back at it, sort of.

running has been sparse, but due to an amazing Chiropractor (Dr. Lourie) and Physical Therapist (Dr. Vickie) I am kind of getting put together again. Yeah, it’s super expensive. Try $110 a week. Ughhh, plus on top of this, I’m buying a house. Talking about Financial stress.

Anyways, ran 9 miles last night. Guess you can say I am ‘kinda back.’ Houston is definitely in the cards (the half is anyways). It won’t be fast, but well, I just want to finish. :)

Other than that, the occasional swim, cycling as much as possible and trying to watch what I am eating during the holidays.

Eager for January already.

Kind of getting back to normal…

I would like to thank everyone for the positive vibes and energy that have been sent my way. Although the foot is still not 100%, I FINALLY ran yesterday. First time in 2 or so weeks. It wasn’t pretty (well, it wasn’t FAST) but I was able to run about 2.5 miles or so in about 30 minutes. (Took some walking breaks). Noticed my foot started feeling achy about 20 minutes in so I knew that would basically have to be my stopping point, for now.

Been doing therapy with the folks at Performancewellness.com, which has really been great (although expensive!!!) I have another visit on Friday. Basically we have figured out that a combination of the wrong footwear/running shoe/lack of orthotics/hips out of alignment have been hindering me for quite a while. How I trained through all that, I have yet to figure out. Luckily, I have new shoes on order, new orthotics in my shoes and a few spinal adjustments under my belt :) Not sure I have shook this foot thing yet, but I need to continue to work my calves lose (thinking of compression socks to wear during the day to help with this) and to stay positive.

One day a week of Gazelle core and 2x a week of swimming for an hour and 3x a week of VERY VERY easy cycling are helping take the edge off and keep my weight down (haven’t gained at all and staying in ‘decent shape.’) Hopefully as the weather continues to sink in digits, I can hop on the trainer, start putting mileage on my tri bike again, and who knows, maybe even actually run the Houston Half Marathon in January…! :)

More later…rest day today (aka bike building evening!)

Hanging in there…barely.

The bruises are nearly gone and the stitches are finally out of my face, but sadly, my foot never quite healed up after my first ‘break’ from running. It appears that I have a ‘small’ case of plantar fasciitis. It’s completely sucky because that means no running INDEFINETELY (whatever THAT is) and has pretty much hindered my cycling too to only very very easy riding and swimming as long as I don’t push off the wall with my right foot. UGH.

What does this mean?! Hmmm, I have already missed two races, both the Run for the Water 10 Miler and the San Antonio Half Marathon. Next up is the Decker Half marathon, and I am out for that one too. But the real question is the real goal, Houston Marathon, which my PT is already suggesting that I NOT DO. I can’t get over how depressed and sad I feel. I will talk to Coach Gilbert and see what he says. I am thinking it is completely out though. No way I can bounce back from this dumb injury and be ready to run a FULL MARATHON in 2 months. FUCK.

Although I have accepted my fate it is really hard to swallow. I mean, running that race isn’t everything, although I really wanted to try and qualify for Boston, but oh well. I guess I can just try again the following year or something. And yeah, no more 70.3’s for me until after Boston. I guess I learned that lesson the hard way. Maybe I’m not ever going to be an Ironman either. Ugh, maybe my body just can’t do it.

good thing it's not broke...

Doc said my foot is fine. just another week of no running. i've come to terms with this new lifestyle of eating, sleeping and occasionally swimming. it's brutal but a nice change of pace and mental break.

HOWEVER....although all is good with the foot, i got freakin' ran off the road while on bike Wednesday night. although the bike, Trek, is fine, my face is not. 5 stitches, a wicked black eye and a gnarly headache later, i'm hanging in there.

helmet saved my life. had i not been wearing one, the way I fell, i would have split my head open. thanks to the Drs. at South Austin Hospital for patching my face back together, Kiki for being an amazing man and supporter and my friends and co-workers for understanding.

life will resume shortly. in the meantime, this is all a minor mishap and speedbump in life. i've already rode my bike again...no sense in living in fear, right?!

UHHHH OHHHH!

So…starting last Monday I felt an extremely sharp pain in my left foot. No swelling or bruising, but I just figured I pushed hard on the race so it was residual from that.

Well, fast-forward to a week later of severe discomfort even SIMPLY WALKING!

I made an appointment with a foot dr. on Wednesday so I can get xrays and all that jazz.

I’m so scared and sad. This probably means Houston and a BQ time are out for next year. Even if it’s just an overuse injury…I’m gonna be out for *at least* 2 weeks.

UGHHH! :( This sucks!!!!!!!

6:06!!!! i did it!!!!!!!!!!

more later....wow.

-
What to say…what to say?

I came…I saw…I went…I suffered…I conquered!!!

My first 70.3 race…I am not even going to lie and say I wasn’t nervous! I mean, 70.3 miles…that’s a LONG way. Seriously. I felt a nervous energy that rivaled my first marathon…”what if my bike breaks down?” “what if I get sick?” “what if I get cramps that don’t go away?”…man I was so scared!!!

I so have to thank sooo many people for helping me keep it together immediately before, during and after and even to just really help me get to the actual start line. Don’t worry, I will thank ya’ll later…let me run down the deets of the race before I forget and get all emotional and sappy…

I actually slept well the night before. The morning of…didn’t go so great. Ended up getting there wayyyy too late. Literally 10 minutes before transition closed. Panicked to find my water bottles, to find out they were left in the car. Ahhh! Beginner’s luck! It all worked out though thanks to amazing boys who really love you, and was even able to find a pump at the last minute from a nice gal near me in transition. And on that note: after my experience with Longhorn yesterday, I learned that triathletes have to be the NICEST people I have ever meet. I always had my doubts for some reason, maybe due to our stoic game faces or type A personalities…but endurance athletes FREAKIN ROCK!

My parents and Kiki sent me off into the water, and I was shaking like a leaf with small tears in my eyes. T3 Rob gave me a hug (THANK YOU!) and a nice girl chatted with me until we got lined up. Nerves fully went away the second I hit the water. I let it all seriously fall away…who gets nervous anyhow after that much preparation for one race? I mean, I am talking about 10 months of training here…that is a LONG time. Even for a full Ironman…anyhow, did my thing. Swam pretty conservative, and didn’t get banged around too much. It’s amazing when you swim with triathletes that do big race thing A LOT…everyone gives you your space. If someone swam into me, they immediately got out of the way, really cool and unusual. Or maybe I was just THAT slow. :P

It was a slow swim but hey, I finished, I felt great and I didn’t cramp or feel bad or anything strange. I actually swam with mostly good technique. Thanks, Coaches!

On to T1. I was worried about the wetsuit strippers. One of my teammates had said ‘get a guy to do it’ and that’s all I could think. Just then Coach Mo comes up and says “I got it!” and grabs the tear strip on my wetsuit. I was sooo happy to see him and have him help me undress halfway, you have no idea. I searched for the first available guy and let him do his magic. It was soo awesome getting help! In and out of T1…just as planned. That ground in T1 sucked though, I cut my foot on something while running to my rack. Coach said 4 minutes was a good T1, and I did 3:59 (see, I got it, yo!!!)

Onto the bike. It was chilly the first 20 miles or so. I had arm warmers and toe covers and gloves due to the good advice of Mo, my buddy Rob and common sense. I actually put the arm warmers on before the swim, under the wetsuit, and that worked great. They were dry within 5 minutes. I think I was completely dry by mile 30, just in time to reapply Chamois Butter and the sun was coming out, which was nice. Riding the course ahead of time was sooo incredibly smart, and I felt I had a very small advantage to some of the other athletes, at least mentally. Don’t get me wrong, I was SLOWWWWWWWWWWW. I got passed my everyone. I think I passed 3 people the whole time. Ahh..well. Pick your battles…I knew I would get them on the run anyhow…

I ate A LOT on the bike (all my food, plus a Power gel…note to self: bring more of MY gels next time!!!!) I was so hungry it was insane. And thirsty. I drank 3 full bottles of water/gatorade, I think. I think for next year, I will experiment more with drinking Accerlerade or another caloric replacement on the bike. Although I had ‘enough’ while riding, I probably could have had more. I needed 250 calories an hour while riding, and I think I only took in about 100. Ohhh…yeah not good. However, that is how I TRAINED and I didn’t want to change things. And even though I was slow, I actually felt FINE until the very last 5 miles. Then, I was READY to be done!

Two quick notes: my heart goes out to those who flatted, crashed or did not finish the bike portion, and there were a few of each. I heard no less than 3 different ambulances rushing to the course. I saw one guy OUT laying on the ground around mile 12 I think? It made me so sad and depressed. Hope you all are okay and know you will get another chance to finish…another thing that I need to remember is the one salt tab every 30 minutes, which thanks to Texas Iron Sarah, I adhered to very strictly. And yes, ask all the guys who cramped later, it DOES make a difference-I swear by it! I had no cramps at all. After 2 marathons of feeling like @#(*, I learned the importance of taking in additional sodium while endurance racing!

T2, I was slow but it was great to be off the bike. The legs didn’t want to move it seemed, as expected. I sat down, changed shoes AND socks (HIGHLY recommended with the new socks…but remember to Body Glide your feet first…I forgot and it bothered me later, ouch to new blisters…!) My parents were there for me again cheering loudly…so incredible to have that support!

AND THE RUN! I knew it was my time to shine. I just went on my way, passing people left and right. Fast people, slow people, walking people…I seriously think 6 people passed me the entire run. 2 ladies (man, they were awesome and awe-inspiring to me!) and 4 men (and I think they were all relay guys, so they don’t count, right?!) anyhow, I felt great for about 10 miles. Took in a gel I had, drank at every stop. Ate the icees, had a flat coke. Took salt tablets. Put ice on my head, took the sponges…Ironically, I am not going to lie and say I was running with great form at any point during the half marathon. I think I looked like crap. Just put one foot in front of the other…keep going is what I told myself. I felt SLOW for as good as I felt mentally.

Mile 10 comes and I knew…”THIS IS WHERE THE MEN GET SEPERATED FROM THE BOYS…!” It was the last loop and was a serious death march. So many people in pain, so many people walking. On the hills, I saw more people walking than running. I think 2-4 people were running per hill, It was really sad. I cheered as loud as I could for my teammates and even others that look like they needed *something.* I see Coach Logan for the final time (and mumble “I feel horrible, I am so glad I don’t have to see you again!”) and head back home. That last mile was an amazing feeling that only endurance athletes or women that have given birth (haha) will understand. In pain like you wouldn’t believe, everything hurt, but yet, keeping it in perspective by remembering “…Hey I’m gonna do an Ironman in a few years…so this is NOTHING!”) My feet felt like they were barely moving. I was hot, thirsty, excited and tired, all at the same time.

I picked up the pace, heard the crowds and knew “THIS WAS IT!” I saw Kiki and Ginny and suddenly felt like I was just starting the beginning of the half all over again…spring in my step and huge smile on my face! I couldn’t believe I was going to finish! I round the corners, head inside. There was the finish line! The finish line!!! I left the guy in front of me have some space to cross first and make sure no one is sneaking up behind me to cut me off for the photo:) I throw my arms up (well, at least one of them, for some reason I felt I had to look at my watch!) and knew…I not only FINISHED but I think I finished at 6:05, which is an incredible first half time!

I don’t remember anything after that, other than pausing to catch my breath and feeling tears well up in my eyes. I did IT! I DID IT! Nothing is gonna stop me! My parents and loved ones congratulated me and I felt elation that I haven’t felt in a long while. All the training paid off. I just got to celebrate 10 months of hard, grueling training…missed partying on the weekends, no sleeping in, barely having enough energy to stay awake until 10pm on some nights. Yeah, most single 20-something girls don’t want to be ME! (add to the fact I am in a punk rock band…hmmm, how did I ever manage?!)

The many thanks: first all, the COACHES of the T3 family!!! Coach Mo from the first day I met you in swim clinic and I knew there was a connection there of some sorts. Me-being stubborn and naïve (and yeah, I still am, and that won’t change, sorry). You, being there with great support, advice, drunk texts I sent you at midnight that you said you didn’t get?! You being the best role model I could have in the triathlon world with your passion and love of the sport and of people just in general. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Coach Chrissie for being such a positive and beautiful person in my life. I remember my first real T3 swim workout I did and being so nervous, but you threw me to the sharks (haha) and I didn’t drown. Coach Suzanne for being my main swim coach this year and always keeping me positive through all those really long days where I had to literally throw myself in the pool to go swim. Ahhh. Good times. Coach Amanda too-I want you to coach me more! Coach Logan for cleaning my bike and being a good sport cheering for me on the run course at Longhorn! You will see more of me on the bike, don’t you worry.

To the T3 family: those of you I trained with (Jane K and Jane B, Patti!, Becky, Landon, Sabrina, Rob, Maggie, Rhonda, Vickie (the best PT in town, as well!) Jennie, Eric (my swim “boyfriend”-you know I love ya, sweetie, thanks for making those months of summer fly by) and whomever else (sorry I am forgetting people, I am sure of it), but you all rule! And all of our volunteers yesterday!!!! Kelley for the pickle juice! To the Gazelle family, especially my Coach Gilbert, who I managed to convince in one year that triathlons are actually good for me. To the very sweet Desiree Flicker who inspires me daily with her determination, will and great advice and ‘gets’ why we love triathlon AND running so much. To my running partners Ginny (I love you always, girl), Gabby, Beth, Kenny (you are my best friend, Kenny, thank you for being for me every step of that way this year as I ventured into a new distance!) and the whole Tu/Th afternoon crew. I am ONLY faster on the run because of ya’ll.

To my actual family-my parents that were there for everything yesterday. To my love, Kiki and the fact you put up with my triathlon shenanigans for an entire year and I even got you to sip the triathlon koolaid and you completely LOVE it! I can’t wait to see you do your first 70.3 next year! You will love it! Or hate me. Or both, haha.

To everyone else that supported me throughout, whether reading this blog, riding/training with me randomly (Mercedes and crew), friends, etc. etc. etc. I can go on forever. And this isn’t like the Academy Awards, so I won’t. Besides, gotta save something for my Boston Qualifying write-up and post Ironman report :)

Love you all and thanks for being supportive. Now time to relax, party, and relish in the accomplishment!!!
-Jessica

PS: Holding your bladder for 6 hours is kind of painful…just sayin’.

The Stats:

51:32 1.2 mile swim (2:40/100 meters)
3:59 T1
3 hours 15 minutes 56m Bike (17.2 mph)
3:32 T2
1 hour 51 minutes 13.1m run (8:32/mile)
=6:06.48

36 out of 67 in the 25-29 age group
(so long, my sweet, sweet 20’s!!!)

The countdown...

T-3 days til the big dance...

6 hours of pain and glory...

i can't wait to be a (half) ironman!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited, nervous and anxious. The next time I post, I will have (hopefully) completed the race and have stories galore!



PS: halloween alleycat next week. dig it:

47:00, a néw huge 10k pr!

Wow. More later!

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All I had to say is I didn’t know I had a 47:00 in me. I figured…”sure, it sounds good, I’ll say I want to run a 47 but actually run a 48-something…” All of my workouts lately though have shown me otherwise that a 47-something was very possible. Factor in the great weather, a good vibe in the air, a fantastic course…not to mention my first road race since…the Jackrabbit 10k in May. Overall, this is one I want to do every year from here on out. 2 years in a row of PR’ing here makes me really look forward to it. Flat course with a lot of turns in the middle of nowhere (haha)…but I’ll take it!

Last challenge for the late-summer (although technically it’s fall now) is my last tri that is coming up this weekend!!! the Longhorn 70.3. Yes, my little web widget to the right says it already occurred, but that thing is wrong and I never figured out how to change it. Sure, I’m nervous. After all, I’ve pretty much been training for it non-stop since January. That’s 10 months of cycling training and 9 months of swim training. That’s a LOT. Have I made the improvements that I wanted to make this season? Maybe not, but my swimming AND cycling have gotten stronger, that much is for sure.

I’m most excited for that cool swim and hoping that the bike course isn’t too chilly. I’ll probably bring my arm warmers and hope my little knees stay warm. Of course I will wear gloves. Then finishing that bike with NO issues and going onwards to a strong half marathon!!! I really just want to finish, but anything from 6 hours to 6:30 (if all goes as planned!) would really make me happy…haven’t decided what food I want to pig out on yet after, although some REALLY REALLY good cheesy enchiladas and a couple of strong frozen margaritas on the patio somewhere here in town sounds AMAZING!

Come out and cheer for me if you are in town! This Sunday, Oct 25th at 8am at Decker Lake! I’ll post my race # once I get it! Wish me luck!!!

The Stats:

=47:00 (ave 7:34/mile)
7:43, 7:37, 7:42,
7:32, 7:48, 7:24, 1:12


4th out of in the 25-29 age group

My favorite rites of passage on the bike.

Not sure where I got it from…but I love it! Enjoy…and feel free to add your own in the comments! I added my own after the stars at the bottom!

From the November issue: Falling in puppy love, graduating high school, the birth of your child–nothing compared with your first case of road rash and these 108 other momentous occasions in the life of a cyclist. Share your own cycling rites of passage in the comments section below.

06. Bonking so bad you don’t think you’ll be able to make it home.
07. Discovering how a convenience-store Coke can resurrect the dead.
09. When you hang out at the bike shop and no one expects you to buy anything.
19. You notice that someone else has the chain grease on his right calf.
20. You get stuck in your pedals and topple over at a stoplight.
22. Riding a bike through a big, congested city and feeling smarter than everyone else because you’re moving.
25. You fix up your old bike to get someone into the sport.
26. Wearing out your first set of tires.
27. You ride through a pothole, and it’s no big deal.
28. Getting hopelessly lost—deliberately.
29. You stop midride to give your only spare tube to a stranded cyclist.
30. You realize you’re driving your car as if it’s a bike—drafting, looking for holes, getting away from the squirrelly guy.
31. Fixing a busted chain.
34. The first time you crumple your race number.
37. Wondering how the biggest local hill would rank on the Tour de France climb classification.
39. You got dropped, you flatted, bonked, got turned around—and when you got home you said you had a great ride. <-my favorite one
42. Rolling through a stop sign—and knowing it was the right thing to do.
45. Rubbing wheels—and staying up.
48. Cleaning the cassette with your old toothbrush.
53. Telling someone which bike to buy.
56. Figuring out how to layer without overdressing.
58. Your first ride with a jersey instead of a T-shirt.
61. Though you’re not clear on exactly how to do it and unsure of the outcome, you manage to fix your first flat.
62. Walking home in your cleats.
64. Following a favorite pro racer—besides Lance Armstrong.
66. Wrapping your bar tape so the handlebar plug stays in and no bare bar shows at the tricky bend at the brake hood.
72. Crashing and immediately asking, "How’s my bike?"
76. Clacking into a rough tavern in cleats and spandex.
81. Explicating your training in exquisite detail on a blog, then realizing nobody cares.
84. Riding someplace you’ve always driven.
87. Waving at a cyclist coming the other way and being ignored.
88. Getting annoyed by an uninvited wheel sucker.
92. Surfing traffic on adrenaline and luck in one of the world’s 10 biggest cities.
97 . Passing someone whose bike costs twice as much as yours.
99. Dismissing what used to be your favorite cycling magazine because it keeps repeating topics.
106. Feeling superstrong, then turning around for the ride back and realizing you had a tailwind.
108. Being the person whose bike squeaks drive everyone nuts.

- Staring at a new bike. Wishing you could afford the latest carbon technology

- Not feeling embarrassed wearing cycling shorts
-Buying your first modern bike and no longer having bike envy.
Increasing your average speed by 1 mph
Wondering how early is too early to go riding
The strange feeling of using chamois cream for the first time.
-Ending up spending waaaay too much time at your local bike shop (and always end up getting out with something)
The first time you passed 30 miles per hour.
The first time you passed 40 miles per hour.
Your first track stand.
Your first bunny hop.
The first time you fixed someone else’s flat.
***
The feeling you have after your first race, even if you are last place.

The first time you put on a team kit and you fill with pride.

The first bike you ever build, even if you got helping building it.

Your first single-speed conversion.

Realizing you need to get rid of a bike to make room for a new one.

Your first real bike tattoo.

When you start naming all your bikes!

wow, i will actually get to ride my bike 5 days in a row!

due to a nagging leg injury from January (if not older than that!!!) i haven't been riding as much as I would like, since maybe july. OHHH, it sucks. My bike performance certainly peaked. i went from a nice ave. 16-17 mph on short cruises to a slow and sluggish 15-16.

well, i'm trying to turn the tables. #1, my knee feels better finally. #2, i have a 'little race' called a half ironman coming up. #3 (and most important): i miss riding my steeds and a little pain isn't going to stop me from riding!!!

btw, off-season tri goal is to focus on cycling. one long ride a week followed by 2 hour-long spin classes. hey, yeah i know you might be giggling at the thought of doing spin class, but just 3 classes convinced me of the benefits. PLUS! i learned how to climb out of my seat!

anyhow, 15 miles yesterday on the tri bike, 15 miles tonight on the fixed gear for fun (bike-in to see the Goonies with my cool and awesome band!!!), 20 miles tomorrow on fixie for fun, 35 miles on the tri bike in the morning Saturday, 30 miles saturday PM for the alleycat, and 30 miles sunday for the OTHER alleycat...and anything else i can throw in for fun.

145 miles in 5 days...not a new record but at an average of 30 miles a day, this is where i need to be again.

see ya'll on the streets. be SAFE!

A warning to Bike Thieves!

Don't do it, just sayin'...DON'T!
I hope this
guy gets his bike back!!

Longhorn Prevew, aka 'The ride that wasn't meant to be'

Due to awful weather last weekend, we postponed our lovely 56 mile Longhorn route preview bike ride to this past weekend. I, although nervous about it, was READY (or so I thought!) to give it my best shot. My goal was to finish feeling great and to finish averaging about 16.5 mph. Slow, but steady and good enough for my legs to feel “OK” on the half marathon afterwards (woof!)

After a rather restless night (would rather not go into WHY right now, but it was a valid, work-related reason!) I head out with a teammate and take my time getting ready. Everything looks great, I have enough water, Chamois Crème, snacks, etc…and that’s where the fun ends. Right off the bat, we get lost. Then I hit a crack in the road JUST big enough to fit my little 650c tire. Oh man, we were pacelining too, so when I hit it, certainly I thought “There goes my collarbone” and “I hope the girl behind me steers left.” I managed (by a huge miracle and catlike reflexs) to roll out of the crack, remain upright and ONLY manage a flat tire.

Normally, a flat tire isn’t the end of the world. However, after carefully and recarefully checking and then almost freaking out, I realize I lost EVERYTHING in my toolbag with the exception of a spare tube, patch kit and a singular tire lever. Goodbye, sweet and expensive ’18 in one (plus bottle opener!!!) multi-tool to the stars’…luckily, the girl behind me was able to signal to the group to stop, and a fellow by the name of JP (I believe!) helped me out with a spare Co2. Man, close call there. Had I been alone (which I usually AM on these longer rides), it would have been a long wait for a sag ride home…

Luckily I had my cell phone, although some how a little later in the ride, I also dropped that AND my bike computer!!!! Then, add to the craziness and madness of the morning, I lost almost all of my water. That’s right, on a course that only has one gas station for over 50 miles, I went from 4 bottles to 2!!! Ughhh…the ride that was not meant to be. And add there that we got lost 2 other times…ANNNNNNNNND this all happened within 20 miles of the start!!!!!

Luckily, (yet again), I did catch up with random other folks (including the Emerge team) and finished the ride out without any other major incidences, but not before I got chased by one of the hugest dogs I have ever seen, UPHILL for ½ mile at the very very end of the ride!!!!!!! Ughhh, can I ever catch a break!?!

So I finished the ride finally, being so glad to be done that I almost threw my bike down. I guess it’s better everything (AND I MEAN EVERYTHING) happened today. So I guess that means I will have the best 70.3 race ever now! (Or at least, I SHOULD!) glad training is almost over. A month is left and I am ready to do this thing NOW!

it's almost time!

route for tomorrow, assuming the weather holds out:



anyone want to join, meet at entrance at 7am, wheels down at 7:30am. wish me luck!

Austin tri--2:57 baby!!!!!

Preparation yields success, and this race was complete and amazing success, and has proven how hard and smart training yields amazing results.

Felt great going into this thing, a few nerves, but once I got my brain into it, everything else fell into place. The swim (sans wetsuit…boo) was uneventful, other than a girl smacking me a few times and causing me to swim off-course a little. I gave her a dirty look. I felt efficient in my stroke though and never really tired. Yes, I’m still slow, but dammit, I went out there and did it and STILL took almost 4 minutes off my swim time from last year.

Not wearing a wetsuit saved me a minute in transition. Not too shabby either. Then took another 3 minutes off on my bike time. Didn’t hammer as much as I would have liked, but still, to come out with 18 mph PLUS on those little wicked S. Austin hills felt pretty good. Hydration and nutrition this year was better than last year’s race. Ate 3 small fig bars and drank 2 bottles of Nunn water.

Legs felt actual decent (although a little fatigued-completely normal) going into the run. However, this is like the FLATTEST 10k in Austin, so how can you not pound it out?! I hit the halfway point at 24:00 even and finished in a cool 49:07, an average of 7:55/mile. I would like to thank Dave from Tsunami Cycles for helping me push the last quarter mile. It felt great to run hard and finish even stronger. In fact, I don’t think anyone passed me the last 5k, which is saying a lot when that was all that happened to me on the swim and bike.

(Plus, the best part is passing all the people that are WAYY WAYYYYY in front of me from previous in the race)…well and having a goal to finish under 3 hours is something to push up against, as well.

A quick rundown of the run placing looks like I was 4th in our age group for the run…ahhh to be a mildly-fast runner. And then get everyone (and I mean everyone) pass me up in the first two sports. I believe my focus next year will be on the bike…stay tuned. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster. Must.get.stronger.and.then.i.will.get.faster…etc, etc.

Overall, a terrific race, and just the confidence booster I need for Longhorn next month (40 days away…ekkk!) Although my goal will be to finish…Would love to see 6’ish hours as a secondary goal :P thanks to all for cheering and support!!! You rock!!!!!!!!


The Stats:

41:02 1500m swim
3:34 T1
1:21 40km Bike (18.2 mph)
2:18 T2
49:07 10km run (7:55/mile)
=2:57.35

21st out of 62 in the 25-29 age group

(click for the nerdy results version)

My Chip Time

Kiki-the first timer! we are grand champeens!!!!!!!!

almost time for my 2nd olympic tri!!!

65 miles this upcoming Saturday. Anyone want to join in, let me know! I'll be starting at Atkins High School though, I HATE riding on Slaughter.

This is messed up!

just saw this...everyone be careful out there!!!!

Alert: Legal help needed for out of town cyclist hit and jailed by police at Critical Mass ride

Shared via AddThis

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Edit:

Richard got bailed out by an awesome lawyer here in town. Follow updates on the case here: www.atxbs.com.

Thanks to Jason for keeping us cycling folks in the loop!

Tri girl tri! 6th place in my age group!

A great sprint tri here in houston! Raced hard today was wasn't able to crack that elusive top 5 in my age group.

Regardless of that fact, I cut 5 minutes off my time from last year!!! Still a pretty big deal to me! Add in the fact I am getting sick....just thankful and happy I wa able to pull it together to enjoy my last sprint of this season!

All that remains are the 2 big ones-Austin tri Olympic and longhorn 70.3. Training resumes tomorrow or whenever I feel closer to 100%.

More later...

--

Despite not being sure If I was going to race due to a nasty and quick-acting head cold that happened to me Friday afternoon, I made it out to the start line feeling strong and with flying colors. Everything was on schedule and working like clockwork, even though I waited until the morning of the race to pack my bag AND clean my bike (usually not the *best* thing to do, if almost the WORST, and I have learned this by experience THE HARD WAY). Even had time to use the restroom, eat a gu, take a pre-swim warmup and take some pics, all the while not feeling rushed doing any of it. Devine.

I started too far back in the swim, I am guessing, as I ended up getting slowed down by quite a few girls that had no sense of being in an open water swim, or at least in the front of it. I guess I can relate, as I use to struggle with OWS, but today I was just ready to TEAR IT UP! My goal from the get-go was to place in this race, and it’s even more enticing at this particular race since they give out 5 placings per age group. Last year I was 7th, missing out by 2 spots. This year, 5th was to be mine…at least…

Looked at my watch after the swim and was super happy to see 6-something, my shortest and fastest swim this year! T1 and Kiki caught me starting to get comfty and taking my time…”HURRY UP!!!” I zipped out of there and got excited about riding Whitey. This is the 2nd time Whitey has been to Houston, so she gets excited by the flatness of it! We love this course, but unfortunately, a week off the bike left me feeling sluggish and labored near the end of the 11 miles. First 6-8 miles I ave. 19.5, and man, those last 3 miles…’what a shame,’ I thought. ‘No reason NOT to be flying on this EASY course!’

T2 was quick and then on to my favorite part, the run. Although I really enjoyed the bike today (despite being slower than I *should* have been), I was ready to make up some time on my feet. Passed a million ladies, as usual, cheering for all the gals in front of me since the course is an out-and-back. I picked up speed along the way as I noticed myself slowing down (which, I was slower than I should have been the first 2 miles). The last mile, I looked for all the girls in my age group and tried to pass them all up, which I think I did…

Even with a sprint to the finish, I was beat out of 5th place by a very skinny and petite girl about 5 seconds in front of me (did not see her until the finish shoot). I was so happy to be done though and excited by a great finishing time (took 5 minutes off my time from last year!) that it really didn’t matter! Stayed to watch my girls Lou (2nd tri and 2nd place in her age group) and June (1st tri!!!) finish, had a snack and watched awards, and then began the long trek back to Austin.

All in all, a great race, albeit not placing. This marked my last sprint tri of the year and probably my last Houston race of the year, also, since I will not be doing the Houston Half-Marathon this year in October, since it’s the same time as Longhorn 70.3. I’m excited about my last two races, although they will definitely be more endurance events, and my only goals with those two are to finish, and finish feeling GOOD. Here’s onto a few more months of tough Tri training and Houston Marathon training too!

The Stats:

6:32 300y swim
1.31 T1
35:39 11m Bike (18.5 mph)
.52 T2
24:07 3m run (8:02/mile)
=1:08.42

6th out of 45 in the 25-29 age group

Hey you racing types!

So there are 3 alleycats this week! Go Bicycle Film Fest week in Austin! (will try to catch some films tomorrow!) although I missed the first race (but did send kiki to go race on his 26’ cruiser-and he wasn’t last!), I will be at the other two. Tonight is the infamous Fab Friday fix gear race. My goal isn’t too be last, and I heard we are doing parking garages! Whatwhat?! Tomorrow morning I am doing a ladies race, and yes, I am pulling out a gear bike. #1-it has water bottle cages, #2-it makes my knees feel better when I have to climb. #3-it makes me looook fast :)

See ya’ll kids out on the streets! Have a great weekend! Be safe, hydrate! Hopefully I will have tales of bikes, boys, green day and random other spats of debauchery on Monday!

The (Total Destruction x2=Demolition Weekend) recap!

I survived 360, amazingly enough. The tailwind combined with a net elevation lost there made for a cozy ride to Parmer. Although I wasn’t flying there, I wasn’t crawling either. I felt pretty uncomfortable in my aerobars for some reason though, so I was mainly on my brake levers the entire time. This equates for wrist issues the entire week since I didn’t wear my wrist brace, . The ride back was a different story. The headwind COMBINED with the net elevation gain made for a lot of climbing out of the seat. I actually didn’t mind it, plus it wasn’t that hot out. I think by the time we got done riding at 9:30 or so, it had only got to 86 degrees. Not so bad. A short 2 mile brick later and some breakfast tacos at Tacodeli, I was way ready for a shower and the real start to the weekend!

After I crawled out of bed Sunday at noon (wow! I actually slept in! Thanks Independence and 512 Breweries!) I got ready to Hash and yes, this totally capped off the Demolition Weekend theme. Hash was great, 5 miles of running in South Austin, in my neighborhood, on some very predictable trails. I ran almost the entire way, and it was grand to run easy and have fun with my friends in a social setting. If you have NEVER checked out hashing, I fully endorse it. Go to www.austinh3.org for the details!

Now as the week starts up again and I have finally gotten all the sleep out of my eyes, I would like to thank the fellas at http://austinontwowheels.org for the blog mention and Jason at www.atxbs.com for adding me to his blog roll. I don’t particularly think that my blog is THAT exciting, but that being said, it’s nice to have friends that do have cool blogs!

Finally, as I end this post…I remind the good people at Lost Creek Pool to stop over chlorinating their pool (seriously, I smell like a pool this morning!) and if anyone can guess what beauties lie in this box…well then I bet you would want them too:)

Another t3 ride tomorrow!

Although this will probably be my last t3 ride for a while (will start long runs on Saturday after this week), I’m freakin’ out. Here is the route:



It will be my first go at 360. I STRONGLY DISPISE 360! But rather then be a baby about it, I am gonna conquer my fear tomorrow. Wish me luck, I think I will do 45.

Oh! By the way, last week’s ride was awesome! Ended up riding 50 miles with Jane
http://soupwithafork.typepad.com/born_again_athlete/ who was a great training partner, despite the fact she thinks she is slow (she is NOT…she was in front of me for about ¼ of the ride…).

Training overall is going great…ran 9 miles this morning (YES, on a FRIDAY at 5:30am!!!!) I felt like a real runner or something as we skipped along the trail chatting about life and all the nonsense we athletes talk about while not thinking about running…meanwhile about 200 other runners were doing the same things with THEIR training partners. Ahh, to feel like part of something bigger than myself…very gratifying.

Going to some Physical Therapy (everyone in Austin-go see Vicky at Atlas PT…she’s great!!!!) to get my IT band finally worked on. Need to get my bikes refit, as well (at least my two race bikes). Ahhh, so busy…Half ironman training is in full swing (I’m now 4 weeks in…) and Marathon training starts Tuesday (okkk…I fully admit I am not READY at all!) But I am very excited and eager.

Overall, life is grand. I’ll be in Houston August 14-16, so holler at me if you wanna hang out!!!

t3 bike ride tomorrow!

gonna do this ride, which includes part of fitzhugh, a hilly part of Central Texas near where i currently work.



hope to do 40, but will probably do 50. yeah for new routes!

finally 29!

so a happy birthday to me...and thanks to all for the birthday wishes! now...back to training...and more training :)

gonna enjoy my last 'competitive' year...and attempting a BQ next year at the Houston Marathon (yup...i signed up!)

dual race weekend: all-ladies alleycat and couples tri!!!

wow, i am so beat. yes, whomever thinks it's a great idea to race back-to-back days (especially with only about 12 hours of recovery in between them) is CRAzy! OF COURSE, i have been known to be called crazy!

anyhow, 3rd roadie in the alleycat and 1:33.32 in the tri. Which is GREAT considering i cut 10 minutes off my swim time from last year!!!!!!!!! bike was slower than usual, but considering...run was 'alright,' but really hot.

thanks to all for the support!!!!!! high five events aka jack and adams knows how to put on the events! lots of food, beer, etc!!!!!!! a good time for all! congrats to my partner, Ginny, who was the 'gin' part of "Gin and Jess!" 1:26 and some change. she is gonna start placing top 10 any race now...

that is all for now, more later. oh everyone wish my tri bike, Whitey, happy birthday! today she turned one! it's been a great time with her!

look for my REAL birthday plans to be posted, soon :) (hint: it's the 16th, this thursday!!) party is wednesday night...

---

So the alleycat first:

Things went well! I am not gonna lie, it was stupid hot outside. Racing at 6pm (especially considering that I had a race the next morning!) was not the smartest move. I went out there and did it though. Took my geared commuter, Trek, and we tore it up the best we could. Made all the checkpoints (especially the 7-11 at North Lamar-woof and the Givens Park at 3800 block of E 12th street!!!!!!!!!!!!) I think I rode 20 miles. At least. I didn’t have the best game plan, but overall, I was happy to finish and, amazingly enough, was 3rd roadie. NOT TOO SHABBY! Got a jersey, drank some free beer and had a grand time. Til I remembered I had to get up early :/


So the Tri…

Yeah I woke up with minimal sleep, but amazingly enough again, legs didn’t feel too bad. Did feel a little woozy. I’ll blame the heat of the previous day. :) anyhow, ginny and I and our race biatch Kiki (he knows we love him!) carpooled together and got there with plenty of time to rack up and hang out. The heat was already crawling. For some reason, my nerves were FREAKIN OUT! Not too sure where this is coming from. I have been racing tris for 4 years now and have never had issues like today!

As soon as I got in the water, all was forgotten. The nerves actually played in my favor I guess and I was suddenly very calm and relaxed. I swam the BEST swim of my life. Mind you…still SLOWWWW but steady and a HUGE improvement (we are talking a 10 minute improvement over my swim time from last year!!!!!!!!) I came out of the water cheering and so freakin’ happy I thought I was gonna cry. Ironically my swim coach Maurice comes up behind me and tells me ‘good job!’ I told him ‘it’s because of you!’ he dashed past me and we did transition. Ironically, we came out of T1 at the exact same time (well, it turns out he beat my T1 time by 2 seconds!)

Onto bike time. Coach Chrissie goes FLYING by me and tells me ‘looking good.’ So does T3’ers Tom and Cara. Good motivation. I hammered the first half at 19.4 MPH…amazing time for me…but wayyy to fast. I got to the 2nd half and my legs were DONE. I ended up averaging 17.0 mph overall for the bike course. My slowest bike this year! Blach….but I blame racing the previous day!

T2, I couldn’t find my rack!!!! Somehow, still came out, and ironically, 2 seconds IN FRONT of Coach Mo in T2. :) (sorry, we all have to brag were we can brag!!!) the run course was soo freakin’ hot. I started getting cold chills-no bueno. I felt slow and overheated. I felt SOOO slow. I ended up though averaging 8:41/mile, still my slowest run this year, but strongly under 9:00/mile. It felt great to finish, seeing Beaux (hey sweetie!) there and all my teammates and friends cheering. Ginny totally beat me by 6 MINUTES!!! She rocked this tri, for sure. 20th fastest swim time OVERALL (out of everyone that raced….even faster than my coaches!!!!!!!!!!) I need to take swim lessons from her:)

The afterparty was totally a great time and I didn’t want to leave. Sleepiness eventually set in though (adrenaline is hard to maintain when you are drinking mimosas instead of water!) and Ginny, Kik and I split to go home. I wish we would have stayed for awards, and BTW, we were 4th female friends team-under age 59!!! Haha…funny.

Thanks to all for the support again: T3’ers, Jeff @ advanced rehab, Michelle @ Performance wellness, Kenny, sweetheart Beaux, my coaches, the frozen yogurt folks, New Belgium, Ginny, and Kik. This is my favorite Austin race, I think. I’ll keep doing it as long as you keep holding it, Jack!!!

Onwards to yoga and rest today, and birthday week!

The STATS:

800m swim, 11.2 mile bike, 3.1 mile run
22:56
2:32 T1
39:36 (17.0 mph)
1:31 T2
26:55 r (8:41/mile)

=1:33.32 total time
27th out of 91, ages 25-29

Double Down Ladies Alleycat!

AHHH YEAH! Race time again! I can’t freakin’ wait! Yeah, it’s gonna be hotter than HolyHell but it’s gonna be worth it! Hopefully I can avenge my performance from the last alleycat and even if I don’t place at the top, I will finish fast and strong.

And NOT GET lost (well…okay, not get lost in the Adult shop anyhow!)

HA! Deets below:
--

Alright ladies, here it is - Austin’s 2nd ever all ladies alley cat race! We’ve got a ton of great sponsors and prizes, and a bunch of new prize categories.

Dudes - this is for the ladies, but contact Heather if you want to volunteer for a checkpoint or the after party.

This race is going to involve some gambling and checkpoint challenges where you can double down for more points. 7 checkpoints with a few bonuses. Fastest doesn’t necessarily win Queen of the Double Down, it’s about how many points you collect and some other secret prize categories that will be announced at the after party/awards ceremony.

Registration begins at 5pm (we will be @ the Capitol at 4:30 for all you early birds) and costs $5. The after party will be @ Fast Folks Cyclery (2513 A. EAST 6TH. ST.). The after party is free for racers, $5 for everyone else, and will have beer, food, a raffle with even more great prizes, and DJ Daecosomoxi from San Antonio. All proceeds will benefit the Austin Yellow Bike Project.

Bring a bag, a lock, plenty of water, a bathing suit, and some money. Dress appropriately ladies - Austin’s heat/humidity in July ain’t no joke!

We hope to see you there, especially the virgins!

xoxo

heather and Jessica s.

Sign the petition! Help Safe Passing (3ft) get passed as a law in Texas!


Sign here at biketexas.org

can't believe Gov. Perry would pass on this! Cyclist safety depends on laws like this! even Louisiana passed it...geez.

Tour de France, 2009



Holy hell….it’s really really good.



Lance misses yellow in the 4th stage by NANO seconds?!! Wow…



If you aren’t as cool as me (or you actually get up early to watch live in Versus-meaning you can afford cable), I found a live feed to watch for a few minutes everyday…

hopefully I don’t crash their system by passing out the URL…



http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/#tv-schedule



I usually watch the first feed there that is password protected.



Cheer on the boys from Astana to a Tour victory!

Via le Tour!

Ladies ride (7.3) tomorrow night! i'm hosting again!



Come on out, austin ladies! here are the details on flyer below and also on facebook (i mean, you *ARE* on facebook, right?)

here is our group:

http://www.facebook.com/editphoto.php?oid=68094655877&success=1&failure=0#/group.php?gid=68094655877

--


"Okay, I decided to host the ladies ride for this Friday!!!!! I was holding out for the fixxxed friday flyer/race and hadn't heard anything? Dancakes...still doing it?!

Meet at the Lamar Ped. bridge at 6pm, leaving at 6:3pm. (most of us aren't working so, this should work okay).

we will hit a free swimming hole, grab refreshments and then decide the next course for the night. I really want to see the Music Man at Zilker Park @ 8pm, but we can always head that way and split off along the way like last time.

bring plenty of water, lights and a swimsuit. should be a good time. i also know of a pool party nearby we can crash if we get bored!

see you all there, bring a lady friend!
-Jessica

PS: my birthday is coming up...bring some party ideas to the ride!"

2009 danskin Tri--a success!!!

Considering I took about 12 minutes of my time from last yr and didn't get any flats this yr, yeah I would say that was a success!!!

Swam the whole way without stopping and actually WITH the pack, only got passed by one cyclist and one runner. I rocked this race.

Ironically, I had the same time as captex (1:33).

More later...way to go first timers, including my gazelles running partner Ginny who only finished one second behind me!! Watch out for her, ladies. She will be placing in races before u know it.....

--

So, I am still high off the race yesterday. I don’t think I could have had a better race at this point. My hard training I think is finally paying off. Or at least I feel like it is.
The swim went without much drama, and I was actually able to find water to have my area and swim in it. didn’t get kicked, didn’t get punched, just swam, swam, swam. I sure did get tired though, but still managed to finish strong. Lots of newbie swimmers to go around though, and I actually passed people in earlier age groups (something new to me!) I just got to keep working on my swim technique though. I fully expect the coaches to kick my ass this week at swim practice before I go on vacation to New Orleans. Got to get more efficient and NOT spend 20 minutes in the water…

My bike was great, NO FLATS THIS YEAR! Ha, take that stupid Decker Lake roads. Although my bike computer didn’t work at all, Whitey and I just rode as hard as possible. The hills did slow me a little, but I was able to climb all but two of them without getting out of my seat. Got passed by one girl on a tri bike who looked super fast but also like she was using a lot of effort to ride. I’m wondering if she was borrowing someone else’s bike to race in? She was super strong though. Never saw her again after mile 6 or so. I did put my aero bottle on wrong so I had to bend my straw to drink out of my bottle. A little awkard but it worked.

My run was slower than I would have liked (forgot my sports beans) so I was pretty hungry and ready to be done with the race at this point. I only got passed by one girl again, a very strong, young ‘track star’ type girl. I wonder if she was on a relay team? She was just wearing a tshirt and didn’t look like she just got off her bike. Who knows though. Anyhow, that run course is tricky but at least it isn’t boring. Footing through some parts is sketchy and the cross-country feel of it makes for niceness on your knees. The hill at the end always makes me want to walk.

I caught up to Ginny at the very end (last 200meters) and she finished a second behind me. She was doing so awesome throughout the race and I fully expected her to finish in front of me. She had so much fun and had a great race!!! She is a very strong swimmer, in fact I think she was in first place in our age group! I fully expect nothing but great things out of that girl now that she has the tri bug. In fact, I am her partner for Couples Tri next month…and I hope I can stay caught up with her!

So a little time ‘off’ this week and back to training hard next week. It’s great not having ANY races for 5 weeks, so I have plenty of time to focus on swimming, but at the same time, get a constant base going for the start of Half-Iron training that starts before we know it!

The STATS:

750m swim, 12 mile bike, 3.1 mile run
25:06s
2:41 T1
39:36b (18.1 mph)
1:21 T2
24:55 r (8:02/mile)

=1:33.42 total time
18th out of 218, ages 25-29

Real ale ride-80 miles O' fun!

Allthough I felt awful at first, about 40 miles in I finally felt good and ready to ride!!!

Held a good pace and hydrated and ate enough...it still took me about 5 hours to finish AND I stopped at every rest stop. Not in a hurry though, just enjoying life...

I also drank a gallon of pickle juice....that stuff is excellent!!!!

Good times and the beer and swimming at the end made it worth it!!! Danskin Tri next weekend...those hills at Decker Lake got NOTHING on the Real Ale hills!

Cap tex Tri!!!

First Tri of the season!!!! Didn't have the best swim, but felt strong on an easy bike course! My run was awesome despite a tight it band.

Happy overall but have a lot to build on...more later!

-
So overall, although I was pretty dissapointed with my swim initially, now that I think of it, a 10 minute PR on the swim ain’t so bad!! (that’s right, I had a 10 MINUTE PR on my 750 meter swim! That’s pretty big!) So I really did have great reason to celebrate my race! Yes, I was slow to get started on my swim, but a couple of my T3 buddies saw me finish and said I looked really strong, which I DID feel awesome at the end. I just need to keep working on it. Getting stronger…mentally push from the beginning. NO PANICKING…ughh, too bad other people kept swimming into me ¾ of the swim…urgh.

My transition times weren’t great, but MAN, that is a long tranisition area! Anyone who has done CapTex or Austin Tri knows this! I didn’t bother with a wetsuit so that saved a little time. THAT WATER WAS COOOOLLLD though! Swimming in Barton springs without a wetsuit did NOT prepare me at 9 in the morning for 70 degrees!

My bike time was decent. I could have pushed a LOT harder I think. I felt my heartrate was pretty high for about 6 miles though so I just cruised a little. The course was crowded and the roads were downtown-bumpy. I got passed on the Right (WTF?!) more than what made me comfortable, and I tried to stay as far right as possible! I lost my rear waterbottle very early on the course, and it almost caused me to crash as it feel into my drivechain! Luckily, my cat-like reflexes helped me there and also when some guy deadstopped RIGHT in front of me after the turn-around on S 1st street! UGH, surely that would have been the end of the race for both of us had I hit him. Anyhow, still an Austin bike PR for me. My best race PR is 18.3 mph which I accomplished in Houston last year. My bike goal is to average AT LEAST 18 mph in the Austin races!

My run, is as usual, where I shine. Even feeling sluggish and slow, I ran a 24:34 5K. That’s not too shabby after all that ‘other stuff’ before hand. Overall, I felt confident and picked people off left and right. It’s very clear that running is where triathlon is won. I mean, I passed SOOO many people. I think I got passed twice by some really strong elite-looking guys. Eghh, no skin off my back. I would like to bring my run down to 7:30/mile, so that’s another goal to go for this summer, which might be a challenge since I haven’t been training hard on my running.

Happy to be done and have another race to train for in 2 weeks! Gotta bring that swim time down. Placing 15 out of 63 in my age group (good enough to put me in top ¼ of my age group) feels great…but literally only 2 minutes seperated me from a top 10 finish. Time to continue to focus and train hard, knowing I have goals to accomplish. And this next race is on a TOUGH course…the 70.3 course…!

The STATS:
750m swim, 12.4 mile bike, 3.1 mile run

21:19s
3:43 T1
41:43b (17.8 mph)
2:24 T2
24:34 r (7:52/mile)

=1:33.44 total time

15th out of 63, sprint female, ages 25-29

my manic workout day! 10k race and then a Street bike race!!!

I need to take a nap!!!

48 minutes and some change in a 10k this morning in my hometown of copperas cove (not a pr though) and then a street bike race this afternoon! (on a fixed gear bike!!!)

Placed 4th overall 10k female and who knows in the alleycat (probably 4 from the bottom!!) but it was good times and a greatttttt workout!!

I'm so tired, but a short nap and then a rock show and then midnite bike riding!! Can't wait.
Life in Austin is grand on so many levels. Wish kiki was here to share it with me...
Tomorrow is rest and a cold open water swim. I cAn't wait.

oh and here is a pic of me from the race...yes, kiddies, look both ways before you cross the street. There are other pics but in attempt to not be vain (cause you know, i sooo am-ha), this is the only one i'm putting up.

Thanks Les.

Finished my first adult criterium!!!!!

and guess what, I wasn't last! It was a lot of fun. I was pretty nervous going into it. Not knowing what to expect...how fast the peleton would be going...how agressive the pack would be...overtaking people...planning strategies on when to attack and all that other roadie jargon...

the sprint out of the front gate is sadly what got me (as an amatuer racer...i didn't know!!!) but it was great picking people off the front pack. I averaged 19.3 mph...which *IS* slow in bike racing circles...but the front pack probably was at 23-24mph so I wasn't terribly far behind.

I did get lapped at the end and those girls were GETTING it! it was inspiring!

and in the end, it was great to race! i enjoyed it so much i think i will HAVE TO come to the next one. hopefully if I really get into this race thing (you know, not that i PLAN to), i can do more of these and actually stay with the pack!

now on towards saturday, a little hilly 10k race to warmup the legs for the afternoon's alleycat...yes it will be fun and yes i plan to place. Win...ehhhh, but i would definetely like to be in the top.

OH...and i am doing it on my fixie:)

PS: proof i 'look' like a cyclist:
http://dcmphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/8140612_z5VWV/1/531107321_Uvd9U#P-89-12 pg 82 and 89. rawr. i look great in pink, i have realized this!

Well, I finished the MS80 :)

Soo yeah, they called off the first day of the ride due to the weather aka monsoon rains allll day long in the Houston area.

AND YET!!!!!!!!!!

I had some friends that still rode in the rain!!!! These guys are soooo sooo bad asss! Leave them love on their website!!!!

Anyhow, I was very disappointed that we did not ride Day 1 and that is understandable. However, we did train a lot for this (not to mention the costs)….again though, all for a great cause…
Day 2 started in La Grange and I met my team, Tough Cookies (yes, we were the gals in hot pink, you could not miss us). I figured with the rains passed us and the sun coming out, it was gonna be a great day. However, that was not going to be the case.

#1, my stomach was bothering me, which I lay partial blame to all the travel and stress and fast food I had been dealing with over the past few days. #2, the wind. The HEADWIND. Enough said.

I took the challenge route throughout the Park and rightfully finished it, not walking a single hill or having to stop. That was such a glorifying moment, not walking and passing all those folks. My stomach bothered me enough to stop at the first breakpoint but I breezed right through the park one and even caught up to some of my team members.

Lunch came not a second too soon (I was feeling better after that first stop and then the other unplanned stop after someone crashed….) but I learned my lesson quickly that lunch during the middle of a 80 mile ride: not a good idea. I started getting real sick again and stopped at breakpoint #6. At this point it was all mind over matter to avoid sagging. I remember seeing people from my team and even some friends at the breakpoint and was talking to them and I felt like complete hell. I think I might have gotten food poisoning? Or was it the heat? Dehydration? Whatever was going on, I just felt awful.

I picked it up the last 20 miles, passing almost everyone (okay, ALMOST everyone except those doing pacelines). Lots of stragglers/roadkill at this point. I was in the back of the pack but it felt good to pass everyone, ESPECIALLY on those last few hills. In my mind, I was owning them and convincing my body, ‘yeah you feel like crap but at least you are passing these people…don’t worry, keep pushing!’

Met my team right before the finish and rode together the last 2 miles. I was on such a high, cheering really loud and raising my arms in the air. As soon as we finished though, I felt that punch to the stomach that had haunted me 40 or so miles. I hurried home to mope around the rest of the day in states of pain and exhaustion. I was way more tired than 80 miles should have worn me out. Maybe I am not cut out for distance riding.

Anyhow, just glad to be done! Here is a picture of me and my coach at the finish. Definitely a happy time and a distance first! 77 miles! Hope I can ride a century sometime this spring just to prove to myself I have it in me:)

Thanks for all of the support! It meant the world to me!!!

The MS150, please support me!

In lieu of giving me gifts for christmas (because we all know I have been a GOOOOD girl this year), please donate to my MS150 riding cause.

Even a dollar helps. I bet you can even donate .25 cents!!!!!!

Thanks in advance, and the REAL challange will be if I can finish riding 180 miles in 2 days!!! :)

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/jalexander

Doing My Part...

Ladies that read this blog (all 3 of you…)

Come race in Austin on May 9th! I believe this will be the FIRST EVER all-women’s alleycat in ATX!!!!!!!! For those not in the know, this will be an urban bike race with various checkpoints throughout the city and usually involves items to grab and stash in a bag, ala bike messenger style.

I am going to lay it all on the table and let everyone know I will own every girl there.

And to whomever challenges me….good riddance on your soul.
Training started yesterday, biatches!!!

48:58 in Cap 10k. I beat the mayor of Austin!

Wow, what a major workout weekend. Flashbacks of pain came at various points and never seemed to stop, including an evil sunburn from 2 days of not wearing a hat! But that makes you tough, right?! I ended up spending the entire weekend outside though, which was awesome. Saturday was the 62 mile Rosedale Ride with the worst head winds ever. 13 mph for over 5 hours….geeez. It goes down as the worst ride conditions ever, at least according to everyone I know. And my longest ride to date!!! I seriously burned 2500 calories, which don’t worry, I made up by much dehydrating liquid consumption…haha.

My legs were toast but I still found the energy to go to Les’ bike alleycat on the way home. (didn’t race though but took pics and drank some) then took the night to rest and carb up, and got up early (again) to do the Cap 10k. The 5th largest 10k in the US! Wow, I had no idea. Rode my bike there (about a mile trip). I was in a great corral (blue), and I ran into a bunch of my Gazelle buddies. Since I haven’t been running much lately, I knew this was going to be a painful race, not run with much joy (sorry Gilbert…) My goal was just to finish under 50 minutes. I ran into Staley and Tara though and their goal was 50 minutes too so I decided to pace them, not even sure if I could do it though.

I dropped Tara at mile 3 and Staley shortly after…I felt bad about it but at this point, I knew I could still finish in 50 minutes and if Staley could see me, he would too. Mile 4 my legs gave out. Thank goodness for all the Gazelles cheering at Run Tex-Lake Austin. Hi Beth! Was Carrie there too? I pushed as hard as I could the last 2 miles, pulling negative splits, and only missing my PR by 32 seconds! Coach G even saw me finish strong, which was inspiring!! I did beat the Mayor, Will Wynn. He was a good sport about it, as his personal goal was 47 minutes. Good job, Wynn! I still do love Houston’s Mayor Bill White (Whitey!!!) but I don’t see him running 10k’s that much…now my next goal is to beat the Governor Rick Perry in a race! :)

Rode bikes home with Kiki and took a short 30 minute nap after a large breakfast…rode my new fixie bike to Sexy Sunday, a trick competition near Towne Lake, hung out for a little while, then went onwards to the Austin Hash Harriers run, which Kiki was laying trail on this week. it was my first hash ever…mainly because I always thought the Houston Hashers were scary (but that’s just being ridiculous…they are a great group!) I ended up running 8 miles on a 4 mile trail because we got pretty lost…in hindsight, I bet I really only ran about 6 of those miles and walked the other 2…but my legs were done. DONE. Copious drinking and eating rounded out the night and a fabulous training weekend. I don’t know where all the energy came from. Must have been all the adrenaline….

Jon Walk teased me on Facebook about how I’m just readying myself for an Ironman…so I guess I can put this down as my first ever ‘big’ training weekend. Next weekend will be just as long and crazy when I ride 40 miles on Saturday and then attempt 70-85 more miles on Sunday. WOWZA….i can do this…MS150, I am going to own you! Yes, just wait til I sacrifice myself to the Ironman Gods….no more sleeping in…30 minute power naps and pool hair every day…it’s going to be a crazy voyage! I can’t wait!

Total weekend running: 14 miles

Total weekend cycling: 80 miles

I’m taking today off (well deserved!!!) and tomorrow is band practice. I’ll try to run in the morning to stretch the legs out…wish me luck this week!

if interested, pics will be here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31137523@N08/

Tough cookies duathlon!!!

4th overall, 1st in my age group. Good times.

I love my cycling club...thanks to all!!!

I came. I saw. I conquered.

TIR 2009 was more awesome than I could have ever imagined. Thanks to my team, "the battling bloggers of the Texas republic."

203.20 miles with you guys and gals in 30 hours was freakin amazing. Can't wait til next year!!!

Jessica: Bike builder extraordinaire!

I just finished my first fixie!!!!!!!!! Ooohhhh and she is soooo pretty! I can’t wait to post some proper pictures today. Hopefully I get to take her for a few spins too before the end of the week. Can’t wait!!!!!!

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here she is and below is the rest of the stable (sorry, i realize i have the worst bike names ever):


"La Negra" "Whitey"

"Trek"

"Red"

"Blue"

It's official: T3's newest member...


IS ME!

I managed to survive at 2700 yard workout tonight and finish with a smile. Not too sure how good i'll feel tomorrow, but it was a great start to what is going to be a great tri season, I can feel it!

Austin Half Marathon!

Was a great time!!! I don't know what I ran since I was pacing my boy! Then I helped Gazelle Ginny run a 3:59! She is a complete badass! More later, but it's great to say goodbye to "distance running" for the season...

Onwards to Tri season!!!!!!!!

OMG...Houston Marathon 2009!

I just ran a 3:52. Wow.

And I didn't walk! Even more wow.

More later....congrats to all who finished, PR'ed, first-timed and a special shoutout to Coach Gilbert who helped me reach my marathon goal this year!!!!!!!

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Wow is seriously all I can keep thinking.

3:52, 3:52, 3:52.

I didn’t walk, I didn’t walk, I didn’t walk.

Both are huge accomplishments for me. First of all, I never thought it was possible to run a marathon without stopping. I know top-notch runners who walk during marathons, for crying out loud! (no shame in that, at all…I’m just saying). So for almost 4 hours, I kept doing the only thing my legs wanted to do, and that was run, run, run.

Pre-race I felt a slight scratch in my throat and tiredness in my legs. I worked a trade show earlier in the week and got straight off the plane on Saturday from LAX to the race expo. Yes, I am crazy, and some even say I am hard-core!!! Haha. Anyhow, I ate a huge carb-y dinner (big portion of spaghetti following by a twice-baked potato and an ice-cream bar!!!) No point in going to bed hungry, since the past year’s marathon I struggled with being hungry during the race…I was also good about drinking two huge carb-y Ultra Fuels earlier in the week. Yumm…pure sugar and carbs! I was asleep and not at all nervous by 8pm!!! Perhaps a little dehydrated though?

Woke up at 4am, showered, ate a big breakfast (1/2 bagel with peanut butter, cup of oatmeal, large banana, large Gatorade) and got dropped off by 5:15am at the convention center. Did the normal pre-marathon ritual, listening to loud DMB and Green Day while singing, pinning my number on, stretching, reading and eating a bit of clif bar…drinking, drinking, drinking. Needed to use the portalets at least 2 times before the race. Looked for some Striders at the Hilton after bag drop off. Really warm outside. 62 degrees is what the digital billboard says. Def. not a 3:45 day.

Found my friends, we waited for the potties and talked. Running late to the start, Strider Amalia and I miss the start of the first wave. For some reason though, this might have worked to my favor. Not having to weave through anybody (literally 50 people in front of me) was nice. We were both out for 3:50, but after sticking to her even pace for a few miles, I knew 3:50 would be a struggle today. I slowed down a little but would catch her around mile 6 or 7. Popped Tylenol and a salt tablet. Nothing exciting really happened for quite a while, the ‘donut guys’ weren’t there this year. Lots of smiles though in the crowds. Awesome, awesome crowd support as always. It was exhilarating.

Didn’t see my brother or his finance at mile 7. At mile 8 we bid farwell to the half-marathoners. Saw Strider Janet turn-around. Looking good there! It was quiet until we turned into West U and I was already getting hungry!!! Got blessed by the holy water as normal and hearing the church bells, began to cry thinking about Dwight and the fact he is still in ICU. I had to regain composure though because I found myself unable to breathe. West U is my favorite part of the course. The crowd support is simply amazing. People are drinking mimosas in their front yards. Kids handing out bananas, candy and high-fives. SIMPLY THE BEST.

Up the Westpark hill…piece of cake for me now that I am in Austin and train on hills every day (love them!) I was starting to feel slightly tired by mile 10 though. But not going to walk, just slow off the 3:50 pace slightly. Passing people left and right. Lots of people shouting I looked good. Striders cheering for me. Onwards though the Galleria, and my Houston home for 5 years. I always get sentimental here for some reason. See Wes (my best friend) at mile 17 and Kiki (guy I’m dating) at mile 18. I know this is mentally a tough part of the course. Physically, I haven’t walked yet. Both guys say I look great. I feel…strangely good?! Popped Tylenol and a salt tablet and was chewing on a yummy clif bar Wes gave me and a super strong and tasty Gatorade in my little bottle.

Mile 19 brings the notorious bellydancers (love those ladies!) and usually…the WALL. Not for me today. I keep running. I feel unusually strong. I actually speed up a little. Through Memorial Park, past the beer tent (yes, I drank a beer again!), towards the Houston Striders (love ya’ll!) and then towards HRTC (love you all too!) and the Houston Hashers. I am having fun, waving to people I know. Laughing and smiling. For some reason, although I feel I should be walking, I start to feel more spirited and alert. Determined to finish….knowing I will. NOT WALKING…I know if I don’t walk, I can still do 3:52 at this point…

Don’t remember much after mile 24. I think Kiki met me around mile 25 and ran with me towards to finish. I told him I wanted a Vodka/Vicatin and no tonic before I finished. I think I was really really ready to be done running. I don’t know how I was still running actually. I couldn’t feel anything at this point. No pain, nothing. Just one foot in front of the other…

The finish line finally came and as I was crossing the finished, I started screaming and looking up towards the sky, instantiously crying and yelling “Dwight, this one was for you!” It was absolutely the best feeling in my life, up to that point. I cried for a long time. Totally elated. 3:52. So what, I missed 3:50…but knowing I had a 10 minute PR on a warm day, who am I to complain?!

Next year…hmmm. 3:40 I think. Anyone want to run Boston with me next April?! :) Another fun voyage is totally in store…

Awful news!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I just found out that local runner/triathlete and good friend Dwight Benson is in ICU after a serious bike accident this past Sunday.

As I get updates, I will post them here.

update: 1/11 (from a fellow Gazelle):

Here is an update on Beaux; He's been in the comma for a week now. Everyday shows some improvements. He no longer has his lung infection or fever although he most likely still has some organisms in there. RN Alyssa, who knows him from Pure, is his day nurse right now. She brought him a blue koosh ball from Toy Joy that he's been playing with, very actively in his right hand. This is most likely a result of all the hand dexterity from all the mechanic work. A positive bit of movement. Terra & Pat got to see him get some physical therapy today. I believe he sat up and did a few other things. On Thursday night, my friend Michelle was excited to see Beaux leave his eyes open for a few moments after she pulled them open. He was also showing signs of tracking (following movement). When I was there again yesterday, he was asleep the entire time. You're doing great Beaux, wake up soon!
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update on Beaux: (1/16)

Just wanted to let you know that the main rehab doc at brack went to see beaux yesterday. she oversees the doc that's been seeing him. overall, she was very optimistic about beaux's condition. she said that his initial assessment may have been a little off . . . that he was never truly comatose. he was on high doses of dilantin (for seizures) and propofol (a general anesthetic that puts people into a coma like state, and is given to anyone who has a trachiotomy). beaux suffered a brainstem injury as well as some bleeding in several areas of the brain t issue and ventricles. but when she saw him yesterday, he was spontaneously opening his eyes and following commands. the PT and OT's are saying that he helps them to sit up and is doing more movement on th is own. he still may be a bit weaker on the left side but he's moving it which is great. these are all great prognostic signs and she thinks he'll make a full recovery. it'll be a long road but she is very postive about the condition. she also remarked that beaux is handsome and seems like a great person. even in his state, she could tell that he has a good vibe. it was nice to hear that.

her name is dr.charlotte smith and she specializes in brain and spina l cord injury. she left a card next to his bed and i would recommend her highly. may want to let his parents know as i think the initial information that they got may have been a bit graver than it truly needed to be. in any case, i feel better after speaking with her. hope this heps. feel free to forward this on to the rest of the lot. cheers, esther

--sidenote: I ran with his name on my singlet on Sunday. it made for a very emotional but empowering marathon. Get better Beaux!!!

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From Michelle......progress! (1/20)

This morning when I got to the hospital the nurse was excited. Beaux had sat up on his own and opened his eyes. She said it nearly scared her to death. She asked if he was okay and he gave her a thumbs up. After that the nurses tried to get him to do more and got some eye movements. Ashley arrived after I did. We encouraged him to turn his head, which he did. Then we encouraged him to open his eyes to look at her, which he also did. After that he looked over at me and tried to say something. Nothing came out and I can't read lips so I'm not real sure what he was trying to say. Good chance he was trying to say I'm annoying him. I told him I am sorry for bugging him so much but I want him to wake up, hopefully I'm not on his bad side. I tried to rub his legs and feet to make up for all the pestering.

We asked him some questions and he was answering 'yes' or 'no' with head movements. It was really quite exciting! Mel, Chris, and Kevin soon arrived. After that Beaux seemed to be a lit less reactive. I can't help but wonder how exhausting those few minutes of interaction must have been. I wonder if the 2 visitors at a time rule are too keep the patients from getting too exhausted and frustrated. Keep up the good work Beaux!

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From Vania (1/21)

Antonia and I went to see Beaux at his new temporary home today. The new facilities are great (surrounded by a lot of beautiful green spaces) and the staff is extremely helpful. In the hour and a half that we were there, we were visited by Beaux's Speech Therapist, two nurses, one assistant nurse and his doctor. Everyone was glad to answer any of our questions and share with us their feedback. The great news is that Beaux scored a 16 out of 23 in his Speech/Response test this morning, and his Therapist told us that he is doing great. He was able to respond to her commands and questions almost perfectly...she admitted that she is a tough scorer and that she was not going to let him off too easily, so 16/23 is great!

His doctor and his nurses told us that he is going be experiencing some "neuro-storming," a condition that affects some victims of brain injury. The storms come on like seizures, causing B's body to tense and contract, his heart rate to accelerate and his fists to clench. It looks like he is in pain, but it is actually very common. The nurses said that if this happens, the best thing to do is to calm him down...comb his hair, speak to him softly, sing to him (if you have a soothing voice) and tell him that he will be okay. It will pass. Please be sure to call and ask for Shelley, Beaux's main nurse, before you go by. She is enforcing the 4-8pm M-F visiting hours for now.

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Update from me 1/30

I hadn’t heard anything about Beaux in a week so I made it a personal mission to get out and see him and make sure he is doing better. Sure enough, he is!!!!

Beaux is a total rock star! Went and visited him Friday and he was awake, making jokes and sitting upright talking about wanting to ride on a real bike already! He told me he wants me to give him dance lessons too! The doctors will hold a meeting with him on Wed., Feb 4th to figure out if he will be able to go home.

everyone cross your fingers! He will have a long road to recovery with physical therapy but he is already walking strong and in good spirits! thanks to all for the support, it has meant a lot to him!

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Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

-Jessica

Less then two weeks...

Wow is all I can say. In 12 days to be exact, I will be attempting and completing (if all goes well) my third Houston marathon. They say the third time is a charm, and I fully believe it.

4 long runs over 18 miles. At least two pairs of shoes. Two containers of Accerlerade. A new watch since the Polar died.

Can't wait to do it...I'm ready. 3:50, here I come:)