An Update if you Must have one!

First off, training has been going really well this past month in my opinion! The first week after River Cities was really slow though... I took it easy and chilaxed :) But this week especially has been good! I've done a lot of running and on new courses! It's exactly a 5k from my house to our church and back, and it's got 3 or 4 good rolling hills which are actually kind of fun. The only not so great thing is that I have to cross Highway 51 so I normally have to stop and wait for traffic. Yes it's a good excuse, no it's not helpful.

I've noticed that my swim has kinda been suffering recently... I had an okay time in the River Cities swim especially since it was longer than 1/2 mile but it's been really sloppy in training. I used to swim ALL the time but recently it's been like 1-2  a week:/ so I am trying to incorporate more swimming in. I've started back going 3 times a week and doing more anaerobic stuff... So as you can tell all of my training has been changing up, and it's working!

The only negative thing really is that I've been having lots of back trouble... I think it starting just from long bike rides and being on my drops a lot but now it's like all the time even swimming. I don't wanna go to a doctor! :(

Tri4Life is my next race and it's a week from today! I know I think I said this about River Cities... but I really do feel good about this race! Last year it was really fun and the race site is beautiful! You run on the bridge over the reservoir making for a really flat run which is great ;) It'll probably be another cheap win... But it is a race and I am excited!

I should be back next week with a (hopefully) good race report and pictures! Thanks for reading!

P.S. dig the new layout? :P

River Cities Triathlon

This past Sunday was River Cities! And it was awful!!! Not THE race, just MY race. THE race itself was so much fun! But it didn't go that well for me. Before I start a rant I'll go ahead and break it down :)

Swim: CHOPPY and over measured. I have never had a problem with open water, in fact I love open water! But this time I felt like I was in the middle of an underwater mosh pit. Some feisty ladies I was mosh-swimming with!

Transition was transition... though it seemed like I had already run a 5k just coming in and out of T1 and T2! Then once we cleared the racks with our bikes we still had to run them like a mile down the road! I was disappointed.

Bike: As much as I don't want to re-live it. :( I started really weak, with a headache, and sick to my stomach. Figured it was normal and kept pushing. A mile or so into it I got yelled and cussed at by yet another feisty lady for being on the left of the lane while I was TRYING TO PASS SOMEONE TOO!!! I mean really, I want to pass this guy and not get penalized for drafting just as much as you do! The rest of the bike was just bad. So glad it was only 18 miles. For on it was HOT but also my back hurt so bad again that day I could barely use my drops. I should look into that...

Run: Part of me says it was great! Part of me says it was horrible. See, I did feel really really good running, but it was so. so. so. slow. There was some fuss about the second and third miles being waaaay long too. So maybe it wasn't that slow for a 5k! ;) And of course, hot. But They did very well with giving us plenty water... They had a table almost every like 1/4 or 1/2 mile and sprinklers and freezing cold, soaking wet rags! :D

I actually added up what I drank and it came to 96 ounces of gatorade and 60 ounces of water! I still wonder where all of that fluid went....

My finish time was 2:09:44. UGH! It could have gone better, it could have gone worse. I definitely know what needs to be worked on now!!

Despite my awful performance it was so much fun! Pre and post race were much more relaxed for me than usual. (Though we made a couple wrong turns trying to find the place :/) Clif Bar was a huge sponsor and they had people walking around in transition just giving stuff away! It was awesome!

And I did get a cool medal!!!

The Apex

It's been almost 2 months since my last triathlon! Starting to go crazy! While I have definitely enjoyed this time of nothing but non stop training, I am way more than ready to wake up at absurd hours in the morning just to go subject myself to crazy amounts of sweat, cramps, and throw up. Racing is addicting. It is awesome. It is fun in ways no one can understand until you do it yourself.

Anyway! Back to the point of this post... My next race, River Cities Triathlon, is just over 2 weeks away!! It is my "big race" of the year that I have put all of my effort into training for. Not necessarily "big" as in distance (Heatwave was longer and potentially one more later in the season), but big as in the race itself, and how well I plan to do. It's my A race. Mainly because it's just the perfect distance. Not Olympic long, but not Soak up the Sun short. It'll be hard, but nothing I can't do or haven't done before. Sooo since it is only 2 weeks out, this week and into next week I am at my apex of training for it! It's peak week! :D Meaning I train train train, multiple times a day, every day of the week. (It's very exciting)

I don't know if I have ever been as excited for a race as I am for this one! Like... I can't even describe it. It's awesome. BUT... it will be VERY hot. August in Shreveport? Yeaaahhh... Not sure how much that will mess with at least my running. But with the amount of excited I am for this, I don't think I'll have any problem pushing through it. :P

Well in other news right now? Le Tour De France is currently going on!! :D I am obsessed with it I think. It is so interesting to watch and keep up with... as well as motivating. Watching them ride hours and hours each day for 3 weeks?? I have nothing to complain about! Also, this may be kinda weird, but I think it's so cool; I LOVE the vintage Tour posters and pictures! Like back from the first few years of it's existence? SO CUTE! Here a some of my favorites:

I don't know, I just like them :)

Well that is all! Thank you for reading!

I thought this was blog worthy!

Yesterday was one biiiig suffer fest! (but fun one!) It started with the Tomato Festival 5k, in which I got 1st place in girls 15-19! I really don't see how that happened though, the course was hard and very hot. I ran 5-6 minutes slower than my 5k PR! Horrible!! And of course it's not a race unless Anna throws up... This time I threw up while still running!

Some of the Brookhavenites starting :P

Me and 3rd place (I believe). 2nd ran off!

But that's not all... as soon as the race was over and awards were given, some of us hopped on our bikes and rode home from the 5k! (which was in Crystal Springs) It was 43 miles on the country roads, and talk about hilly!! It was very painful, especially after just running! But after what I like to think were 90% incline hills, chain falling off, four 20oz bottles of water/gatorade (SO hot) and lots of Shot Bloks, I made it. :) My legs just weren't too happy, and still aren't!

Mrs. Mignon and I (who also got first!) before heading out to ride!

All in all it was a fun day! I've got a trophy, mucho soreness, and lovely cyclist tan lines to remember it by ;)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Heatwave Triathlon!

Last weekend I completed my longest triathlon to date, Heatwave! (Almost Olympic distance) The distances were 0.5 mile swim, 24.5 mile bike, and 10k run. The only difference in a real Olympic distance is the swim is 0.9 miles and bike 26 miles. I personally think it counts though. ;) This race DEFINITELY was named appropriately! It was sooooo hot out, even the water was warm... it felt disgusting! Here's my little race report:

Swim, 0.5 miles in the Reservoir: first of all, it was a little longer than a half mile. :( and like I said before, it was disgustingly warm water! all the females started in one wave so the first half of it was like a washing machine. I slapped and got slapped by so many people! I felt okay until about the last 200 yards. Stomach cramps and stitches started and I was dreading the bike and run. But I made it out! In 22:28!

Transition 1: quick and easy! It felt like it took forever, but actually not! In and out in 1:03!

Bike, 24.5 miles on the Natchez Trace: bike went fairly well! My average was lower than I hoped :( but that's okay. My hamstrings and quads were really really tight from my last run, it took a few miles to get loose and and keep a more steady pace. There was a couple hills but nothing too bad. Good ride!
Average: 16.7 (EW),   Time:  1:29:01

Transition 2: again, quick and easy! I did a flying dismount (took my feet out of my shoes, not unclip), ran in, Zoots on, grabbed my hat and belt and was off! Took 0:46!

Run, 10k on the Multi-Use Trail [(?) alongside the Natchez Trace]: It. Was. Hard. and hot. Bad memories here! Calf cramps, stomach cramps, all of that fun stuff. After the first 5k I felt a little better, like I had more energy, but not much. I ate my Bloks and drank at every aid station to stay hydrated (or so I thought) But apparently it did me no good. When I finished, every bit of water or gatorade I drank that day (and probably more) came back up! I think they thought I was dying, people had to carry me to the shade and they brought a paramedic over to me! -_- Anyway, it was rough and long and slow. SO glad to be done no matter how much I threw up! You don't want to know my time or pace ;)

After I was home and slightly recovered it didn't seem like it was THAT bad, but during it it sure did! Not my best race but I finished and had fun, and got 2nd place in girls 19 and under with an overall time 3:12:02!

I soaked up the sun!

First of all, I didn't forget about blogging!! Well... I kinda did... but I'm back finally! And I have done 2 races since I've been out!

The first was just a 5k that a school here held (Cougar Shuffle). It was a lot of fun! Not my BEST run/race as my calves were already oh so sore, but it was still pretty good :) My time was 25:something...25:45 maybe? But I know I could have done better had my legs been a little more fresh! After doing this one it really made me want to do more just plain 5k's! They are great training and really show you your fitness levels in ways solo training can't, IMHO.

Now my second race was my first triathlon this year! Soak up the Sun! It was AWESOME! I would have had 2nd place in 15-19 buuut they ended up making it 19 and under, so I took home 3rd place instead. But that's okay! I still placed and got a medal! ;) Here's a little run down of the whole race:

Swim (250m): went well! Although it got realllly cold that day, the lake didn't have time to cool off to air temp yet, so it was still comfortable. I realized I pushed a little too hard at the start when I felt dizzy halfway through... but it was all good and I kept going! That was my only complaint :)
Time: 4:21

Transition 1: it went smoothly! I did have a little trouble putting my shoes on (I went sockless). Just took more effort than I hoped!
Time: 1:37 (fastest in my age group by 30 seconds!)

Bike (8 miles): don't have much to complain about here! I KNOW I could have gone faster. Maybe I tried to pace and save for the run too much? I don't know... but anyway didn't have any problems! Good ride!
Time: 27:39 Pace:17.4 mph

Transiton 2: very good! Not a single mishap... I actually did a flying dismount (left my shoes clipped to the pedals and ran off barefoot) I really hadn't practiced it THAT much but it went perfectly!
Time: 0:47 (also the fastest in my age group!)

Run (2 miles): wasn't as great.... had some crazy calf cramps, both legs! AND a side stitch, AND the usual stomach cramps. Yay. So that took a lot of stretching which probably set me back like.. 30 or 45 seconds? That's too much for such a short race! Once I got to the turn around I felt a little better though and picked up the pace some! But I really didn't have enough distance left to make up for that first mile...
Time: 19:29 Pace: 9:45 min/mile... ew.

Overall time was 53:51! Almost six minutes faster than last year! So it was a pretty good race and very fun :D Getting pumped for my next!

Thanks for reading! [and sorry this was so long;)]

Smoothie! nomnomnom

This morning after my workout I wanted a smoothie. So, I made one! It was half-way made up, half-way by recipes I found. But whatever I did worked! Here is the recipe I put together and used:

1 banana
3/4 cup cut strawberries
4-5 oz fat free yogurt
1 tsp honey (or however more or less you please)
lemon/lime juice
a few ice cubes

All you have to do is blend the ingredients up!

You can most certainly use really any kind of berry, or even a mixture. And if you use strawberries, they don't have to be cut. Whole works just as well, just cut the leaves off! Same for the yogurt. I used key lime pie flavored in mine but any flavor you fancy is perfect too. It was in a 6 oz cup, but I only used around 3/4 of it so it wouldn't be TOO thick and creamy. I'd start with about half of the cup, blend it, see how it looks/tastes, then add more if need be. Most recipes call for about a tablespoon of sugar... But I decided to substitute honey instead of any sugar, a healthier alternative! The lemon and/or lime juice is of course optional, but I like a little twist so I added a good bit of both. Also, many recipes you'll find say to add orange juice... which I allllmost did! But I was trying to go for lower sugar, so I nixed it. :)

This picture really does not do it justice. It is a very healthy, very delicious, very easy post workout drink! (or anytime drink!) 

Enjoy!!

And thanks for reading!

MS Gran Prix!

Was awesome!! It turned out that I was the only girl out of all the juniors... Sooo no I didn't place at all, no I didn't chick any boys, but yes I had fun! I'll give a little recap of each event...

Road Race: Yes, I got dropped pretty early on... Earlier than I'd like to talk about... :\ So that was pretty rough not having anyone to draft off of for the majority of the time. When they say it starts fast, they mean it starts FAST! The first 6 miles was nothing less than a suffer fest. I was trying my best to close in the gap enough to have at least someones wheel to catch, but I just never could. I later found out it was only about a 50 second gap where we settled! :( And then there was a hill. A loooong, steep, dreaded hill. (mountain) I'm pretty sure that gap spread out once we got there! Definitely put a dent in my time, and with less than 5k to go! Not only was it a super hard hill to climb, but I also had a brutal head wind knocking me around, and an equally brutal calf cramp. But I finally finished. :)

Me on the finishing stretch!

Time Trial: Went awesomely! I was very happy with it, and it was much easier than I expected! I felt great the whole time, even on the hills :D I definitely wish (and probably could have) I had gone faster, but it wasn't terrible. No dogs, no cars ;) Definitely enjoyed this race!

Pre-TT: Ready to race!

And I'm off!

Circuit Race: 7:00 AM, and f.r.e.e.z.i.n.g. Totally un-prepared for this! It was low to mid 40's when we started. NOT my ideal bike race weather!

Cold and happy pre-race ;)

Overall I'd say the circuit went well. Sore but not too sore, cold but not too cold (once I was actually riding), and hilly but not too hilly! BUT, having said that, there was one little... issue. A vulture. A vulture that came so close to me and scared me so bad, I promise it was going to eat me. I know I wasn't dead or anything, but it could by all means have attacked me!! It was traumatizing. Dogs are one thing, but I NEVER thought I'd have to watch out for vultures while cycling. When I finished I think everyone thought I had gone looney while trying to tell them about it. They laughed because a vulture almost ate me. Such caring friends ;)

Crossing the finish line

Brennan, Sam, John and I!

So the race in a nutshell: I survived an attempted vulture attack. ;) Haha it was an awesome race, I had a lot of fun and can't wait till next year! :D



Carbo loading and loving it :D

It's RACE WEEK!!! More over, it's DAY BEFORE RACE!!! I am soooooooo excited! But that doesn't mean I'm not nervous... It's just a very excited kind of nervous...

Yesterday I was able to ride the criterium course and drive the road race course. So it shouldn't be too much of a shocker now that I'm more familiar with it!  Except that there are like 10 dogs in one little stretch of road that like to chase you... As I said in the last post, I don't do dogs!! But, that's one way to make me go faster!

I'm feeling pretty good about it right now, and if nothing else it will be a lot of fun! I'm also so excited because I get to eat carbs like a fat kid eats candy today :D Carbo load!! Besides that today has/will consist of CEP socks, The Stick, stretching, cleaning every speck of dirt off my bike (has to look good for everyone!), and trying to rest (but to no avail, I'm in too much of a hyper pre-race mood!).

Well that's about all that's going on, I'm off to finish packing up everything I'll need, then go to the Cat 1, 2 and 3 crit tonight! I should be back on Sunday with a race report and hopefully pictures! Thanks for reading!

Nice and bruised, and 9 days!

Bruised from a minor crash I maaaaybe had on my bike Saturday... :/

The story: I rode with Jonah [after John and Luke left us;) ] the old Gran Prix course on Saturday. It was a HILLY 26 mile loop plus 4.5 we did as a little warm up. And I mean HILLY. They were mostly long, medium sized hills... but there was a lot of them. It killed my hips within the first 2 or 3 miles! There was also a stretch around 2 miles long where the road was basically compacted gravel. Or "glorified gravel". Gravel + bicycles = not good! So anyway, the course took us through downtown Wesson, where we stopped at a little restaurant deal to pop some Shot Bloks and Clif bars. Buuuut as I was in the process of stopping, my foot got stuck in the pedal! One was unclipped but I couldn't get the other out quick enough... Soooo I kinda sorta fell. :( The dialogue between us after that? Anna,"Shoot!"  Jonah, "Hahaha you okay need some help?" Anna, "No don't worry about me, just hurry check my bike... is it scratched?!?!?" But I luckily took more damage than my bike did! And also lots of being made fun of... -_-

That's about all exciting that happened... besides some attempted dog attacks. My fear of dogs grows more and more every bike ride! But it was a great ride, so glad to get it in befooorrre..... Mississippi Gran Prix in 9 days!!!!

First race of the year! It's a cycling stage race so it consists of 3 races in 2 days! (4 for the seniors) Woo hoo! I'm SO excited yet quite nervous.... I'm 99.9999% (make that 100%) sure I will not place or anything. The guys that race this are CRAZY. But it'll be a good experience and one more race to put in the books. :D

I'm out, thanks for the read!

A video for you!

So I just happened upon this video and could not resist posting! Enjoy :)

I have good news and I have bad news

This past week (spring break!) our church youth group did a local mission project! We spent the week at the church, and everyday did a service project and a kids camp. The first day was yard work, and the next couple days we painted a house. It was a lot of fun! But that meant I didn't get to do much training :( (the bad news) Run accels was about it. So as you can probably imagine, I am MUCH more than ready to get back to it this week!

Now to the good news!! :D I got new shoes!!

They are Zoot Ultra Race 2.0! And I love them! My first run in them was yesterday and they were great! So excited :D In person they are VERY shiny, like metallicy ;) And the best part? They were $150 MSRP... but I got them for $36!! Makes them all the more better ;) Can't wait to race in them!

Thanks all for reading!

"Gear" review!!

In review today:

Gatorade pre-game fuel!

On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) and my thoughts:

Taste: 7. It's pretty much just like gatorade, just a little sweeter/stronger maybe... but not terrible!

Effectiveness: 9. Works pretty well IMHO!

How well it settled: 6. At first it was great, just like drinking a normal gatorade. But half way through the run my stomach hurt a little more than usual. I think it's safe to say this was why! Just my body getting acclimated to new nutrition.

Would I recommend it or use it again?: Definitely!

Texture: Liquid. But ever so slightly thicker than water or gatorade.

My only complaint is that it's so big... there's a lot in there to drink! But it tastes better than lots of gels I've tried, and worked well!

This was kinda fun! Cheesy, but fun! I will try to do more reviews in the future to keep it interesting ;) Next in line: Hammer Endurolytes!

Notice a bit more color?

I might have decided to change things up a wee bit ;) (I still can't promise this is here to stay!) But I think the tie dye looks pretty cool! I do love the simple and sophisticated white though... Just thought I'd give something else a try... What do you think?? Like the colorfulness!?

Training wise last wasn't a great week :( I was in Jackson 3 different days, and things just piled up! I did do a hard 5k though! Ran it like the boogie man was chasing me! It wasn't a PR, but nearly :) The last thing I did was just a personal 4 mile bike TT (time trial). Good speed on that one too! :D

This week I'm going to reallllly pick the training up... I probably won't get much in next week being spring break. But it looks like that will work out pretty well! There's a possibility I'll be doing a duathlon March 19, so next can be my taper week! ;) Although it's a very short race (2 mile run/10 mile bike/2 mile run).

To get back on track I'll do a few two-a-days this week! Starting with swimming and running today! Annnd my run was AWESOME! I did 10 x 30 second accels! Ran in my Vibrams and I felt great the whole time... no problems! And I actually covered 2.5 miles with it, so I'm very pleased with how it went!

As for the swim, it was awesome too! 100 meter warm up, then 4- 1/4 mile accels. I swam strong and pretty fast... I did get a foot cramp and my side cramped up for a few seconds but that was it! So it was a good start of the week with training!

Thanks for reading! Don't drown. Don't crash. Don't walk.

I'm still here I promise!

After a painfully long absence! But lots of things have gone down since February 19... so here's the happ:

I had this totally awesome, super cool idea that in my head was going to turn out AMAZING. Like I just knew it would work so well... buuuut it wasn't as great as I intented. (Sorry about all the pronouns!) "It" is a photo with all of (or mostly all of) my tri gear layed out and labeled. I just thought it a really good idea and something to add to the "my gear" page! Well here is how it turned out....

I guess it's kinda cute.... :) What do you think?? Questions, comments, ideas??? It's pretty much how I envisioned it... but I'm not sure. (click to enlarge and see it better!)

I also got some close ups of each piece of gear but I may or may not do anything with those. It's a work in progress! As is this blog! I need more pictures, and interesting/cool things to post about! Just bear with me until racing finally starts again :D

Another thing under consideration right now is new tri tops/shorts!! (the girly/fun part of racing) I have a few in mind from Zoot. I really like the indigo! ;) (I'm thinking the Endurance Tri Racerback) But I'm still on the lookout... There's a little bit of time left!

As for training... I didn't get any in today :( But I did get to spend the day in Jackson at the Capitol with the Teenage Republicans! So I'm hoping to do a significant run tomorrow. We'll see what happens! 

I swam a GREAT swim yesterday! It felt awesome! And I think it's safe to say my form has really improved... I guess :P I tried to focus more on getting my form right rather than speed yesterday. Ready to get back in the water again!

Sorry for such a long post... but thanks for reading! Go train!

CEP socks, I love you :)

So today was my long run day! But it wasn't very long :( I was much too sore to run 10k like I planned to, but much too not sore to not run... so I settled at 4 miles! I ran it fast, good splits, but it hurt. so. bad. It was SO HOT out, and this is just a taste of the summer! Plus my calves and ankles were bothering me a lot more than usual...

But guess what! Because of my awesome CEP recovery socks......

I'm not even sore. At all! My legs feel great! I was honestly a little skeptical before I got them... but like I've said before.... they work amazingly well! :D I was even jumping on the trampoline after I ran ;)

Well I'll probably just stay chill and rest tomorrow from training... but it looks like another pretty good week weather wise, which = lotsa good training!

I have a couple more additions to this years races! :D I'll work on getting them posted soon!

Thank you so much for reading! :) I'll be back!

One beautiful brick!

Today's training:  A bike/run brick! (simulating race day) I rode 13 miles, and ran 5k. So it was nothing big or long, but it was brick so it was obviously hard! I am definitely pleased with my bike splits, but the run wasn't my best... it was good! But not my best :( During the bike portion my left quad, hip and lower back were all like numb/stinging! It was so weird... but then when I got to the run they were fine! The last 1.5 miles of the run was pretty rough though. I started getting dizzy/feeling lightheaded and whatnot. But that may just be my body getting readjusted to the hot weather! But overall it went great! Nothing I couldn't handle!

I actually did a short run yesterday too... so although I wasn't sore at all, going in to today's brick I was a little nervous about what would happen. But it didn't affect me at all! It was so awesome! ;)

Depending on how my legs are feeling Saturday, I'm hoping to do a longish run... like probably a 10k. I may even take it to trail running again! We'll see how everything goes...

Thanks for reading! Train even harder!

A ooey gooey birthday!

Yes yes yesterday was my birthday hold your applause.. please, enough applause! Haha jk :P But what else would I do to celebrate the day of my birth other than ride my bike??? Nothing! So, I rode my bike!

I got to enjoy a pleasantly brutal, hot and cold, UP and down ride with a few friends yesterday! (notice the "UP") Okay actually... The ride was RIDICULOUSLY HARD. There you have it. But I guess that's what happens when your friends are triathlete FREAKS ;) It was fun though don't get me wrong! We rode 26-27 miles total but it felt like 300 while we were riding! My legs hurt. so. bad. Running around all this afternoon probably wasn't wise :P

So why was my birthday ooey and gooey? Well, because of these:

I heart Clif shot bloks... they are amazing. They pretty much taste like huge gummy bears... and anything gummy=deliciousness! Plus they work fantastically! It's not like actually ooey and gooey... but kinda... it's a yummy kind of gooey!



Well I took the day off today... But that's okay, this weeks weather is like picture PERFECT, so I know I will get a lot of training in! And OUTside at that ;)

Have a great week, train hard! and..
Don't drown.

Don't crash.

Don't walk.

Allow me to explain

Yes I know my blog header has been pretty sloppy recently... I'm working on it! You've probably seen the black and white picture that I'm trying to add with my blog title... which has also changed ;)  I just wasn't entirely pleased with how it was looking or with the title. So I went from "Onward!" to "Looking at the World Through Rose Colored Goggles", which I thought was suiting for me and for the focal purpose of this blog by changing "glasses" to "goggles". Does that make any sense? Basically I'm just mixing things up a bit right now. ;) That is if I can figure out how to do it! I'm not 100% blogger fluent yet :/ One day it will look good!

Now. Back to training. My workouts have been small/short this week... but hard. Yesterday I went to KDMC like normal, got in the pool and proceeded to do that days swim workout, when about 1/8 mile into it my right quad starting STINGING. Nothing like a normal muscle cramp... this was like, bad. I have no idea where it came from! And while swimming of all things! So I thought I'd stop, take a breather, massage it and keep going. But that didn't work... it kept burning until I just got out after 1/2 mile. So weird. I was also planning to run, and I really wanted to go through with that... sooo I did! Despite burning quads! You wanna know what's even weirder? It was totally fine while running! This really puzzles me...

As for today though, I was very limited on time. But I still managed to squeeze in a short, fast run! It felt great... I only did a mile and a half but at a very fast pace. Gotta be fast as well as have endurance! ;)

Bike name update: I'm still contemplating! But it's coming, so stay tuned!

Ride #1

I got my bike!! Yesterday morning! :D And I looooove it!

It's seriously beautiful... the colors and just everything! I also got to get a good feel for it today riding out on the Long Leaf Trace with some friends! We rode about 25 miles, and it hurt. ;) But that's okay... it was a good and fun ride. I'm excited to ride it again!

I will try and post some more, and better pictures of it soon! But there it is! :D

P.S any name suggestions? ;)

Ice ice baby

So I'm not much of a runner when it's 36 degrees outside, sadly. Anywhere <40 is way too painful to even try! But, I can still swim :D
Both Monday and yesterday I swam, and each day it went very very very well! Monday I did just under a mile and three quarters, and yesterday I did just over a mile. Fast. Like my splits were probably the fastest they have ever been... woop woop! Now as for today, I'm not sure :/ I'll either do normal strength stuff or I may end up at the pool again! Annnd same for tomorrow with it's 32 degree high, ice, and freezing rain. But Saturday and Sunday look like pretty nice days to get out!

Well that's what's up. Hoping to get to Jackson on Saturday morning to get fitted to and bring home my new bike! Sure is a nice, big birthday present ;)

Have a great Wednesday! :)

I have a gorgeous bicycle.

Well I almost do :)
So obviously I decided which one to get! By convincing popular demand, it's versatility, as well as the components and material... I chose to go with the road bike! 2011 Felt ZW6! I won't actually have it until probably next weekend though :( (getting my size frame, and the shoes and pedals)  But I'm just excited that I've finally been sized, it's been ordered, and it will be here in no time!! Cannot wait to start riding :D It's a nice, pretty little bike. Don't have any pictures yet except for the ones from Felt's website but as soon as I get it I will post some! I'm seriously going to treat it like a newborn... Pillows and blankets IN the car on the way home, it'll probably sleep by my bed for a few days, and I'll give it regular baths. Eeek! Yes, I'm quite pumped ;)

That's pretty much it for now... should be a good day to train tomorrow! But later in the week not so much :-/ I'll keep you posted!

Okay guys, I need help

I have 24 hours (litterly) to make a final decision on which bike to purchase. It's between the Felt ZW6 (road bike) and the Felt S22 (triathlon bike). Personally I like the tri bike better... even though it's aluminum and weighs 2 pounds more. ;) Plus I've been set on this bike since like last race season! But just this week I've been hammered like a nail about getting the swanky, full carbon, 18 pound road bike instead so that I can also do cycling races and whatnot, not just triathlon. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not disagreeing about that... I'd love to do cycling races... But that tri bike is calling my name! Then so is the road bike...

I guess the logical thing to do is get the road bike so I at least have the option of different kinds of races. And I could get clip on aero bars? I don't know I don't know! Well I mean I do have a preeetty good idea of what will go down tomorrow, but what do you think? Which bike do you like better? [I think I know what everyone will say too ;)]  But I'd love to hear your opinions!!

Bike ridin'

Welllll I lied about running today... and swimming. Neither happened for lack of time BUT I did actually ride! A short yet hard tempo ride. It went well, minus my hips kind of hurting towards the end... which was really weird. But I enjoyed it, made me all the more excited for Saturdaaayy! :D

Also it looks like there may be 2 or 3 big additions to my races page up there! ^^^ (as well as subtractions) But they are 2 or 3 very exciting additions! Goodness, have I mentioned how excited I am for this race season?? :D I will elaborate a little more on this probably come next week. Or I could keep it totally secret... oooo suspense.... haha no. It's not THAT big, at some point I'll let it out ;)

Tomorrow will be a normal day. School in the morning, train in the afternoon. I'm not for sure yet what the training will be... probably something just kinda spontaneous!

But, Saturday, January 29, 2011, will not be a normal day.   :)

A fun, picture-filled post is soon to come!!

Let us run with perseverance

....are the words I repeated over and over to myself while running today.

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1b-3

What a great way to stay motivated and fight through the minute leg pain! Considering the pain he went through me. "Let us run with PERSEVERANCE!"

So anyway, I ran today! A pretty wonderful 5k in (almost) record time! I was sooo excited when I saw the clock ;) My stomach did keep cramping up though :/ maybe from too much water pre-run? It was so annoying. And my ankles were feeling kinda jammed and hurting more than usual as well. But it wasn't unbearable, I finished and quickly at that!

Also, I had another good swim yesterday! 400 meters warm up and cool down, and 4 x 1/4 mile sets... So about 2000 meters total. My arms were a little more sore because I swam Monday too, but it probably wasn't enough to really be considered "sore". I'd say the training I've done so far this year as gone great! Very promising :) Allllmost time to start a count down for my first race! Haha

Well the weather tomorrow is supposed to amazing... mid 50's and sunny! So I'm definitely planning to take advantage of that and go for another run, and probably swim too. :D It's been a wonderful week training wise, and an exciting weekend ahead! I'll blog about all of the fun stuff, so check back :)

It's like math

Swimming at KDMC has become a math class of sorts. And 1st grade math is so confusing! They've taken down the huge, wonderfully convenient sign with all of the conversions such as: 2 laps = 25 meters, 64 lengths = 1 mile, etc. But now I have to stop and do all of that difficult math in my head! I guess I should try and learn the measurements as well as I've learned my name...

But anyway I had an almost picture perfect mile long swim today! No soreness, no stinging shoulder pain, no side pain, nothing. It was great. I did some 100 meter accels then a long set breaking half-way in between.

Now I'm home enjoying a yummy post-workout snack of peanut butter and banana, an apple, and like 3 gallons of water before I do workout #2: core strength. But I'm sure it'll end up being all of upper body, core, and lower body ;)


If you have never tried this... just wow. It's sooo good even if you don't like bananas! Try it!

 It felt amazing to be training after being sick, yet again! Racing starts before too long! :D :S :/ :@ (<--- describes all of my emotions about this...) Haha no it'll be fun, I'm ready for March :D

Thanks for the read, have a good week!

Clip in... clip out

Tonight we're talking gear. New gear. Or lack there of ;)

But first, a little about my weekend:
It started out last night with our youth groups Women's Retreat. It was led by sweet Mrs. Janie and Meredith and we spent the night out at the Mooney's home. We had such a fun time fellowshipping together while learning simple, practical ways to strengthen our relationship with God. And five girls sleeping on the floor 2 inches from each other is a pretty fun way to bond, huh? ;)

So now to gear. I'm just about to finally get my new bike! :D It's getting closer and closer and I am sooo excited! But sadly, you can't just buy the bike. Currently I'm working on picking out my shoes and pedals. Well actually just the shoes... pedals are done :) But there is SO many options! I've got it pretty much narrowed down to either a pair of Pearl Izumi's or Shimano's, but that is always subject to change. My pedals are Speedplay ;)

Another thing I'm looking into is new tri shorts/top. I've actually had my eye on some of the unreleased spring 2011 line of Zoot clothing that I maaaybe found a leak of... ;) But I'm not sure yet, we'll see. The main issue to be worrying about right now is the shoes... Even if I have the bike, with shoes and pedals it won't do me much good! Not only do they have to look at least kinda good, but they have to be compatible with the cleat/pedal system. It shouldn't be that big of a problem but it's something to not forget about.

There's things regarding new triathlon gear I could write 10 pages about, but I'm tired, and it might get boring :P
But new stuff is soon to come!

Hope you've all had a great weekend so far!

I am alive!

Just not as much as normal this week... :/ I have been cooped up in my bed... sick... again. AGAIN! Only this time it was a quick, gone in a jiffy stomach bug. Tuesday morning I woke up around 4:00 feeling really odd. But I blew it off thinking maybe it was from sleeping on my stomach, or I had just eaten too much on Monday and was really full. But sure enough, about an hour later I finally... vomited. (TMI?) Ahhh I was so upset, I mean I had just gotten over the flu. So anyway, I continued to be very ill the rest of the morning and got out of bed maybe once.

It's now Friday and I still really don't have all of my energy back yet! I haven't been sleeping well at night, or eating much during the day so I'm sure that's why. But other than the tiredness I feel good today! Having been sick also means no triathlon training... for a week. That's the second full week I've already missed this year! :( But I guess recovery is most important. If time permits I might try to go for an easy, recovery swim tomorrow evening, but I'm not sure yet. Just glad to be feeling better!

Well there's not really much else to say... my week has been sick and boring so far!  I'll be back to normal posting within the next day or two, I promise!

Thanks for reading :)

The greatest invention

Recently I discovered one of the greatest inventions ever to be invented. And it's simply called, The Stick.



This thing is wonderful. I promise. After a workout when your muscles are kind of knotty and stiff, it's like a miracle worker! A quick massage for about a minute or two is even enough to do the trick! Basically it aids in recovery by reducing muscle pain, as well as prepare your muscles for a workout, and help with strength and flexibility. (Read more about it by clicking on "The Stick" at the beginning of this post) It's kind of the same concept as the CEP compression socks... which by the way I still love!  Both things have proved to be sooo helpful and get you back training in no time.

Both today and yesterday I was out of town so I wasn't able to get any training in. But after a long, 11 hours of training last week, I think these were well needed recovery days! I'll get back to it tomorrow. :)

Any questions about random gear I may post about? Feel free to comment and ask! :)

Stay tuned!

Roots, rocks, and what they do to ankles

As today had the warmest temperatures we've had in a looong time, (high 40's at noon) I thought it'd be nice to do some trail running today. So I hit up the mountain bike trails! I ran 5 miles, and the last 2 quite painfully. I always always always never cease to find a good, big root or rock to twist my bad ankle or jam my knee on. I guess nothing less should be expected as it is trail running... but still!



Here you can see some of those painful root drops :S



In hopes of at least helping the oh-so-common sharp ankle pain, I stopped at the end of mile 4 to roll it out and massage it some. I made it about 3/4 of that mile with it feeling... fair, I suppose... but as for the last 1/4 mile, I might as well have hopped on one foot all the way back! It was preeetty bad. It's like a large needle poking through your skin, except from underneath it! My knee is actually feeling the same way. :/ I think I had that ever popular end of a race "I'm about to puke" look on my face. And it wasn't like I could just end it right there... 1) I was out in the middle of some trails! And 2) I was motivated to much to finish it. ;)  No pain or muscle cramps were going to stop me. Being chilly, yet burning up on the inside was not going to stop me. No crazy steep hills were going to stop me. I knew I was finishing that run, and I was pretty excited about it!



One of the dreaded short and steep hills



And I did finish the run! With everything but my ankle and knee feeling strong! So overall I am very pleased with how it went... despite re-twisting that stinking ankle, and jamming some knee joints. I'm so glad I didn't chicken out because of the coldish weather!

After running, I went to our church gym to play basketball and whatnot with some friends. And it lasted alllll afternoon. My legs were on FIRE from all the running around! So. Much. Soreness! Not sure how well I'll be walking tomorrow... :S Basically, as soon as I got out of bed this morning I never stopped moving. But it was a fun and full day! Hopefully I'll be alive enough to do at least some workout tomorrow...

Thanks all for reading!
Anna G

The day in review

Awful, sleepy, long days = a great workout! 100, 200, 400... 400, 200 100 <--- was my swim today. (100m, rest, 200m, rest, 400m, rest and so on) And I swam it hard! It's really nice to just get in the pool, with your head in the water, no background noise, no one talking to you, and just go. Quite relaxing :) So combined it was a 1400 meter main set, plus 200m warm up and 200m cool down, which makes 1800 meters, or a little over one mile. Went wonderfully, I'm just sore :P

I also did core and upper body specific strength training after I swam, then headed to ballet and got a lot of stretching in, as well as work the quads good! My tummy muscles are also like, on fire. I now dread every deep breath, twist, bend, cough, sneeze, and everything else I do on a regular basis! I'm pretty pitiful. But hey, training isn't supposed to be easy. Plus I got a full body workout and feel pretty good now otherwise... so I'll take it!

FYI: I finally updated the "races" page up there ^^ at the top! If you look at all of the dates and think I'm crazy, no worries! I'm not doing ALL of those... I just thought I would include all of the currently potential ones in which I'll decide on later. I'll probably do about 8-10 of them... the question is which ones do I nix.... 0_o

Thanks for reading, check back soon!
A

I might move to Mexico

Yeah. I'm thinking about moving to Mexico for a few months. Or somewhere at least slightly warm. When it stays in the 30's in Mississippi for over a week... preventing me from training anywhere other than the gym or my house... it's not good. I mean, I've already lost a whole week due to illness, now the weather?! Humph. Maybe I'll use this time to go as crazy as a party animal on working on swim skills and speed. I might become a pro swimmer this week! Or maybe I'll hit strength training as hard as David hit Goliath. I mean... it is the off season and all... where most hard strength training should take place... Aw shucks, I guess I can use this week (or two :S) to my advantage after all! But, I am ready for an outdoor run in decent weather. And ride for that matter.

Now, having said that, I did actually swim today! And a yoga session, and lift, and core strength, and speed exercises. So I really can't complain. It was a pretty good day! Even after only somewhere between 2 to 4 1/2 hours of sleep. But now I've got lots of energy and feel very refreshed! My swim was great, I did a few hundred meters worth of warm up laps, 5 x 100m accelerations, then a straight 1200m, then 2 x 100m cool down laps. And I felt strong throughout! I did have slight random pain in my ribs... :S but that was really it. Stretching later on helped out. So hopefully the swimming trend will stick, at least for the week. Today was also basically the opener of the season. It was the first planned session on my program! It will last around 5 weeks, then I'll switch to a different program focusing more on endurance. I think I've finally got a better picture and idea of how the year will go... but it's just so hard! It's difficult (at least for me) to make a final decision on everything and plan out the year in the most safe way to be sure to not overtrain or be over loaded with racing. But I'm still working on it, with lots of excitement! Can't wait for the first race this year!
Later :)

A

The year has now begun! ...on January 7...

Finally just swam a great mile today to start the year off! And it was beautiful. My swim was, that is. I did have a bummed, hurting shoulder for the last half of it, so I stretched it out about every 10 minutes and I was able to finish. At one point my ear swallowed a gallon or two of water... talk about painful! So that was my excuse for a little break. It was a little hot, but it just felt good to be back in the water! Especially with the newly renovated facility. They completely changed the entire fitness center building and just recently re-opened. It is SO nice now! Very, very clean and just a more inviting atmosphere. Not to mention, they added lane stripes on the bottom of the pool which makes it so much easier to swim without bumping into the large water aerobics ladies. :)

I'll be at the fitness center lots this season! Swimming as usual, and I plan to add more strength training into the picture than I did last year. Not to buff up... that's nasty. But just to tone up more than I have been. ;) Should help with my racing.

So overall, I have to say the season is looking positive! Started rested up and with a great swim! If I'm still feeling good tomorrow I may try to squeeze in a quick run for the kicks.
Okay well, enough talk. See you at the races!

Happy dance!

Sooooomebody is getting their new bike in the next couple of weeks! :D Me! I am hoping to go to the shop this weekend to get fitted and get the order in. Then next week, I'll have a bike! BUT, it may not happen until next weekend. Everything is up in the air still. But as I'm sure you can imagine, I am SO excited! Like I just cannot wait.

I've also spent the last week sick. Sick as a dog. I've gotten to know my pillow and my bed quite well. :( It's comfy, but I'm ready to get up and out and training again. It's been really hard to accept the fact that it's a new year! new gear! new training program! new everything! Annnnd I can't use any of it yet. I'm a little better today but I'm hoping to be 100% tomorrow. Minus this nasty cough. Maybe a swim worked into the day? Yes please. :) I am just so ready to try out my new stuff! My training this year is going to like, completely change. I want to actually get somewhere in triathlon, competitively. Things like the heart rate monitor which I'll use a lot of, the compression socks to aid in recovery, a new, faster bike, more experience, a harder program, and longer races in the lineup will help with that. It's sure to be an exciting year full of many, many races.

Now, don't get me wrong. I still have much learning to do. I really don't completely know what I'm doing still! So it won't be perfect... but if you try at anything you can do it. It just takes motivation, and I assure you, I am motivated for this year! It will also take perseverance, as I won't ace every training session and every race. There will be some days when my workout will beat me, not I it. And that's hard. Nor will I come in first place every time, or even second or third. And honestly, it may be hard to accept at first considering how well I raced this past season! That's all part of becoming a better triathlete, and I'm all for that. Even on these sick days... when I could PULL MY HAIR OUT FROM ANGER FROM NOT BEING ABLE TO TRAIN AND I REALLY NEED IT!!! Have to fight through it! There's always another day! It'll take hard work to get to where I strive to be, I know it will. But, I will be SO happy when I'm there. :)

Okay enough chit chat... off to get some rest and be ready for a nice swim tomorrow! Ciao!

AG