!)

MY THANK YOUs
First and foremost - my family, my husband Alex was the first person to encourage me to sign up for IM Louisville after I finished Cedar Point FullRev last year. He always believed in me, even when I didn't believe in me. He also was a rockstar on race day, taking care of the boys and updating twitter and FB with my status. It's a LONG day and he was amazing. My kids, they (for the most part) willingly spent HOURS at the Lifetime Fitness child center so that I could get workouts in over the summer (normally I try to get the bulk in while they are at school, but summer vacation gets tricky). They are great because they LOVE coming to races and cheering and the really love the medals I bring home for them :D My mom and dad, because they were supportive even though they think I'm crazy :D My brother and his family for always encouraging me and taking the time to send pre race good luck messages!!

My coach, Laura Sophiea, I never would be where I am without her guidance and support. She was the second person to encourage me to sign up for IM Lou. She always seems to know just what I need to hear to get me ready for a race. She also seems to know the best workouts to get the most out of my potential. Laura and I had the opportunity to ride and run together a lot more this year than in the past (Her Gaps tri camp was a HUGE turning point in my season) and it was such a blessing to have had that time to soak in some of her experience and wisdom.

Maria Thrash, who helped me all winter long to improve my swim stroke (I swam 3 min faster than I expected at IMLou). But more than that, she was a huge source of support, she is the best at pushing you farther than you think you can go. Thanks Maria!!!

My teammates - I love the entire Team Trakkers team (we will be Team Rev3Tri next year, but more on that later). Whether it was on Twitter, Facebook, via Email or Texts these guys were always there when I needed them. Sometimes for support, sometimes a laugh and sometimes a good kick in the pants! :D And our sponsors are amazing!! Thank you Kestrel, TYR, First Endurance, SBRSports (TriSwim/TriGlide), Canari, Recovery Pump, and Avia.

The entire staff at all3sports - these guys are the absolute best, always there to answer any of my questions, help me make decisions and keeping my bike in awesome shape! Big thanks to Gary Lucero, I love riding my Kestrel and thanks to Gary is fits perfectly!!

My Atlanta area Tri Friends - We are so lucky to have such a great group of folks involved in triathlon in Atlanta. So many inspiring stories and people. People of good heart and character, it's a great group to be involved with.

As he's known in the Twitter world, Clyde Watts, for always being supportive (and coming up with my own hashtag :D - it's #poonstar) and always being good for a kick in the pants when I needed it. Mr. IronMikeTri got involved in that too :D

Thanks to Matthew Rose of Dynamo Multisport, for lots of great advice and including me in the Dynamo Louisville and GA Gaps training camps. They were integral!!

Thanks to Steve Thomas for all the great advice during the long rides!!

Thanks to Kati Derrick, Andree Miceli and Kristin Deaton for being my "rocks", I am so glad I got to know you guys this year, it made a huge difference in my life! Thank you for your friendship!

Thanks to Kacie and George Darden for all the virtual cheering AND cheers in the GAPS when I was really suffering in the heart of my training. You guys helped me remember the big picture :D

Kelly Street, thank you for being one of the people my kids love most in the world and coming over at crazy early morning hours when I had long rides and Alex was out of town.

A really really big thanks to Jason Overbaugh and Dani Grabol for inspiring me to never give up and always strive to be my best!!

Thanks to "PLAY" activity center in Roswell, GA for being a place that my kids love to hang out when the gym isn't an option.

I never would have made it to the start line of IMLou physically ready to have a great race if it hadn't been for the constant and wonderful care of my Massage Therapist Rick at Synergy Release Sports and my awesome Chiropractor Dr. Pam Stone of Stone Family Chiropractic. Both of them not only helped my physically, but also listened to a lot of bitching from me, thanks for listening guys!!

Last but certainly not least, all of the folks on Twitter and Facebook that sent me your virtual support and cheers. I have been overwhelmed by the amount of support I received from people!!

So obviously is takes a lot of people to get someone to the finish line of an Ironman. Thank you to everyone!!

One of my "bucket list" items has always been to be at the midnight finish line celebration of an 140.6 race. I missed it last year at Cedar Point because I was back on mom duty as Alex was working. This time Alex was able to stay with the boys (i.e. get some well deserved sleep) and I met Andree and her husband Chris out at the finish line at 4th Street Live! for some yummy TGI Fridays shakes and fries and to cheer in the late night finishers.

Here is the video of our experience!! I hope I've been able to capture the emotion of the moments.

Ironman Louisville 2011 Midnight Celebration from tribirdie on Vimeo.

IM Louisville 2011 Race Report - the Run

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:09:00 +0000

I feel like that title should have sinister sounding music after it...

"The run" dum - dum - duuuuuuuuuummmmmm!

But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Transition 2

When we last left our intrepid warrior she was screaming into the city of Louisville feeling invincible!!

It was a great feeling let me tell you!

and then I got off my bike... stiff, sore, all to be expected. I started running with my bike shoes on and quickly decided that was silly so I took 'em off and running became much easier.

Then I took the turn to get my gear bag... I went down the wrong lane... okay not a huge deal, the volunteer ran it over to me and then I headed into the ladies change tent... a little annoyed that they women's tent was further away than the mens.

I found the nearest chair and just collapsed into it... in the matter of a minute I went from feeling awesome to hellish. It was as if once I no longer focused so intently on my bike I realized all the other sensations that I was feeling.

It seemed like I was the only other person in the tent. The volunteers dumped my bag and asked me what they could do. I just looked at them as if I didn't even understand them. I didn't know what they could do... I just didn't know what I was supposed to do next. Our conversation went something like this:

Vol:"What can I do for you"
Me:"I don't know..."
Vol:"well, do you want your socks?"
Me: Yes, I want my socks, I'm going to put my socks on
Vol2: can I get you anything? Water? Perform? Cola?
Me: (pearking up a little) Yes! Cola! (said as if I was accepting nectar of the gods)
Vol1:do you want your visor?
Me: Yes (speaking slowly) yes, I want my visor... where there pink sunglasses in there? I know I want my pink glasses (side note: they are lighter weight than my cycling glasses and I like them better for the run)
Vol1: yes, they are right here! What about this nutrition, I've got a flask and some gels and...
Me: just stuff it all in my back pockets... yeah, just stuff it all back there...
Vol1: what about this? holding up my DeSoto wing coolers
Me: YES, I need that, can you help me put it on? It's like a shrug. (These ladies totally understood shrug and got thing on me in no time)

it went on like that until I was able to get myself standing up, race # belt clipped on and headed out to run.

While I was running out I thought, I should use the porta potty... but for some reason I ran by it... no idea why...

THE RUN
So I head out on to the run... I'm starting to feel a bit better, especially helped by hearing the cheers and specifically someone calling out my name (I'm pretty sure this was Meredith my trakkers teammate! She is getting ready to rock it out at Rev3 Cedar Point FullRev in a little over a week. Thanks for coming to cheer us on Meredith!!!). My legs actually felt pretty good, but I wasn't moving very quickly and I still really had to pee.

I changed my watch to read total race time and when I saw 7:07 on there I was a little freaked out. I really wanted to be right around 7:00 at this point. For some reason that extra 7 min was really upsetting to me. I'd always told myself not to worry about my time, to take each section as it's own piece of the larger puzzle. But I DIDN'T do that here... all I kept thinking was "you aren't running fast enough, why aren't you able to run faster?"

The first little section on the bridge was uneventful. There was a lady in yellow compression socks in front of me and it looked like she was running great, I was just focusing on her and letting her lead me around. I saw Andree as I got off the bridge which was awesome because I knew that meant she'd had a great bike and was on the run without incident. yippee!!

As I ran off the bridge I saw Gerry Halphen. He asked me how I was feeling and I said not great. I wasn't hot, I just wasn't able to run very fast and I felt upset about that. I also had to pee and while I tried to do it while I poured water on myself at the aid station, I just couldn't relax enough to get it done. Gerry told me that I needed to relax my shoulders a bit and that helped a ton. I started to just focus on my form and remind myself that it was a long run and the speed would hopefully come around.

I saw Alex and the boys around mile 3? maybe? not sure... Alex told me that I was in 6th place and looked great and "go get 'em".

This is a still from the video he shot while I was running past.

I finally stopped to pee and was a quick as I could be about it... but it was like I'd let niagra falls loose. Soon after this I started getting cramps in my stomach muscles... then I had these searing pains run through the lower half of me...

I walked the next aid station, trying to get some cola in me and get ride of the gassy feelings...

Running again and things started to feel worse... finally I stopped into the next porta potty and well... I did my business :)

I kept thinking that I would feel better after each stop... and I would for about .5 mile or so and then it would all come back... and I still wasn't running much faster in between each stop....

At every aid station I'd take my sponges and ice and then I'd get the cola and walk for a bit to drink the cola without choking on it... I could see on my watch that my pace was getting worse and worse and my gas/pain/GI issues weren't getting any better... finally around mile 14 or 15, I'm not sure exactly, I went in for another porta potty stop... and instead of getting my business done and getting out, I just sat there...

and I thought about quitting. I thought, well, there is no way you are going to Kona now... and I'm not even sure I can go another 12 miles.... Maybe I'll just stop right here and sit on the side of the road. I am just so very very tired.

I wish I knew what made me get up again. but the important thing is I did.

I got myself out of that place and I went outside, accepted another cup of cola and walked for about 15 feet. And then for no other reason than that's just what I did, I started running again.

Just running.... I just kept thinking about the next half mile, and then I started thinking about all the reasons I needed to keep running (self respect being one of them there was no reason for me to not run... my muscles were still working after all). Eventually, I made my way into the city and to the turn around. I saw Meredith cheering near the finish line and then I looked up and saw the finish line.

and I made the decision that it didn't matter how, I was going to run down that finish chute. After all, it's just 10 more miles!

As I rounded the corner I saw Alex. He asked me how I was doing and I just told him that things weren't good in my tummy. He just said... "you can do this, there are people in front of you, go get them!"

And so I tried! I ran steady, not super fast but steady. No more potty stops needed... I just plugged away at the next miles. I was walking aid stations in an attempt to get more coke and keep cool. I tried to thank the volunteers as much as possible, but I know my voice was weak.

One really nice moment was around the 17 mile aid station. The cola girl handed me my cola cup and said "You have the best hair out here" That made me smile. I never have the best hair :D Maybe she was saying it to everyone, but hey, I'll take it!

Another thing to mention the Dynamo folks and my coach Laura were all over the run course. Telling me I looked great (I knew it was a lie, but I went with it). I want you guys to know that your cheers ment SO much to me, even though I wasn't really able to acknowledge it at the time!!

right around mile 20, I realized that I was catching up to people that I'd started the run with. And the lady in her yellow compression socks wasn't that far in front of me at the turn around... It gave me a bigger boost to know that was feeling stronger as the day went on.

Right around mile 23 I did some calculating and realized that I could still finish faster than 11:25 (my time at Cedar Point last year) and I thought that was something worth fighting for... so I kept running and stopped walking aid stations. I stopped one last time to try to pee, which was silly and nothing came out anyhow, even though I felt like I really needed to go.

The city came into view... things stalled for a bit as I kept expect to come to the left hand turn that was right before the finish... it wasn't there, it wasn't there and then finally I saw these little orange cones in front of me. I thought they were a mirage for a moment but then I realized people were taking a left turn... I ran down that street, and knew just one more right hand turn and then you are at the finish.

I thought a lot about what that meant during those last 3 miles. I wanted to really enjoy the moment. So I ran down that chute, I high fived anyone with their hand out and I raised my arms in triumph!

I really made a show of it!!

I did it!! I finished another Ironman!!! and at that moment I didn't care about Kona, I didn't care about my time, I was just so happy to cross that finish line having completed all 140.6 miles of the day.

IRONMAN! One of the best feelings ever!

Run Time: 4:12

Total Time: 11:20 - 11th W35-39

The Aftermath

After I crossed the line I found the true meaning of the word "catchers". I will volunteer for this job someday soon to pay it forward (Take note Rev3 folks, I'm your girl at CP in 2012). My catchers were spot on! These ladies walked me over to the chip folks, collected my medal, shirt and hat for me. I think they were about to send me on my way when I saw my training partner Adrienne, her husband and a bunch of dynamo folks off to the side. I went to give Adrienne a hug and went I stepped forward I started to fall. My catch was the only thing keeping me from kissing the pavement. A woman who seemed like the "judge of who needs to go to medical" came over to me. She looked at me and with no room for argument said, you need and IV and I'm getting you a wheelchair. I think I nodded mutely at her. I literally had no ability to stand on my own.

They put me in a wheelchair and took me over to the medical area. On the way there I saw my coach and when I saw her I just started to cry. I said "I'm so sorry! I tried as hard as I could". She had nothing but positive things to say to me. Eventually she had to let them keep moving forward with me. Once I got into medical they laid me down on a cot and took care of me.

so that made it 3 for 3 races ending in the med tent this year. Time to turn that trend around.

One of the things that stood out to me was that everyone around me was talking about Kona. It seemed like we were a room full of "kona-could-a-beens". I laid there on the cot with the IV fluid dripping into me and stared up at the ceiling. I just kept trying to figure out what the hell happened out there and then I started thinking about how I was going to get to Kona - someday.

I still have no idea how, but somehow by the time I was done with my IV and they were evaluating me for release, Alex found a way into medical and came and sat next to me on the cot. (seriously, Mdot is very strict about family in medical, I don't know how he got back there) and then I cried for the 2nd time.

We had sacrificed so much as a family to try to get me ready for this race, so that I would be in KONA QUALIFYING shape for this race. We changed a lot at home, I'd spent money and time and my focus for every decision had been KONA for so long. I had to take a moment to grieve.

A few days later with some perspective on my race I'm almost more hopeful than ever about someday qualifying for Kona. Coach Laura and I have run the post mortem on the race and come up with a strategy that we think will have me arriving at the next IM even stronger. That IM will not be until 2013. I need some time to focus on something other than myself for a long time. We (including my family in this because it impacts them) have been training for 140.6 for almost two years now. I went from having not attempted Ironman to having completed 2 Ironman distance races in less than 1 year (Sept 8, 2010 in Cedar Point at Rev3 was my first). I'm not going to stop doing triathlon (in fact I plan on doing a sprint in about two weeks) but we are taking a break from IM to help fill some holes in my abilities before building up to that distance again.

So like I said, I am filled with hope again. The journey to Ironman World Championships will be longer than originally planned but I'll get there.

Pizza and potato chips! and a banana :D

No one gets to the finish of an Ironman alone. My next post will be all about the FINISH LINE MIDNIGHT CELEBRATION and all of my thank you's to the people that helped me get to the IM Louisville 2011 finish line.

IM Louisville 2011 Race Report - the Bike

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:07:00 +0000

Transition 1

I ran into transition and ran for my bag. There was a volunteer there handing it to me, great volunteer support out there!! I headed into the ladies change tent and found a seat. There were about 10 ladies in there with me I suspect. I dumped my stuff onto the ground and easily found everything I needed. I had decided to run with my shoes in hand because the ground was pretty smushy and I didn't want to end up with grass and dirt in my cleats. I thought I had a super fast transition but Ironman Live results say 4:30.

Bike

As I headed out on my bike I saw my coach cheering her head off and yelling "great swim Jill!!" which was a very cool way to start my ride. I felt awesome heading out on the bike. I knew this course so well from riding it at camp and all of my little "milestones" in my head were ticking by. I also had Laura's words from earlier in the week echoing in my head "if you have a great swim, that's great, but that doesn't mean go flying off on the bike" So I checked myself, made sure my HR was coming down after the swim and that my watts were at their "first 30 miles of the bike course" level. The first water station is at mile 6, which seemed early, but they'd warned us at the Athlete meeting that they next aid station wasn't until mile 22, so I picked up some water without incident here. I was sipping on my aero brink with Strawberry Lemonade NUUN. It was doing it's job to settle my stomach from the swim. I also took in some salt tab as soon as I started the bike and kept taking one every 30 min. I also took in extra anytime my stomach felt upset.

As I turned onto the out and back section, I felt myself get blow a little to the left. Ahh, so there had been a tailwind on the way out. That makes sense :D I love the out and back section of this course. It's pretty turny and the downhills are so much fun and frankly that early on in the race the uphills felt like nothing. I was pretty focused on my watts on the uphill sections to make sure I wasn't blowing my legs out too early.

I saw some of my Dynamo friends on this section and they looked great!! One of my favorite parts of doing Louisville was seeing so many people I knew out on the course.

Before I knew it, I was taking the turn onto the first loop. Time to REALLY watch my effort levels. I was letting the big guys pass me and just sticking to my plan. Eating and drinking right on schedule. I only drop one water bottle at an aid station, but was able to easily pick up another at the end of the station.

Riding through LaGrange was a good pick me up. There was an unexpected headwind into town, so when you go in town and heard all the cheering it was a nice break from thinking about the wind and just soak in the experience. I think I had a huge grin on my face every time I rode through LaGrange. There must have been a Dynamo cheering crew out there because I heard "Go Jill Poon" while I was out there.

For the most part I thoroughly enjoyed this course. I did see some blatant drafting by two ladies which was frustrating, but I chose to see it instead as proof of how well I was riding. I kept them in my sight for about 30 miles and then I started catching up to them and eventually passed and left them behind me. I also traded off and on with a REALLY nice guy, Parnell, he was awesome and seemed super strong on the bike. Both of us were very respectful of each other and the draft zone and it made for some nice company out there. I lost track of him around mile 90 and would love to know how his race ended up. Of course you always have the guys that you pass and they pass your right back without ever exiting the draft zone and then park their butts right in front of you at their original pace. It's frustrating, but that's part of racing.

My second loop was stronger (according to watts) then my second which was the plan. I was starting to fade a little so I started adding more calories to my 15 min feedings :D (I ate a little something every 15 min). I was encouraged by how great I felt and then I found myself taking the turn at Sligo and realized I only had about 30 miles to go and it was net down hill. This was the point in my race plan where I was supposed to just go for it. Remember that tailwind from the beginning of the day? Well, now were riding right into the headwind. I adjusted my time goals to account for the headwind, reminding myself that everyone was dealing with the same headwind and also that it doesn't matter how fast you bike if you dont have any legs for the run!

I find my power data to be frustrating in a headwind, so I kept an eye on my HR, but really I went for it and found myself passing people right and left. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!

Also at this point my stomach started to feel a bit queasy, so I added in more salt and stepped back on the calories a little bit. I also did more climbing out of the saddle on the way home, to help go faster, but also to change up my muscles a little bit.

So here I come screaming into Louisville, I avg'd around 20.9 mph on those final 20 or so miles. Into a headwind, I was feeling proud.

I made the final turn into the transition area, and rode to the dismount line.

Next up RUN TIME!

Bike Time: 5:50 (Goal time 5:45)

IM Louisville 2011 Race Report - Pre Race and Swim

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:57:00 +0000

I'm still not sure I'm really ready to write this down yet, but I might as well get it over with...

On August 29, 2011 I raced Ironman Louisville. I was trying to qualify for Kona. I went into the race with the most positive outlook I'd ever had for a race. I was confident and calm, focused and ready. I had support from so many people and in so many ways. I was ready for this race. Finally.

I drove up to Louisville on Thursday with Ron, a friend of my husbands that I hadn't met before. Ron was doing his first Ironman and as fellow triathletes we had plenty to talk about. We fell in to easy conversation and before we knew it we were in Louisville!

Over Thursday and Friday we were able to get the lay of the land and figure out where we were in relation to everything related to the race.

On Friday evening we attended the Athlete dinner and athlete meeting. I'd heard so much about these events as being part of the whole IRONMAN experience; I didn't want to miss out. The athlete meeting was actually very informative and I was glad I went. I used a lot of the information on race day!

My family arrived late Friday night, I went with them for a late dinner at TGI Fridays at Fourth Street Live and it was cool to see where the finish line celebration would be. LOTS of smoking though, which I can't stand, so I think Ironman night is the only night I would go back to 4th Street Live.

Saturday morning I attended the practice swim. A chance to try out my new TYR Tourque skin suit (LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!). We were able to meet up with friend of the family Jeff (alex was bringing him a Torque he's ordered from all3sports). Jeff is an IM veteran (I believe Louisville was his 13th finish!!!) and he told me the Louisville course and transition area layout was once of the best he'd seen at an IM.

After a quick chat with Jeff, I hopped in the water or a quick 10 min swim. I swam up against current for 5 min and since I heard the current wasn't strong turned for home... ended up swimming back in 3:45. Yeah! we might have a good current for 2/3 of the swim! Best part of the day was Alex (who had been with our boys watching me swim) said "did you mean to swim so fast?" "No, I was just doing an easy swim" "Well, you were passing people like that were standing still"

My thought: YIPPEE!!!

I did my 10 min run as the boys were walking back to the hotel and after we took the boys to Einstein Bros Bagels for breakfast!! where we ran into Gerry Halphen and I was able to hash some race strategy with Gerry which was great.

The rest of Saturday was pretty low key. We took the boys on the free trollys that run through downtown Louisville.

They love this kind of thing and I GOT TO SIT DOWN :D :D.

The sign says "Louisville, Possibility City" I liked the sound of that.

In the afternoon while Jason went to the Louisville museum with Ron's wife and kids and AJ and Alex slept in our room, I finally hooked up with my teammate Andree (we'd been kind of on different schedules all week till this point) to rack our bikes and drop off out gear bags. Being with Andree was great, she's got this IM thing dialed in and she is a very relaxing person to be around. She helped me with the lay of the land and it made me more relaxed knowing I'd be with her on race morning.

As we were walking back from gear drop off, Andree told me their dinner plans. I'd been wondering all week where I'd be able to find a restaurant that would have grilled chicken and a sweet potato for me to eat (my pre race dinner of choice). Andree said they were going to Outback! Whoo hooo! perfect! So we all (my family, ron's family and andree's family) headed over to INDIANA (just across the bridge really) to go to Outback steakhouse. It was a great dinner and we actually talked very little about the race.

As we said good night, Andree and I agreed to meet in the morning at 4:30 am to head down to transition and then to the swim start.

Race Morning

After hanging out on a street corner for 5 min with all sorts of Lou riffraff at 4:30 in the AM, Andree and her husband Chris come out of there hotel (right next to mine) and meet me at the aforementioned street corner. Good times.

Transition area was fairly uneventful, we had a plan and followed it. I had my "cheat sheet" that I had written with EVERYTHING I needed to do in the morning. Yes, it even had "put chip on". We had a small issue with getting air into my rear tire, but Andree had the magic touch and before we knew it we were heading out of transition. We stopped by the pro racks to wish our Trakkers Teammates Chris McDonald and Hillary Biscay good luck. Hillary was super cool and asked us what our kits looked like so she could cheer for us out on course. I thought that was very cool of her.

The walk to swim start line up is long, but it was actually very nice. Once we got to swim start the line of racers just kept going and going and going... I couldn't figure out how so many people had gotten there before us! Eventually they condensed the line and one of the volunteers told us we were fairly close to the front.

The portapotty lines were SUPER long and I eventually just opted for the "water the bushes" approach to my potty needs. Me and about 100 people all in line around me. Andree and I were both pretty low key, chatting a little, but conserving our energy for day.

When I'd imagined this moment all year, I thought I would be nervous as hell. But I wasn't anymore nervous than I had been for Cedar Point last year, in fact, probably less nervous. I did feel extremely focused. I kept going over my race plan in my head, but also chatted with the folks around us. Andree and I put on a little TriSlide demo for everyone when it came time to put our swim skins on.

We were pretty funny, talking about how great TriSlide was and then how much we loved our TYR Torque skin suits, and our TYR goggles, etc. The best part about it, was even though this is all our sponsor stuff, we weren't saying it because they are our sponsors, we were saying it because we really just like using this stuff. So awesome to have amazing sponsors with products you really believe in!

Before we knew it actually, we heard the cannon marking the Pro Start and then 10 min later the cannon for OUR START!! Go time! A toast of our 1st Endurance Pre Race shots and we packed up our stuff, adjusted our goggles and about 15 min later we were heading down the dock ramp and jumping into the Ohio river!!

The Swim
The swim was more congested than I had expected, but definitely less than a traditional IM mass start. I gave as good as I got and quickly fell into a great rhythm out there. I did so much work on my technique this year that I usually just concentrate on form the entire swim. I did feel for the first time that I actually raced the swim. Everytime I looked up to sight, I'd see pink caps and go after them. It didn't matter that I didn't know if they'd started 2 seconds or 10 min in front of me, I was going after 'em!

I felt like I was passing more folks than were passing me (just perception) and it gave me a big confidence boost. It seemed like it was taking a long time, but I just kept telling myself, you are going to be swimming for over an hour, it IS going to feel like you are out here a long time.

As we got into the open Ohio river after the turn around, things got a bit choppy and I did feel a little "bobby" out there. My least favorite part of the swim was tasting the diesel fuel in the water. The worst was as you swam under the bridges. It was like breathing car exhaust.

I kept my steady stroke, the image of Dynamo Masters coach Maria Thrash in my head. I thought about all the stuff she'd taught me and just swam. The final TYR bouy came into site and I knew I was done with the swim!! YIPPEE!!! 1 2.4 mile swim done, NO panic attacks! yes!

I didn't have any trouble getting my feet under me as I ran into transition. I passed by some folks and ducked under the arms to two guys running side by side and chatting. "excuse me guys!" I said and I heard from behind "you go girl!" Gotta love that!

Swim time: 1:07 (hoping for 1:10)

A good start to the day!

Things I Know

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:51:00 +0000

Yesterday I tweeted my excitement that we are only 6 days (well now 5) out from Ironman Louisville.

One of my friends replied back asking how many Kona slots would most likely be available in my Age Group.

My reply to her was:

usually 3; the plan is to race my race and let the slots fall where they may :) control what I can control :)

I've been saying this in some form or another for several months now, but somehow seeing it so succinct, in a tweet, it really hit home.

Control What I Can Control.

I can't control how many slots there are, I can't control who shows up or how fast they are, I can't control the weather or a bunch of other variables of Ironman racing. But there is a lot that I can control. There are a lot of things that I know for certain...

So here are the things that I know:
I know my body is prepared to race the race I want to race.
I know my mind is ready to fight for what I want.
I know my family is cheering for me.
I know my friends and Trakkers/Rev3 teammates are cheering for me.
I know I don't care what the weather will be. It will be what it will be and I'm okay with that.
I know I have a solid nutrition plan.
I know that I have good simple back up plans should my original nutrition plan not work for some reason.
I know my bike is tuned and ready to go. (thanks to my awesome husband!)
I know how to change a tubular should I get a flat tire (and just in case I put a cue card with steps for changing a tubular in my bike bag)
I know the bike course and I know I have a solid race plan.
I know there is nothing more I can do for my hip/leg at the point, but give it rest and know that I can fight through any pain it might present on race day.
I know that what does not kill me makes me stronger.
I know that I am stronger than I was last year.
I know
that I am ready for this race, I'm ready for this fight.

So here I come Louisville. Let's lay it all out there and see what happens!

Those crazy ironman anxiety dreams...

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:51:00 +0000

The pre ironman race dreams have started! you know the ones where you show up on race morning without your bike?

Mine are pretty telling about what I'm currently preoccupied with...

The first one was about a week and a half ago... I showed up to the race start only to find that you had to crawl through a mile long plastic tube (like the kind at a McDonalds playground) to get to the race start. There was about 6 inches of water running through the tube as well. When I arrived at the race start, I found that I had forgotten all of my nutrition and the only way to get it was to crawl back through the tube and then back again with the nutrition!

The next one I had I was riding the bike and every time I picked up a bottle on the aid station I inexplicably dropped the water. I continued to ride getting more and more dehydrated and I imagined that I had that little "salt ring" around my mouth a la Lance Armstrong's famous TT hydration issue.

Frequently I show up without nutrition... once I showed up without anything to wear... I was in my pajamas...

The most recent was that instead of swimming in the river, we had to swim in ponds and run x-country between each pond. Halfway through the swim I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was 1:40 into the race! I thought to myself... "well, no pressure now".

So clearly, I have some anxiety about being prepared for the race.

RACE COURSE
I'm feeling pretty confident about knowing the bike course thanks to IM Lou Training Camp.
The swim I'm still worried about, but I figure there will be plenty of people to follow out there in the river.
The run seems pretty mellow in terms of the course (everyone says pancake flat), it's just the heat that gets ya - no shade.

GEAR
I picked up my WTC Legal swim skin at all3sports last week. Check out my sweet new gear:
TYR Elite Torque Swimskin
Under the Torque for the swim and for the entire course I'll be wearing super comfy my Trakkers Tri kit from Canari. I've been wearing it for my long rides and runs and have determined where I need to add extra trislide to avoid chaffing :D It may seem silly, but I found a sport bra that I like and still works when it's soaking wet after the swim.

Bike and Wheels are working great. I'll be riding my Kestrel 4000 that I love love love with most likely Zipp Firecrest 808's. (They are new, not in photo below...)

I have my lucky all3sports visor with my own special motivating phrase written in Sharpie on the brim.

I also have my Nathan Sprint handheld, which normally I keep my First Endurance Liquid Shot in, but I'm thinking I may just fill with ICE at Louisville (Which mean I need to find another way to carry my LS, probably I'll just put it in my SPI belt with my saltstick)

I do still have some gear issues to sort out...

I need new goggles
I still don't have a great way to store all the "tire change" gear on my bike. My last couple of races, I've just been stowing a can of Espresso in my back pocket and hoping for the best.
Hydration system - right now I use the standard AeroDrink bottle on the front. and I have three bottle cages, one on frame and two on back. The concern is grabbing watter bottles at aid stations and having them launch out of the rear cages because they are the disposable water bottles... Thinking about a speedfil system, but I'm not sure how easy that is to fill while you are riding (anyone have any comments on that?) and the other idea is the Profile Design Aqua Cell. I'm thinking since it is bigger, I'll be able to get more water safely stowed away quicker after the aid stations. That's a big decision for me right now as I feel hydration is going to be KEY in Louisville because of the heat.
I'm also toying with the idea of arm coolers or shrug. I've hear lots of mixed reviews on them. I had a chance to try some and they seemed uncomfortable to me... but maybe a different brand would work better. Anyone have any advice in that area??
Need to buy a new pair of CEP Compression socks, just because mine are wearing out... trying to decide between White and Trakkers Green :D A lot of folks have asked me why socks and not calf sleeves - I like the compression on my feet too AND I haven't had any blister issues with the CEP socks (knock on wood).
I know I'll use my Garmin 310xt as my watch, but I still have to determine what fields I want to show while I'm in multisport mode. I'll have my powermeter (Quarq Cinqo) readings dislayed, but I haven't decided beyond that. What do you guys show during your race?
all the other stuff I haven't thought about yet :D

NUTRITION
I'm still working on this... Ive been doing a lot of experimentation the last couple of weeks. I started at 100 cals an hour and have been slowly adding things to the buffet and am now up to about 120 cals an hour. I've also changed the order that I eat in... putting more of the liquid cals at the front of the ride when the weather is cooler. I've added Larabar as a solid and Gu Chomps (Peach Tea they have 2x caffine and a lite flavor) as a mid range. Of course I still have First Endurance Liquid Shot and EFS Sports Drink.

The most important change I think has been to increase frequency of calorie intake (a little bit every 15 min) and also add more SaltStick (one every 30 min) and most importantly WAY MORE WATER. From one bottle an hour to 1.5 bottles (and I'm shooting for closer to two). In the beginning of the ride these extra non calorie liquids are NUUN. Towards the end of the ride it's just straight water (more to cleanse the palate than any other reason) so I add in some extra saltstick to make up for no longer having NUUN.

I don't have it nailed down yet, but I'm working on it. A big test will be the century ride and 6 mile run I have coming up this weekend.

So the planning and list making has started and hopefully that will help with the anxiety!

I'd love to hear anyone's comments on plans so far or advice on some of the gear decisions to be made!

It could be terrible or be great! You Choose.

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:26:00 +0000

There is a song that I've been enjoying the last couple of months. It made me chuckle at myself because is was by a band that also performs a song that I'd ALWAYS made fun of and is now so overplayed I want to rip my eardrums out when it plays on the radio at the gym. (thank goodness for ipods!!) So anyhow, I felt, okay this is a cheesy song, but I really really like it and couldn't figure out why.

Today in the car, my 6 year old son asked me to play it, but I didn't have it on my phone, so I looked it up on YouTube and found this video. At the beginning of the video, the lead singer introduces the song and it's meaning:

"Everyday when you wake up you get to choose what that day's gonna be. it could suck or it could be amazing, it could be terrible or it could be good, and I kind of have a theory that you could decide to make whatever day it is a good day." -Ryan Tedder

Ah! that's why! I feel the same way, cheesy or not! Not only can we approach each day like this, but each moment!

So without further ado, a song guaranteed to get stuck in your head and be so overplayed you will one day need to cover your ears when it comes on to the radio but I will always love:

Good Life - One Republic

Dude... there is no crying in the Tour de France!

noreply@blogger.com (Jill Poon) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 21:02:00 +0000

Okay, that's completely not true, that's how you know it is CRAZY tough out there because grown men, TOUGH grown men are regularly reduced to tears.

And I'm totally okay with that... it think its actually pretty awesome and heartwarming. it's such a testament to how much these guys put into this beautiful race.

but for some reason the fact that Cadel Evens ALWAYS sounds like he's about to cry really grates on my nerves. I'm sure he's a great guy (I have no reason not to think this so I'm just going with it) and this is most likely just the timbre of his voice, but it always sounds like he's whining...

Let's take for instance a little quote from the beginning of the tour this year... I'm paraphrasing, but it went something like this

You can't be confident because it comes across as egotistical, but...

and it got me thinking... why is it that confidence in some folks comes across as egotism and in others it just makes you love 'em more?? And the bigger question, what's so bad about a little egotism?

For example, in stage 13 Thor Hushovd executed perfect tactics to win himself a 9th individual Tour de France stage victory. After the race he said:

The plan with the attack was actually to get through a small advantage so I could do my own rhythm up there ... I knew riders like Moncoutie wanted to attack and when he attack I could not follow—I think I did a good move there, and my tactic worked out perfectly.
-Thor Hushovd

This is supreme confidence, and yet coming from Thor did not seem egotistical.

I find myself fascinated with this, because the closer I get to Ironman Louisville the clearer it becomes to me that if I am going to succeed there, I need to be confident, for sure (and I'm still working on that), but do I maybe need to be, dare I say, egotistical?

Unfortunately, it's my nature to be a little more, well let's just say, self-effacing. That might make me more comfortable when I'm talking to people. (It means less pressure, because you never said you could do it, you said non committal things like "I'll do my best" or "we'll see what the day has for me"). It takes the pressure off, but to succeed, you probably need the pressure on. Maybe not in the over the top olympic hopeful "your parents have sacrificed everything and taken a second mortgage out on your home to get you here" kind of pressure, but just enough to make you believe you can do it?

I don't know, I'm still trying to figure it out...

I would guess though that Thor didn't start out the day on Stage 13 thinking, "I'm never going to make it over the top of the Col d’Aubisque with the others, I guess I just wont even try". And when he found himself in a position to attempt a win, he took stock of his strengths (time trial, finish line speed) and his weaknesses (climbing, he's a big guy for those mountains) but he didn't let his weaknesses beat him, he figured out his tactics (attack when he could, give himself some time, hope he could descend like a mad man without incident and then kick some major ass to the finish line) and he went for it. I'm not saying in all those kilometers he never doubted that he'd win, but I have to believe he felt fairly confident that if he kept pushing he'd make it.

So just what is the difference between EGOTISTICAL and CONFIDENT. What makes one "tiresome" and the other "awesome"?? Do they go hand in hand, and it's just the delivery of the quote?

The dictionary definition of Egotistical is:

e·go·tis·tic [ee-guh-tis-tik, eg-uh-]
adjective
1. pertaining to or characterized by egotism.
2. given to talking about oneself; vain; boastful; opinionated.
3. indifferent to the well-being of others; selfish.
- via Dictionary.com

The dictionary definition of Egotistical is:

con·fi·dent [kon-fi-duhnt]
adjective
1. having strong belief or full assurance; sure: confident of fulfillment.
2. sure of oneself; having no uncertainty about one's own abilities, correctness, successfulness, etc.; self-confident; bold: a confident speaker.
3. excessively bold; presumptuous.

hmmm... not TOO different there... what jumps out at me is the "indifferent to the well-being of others, selfish" in the definition of egotistical. Yeah, that sounds pretty bad... but can you really be thinking about others while you are out there? I mean was Thor thinking of breakaway leader Jeremy Roy (in his first tour de france, going for his first tdF win)? No. Jeremy's would have been a great story too and for sure he deserved to win just as much as Thor; but that's not how it turned out.

So, yeah, Thor of was "selfish" and you know what, in this instance, that's totally okay!

It makes me ask the question... Is ego necessary to succeed? confidence? both?

I have to say, for sure confidence, because if you don't have confidence you are most likely going to give up (even if just a little) when things get tough, because you don't believe that you can push through it and survive. And you can gain confidence every time you push yourself in a tough workout and find yourself kicking butt at the end of it. That builds confidence.

but is EGO that extra bit of FUEL that you need to really really go for it? An unwavering belief in yourself and that you WILL succeed?

Every time we toe the line we have to have a little egotism in there or we wouldn't push for PRs. A PR is accomplishing something you've never done before. "I've never done this, but I think I can today"; Isn't that egotism? or just confidence?

I guess in the end it doesn't matter WHAT label you put to it. And since we aren't pro athletes with sponsors to make happy or reporters to give acceptable quotes to it doesn't matter WHAT other people think about us (egotistical or confident).

For me, I'll keep thanking the volunteers and giving a "good job" to anyone I see out there that seems willing to accept it, because that's what I LIKE to do... but I'm going to work on this confidence thing... maybe even get a little ego... it might just do a mind some good...

What do you guys think? ego, is it necessary? is it necessarily bad or good? should it matter?

and most importantly what do you think is the most important thing YOU DO to succeed?

apologies if this is rambling, it was total brain sneeze :D

In other news... how awesome is this photo by amazing Eric Wynn of the Rev3 Race in Portland!! Makes me want to make sure I'm out there for the race next year!! View the entire series on Slowtwitch!