After IMAZ and the work that went into that race and my PR there…I decided to keep 2012 fun and lighter.  NO IRONMAN and possibly not even any 1/2 IMs…even though I have since changed my mind.

This weekend, I have kept my promise and had another FUN and competitive weekend.  I raced in a Sprint Triathlon up in Whitewater, WI where the swim was in a POOL!  Gasp.  Actually, I have done this race 5-6x and it is just fun, low-key and cold.  A perfect combination for me.  Race day did not disappoint..it was barely 40F when I started.

This race is a 500 y pool swim, 14 mile ride and 3. something off road cross country run.  NO pavement.  It is so fun!  Lots of beginners and a splash of some really fast athletes.

Best part?  The fastest wave starts at 11am!  I did not have to set an alarm and myself and Mia, Karen, Stacie and Jaynie all left my house at 8am.  Lovely.

And, it was fun to see familiar faces, catch up and kick off the official Triathlon season here.

I was so calm.  As, I really should be for a race like this.  But, truth be told, I was SO unsure of my run fitness.  I really was concerned I would be running SUPER SLOW and get passed 1000 x.  My times are so-so right now, but I respond VERY quickly to the track and I have been on the track all of April and despite Dave thinking I am sucking wind right now (he is always right) I am getting my legs back under me slowly.

Anyway, they started my wave, #35, 20 minutes early!  (Who does that? lol) and there were 3 in my lane, lane #4. The look on these kids’ faces were priceless.  They entered a very fast time for their 500 and I was with them!  And, my entry time was theirs too!  They had on their ITU racing suits…they were probably HS age.  Anyway, I passed one of them and the other put 25y on me.  GOOD lane!

But, that was not my competition.  My competition was Lauren Jensen..someone who I am happy to race against this year after a horrific bike crash 2 years ago killed her friend and injured her.  She used to race PRO, but now is back to AG racing and she is 44!  Us Masters kick butt!  While she is nice, I am still there to beat her.  I beat her out of the pool and out of T1.

I rode and rode…14 miles – please.  I was breathing so hard you would have thought I was a smoker.  That is how I race Sprint races…so hard that I can not possibly drink anything or do anything but focus on breathing and not the pain in my lungs or fire in my quads.

Lauren is a great cyclist.  All 110 lbs of her…and she passed me.  WITH a tail wind – so she was going over 30 mph and we were hauling ass.  Anyway, I held on as tight as I could to her and she was only able to put about 40″ on me ….I was coming into T1 and she was coming out.  I flew off my bike and thankfully did not kill myself and hopped into my shoes and off I went (I almost forget how to do the dismount after IM training!). 🙂

I love Sprints.  I am not saying I am the best Sprint athlete out there (ha) but I surely like the animistic feel of racing a Sprint.  Nothing but myself and the clock…and every second matters.  The last triathlon I did was an Ironman, so this was so fun.  I found myself having fun and smiling (I never smile when I race b/c I am working so hard) but I was doing what I wanted:  having fun and hunting 1st place down.  I was working my TAIL off…running fast.

I was in shock. NOT only did I feel like I was floating on air, I was racing Cross Country style through flags and hay and single track and hills and sand..it was AWESOME and different.  I was closing the gap on her but not enough…I could see her, I was huting and I never let that string break between her back and my eyes.  I needed another 1/2 mile…and it would have been an interesting finish.  And, I could hear someone breathing behind me…and not leaving.  !!!  I turned around and there was a girl!  Not that I should be surprised but it is J Hawk not St. Anthony’s, so I kind of knew where I was all day…even though there are 100 waves…and she was tough.  I give her a ton of credit, she did NOT give me an inch. (come to find out she was moving b/c she was part of a relay, but I did NOT know this at the time).

I never let up.  I was fighting the vomit back in my throat…I had to close my eyes on the flatter grassy areas so I would not explode.  I never took a drink or sip of anything.  The race only took me 1:08, I couldn’t afford anything that would not move me forward.

I finished 2nd OA and with my best time EVER on that course???!!!  The course has never changed, but the winds have over the years….this year it was windy but not as bad as last year.  But, the best part?  My swim was the same as last year (of course, it is only 500y) and I had the fastest swim of the day and the 2nd fastest bike (after lauren) and was 3 minutes faster than last year and pretty close to my fastest there and the best news where I walked away and smiled:  I had the fastest run…and my best run time there EVER.

That, my friends, is a Christmas MIRACLE.  I have been chugging along with my running in training….and training on tired legs and swimming then running, you know…

But, for me, I have this switch when I race.  I like to race more than I like to do pretty much anything in this sport, so when that flag drops, the sh*t stops and I suffer.  It is like I enter this zone where I am so focused, so plugged in, that I rise above where my training has been.  Gosh, that feels so good.  Ironically, everything came together for this little sprint.  HA…and I did not rest for it (of course) coming off the bit rest I did for the State swim meet last weekend.  I even rode 50 miles on Friday.   Hmmm.

I will say this:  I was not stressed all week, I ate well (except my normal chocolate), I slept over 8-9 hours every night…and that helps me a ton.  And, I was with friends and fun people.  That really is the icing on the cake for me.

Congrats to everyone who raced and to Stacie, Mia, Jaynie and Karen who traveled with me and hit the diner with me afterwards (the best part).  And it was great to see Gina, Tracy and John Lorenz who raced well and their kids (Justin/Alex) who raced well and the MMS Kids Team with Chris Palmquist who was up there racing.  Just a great day!

Keeping it fun, as I promised myself!

I really LOVED the State Swim Meet this weekend for many reasons.

This was the first year I decided to do the ENTIRE meet – 9 individual events + the max of 4 relays.  That meant swimming Thursday night and then 6:30am-8pm Saturday and Sunday downtown at the UIC.    That is a huge commitment, but in the past I have drove in for “my” favorite events, either the 1650 or the 1000 (alternating years) and the 500 Free.

This year was different.  I came off the IM and was SLOW and tired.  I took a large chunk of time out of the water after IMAZ.  I had not done a hard pool workout in months.  By the time I got back to Masters and moving for 2012, I was far behind the girls in my lane.  So, when the small meets rolled around, I swam in them, but I was still off and slower.  I decided I needed a new challenge.  For the past 4-5 years I have either done the 1650 or 1000 and 500.  That is all.  And, every year I had won.  I know that sounds horrible and I never take that for granted (especially this year!) but I needed a new challenge.  So, I picked the hardest swim event (in my opinion) to aim for at State.  This was in February.

I decided to share that goal with everyone and talk incessantly about it so that it would MAKE me stay honest with it.  Because, it is NOT easy to slow down and do the hard stuff that I really needed to do work on my fly, back and breast.  But, I did it and by the time this weekend rolled around, I was as ready as I could have been.

Fast forward to this weekend.  I tapered fully for it.  I did not run or bike after Wednesday…and Wednesday was SUPER light.  My 1000 was Thursday night and late..I think I swam around 7:30pm or 8pm?  I went down all weekend with Mia, Stacie and Karen.  We had a great time and they all PRd massively at the meet!!

So, I swam:  50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, 1000 Free, 50 Fly, 100 IM, 200 IM, 400 IM and 4 relays all free 50s.

It was like lighting a match 14 x.

ALL out, all lactate burning and all very ,very hard.  Closing my eyes to finish hard.

And, eating appropriately to do this from when we woke up at 5am or so until 7:30pm each day.  That is tough, but thankfully we did a good job at that (thanks Stacie for the homemade bars!).

Honestly, I was most nervous about the 1000 Free and 500 Free.  Two events which I consider a better fit for me as a Triathlete…ironically, I still consider them way too short.  MY FAV event is the 1650.  Anyway, I was nauseous nervous about the 1000 all day…nothing like racing at 8pm to keep your mind and stomach honest all day!!  I did the best I could.  I was a little slower than I raced at last time but ended up getting 2^nd in that event for the meet and swimming a 12:2x.

Krista, my lane mate ended up 1^st.  Ironically, we went 1-2 last year as well…just roles were flipped this year.  Krista ended up having a GREAT meet, and we went 1-2-3 in the 1000 F, 500 F, 100 F, 200 F (where I just barely  out-touched her!) and we were 2 “ apart in the 500 F and swam the same time in the 100 F, but she got me.  So, it was a fun meet.  She ended up winning HIGH POINTS for our AG – tied with uber swimmer, Jennifer Ridge (who went 56 in the 100, 1:59 in the 200 and went 5:2x in the 500).  OUCH.

I was fortunate and pleasantly surprised to get 3^rd place HIGH POINTS in our Age Group – I was so excited.  How fun is that?  Something I didn’t even know they acknowledged or awarded.  It just means I scored the 3^rd highest points in the meet in my AG.  Fun!  See, you never know unless you try!

Ok, let’s move on…I hate posting my times b/c that seems kinda silly, but this is a swim meet so I will talk about times if they help..some will think they are very fast and real swimmers will think they are super slow! LOL

I dislike the 50 Free.  It is a pure power event/speed, both of which…well…I am not super at.  Add in the flip turns and starts and well…OUCH.  The 50 Fly and the 50 Free I did score points in but these were the only 2 events I did not get 1^st or 2^nd or 3^rd in.

On Saturday I swam in order:

100 IM:  What a fun event!  It is fast but fun and another event where there are some amazing swimmers at.  My head has to think about the turns a bit more than what it should b/c the turns are not normal for me and they were disqualifying swimmers left and right –so we had to be absolutely perfect with our turns (my weakness).  But, I had fun, FELT amazing b/c it was the first event and even got it on tape so I can work on my IM.   I went 1:19.  That is slow for girls placing.  I think my lane mates were closer to 1:10 or faster.

50 y Free:  Just fast and hard…got 4^th and well, that is not really fun.

200 Free:  This is the hardest event of the entire weekend.  It is not a distance event and in my mind, it is a full blown sprint for 2+ minutes.  It was so hard but I felt AWESOME and swam well…I ended up getting 2^nd here with a 2:15.  The girl who won went 1:59.  Yep.

400 IM:  Ok, this was the last event on Saturday!  I was not super nervous for it, but had to really think about all the turns…when you can flip back to back and open turn back to breast, etc.  The last thing I wanted was to be disqualified!!  I will say this.  I ABSOLUTELY loved this event.  I got done and felt that it was really not that hard.  I am so used to absolutely hammering full blown that it was NOT cardio hard for me…it was muscularly hard for me – because I am not super efficient in the strokes compared to freestyle that my muscles hurt, not my breathing.  Interesting difference.  It went by so fast and I worked really hard because I knew 1^st place would be tight.  I ended up going high 5 and I was so happy to be under 6 minutes, and I ended up getting 2^nd in that event!  I will be doing this again for sure!!!  Fly was easy for me – It was the breaststroke that was hard for me.

On Sunday we started with the 500 Free!

500 Free:  This one is a little personal for me because no matter what I do I am pretty close on my times.  My heat was AWESOME.  It was 8 of us who were seeded all within seconds of one another –  many of us good friends and some of my lane mates!  And, Jenna next to me who I knew would swim a 5:45-50, so my goal was to hang on to her draft!  Anyway, I felt good, raced so hard I had to close my eyes to fight off the pain and lactate and I ended up with a great time for me and 2^nd again (lots of 2^nds for me this weekend).  Ironically my 400 IM time and 500 Free time were almost the same. I don’t think it really should be like that.  Ha!  Start of the 500 Free, where I was seeded 2nd slowest, hence lane #1!

200 IM:  Now we are talking…not the 100 IM, but the longer the better for me…and after the 400 IM, this would be easy.  I love the IM, no pressure and just fun.  I went my seed time, which I was happy about and got 2^nd!  2:4x.

And, then the 50 Fly.  Well, let’s just say this was my bad seed for the day.  I kinda screwed up the start.  I just was too slow off the blocks and in a 50 fly with these girls, I am already screwed.  I did OK but really not super.

100 Free was the last event of the day – at 6pm on Sunday night.  I was OVER the getting in the pool to warm up, race hard, cool down.  The thought of getting in ANY body of water again – all while we were FREEZING COLD to warm up was not appealing any more.  We were all just over it by now…but the 100 Free is a VERY hard event for me and some fast fast girls.  So, I willed myself into suffering for 1 more minute…I  mean, seriously, we can do that.  And, that is what I did….I put my head down, moved as fast as I could after all that swimming and went a 1:03.  HA!  Not my fastest, but not too shabby considering all my swimming.  Krista out-touched me and we went 2-3.  The girl who won went 55 or 56 in our AG…um….nice.  The girl who won OVERALL 100 Free was 24 years old (maybe) and just graduated from Georgia and went 50.01.  Yep.  Amazing to watch.

Our team got 4^th OA and I know Coach Corinne was not overly thrilled, but we did our best, had a great time and we all swam well.

I got home around 7:30pm last night and was starving for REAL food…my face looks like I got a sunburn – but OH no, we were inside all weekend..that is just the burn from all the chlorine!  And, my friend, Sue Welker who coaches the Naperville Waves (who won the meet and who I swam with back in the day) said that she loves when Triathletes like me come out and mix it up with the real swimmers and end up having a great meet and doing things like the 400IM.  We both agreed we wish more Triathletes would do these events – really keeps you honest!

CONGRATS to all swimmers – to everyone on the team who did so well and to my lane mates:  Drew, Sarah, Krista and Jenna…all who made me work so hard in practice in the stroke work..especially when they are swimming 5:15s for their 400 IM stuff.  Thanks for putting up with me this season!!  And, for Krista who is 41 years old too and makes me work hard to keep up all the time and it is FUN to compete against you at every meet, even if I get 2^nd sometimes. J

Thanks to Andrea who came out to see the meet and watch her friends, including me swim!  Watching an all day swim meet is not the most exciting thing to do!  And, I spent some quality time with Lindsey Whalen too – great meet! 🙂

And, I was excited to learn I qualified for Nationals in the 50 Free (joke, I will not swim this at nationals!), 100 F, 200 F, 500 F, 1000 F …so I am heading to IUIPUI with Krista (Cheryl and Melissa S!) to swim next year at Nationals…and I am only 13 seconds off for the 400 IM and I will get it there before I go next year!

And, for anyone reading who has never done a swim meet….really, you should.  This meet surely had some uber fast swimmers…but the range for women’s 100 Free was 50.01 – 3:00+!  And, all ages…up to 85+.  Truly inspirational!   Really….worth the time and all the hard work!

I have wanted to blog but just have not had the time to sit down and type!  So, here are my bullet points to ease my rambling mind:

• I am excited (and nervous)!  This is the Masters Swim State Championships week and weekend!  Thousands of awesome swimmers down at UIC swimming for 3 days!  I have worked hard at getting back into swim shape to race these girls.  I am even tapering for this meet.  I did my hard run workout today and will do my hard bike workout tomorrow and then that is IT.  I am racing the 1000 on Thursday night and then Saturday and Sunday I am racing:  100IM, 200IM, 400IM, 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free and all relays.  Needless to say I will be a mess when this is done.  The competition is stiff this year.  The gal who is seeded first in the 200 Free in my Age group is seeded at a 1:59…just to keep things in perspective!  So, I must rest (not that I will swim a sub 2 min 200, please…but so I do not get blown out of the water!).  And, doesn’t sitting on bleachers soaking wet all weekend sound like a good time?  LOL

• I had a track workout today and I was so excited about it and it was a tough one.  The prescribed times were not too fast but the 50 mph wind gusts and rain were SUPER challenging.  But, the last thing I would even think of doing is miss my track workouts. I beg and beg to do them, so when they come, I better shut up and do them. Winds or not.  And, I nailed it.  I know people driving by thought I was nuts.  I would come around one bend and not be able to take one step forward…I was stopped dead in my track!  But, I can feel my run fitness coming back and yesterday I even ran 8 miles easy…at a pace faster than I raced my ½ Marathon at in March.  So, progress!

• Speaking of the track,  2 weeks ago was my first track workout in over a year…and I was so nervous for it.  I barely slept the night before and when I was meeting Dave at the track I seriously was worried about what the workout was going to be and if I could will myself around that track.  Dave has not seen me run in over a year…as I was focusing on the IM and my Achilles last year…so on my first lap he peered over his glasses and let out a primal “ughhhhhhhh”.  And, I am not sure I was supposed to hear that…but I did.  He said, “You look like a Triathlete not a runner.”  (that is not a good thing, by the way)  And, he was right.  All my swimming (and honestly, it is not that much) creates massive shoulders and lats on me…and makes me look massive…and really clumsy on the track.  And, heavy.  I felt heavy.  Well, truth be told, I may be, but getting that rhythm back is so critical for me to run well….and I just had NO rhythm at all!  By the end of the track workout I did see a 2:xx for my 800 but not without a full blown effort.  BLAH!!!!

• I had the pleasure of co-hosting Jessi Stensland this weekend for her Movement U Strength Clinic (http://www.gojessi.com/movementu/).  I have been corresponding with Jessi over the last few years and asking her to come to Chicago.  She asked if I could get the athletes and I said, “yep!” and we had nearly 21 at the clinic at ProKine Fitness.  It was awesome.  I highly recommend going to one of her strength clinics….it was extremely beneficial.  OH, and here is the truth…Jessi stayed with us at my house and slaved over the food for the clinic all day on Friday.  She made homemade hummus, etc.,.  On Saturday (day of the clinic) she made my breakfast as I packed the car (oranges, bananas, organic oats and almonds), then we had a snack mid day of organic greek yogurt and fruit…then for lunch these wraps with veggies, hummus and quinoa…then I had a Lara Bar mid day.  By the time I picked my kids up at my parents house at 6:30pm I NEEDED food.  No more bird food.  I needed MEAT. I was dying.  STARVING.  We did movement all day, but still….I still was hungry at Masters yesterday AM too!  No wonder she is tiny and ripped and I am a slob.

Here is a pic of myself, Kate and Jessi.  Jerome loves Jessi.  She is like the younger, hotter and ripped version of me.  But, Jerome would starve to death if he lived with her.

• And, lastly, over the past 1 + or so, some of us local Triathlete Moms have been writing sections of a book a friend of ours is working on…about being a Triathlete and a Mom.  It is going to be super cute.  Yesterday we had the photo shoot for the book..and we all had our kids there.  It was fun and just nice to catch up with some of these gals that I spent so much time with over the years and especially before kids.  Great group!  (not sure when the book is coming out, but I will let you know).

This is not the professional pics, of course..we were not allowed to take pics inside.  So, this is the group outside:  L to R: Lindsay “hair” Zucco, Christine “I don’t have makeup” Palmquist, Elizabeth “guns” Waterstraat, ME in the visor, Jenny “I just had my 3rd child, help me!” Garrison and Carla “I got guns too” Hastert.

And, then, of course, me with Max Waterstraat.  He loves me.  He played Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd on my Iphone.

What a great time!  This year I decided to do only one JHC Camp in Tucson.  Last year we did two in 10 days and it was fine, but with the kids it was too much.  So, for now, while the kids are little, I am doing one.  I was less stressed and while I look like hell today (skin peeling all over my face and cold sores), I really came home in FINE shape.

This is such a fun camp and I look forward to it every year.  This year we had 14 campers and a fun house that slept everyone. It was a little tight at times, but overall, it worked out well and the more experienced campers/athletes helped the lesser experienced athletes and I think everyone loves the camaraderie that sharing a house allows.  Not sure how much everyone slept, but while they were up, I think they had fun.

This is from the first day – before we climbed Lemmon.  Everyone is super fresh!

We jam in as much as I feel is reasonable, but every year I do make the camp harder…and that is not easy.  Of course we have our standard swims at an amazing outdoor pool, but truth be told, we are not in sunny Tucson to swim.  We are there to ride and run.  This camp was, by far, the hardest one yet.

The campers had a little surprise at their house one night!

The weather was AMAZING, we got so lucky.  We rode up Mt. Lemmon, had a cookie at the top (of course!) and did a T run, and it was HOT for that T run….maybe 90F, which is hot and shocking!  Then, we had a great dinner out and was able to catch up and get to know everyone.

Let’s see….we had athletes from Minnesota (I LOVE the girls up in MN, they are so great and I am lucky to work or have worked with many of them), Philly, Chicago, Ohio, Virginia, Washington DC…!  It was great to get to know some of the newer campers and see some of the returning campers.  Kate Oliver has been to every one of my camps!  Love it!

Last day with our JHC Suits!  The guys did not have them on, of course. 🙂  Thanks to Kate for getting these SPLISH suits.

We rode Madera and swam and ran on Saturday.  Trisports.com was nice enough to help us with this ride, but honestly, they let Gail go last week and it was a SHOCK to me and caught me off guard when I was out there.  The SAG was nice but without Gail running it, we struggled a bit with this part!

One day we did Time Trials up Mt. Lemmon.  I was a little excited and prescribed 3 of them…OK that was ROUGH because we did it in the afternoon after a long, hard hilly run in Sabino (2 hours)…so people were DEAD.  This was the make or break part of camp…and everyone did such an awesome job.  I was pretty tired after this ride as I think most were!

One of the things that I work very hard at is spending time with each camper.  Jerome luckily can lead all the workouts and push most of the campers and my job is to sweep the camp, to make sure the last riders are covered.  Jerome did a great job considering he is drinking more beer these days than riding or running miles.  For example, for Mt. Lemmon, it is 25 miles up…I ended up riding nearly 36 miles up that day….because I would go up…ride with a few riders, go back down and keep bridging the gaps.  I never could bridge from last to first, but I did the best I could.  By the time I was done riding on both days, I had put in nearly 5=6 hours of riding and bridging gaps each day!  OUCH.  I had to be super careful with my nutrition to manage all of that in March! 🙂  But, everyone did great and I was able to bring in the last groups on all the group rides and see athletes and talk to them…all of which is so important at camp.

This picture cracks me up.  Glen is like, “I need to swim in this lane”  next to all the U of A co-eds half naked….and of course, I agreed!

The last day we ran the trails again and this time I had time to talk to the lead group (Jerome ran with Caroline) of Julia, Julie M, Glen and Lindsey and we had a great time – albeit everyone was shattered…and then we swam to end camp.  I decided to coach the swim workout and video tape as many athletes as I could and give more feedback on the deck.   Not a bad gig, eh?

And, I did swim a bit too!  Someone had to swim with Lindsey, Sarah and Stacey!  But, gosh do we need sunscreen!  I have NO idea how people do it in that sun all day/every day, EEKS!

Thanks to all the campers who came to Tucson this year and worked hard and pushed themselves harder than they thought they could.  I think the quote of the camp was from Mia, who said to me after climbing and being challenged riding up Madera, “YOU know this was way beyond my ability, Jen!”   And, she was pissed.

Exactly, Mia…that is why they call it camp!  It is not the SPA camp. 🙂  You’ll be happy later.

Cheers until next Camp – March 2013!  More fun pictures are on Facebook…I didn’t have a ton of time to take too  many.

I love the saying, “Be careful what you ask for” because it always comes back to bite us in the ass.

Just an update on my swimming progress as I try to get my butt back in shape to swim at the State meet next month.  The 400IM is my new challenge for 2012.  I was getting bored swimming the standard 500, 1000 and 1650 at our State Swim meets…and my times vary by 5-10” every year.  So, unless I give up running and cycling – they are not moving that dramatically any more.

So, enter the new challenge:  400IM.  No matter what people think, I am really not a “real” swimmer.  I did not swim in college or all of High school…and all I did was freestyle, really.  I just have worked really hard these years….I mean, really, really hard.

I had someone say to me last weekend, “For such a good swimmer you have really small feet.”  (my feet are size 7 ½ and I am 5’8”).  I said, “Yes, they are, but I just figured out how to swim efficiently with small feet!”

Enter 2012.  I was going to Masters and trying to get back into shape after time off after IM Arizona…and I was like, “what in the heck am I going to do at State?”  It is the focus of the masters team I swim on and I swim with some pretty amazing swimmers.

So, decided to challenge myself with the 400IM and urge my friend, Elizabeth to join me – maybe she was thinking about it before, but I definitely threw that challenge out there.  Misery loves company.

I am a huge fan of swimming different strokes in practice – and quite frankly, the better swimmers can swim the other strokes smoothly.  They just have that better feel and presence in the water.

I have been working hard.  Most weeks I am swimming 4x/week, which for me, is plenty..but definitely 4500-5000 a pop….so not like I swim 4x/week at 2k….I have been working on my turns and my form…which means I must slow down.

Here is where the problem is and where I had a moment in the pool this AM.   Sunday mornings are my favorite swims because I am not swimming at 8pm at night (our other practices, which I dislike), so I do not feel totally trashed.  Then, I throw myself in a lane where I am working hard – we have 2 fast lanes:  Male/Female – not because we are sexist, it is just where the cards fly in our pool – and here is the fact:  I can swim freestyle and I beg for harder, longer sets in my lane..but with the stroke I get my ASS handed to me and I am at max speed for all my stroke. They are doing drill work = I am swimming full stroke to keep up.

Today’s swim – honestly, I felt like it was 5000 with maybe 1000 of freestyle.  Ok, let’s be honest, 5000 is a long way to swim but put in STROKE for most of it and I had a moment in the pool.

After about 3500 the set was:  4 x 300 stroke.  OK….so 300s are fine and dandy….but please let me swim freestyle..better yet, let me pull..but where does that get me?  NO WHERE….b/c that is what I am good at…so this was the lane:   300 FLY, 300 Back, 300 Breast, 300 Free on 10” rest.  Yep, 10” – maybe it was 15” but it doesn’t matter, it is all short.

At about the 300 breast, the masters coach pulled me aside and said the timing of my breast was OFF and I was not doing a good job with the pull and I was rushing my stroke.

I felt myself getting frustrated…not at her – she was doing her job…but at myself.  Before I could save myself, I said, “I am in the wrong lane for stroke work…I am at max effort and these gals are gliding along – I am just swimming like SHIT lately trying to keep up!”  It is so lopsided b/c my free is fine but my stroke sucks.  And, I told her all I cared about was my 500 and 1000 at State and I am going to get hammered in that stuff because I spend my time getting my ass smacked doing 300 Fly with these girls that will WIN 200 fly or 200 breast at the State meet (think:  200 fly in less than 2:15)…..And I felt myself getting choked up and wanting to cry…and I just put my goggles on and swam away from the coach and told her I needed a moment.

WHO DOES THAT?  See, a taste of my own medicine!

But, as I finished my breaststroke and did the freestyle (where I can think) I thought – THIS is exactly what I wanted and needed.  I asked for a new challenge.  I asked for something different and something HARD.  Every year I swim State for the 500 or 1650 – there has not been a massive challenge in my age group (this year there is (Krista!))…and winning never gets old, but I NEED this and I pulled my bad self together and finished the workout and immediately went up to the coach and apologized.

I told her that I hate when Triathletes tell me that they cannot do other swim strokes – or at least will not try.  And, I am not a beginner swimmer, so shame on me.  I just told her that I don’t want my freestyle to suffer at the expense of the 400IM (that will last 6 minutes)…but she is JUST doing her job…just doing what I asked her to do…get me ready to meet my goal in 1 month at the State meet.

So, shame on me.  Shame on me for swimming away….but I thought about it for 3 minutes and immediately knew I was wrong and fixed it.  Honestly, not much free swim, bike or run really throws me on my heels anymore – I have done it all – but this stroke work with swimming is just what I needed and I am so challenged, it is SO refreshing albeit very humbling.

One more month until I swim this 400IM and I swear I will do my best to win this event at State…and I swear, if I win this event at State….I am going to Disneyland.  (ha….)

There are NO complaints from me about the highest temps here in Chicago in March in 141 years.  WE are SO LUCKY!!!  Except for when we all want to race a hilly ½ Marathon.  A large group of us raced a ½ Marathon this AM – the hilliest one in Illinois – but also a yearly tradition for many of us that live up near the race course.  And, honestly, we were just all excited to race without ice, snow or 20F degrees.  But, nearly 80F is a whole different ball game – for us who are not used to it for a longer race.

I signed up for this race in December, when I was not running.  Honestly, I had to sign up because I have rarely missed it – but at the time, I wasn’t even running and I was unsure I would be running 13.1 miles on March 17^th back then.  But, my Achilles was feeling much better after mid-February and I luckily was able to start running.  No speed, except one workout with Dave that was hard, but I felt really good (it is all a matter of perspective!).

But, I had to have this conversation with myself yesterday AND today about my race….

Ok, Jenny, you need to leave your old self at home.  You need to really alter your time goals for this race.  In fact, you should not have ANY time goals.  And, you need to get over it and actually start super easy….DO YOU hear me, Jenny?  Jenny….Jenny…

UGH!  But, I was in the right mind frame for this ½.  In fact, this is the new Jen Harrison….not being able to race one that I entered would have been unheard of me 5 years ago…I would not have even of raced unless I was @ 100% fighting shape.  But, with age and experience comes wisdom and I quickly got over it.

I only wore a stopwatch.  At nearly 80F in March, clearly the HR would be zone 4, so let’s not kid ourselves….so, I planned on running 7:20-7:30 for my first mile., 45 seconds slower than last year (but this was the only time I let myself think/say that).  I hit it at 7:25 and just ran.  I was doing a good job of keeping it real.

And, I felt good…not great…but fine.  I ran slow.  In fact, I have never run this slow in an open ½ and it is a WHOLE different crowd at this pace – how funny to notice that.  And, I am super proud of myself for keeping things in perspective.  My Achilles did not bother me at all for the race, I was just not in shape yet.  Simple as that.  My Achilles is tender now, but not worse for the wear.

I will say this….it was not only a tough race day for me, but also a SUPER tough coaching day.  I had to have many, many tough conversations today. ;(   There were a lot of athletes and friends on this course for me that I work with.  NOT one PRd…it was brutal.  I could not say enough things to everyone about the heat, cramping, needing salt tabs, slowing down SUPER easy first 5k for sure, etc.  I warned everyone, but the heat doesn’t grab you until after mile 8 or 10, really.  And, everyone has run this race so much faster (easier in 30F degrees for us here in Chicago in March than 80F)…I tried hard to keep up with the texts, calls and freak outs all afternoon and evening.  I felt horrible for everyone, but it was simple:  TOO HOT and no one is acclimated and prepared for that heat….whether they ran a 1:20 or 2:30, it was too much.  And, the athletes needed to re-adjust their goals based on this extreme heat for us.  And, of course, everyone feels good until about the 10k and then the shit hits the fan.  Athletes were cramping, walking, shuffling…it was a tough day and it was a tough day at the office for me.

I will say a few athletes had VERY solid days out there – so hats off to them!!!

I hope everyone understands just how hard it is to have a good race in these conditions, some do, of course, but 90% of these runners did not.  March is a super tough month – everyone is itching to race and feeling out their fitness…and usually these races are good indicators of fitness.  But, unfortunately at 13.1 miles, it was just too much and had everyone freaking out today, questioning their fitness, questioning their upcoming races.  A tough day all around for everyone indeed and one that left a huge pit in my stomach – I still have it at 7:30pm at night and I have not stopped working since I crossed that finish line today.

The bright side:  It sure will make the great days even better!  And, there will be great days coming up.

And, I had 3 neighbor friends do this race….they have been on and off training for this and I felt awful because it was cruel really that they picked this race ON this day with this heat…it was challenging enough for experienced athletes, but you know what?  They did great – so proud of them.  But they did say that they thought I was nuts that I did this normally – they missed their green beer last night for St. Patty’s Day and were NOT happy about that.

AND, more importantly, where are my DAMN M&Ms?

Onward!

Well hello March, I have been waiting for you!!

I was whining on Twitter about not being motivated to work or blog or finish up the article I owe to Training Peaks. You know when you have no thoughts in your head?  That is how I feel tonight.  THE only reason is that it is late for me @ 7:35pm!  I know, I know….but Graham is at soccer practice and I am at some café pretending to work.  Yeah, that got me as far as Twitter, FB and Pinterest  thankyouverymuch.

Little Miss Molly on Twitter asked me to blog about my 2012 races.  YAWN!!!  I told her it is NOT riveting at all.  I was just laughing about this with Jerome this past weekend in Tucson (which, by the way, was dreamy thankyouverymuch)….and I was telling Jerome that I cannot believe I am this fit in March (bike and swim coming along) and I really have no major races on the horizon.  I am so not like that.

But, here is the deal…and for those who read my blog regularly you understand….I had not run hard since last August….my Achilles was screwed….and after IMAZ I did not run one step for 6 weeks.   January 1^st came and I said I would start slowly again with the running and I did.  3 x 20 min runs, 3 x 25 min runs, 3 x 30 min runs, 3 x 35 min runs…oh yes….just like that with NO intensity (of course)….I mean super slow and because it was winter cold, I was smart (stretched, rolled, etc)….and kept up my strength sessions (OF course, I would be a bigger mess w/o them)….so by the time I got up to March 1^st, I allowed myself to add the speed back in…8 weeks is not a huge base, but for someone like me who has a massive base from years upon years of training, it is sufficient.

March 1^st rolled around….I picked up my phone and called one of my favorite people:  Dave Walters and told him I was driving my A$$ down to see him and run with him…even if I need a wheelchair to get through his workout.  Last week I drove to run with him.  This was after I was nauseous after I brilliantly decided to do TWO back to back 10k TTs on the bike on Sunday AFTER Masters….yep, I am smart like that.  OH and smack talked about the whole event (s) all day too.  Best day EVER.

Anyway, I had warned Dave that this was my first speed workout since..well August (run wise) and this could be a total disaster.  My Achilles is basically 100% now, but the body is out of run shape.  We started to warm up and I thought, “just go with it, Jen” and I did.  I turned off my brain and ran as hard as I could up those hills and for the repeats of the main set.  Dave was pleasantly surprised and told me I am a sandbagger.  Ironically, I have been called a lot of things but a sandbagger, rarely.  So, maybe I am in better shape than I think?

Now, truth be told, I paid for that TT effort /Masters on Sunday and stress from putting our house on the market last week AND this hard 75 min run with Dave….I got a cold sore on Friday in Tucson…felt like I was hit by a truck.  But, that was all that I walked away with…pretty damn impressive really (because I was stressed out).

Then, in Tucson I was able to put in my long run….I ran 2 hours pretty easy but in the rolling terrain at Sabino Canyon…dreamy – but I was no worse for the wear.  So, here we are, early March and the game is ON.  So, now I can plan the season.

BUT, I promised myself (and Jerome, who is flexible) that this would be a step back year for me…all local because this house can sell at any point and we have to move and all that good stuff (to where, who knows!).

But, on December 31^st, when I was NOT even running, I signed up for a ½ Marathon on March 17^th.  Wholeheartedly knowing I would not be able to race it, but it fills so fast that I would lose my slot if I waited longer than 15 minutes.  So I entered.  Now I am in a position, 8 weeks later to run it.  Race it is a dicey word…but I can run the course and be respectable.  Five years ago I would never have done that…I would have to go with all guns blazing or not go at all.  Ah, with age comes wisdom.  And desperation.  I saw the other side:  The side of no running and I will tell you what, it is UGLY…so if I am 3, 4 minutes slower b/c I healed up this injury, I will take it and do the HAPPY Dance!!!

Now my 2012 just fully opened.

So, with that, I read the recent www.ironman.com article on the girls from 40-44 that qualified for Kona at IMAZ…well, that was me, but I was not mentioned b/c I turned the slot down.  BUT for some reason it made me crazy for a brief minute and I immediately whined about it and then said, “your choice, Jen…your choice.”  And, so it is.

So far this is my schedule for 2012:

• I have done 3 x 10k Bike TTs so far
• Racing ½ Marathon next weekend
• I have done a big swim meet already
• I am swimming in a big meet this weekend, HELLO 200 IM
• I am swimming out of MY SKIN at the IL State Swim Meet next month:  400 IM + 9 events
• Galena Triathlon in May
• 10 mile run Race in May – Memorial Day weekend
• Leon’s Oly Triathlon in early June
• Lake in the Hills Triathlon (same weekend as Eagleman, which I am not doing this weekend, Morgan has a dance recital that I would never miss)
• Twin Lakes Sprint Triathlon late June
• Bike TTs all of June, July and August…from 20k – 40ks
• Door County ½ Ironman (see, I threw in a ½ IM in the mix!) in mid July

I need to figure out past mid- July.  No marathons…no major travel, so we will see!  Maybe I do the Chicago Triathlon – what a concept!  Or another local ½ IM.  I know REV3 has a ½ IM up in Wisconsin Dells, which is only 3.5 hours north of me…so we will see!   I am open to anything!  I just want to race a lot and have fun.  I want to be in good enough shape to jump into anything but a full Ironman…but also flexible enough so that I can pack up and move and start building a house if I have too quickly.  That is my theme for 2012.

And, soon back to the track..oh have I missed the running track.  I left a message for Dave begging to meet me at the track soon.  SOON!  And after nursing this darn Achilles for months, I am JUST happy to be 100% again.

It has been intense these last couple of weeks.  Jerome was in Europe on business and I was flying solo.  Usually I do not mind flying solo, but the kicker is our house is going on the market on Thursday and we have a LOT of crap to do.  I do not like to clean.  In fact, I had to call in the big guns last weekend and have my sister come up and help me.  I think she was completely freaked out at the amount of work I had to do…but she has been great and we really hammered through some major organizational and cleaning issues in this house.  Thank goodness.

On Friday night, I was close…close to tears.  I had been not only been working all day every day but training and being mom…Jerome’s flight was cancelled due to our snow storm….I just wanted to lay in my bed and sleep!  But, then, I got over myself and realized single parents do this ALL the time and they don’t complain, so why should I.  So, I shut up and went to bed with my kids at 8:30pm and started the weekend.

The body is amazing, really.  Not only have I been training normally, but I have been on the rivet in other areas of my life…and almost like pure, animalistic adrenaline is rushing through my veins.  I put my head on my pillow and wake up 7-9 hours later ready for the next day.  Thank goodness I am sleeping well.   I got up early, did my brick and was off coaching Graham’s basketball game before 10am.  I really have enjoyed doing this and it is honestly the highlight of my week.  Working with these boys has been challenging but really just pure fun (and a tad exhausting!).

I had been looking forward to – and trash talking – about our bike TT that was on Sunday.  Every so often, I do these computrainer bike TTs.  They are so so hard.  Pure agony for a 10k.  Well, for some insane reason, I decided to swim Masters early Sunday AM for 5,000 yards and then drive to the TTs and then DO 2 of them back to back…with only a handful of minutes of rest in between the TTs….I have known some people (crazy) to do this before and I thought, “why not?”

See, this is exactly NOT like me.  I am usually always somewhat rested for all my races…whether it be swimming or a run race 5k, I do NOT like going into events super tired.  But, I was reminded yesterday how resilient the body is and how it is so amazing if in good shape.

So, I swam and swam and swam with the team Sunday AM…then, showered, talked and drank my Recovery Drink…then, I was trash talking Elizabeth and Ben on my drive down to the TT and stopped and ate.  I arrived at the TT about 90 minutes before my start.  I saw Elizabeth and was trash talking (ok, I was not) with her…she was about 1 hour before my wave.  Anyway, I tried to warm up….but I was already so warmed up from swimming that I just spun about 5 minutes and talked for the remaining 85 minutes.

I jumped on my bike for my TT and I knew what the time was to beat and I was in the later heat (s)…so I just put on my IPod (yes, I listened to music for this) and rode hard.  The room is hot and dripping with testosterone – all day hundreds of riders are in and out of this bike shop.  16 computrainer banks run for most of the day.

Ok, this hurt badly.  I knew it would hurt…and it always does, but this TT was a rolling course…for me, a hair harder than the flat course I did here last time.  I was working so hard and breathing so hard and I just wanted to vomit.  But, I finished up and had the 2^nd (at the time) fastest OA time.  I was trashed.  Elizabeth came over to torture me – as she drank her coffee and ate her PB Bagel – I sipped her coffee because I needed SOMETHING to jolt me into doing this again.  Honestly, I was worried about the 2^nd one – I am usually much more conservative than this!  What am I doing!!?

My good friends John and Tracy set up for the 2^nd TT and I got to talking to them – they were thinking I as nuts, but they did an Indoor TRI earlier that AM…geez!!  At least I just swam!  Anyway, they started the 2^nd TT and I really was going to pay big time for my stupidness.  Elizabeth asked if I needed a leash to reign myself in on this one – but she got smart and left.  I am sure she did not want to watch the carnage for the 2^nd TT.

I did it – hung on…power dropped by 20watts for test #2!  That is A LOT….goes to show you how badly I suffered for TT #1….I mean I left it all out there, so the fact that I could even turn my  legs over for #2 was purely a mental game.

After the 2^nd TT it is now 1:30pm and I am OVER it.  I can’t even cool down I am so tired.  I get off my bike and talk some more (that is why I like these events, I can talk to people!) and change, go to Panera (next store) and drive home.  My phone had died so I just drove home in silence.  I was dizzy, exhausted and nauseous.

I got home…Jerome was outside painting the shutters and then tiling the shower upstairs.  I could not even take a shower.  I sat down, did some more trash talking on the computer, answered emails and played on Facebook.   That is all I could muster.

Then, no sooner had I sat down, then I had to get up to meet with our builder and architect at our lot to go over the details of the house and how we want the house set up on our LOT..so we were outside in the snow forever walking our lot all while the kids had a snowball fight.  I was so hungry now that I could not focus on anything but where we were going for dinner!

I got home at 6:30pm and took a shower, sat on the couch, watched the Oscars and worked.  Finally!

I woke up this AM no worse for the wear but starving AND still a little nauseous!  I am heading out to go running soon (edit:  maybe later now) but Jerome woke me up at 5:15am to work on the tile in the shower.  He has to get this shower done and needs to get to work, so this is the only time, of course.  Did you know Home Depot opens at 6am?  That helped us this morning!

The best news:  The house goes up on the market on Thursday and we leave for Tucson!  Of course…so looking forward to some R&R…sleep, warmth and Mt. Lemmon!  I may sleep the entire weekend in the sun.

GOSH I wish I had more riveting updates for you all…but it is pretty routine here.  I am swimming a lot of FLY and just officially signed up for the Illinois State Swim Meet – the max:  9 events + relays over 3 days.  I am actually really excited. I never swim all days, because I hate being in a pool all weekend but this is the new Challenge year !  I signed up for the:  1000 free (1650 and 1000 alternate years), 500 free, 400 IM, 200 IM, 200 Free, 50 Free, 50 Fly, 100 Free, 100 IM.  Should be totally hilarious if I can move Sunday night.  But, I am sticking to my promises!

In other news, we are putting our house on the market on March 1st….so that is coming up fast and living in an 1880s home, we have work to do – my sister (bless her heart) is coming up this weekend to help me get rid of CRAP…especially in Morgan’s room.  One of the challenges in working from home is that I can’t see past my own crap…so an intervention is needed.  YAY for my awesome sister.  And, our architectural plans are coming along.  We are really excited.  Yes, we have an issue if we sell our house quickly – and our new house will take 9-10 months to build…where will we live?  Elizabeth’s new basement for sure.  She misses me.  No, we will rent a little place here in the neighborhood (rental market is hot now) so the kids can be near the school.  Let’s just hope we have that problem!!!  But, we have to go in front of the Association soon to present the house plans, so Jerome and I are having fun with the Builder doing all of that.

But, word of advice:   When your husband’s boss invites you to look at his 2.5 million dollar custom home on a lake….don’t go….you will want to build a house like that with 1/4 of the budget!  We went to look at his house and get a tour (8000 square feet) and OH MY GOSH….truly amazing.  I would get lost if my home was even 1/2 of that!  Geez…but the attention to detail, the word work, the quality of everything was truly inspirational.  For fun, here is the back of his house…now you know why I wanted to see it – TOTALLY my style – and dreamy.

And, a classic Jenny story for you…(eeks)…as I have mentioned, I coach Graham’s basketball team (3rd and 4th grade boys).  I really LOVE IT.  We are actually pretty good and we are all having fun.  At our last game this past Saturday morning, we played a very good team.  The score was very tight the entire time and I was pacing and coaching from the side line the entire time.  The REF was worthless (calling the game like these boys were in High School)…but, I keep my mouth shut…

BUT….(there is always a BUT)….there was a play the REF could not see, so he looked up at the other coach and asked him what happened.  OF course the Coach said “our ball.” (crappy call)  I said something under my breathe (and he heard me – maybe on accident, maybe on purpose)….but after the game he came up to me as we all shook hands and said:

“Honey…” and grabbed my arm.

I promptly ripped my arm out from his touch and said, “DO not patronize me.”

He had that dumb look on his face – you know which one I am talking about.

He said, “You don’t need to say bullsh*t out loud.”

Me:  “No, I don’t, but you are lucky that is all I said out loud” and walked away.

I can guarentee this to you…IF I was a male coach he would NEVER have done that.  At least now I know he won’t do that again to me.  No one ever said I am a shrinking violet.

I need a new challenge.  Ho hum ho hum.

As I busy myself this winter with training, I am trying to figure out what I want to do this year.  Local and small for sure.  However, EVERY winter I get sucked into swim meets.  I do actually really like them.  But, this year has been a challenge for me.  I did IMAZ and then took 6 weeks out of the water.  Fast forward to January 1st and I started swimming again.   And, then entered one of the larger meets this past weekend.  The pure swimmers are in great shape..and I am trying to just hang on.

500 free, 100 free, 100 IM, 50 Free, 200 Free + all relays.

Ho hum. Ho hum.  Every year I do this meet and every year I swim within 5-6 seconds of my standard time.  This year I was about 9 seconds slower in the 500 than my STATE time last year – techinically out of shape.

I was 1-2 seconds off in the 100 free.

Ho hum.  Ho hum.

So, that leads me to my new challenge.  I am SO tired of doing the same things and swimming within seconds of what I normally do.  Sure, if I stripped away my running, strength and cycling I could get my times down.  But, why?

So, I finally got over my bad self this weekend and decided I am going to do something I am afraid to do.  I am going to do the 200 IM at the next meet in March and then the 400 IM at the State Championships!  Now, for most swimmers this is a non-issue, but I am not one of those.  I grew up ONLY swimming distance free.  Even the 200 free is considered a sprint for me.  Give me a 1650 over a 200 free any day.

So, there it is.  I am putting myself out there AND taking on a new challenge.  See, I didn’t even swim the 100 IM growing up.  My breaststroke SUCKS.  And, in practice in flip all my turns regardless of what stroke I am swimming (that is a no-no).

But, it is time to break out of my yearly monotomy.  The STATE meet is huge and scheduled for the weekend of April 22nd.  I have many months to practice and I will need them.

All you “pure” swimmers out there….tips are appreciated!  I appreciate all the feedback on FB, but keep it coming.  I can fake a 100 IM.  And, probably fake a 200 IM. But, the 400 IM is the REAL deal.

Let’s get it going, time for some new challenges in my life!!!