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!