This Girls Got Goals

Girls Best Friend is an all female  3 Disciplines Racing  event located in Vicksburg, MI.  Since this is 2:30 hours from home,  I got a room in Kalamazoo.  Mark booked me a room with his points at a Marriott - much nicer than the rooms I have stayed in at other races this season!  I worked packet pick-up on Friday afternoon.  I always love talking to the other athletes.  It was a little slow, but was able to help a few athletes that would be doing their first tri :-)  I love this sport! After a great night of sleep, I got out the door at 6:30. I barely caught the sunrise.  If you know me (or have been reading my blog), you know that the sunrise on race morning is important to me. Before the race I set my goals.  I wanted to make sure I was racing myself and nobody else.  After reflecting on Nationals , I knew that I wanted to race my race.  I knew I wanted to PR, so I set my 3 goals accordingly.  My previous...

At Tri Goddess Tri in July, I qualified to compete in the Age Group Nationals Olympic Distance. I hadn't thought much about going to nationals until that race.  I looked online and learned that top 25 in each age group would make Team USA and go to World's representing Team USA, which is in Chicago next year.  I looked at times from last year and determined that there was no way I would make the team racing the olympic distance.  When I looked at the sprint distance times from last year, I thought I would have a much better shot if I stuck to the sprint distance.  So I signed up, changed my training focus, and allowed myself to believe that I had a shot at the Team and the awesome Tri Suit with my name on it. I drove all afternoon on Thursday, and got to Milwaukee in time to pick up my packet on Thursday evening.  Pretty awesome swag!!  Got a jacket, a cinch sack, and a SweatVac hat.  After packet pick-up I headed to my friend and sorority si...

Race for the Border was held on Belle Isle on July 27th.  Since this one was close to home and there was a Super Sprint, Melissa (my 12 year old daughter) decided to race, too.  She trained a little bit, but she is much more interested in race day than practicing :-)  I have done a few races at Belle Isle, so I knew there would be weeds in the water that could cause her to panic, so we went out on Saturday to swim in the Detroit River a bit to make sure she was ready.  She took this on our way home after the swim practice, she was fine. I don't normally have spectators, but with Melissa racing too, Mark and Tyler came.  It was nice to have them there to cheer me on and take pics :-)  Before the race started, I looked over and saw one of my former students prepping for her first race.  She had been training and fundraising as a project for school.  I knew she was racing, but she was originally going to be at a different race.  It w...

I am totally stealing this idea from Swim Bike Mom , to do a race report after the race.  To remember (and share) the details as best as I can, before they are gone.  Wish I would have done this for the previous races this year - but since I know I have MANY races in my future...  I will start now :-) Lumberman is a 3 Disciplines Racing  event located in Cadillac, MI.  Since this is 3 hours from home, I did not want to leave at 2:30am, so I got a room through hotels.com again.  This is the 3rd time I have done this in 2014 (saving up for my free night :-))  I ended up a Caberfae Peaks, which is a ski resort.  This was the view from my room:  After settling in, I went out for the hour long bike ride called for in my HIM training.  I decided to "take it easy" to make sure I didn't tire my legs for the race...  Ya - check out this elevation change: so much for an easy ride. After a rough night of sleep (thanks to a few guys t...

As I WORK to maintain my weight loss, there seem to be three things that keep me "on track." 1.  NUMBERS: I love data.  Heart Rate, Pace, Distance, Weight, BMI, Body Fat% - I track them all.  As my numbers improve I feel motivated to stay the course.  Numbers also help me during long workouts... 2.  How I look:  I think I look strong.  That makes me happy!  A piece of chocolate will not make me as happy as the new muscle that I found in my arm this week :-) 3.  How I feel:  This is a new one for me - and the point of todays post.  I have always been TERRIBLE about listening to my body during workouts.  I push too hard - I expect too much.  I have heart rate trained in the past, but this time is different.  I have been consistent and using my number 1 motivator, let the numbers guide me.  Today I didn't have to.  Today I felt my body telling me how much I could do, and I listened.  Let me tell you ...