Let's Be Real

Hello again, I am back to blogging from my almost-two-month hiatus.  I have had a great two months "off"-- lots of unstructured training, time with family and friends, and time to plan and get excited for

My boyfriend Lucas and I enjoying Xmas!

2014.

Since this is my first post during my prep for 2014, I thought I would focus on something that affects everyone this time of year: Holiday weight gain and New Year's Resolutions.

There are lots of magazine articles and "conventional wisdom" from your Aunt or Uncle that runs sometimes, "Be careful with those cookies. You know, the average person gains 5-10 lb every holiday season and you're not getting any younger".  However, when you research the facts, you will find it's all in your head.  In one study, 24 out of 34 participants aged 23-61 perceived that they had gained weight from the day before Thanksgiving until about a week after New Year's Day, but in actuality only 4 participants gained more than 2 kg (~4.5 lb).  So while it feels like you're slowly turning into the cookie monster and you've completely jumped off the "health-food-wagon", don't feel

Delicious Holiday Goodies!!

so bad, you probably have gained little or no weight this holiday season.

All of that ^ being said, you can still make your New Year's Resolution to lose weight, but I encourage you to change your mentality a little bit...  Instead of feeling obligated to make this your resolution because you need to shed that extra holiday layer, make it a commitment to changing your lifestyle and becoming a healthier person.  Getting wrapped up in the NYR hype with the many other Americans who have also vowed to wear their "skinny jeans" this year (losing weight is the most popular resolution next to volunteering more and eating better) can make it so that you go hard the first week and crash with your over zealous workout binge.

What do I mean by lifestyle change?

Watching many of my family and friends try to lose weight, or change their health habits year after year has given me lots of insight into the different ways people approach these daunting tasks.  Some people cut themselves off and go "cold turkey" into a new lifestyle.  For some, this is a decision they made and their "iron will" allows them to stick to this promise they made to themselves. For most, this is the worst approach because you end up feeling like you're shorting yourself and cutting yourself off from the life you used to have.   The other thing I have noticed is that people set unrealistic expectations: I want to lose 15 lb in a week, I am never eating sweets again, I'm going to the gym every day from now on, etc.  Make goals that are relatively small changes from your current status quo and increase them often--this is much more realistic.

What I recommend:

-Steadily increase your activity: If you are completely sedentary right now, start by taking a 15-20 minute walk three days a week, then add in a couple of minutes of running the second week.  If you incrementally add running into your walking and slowly increase the time, you'll be running 10 miles before you know it! Slow and steady wins the race.

-Make small, manageable lifestyle changes: If you are currently a smoker, who eats like they're a 15-year old boy (aka whatever they want), and are slightly overweight...do NOT throw out all of your smokes, forbid yourself from going through a drive-thru, and force yourself to spend hours at the gym every day.  This is not realistic.  Make short term goals that you can reach and feel good about: smoke less packs per week (so that it is eventually NONE!), eat one healthy and home-cooked meal per week, go to bed half an hour earlier, etc.  Just as I mentioned above, incrementally changing your lifestyle is the easiest way for your body to adjust to a "new you".  If you are consistent with small changes, it will never seem like you made a huge change so it will be easier to deal with.  Be realistic about the short term goals you set and you will have long term success. Be REAL.

If you're curious about my New Year's Resolution... I am making the promise to myself to Be Real, not necessarily with weight loss or diet, but with life in general.  It is easy to get caught up in expectations that are far from realistic, not only in weight-loss but in training and life commitments in general.  My NYR for 2014 is to take a second to look at myself and make sure what that my expectations, priorities, and goals are realistic and healthy!

I hope you are armed with some realistic goal-setting knowledge so that when you toast at midnight tonight you can feel good about the resolution you made rather than feeling anxious or nervous!

Check back soon (or next year, hehe) for my 2014 race schedule and some exciting news for next season!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

See you in 2014!!!

@nicoletruxes

Faster Than Your Eyes Can Blink

Take a millisecond to blink and...it's over! That is how this season felt.  I started racing in the end of February and finished up my last race about a week and a half ago at the end of October--I never thought 8 months could feel so fast (hopefully it goes that way when I'm pregnant someday?).

I originally gave myself a November 1st deadline for this post...wanting to have the season fresh in my mind and not let too much time pass before I took a second to reflect on the past 8 months...but of course, I procrastinated--mostly because I hate goodbyes and I feel like this is somewhat of a goodbye (or at least I'm hoping).  No, I'm not saying goodbye to triathlon, this sport can't shake me that quickly, I hope to be saying goodbye to the "rookie-ness".  I hope I can take all that I learned from this season and apply it to next year and the year after that...etc.  The reason I write race reports (and encourage others to do so) is not because I feel like a self-important celebrity who has millions of fans and followers, it's because I like to look back on the past and take lessons from it.  Each race has so many lessons and it is so easy to forget all of them.  When I started this blog it was private so NO ONE could read it and I would write how I felt at different races and what I ate beforehand so I could look at it later and see what worked for me.  I have since archived those blog posts somewhere offline so that no one can read how ridiculous my thoughts are before, during and after races. I still look back at those offline posts and even at the posts on here and read valuable nuggets that I wouldn't necessarily remember had I not written them down!

Aside from the performance benefits of documenting your races, it really is fun to look back and reflect on different trips and experiences throughout the triathlon season.  All triathletes, no matter the distance or level of racing, put their heart & souls into their training.  Many people go to bed early, refuse that shot of vodka, and stay in on Friday nights, all for the sake of training.  There are definite costs associated with training and racing--what better way to know the sacrifice will pay off and "keep your head in the game" than to look back at the highlights of your trips to races and your racing experience.  I get super stoked when I look back at posts from good races or even just fun trips that didn't necessarily have my best race attached.  When I am having one of those days where I say to myself, "What am I doing with my life?" I have all of these great accounts to look back on and realize I'm having fun with my life!

So now that you understand the why...here is the what...What happened this season? What lessons did I learn? What do I look forward to next season?

What happened:
I raced my "rookie" season and made lots of "rookie" mistakes, but also had a blast learning and living! (for a more detailed report...there are many blog posts from the season :) )

Lessons I learned:
-It's not as easy as it looks to put together a race where all three sports turn out to be stellar performances
-I'm NOT invincible, care needs to be taken to give my body the recovery it requires to match my level of desire and drive
-Focusing on training and racing does not equal shutting out the rest of your life outside of training and racing

What I look forward to:
-Taking the racing experience I gained this season and applying to all of my races next season--hopefully yielding some new results (and new lessons) !
-Taking a different approach to training: being mindful of the recovery work and workouts, not just the quality sessions; not putting blinders on towards the rest of my life, consider the whole picture
-Something I look forward to always: making new memories, and learning new lessons

So, the moral of the story... stop and smell the roses, create tiny pieces of your experiences that you can look back on and be thankful for!

Photo Highlights!

Thank you so much to my coach, Brian Grasky (graskyendurance.com), for great season with lots of improvement and more to come in the future!!

Thank you to my sponsors, XTERRA wetsuits and Trisports.com...getting me all the right gear to race fast this season!

Thank you to my family who has always supported me in my athletic endeavors.
And, of course, thank you to my wonderful boyfriend and biggest supporter, Lucas <3

Here's to the off-season! (Even if it is only a week or two ;) )


@nicoletruxes

XTERRA Lava Pants

Recently, XTERRA Wetsuits launched a new product that is truly unlike anything else out there right now.  This hot new item are the LAVA Pants (wetsuit pants)--they are thick and extremely buoyant and are recommended for use instead of a pull buoy.  When I first got them I was hurt and unable to swim, bike or run, but I was really excited to try them so I thought, "Why don't I try them for water running?".  It turns out, these pants were unknowingly MADE for this purpose.

The Lava Pants!

First off, just to clarify, water running is where you run in relatively deep water, where you can't touch the bottom.  You still go through the same motions as you would running on land, it just prevents you from further injuring yourself because you aren't pounding your muscles and joints.  Usually to help you stay on top of the water, you wear a floating belt.  I personally find these belts extremely uncomfortable and very unnatural feeling so I 'm usually stuck water running very hard to stay on the surface--this makes it difficult to do variable speed workouts.  The lava pants solve this problem--you can go easy when you want and hard when you want and still have a natural feeling run in the water.

There are two main reasons I like the lava pants for water running:

1. It allows you a more natural feeling than the water belt, but still keeps you on top of the water the same way.

2. It allows you to really vary your speed while trying to do a workout--you can focus more on your form during high intensity intervals and then during rest intervals you really can take a rest and not struggle to stay on the surface.

After being able to really shift intensity during my workout, my coach suggested using resistance to further simulate an actual workout on the road (or track).

So, for those of you who are injured, or need to take some time away from running on the road...I HIGHLY recommend the lava pants as an addition to your training arsenal :)

Want to try your own pair, click here!

Happy [water] running!

A Wild and Crazy Week!

Last week I had what I would call the ultimate bike/tri-nerd week...everything was all bikes (and sunglasses), all the time.  I attended both Interbike and the two-day Outdoor Demo preceding the major bike convention.  For those of you who are not ultimate bike/tri-nerds...Interbike is a very large bike industry convention--

Some Expo fun with the Rudy Girls!!

everyone comes to show off their new stuff for 2014 to all of the Retail Buyers in hopes of getting their gear in some new stores for the upcoming year.  I also learned that Interbike is one very large party--it takes place in Las Vegas, which I now find to be very fitting :)

I had the privilege of spending the week working for Rudy Project with a really fun group of people! Thank you all for a great time, and a wonderful experience!!

After a week of walking, talking, laughing, stickering, selling, and overall just being social I was EXHAUSTED, but I couldn't rest yet...I returned home late Friday night and had the day to get set to race in my hometown at the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon in Tempe!

Me, Moka, Hannah and Reba across the front!

It is always a great thing to have a race in your hometown--eat at home, sleep in your own bed, have all of your family and friends there.  I was at even more of an advantage because I live about 2 miles from where the start line was!  I have been excited for this race for months! I LOVE racing at home :)  So when I woke up Saturday with a gnarly cough, I told myself, "I'll be fine, I just need lots of sleep tonight!". So I went on with this mindset until I crossed the finish line the next day.  I was not going to let anything get between myself and racing at home!  When I finally came to terms with being sick, the verdict was that I had bronchitis so a Z-pack and some serious sleep were in order!

Rockin' my Rudy and definitely in a world of hurt!

I won't bore you all with the gory details of my race (because I assure you it wasn't my best!), but I will mention a few highlights: I completely forgot to take off my speedsuit...so I raced in two suits the whole race :). I managed to have relatively fast transitions despite being a little confused and out of it the whole race, but this was probably mostly attributed to leaving the speed suit on ;)  Also, I finally got to try a new kind of bike rack in transition--it was the kind you set your wheel in rather than rack your saddle on, very cool!  Did I have the best race of my life? No, definitely not :) Do I regret racing? No, definitely not :) I'm so happy I had the opportunity to prove to myself that I can race under any conditions.  While I did not have the most spectacular race of the season, I still went out there and had a good time!  

Still in my Speed Suit :) oops!

I'm looking forward to the end of October where I'll be competing in my final race of the season...I can't believe my first pro season is almost over--it went by so fast!!

Until next time :)

@nicoletruxes

A Lesson in Patience and Perspective

Normally around this time I am deep in the heart of race prep--fast track workouts, ferocious bricks and lots of recovery--but since you can't always control what is ahead of you, instead, I am slowly but surely becoming Aqua-jogging State Champ material.  Yes, you guessed it, I've got a little bit of an injury going on.

There are two main reasons I wanted to write this post:

1.  Injury is part of the game--you push too hard, and don't listen to your body then you have no choice but to..."Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200"...but seriously, you're forced to sit it out
and let your body recover.

So yes, it's part of the game.  Luckily this is my first time dealing with an injury related to triathlon.  I have a mild overuse injury in my hip that will go away soon enough with proper rest and TLC. I did make one big mistake in dealing with injury already, however.  I was on my way to a speedy recovery and figured that since it only hurt a little bit this meant I could go a little harder--this eventually resulted in a piggy-back injury in my foot/ankle.  While this injury is also mild and I will recover "soon enough" I could have entirely avoided this by truly listening to my body.  So I guess the first big reason I wanted to share this experience with you all is--- have PATIENCE! I know it's hard, most of us that compete in this sport love it because it entertains our type A personalities.  The same drive that inspires us to push ourselves to the absolute limit acts as an Achilles Heel when it comes to injury.  I think we sometimes feel that we are superhuman and if our body gives us one sign of recovery, this must mean we are ready to push the limits again--WRONG, be patient!  Because I lacked patience with the initial injury in my hip, I now don't get to compete in the race I was most excited for this year--Chicago.  A large portion of my extended family lives in the Chicago area and this race is a "home away from home" for me and because of my lack of patience I don't get to compete this year.  So let this be a lesson for all of you---patience is key, your body will recover just let it!!


2.  Injury is NOT the end of the world.  There are so many reasons why a small injury can be a good thing.

Believe me, it feels like gloom and doom to find out you are injured (even a minor injury).  Two days feels like two months and a week feels like a year when you are pulled away from your regular training regime (welcome to my life the past couple of weeks!). It can be quite depressing, however, there is a BIG world outside of triathlon and taking a step away can put things in perspective.  It is so easy to put ourselves in this myopic view of the world when training for a big race (or season), but to be honest,

Quick Read w/ lots of Awesome Recipes

there are a lot of activities, people, things that you don't realize you are neglecting until all the training hours are taken away.  For me personally, these past two weeks have been filled with hobbies that used to be a high priority--drawing, music, reading, cooking.  Not to mention having the extra energy to devote to relationships (Lucas, my family) has been really nice. Do I miss the sweaty, mind-testing hours of training? HELL YES! Am I hungrier than ever to get back to training and do all of the little things right? HELL YES! I'm enjoying my time away, stopping to smell the roses, but I'm also counting down the days until I can build back into some beastly training sessions.

So the lesson has be learned and my world has been put in perspective, but it is all part of the journey.  Even though I'm super bummed about the timing of everything, it could be so much worse! I'm lucky that I can make these realizations without having a HUGE career-ending injury and hopefully by sharing this experience with you it will add to your arsenal of lessons that you can draw from in your own training!

So please, enjoy the heck out of your next long run for me!

Until next time :)

@nicoletruxes  

Rookies and Reunions

Last weekend I competed in the New York City Triathlon.  This race has you dive into the Hudson River, ride up the hilly Mosholu Parkway to the Bronx and then run a loop around historic Central Park!  This was not only my first time competing in this race, but my first time to the Big Apple!  Definitely an awesome experience!

Allie and I after the race!

I was lucky enough to meet up with some familiar faces in the city.  My long-time friend and fellow swimmer, Allie, was kind enough to host me at her apartment and take me around the city for the weekend. I was extremely excited about this because it’s been 10 YEARS since we’ve seen each other!! I had a classic New York experience on our Subway rides- maintenance, a street dance, and a new definition of personal space :) I also have some family that came to support me at the race and would later show Allie and I to an AMAZING East Side dinner post-race!

Little Blue was such a trooper and a welcomed ball of energy!

The race itself was really exciting:

First of all, the bars in Phoenix close at 2 so I was expecting an empty train for Allie and I. Little did I know... in NYC the bars close at 4 so there were PLENTY of people on the Subway when we were en route to race start at 3:30am! Funny stares and some sentiments for good luck made for a fun ride :)

Overall the race went really well.  I've been improving every time I race this season in one way or another, but I'm still a rookie and there were a few big signs in this race ;)

The Swim:

First sign of “rookie-ness”-

Yes, there is a current in the Hudson, but not all currents are created equal-- I learned this the hard way.  After reviewing video of the start I was right out in front with the lead girls, but they caught the stronger current closer to the middle of the river and were on their way to some super speedy swims!  I still had a decent swim and felt smooth in the water, but know for next time to find the fast lane ;)

The Bike:

After coming out of the water further back than I wanted, I was on a mission for the bike.  I knew this was a challenging course compared to what I’ve been used to racing this season so I was prepared to feel the hurt! I gave it everything I had, but I'm learning that the bike in a non-draft requires much more self-focus than a draft legal race where there are so many things going on you don't notice your exertion level!

The Run:

Second major sign of “rookie-ness:-

Like I said…I was really excited, the energy at this race was so high and I was really feeding off of it.  I took my first mile out in my best mile time ever (I’ve never raced a mile on the track, so the time is not that impressive, but still a little more quick than was advisable!).  This momentum really carried me through the first 4 mi…but as you can imagine, all good things must come to an end, and my runner’s high ended right between miles 4 and 5.  I hung on and fought to the very end, but unfortunately for me, it came down to a sprint finish…Meghan Newcomer had a fabulous finish, edging me out for 5^th by 1 second--congratulations Meghan! 

This was by far one of the most exciting non-drafting triathlons I’ve ever done!  The energy of the volunteers, spectators, and other racers was tremendous! Thank you for a great event everyone, I definitely will make the trip back to NYC some time in the future!!  Also, a big thank you to my sponsors Trisports.com and XTERRA wetsuits and of course my coach, Brian Grasky, for the continued support!!

Post-race with my awesome support crew :) Thank you guys!

Big&little excited for some gelato!!

Some non-race fun :)

After the race I got to experience a little bit of the city itself.  Allie and I went to dinner and gelato with my cousins Anna&Blue and their adorable baby- little Blue!  If you're an East Sider, or just in the city to visit, I highly recommend Pala--AMAZING pizza and pasta with Gluten Free and Vegan options (they even have Daiya cheese!!!)

Waiting in line to see Aten Reign

We also had the luxury of visiting the Guggenheim! Anna works there and was able to explain the background of the featured exhibit, Aten Reign by James Turrell.  The whole museum was really amazing, but I highly recommend stopping in to experience Aten Reign yourself--it's the only work of art I've ever enjoyed laying down, and it is amazing to see what can be done with the right amount of light and space!

                Learn more about the exhibit!

Sunset over the city

Catch you next time :)  @nicoletruxes

XTERRA Wetsuits are the BOMB!

Quick run I took at lunch along the cliffs in La Jolla

Just a few days after I touched down in Phoenix, after racing in Dallas, I packed up and left for San Diego.  This time, no racing involved, just smiling... :)

XTERRA Wetsuits had a two day photo shoot, in their hometown of beautiful San Diego.
Their goal was to gather images for use on their website and other media purposes.  We all had the pleasure of working with Tim Tadder, who aside from being a kick ass photographer is a very entertaining person!!  The first day of shooting was on location, meaning at the beach!! This provided all of us that were taking part in the photo shoot the opportunity to actually test the wetsuits in action!  Usually having a wetsuit on for 5-6 hours at a time would be a nightmare, but I honestly forgot I was wearing one--the swim cap got uncomfortable before the suit ever did!

Not only were the suits and photographer awesome, but all of the people involved in making the shoot happen were amazing.  Both Tim's and XTERRA's teams were extremely organized which actually allowed us to get out early from the shoot the second day and allowed me to get back home to Phoenix before midnight :)  Thank you all again for a wonderful experience!

The Group from Day 1! 

Now that you know how awesome these people are...let's focus on the suits...

The first suit I got to test was the Vendetta, which is XTERRA's newest suit; extremely light weight, thin and buoyant. How can it be thin and buoyant? It has air pockets built into the suit so the material is flexible and keeps your body in an ideal position on top of the water.  I was blown away! I'm not usually a fan of wetsuits at all, but this made swimming in a wetsuit very comfortable and the mobility in this suit was unmatched by any I had ever swam in before.  This is the suit I will be racing in from now on (that is until XTERRA decides to come out with an even more genius suit)!

Me, Sarah, Jenny || Day 1

The other two styles of suits I got to test were the Velocity, which is XTERRA's speed suit and the Vortex which is XTERRA's best-selling suit.  I was very impressed with both.  The speed suit fits just like a fast suit meant for swimming only--it has a nice light weight build with hydrophobic properties on the outside of the suit.  The zipper in the back makes for an easy exit out of the suit in T1.  The Vortex was more comfortable than any of the wetsuits I had tried prior to this photo shoot.  It was flexible and buoyant and although it was heavier than the Vendetta, I was still able to wear it for >5 hours without noticing any discomfort!

Wearing the Vector Pro!

Another exciting piece that made an appearance at the photo shoot were the all-new Lava Pants... I  won't give too much away as they are not yet available, but after picking Glynn's (Turquand, co-owner) brain about this new training tool, I am very excited for it to become available!!  Check out xterrawetsuits.com and facebook.com/xterra.wetsuits for updates on the pants' upcoming debut!!

Jenny, Me, Kelly || Day 2

And now you get how awesome these products are...I have an important announcement to make!!

I have teamed up with XTERRA wetsuits for the 2013 season!  As I mentioned above they provide the most flexible wetsuits on the market and they really know how to hire great people, so their customer service is absolutely top notch.  Click their logo to the right and use the code SA-TRUXES to get a huge discount, and take advantage of their 30-day return policy (take it for a spin, see if it fits, if not exchange it for your best fit!) !!  Feel free to contact me with questions about my experience in the suits!

Until next time :)

Location Day 1

@nicoletruxes

Racing in the Lone Star State

It seems like it has been about a month since I race in Dallas on June 1, but in reality it has only been a day more than a week!

The Thursday before the race, Lucas and I stepped off a plane into muggy Dallas, TX to get set for the Pan American Cup taking place on Saturday.

The venue for this race was definitely one of the nicest I have been to!  The logistics were amazing--the airport is an easy 20 minute freeway drive away from the hotel and the race itself takes place at the hotel--virtually no travel once you're there!!

Convenient Swim Venue!

Leading up to the race I knew weather was certainly going to be a factor, the forecast kept changing from no rain and super hot, to a higher and higher chance of thunderstorms every day.  The day before it looked as though the women would finish just in time for the storms to start, but the men would not be so lucky.  In actuality, it was just windy and threatening to storm while the women were racing (thank goodness for clouds), and then the sun decided to come out right in time for the men's race.

The water temperature of the lake was perfect, practically pool water, which I was super excited for--no shivering; off to a good start!! The method of start for the swim was a dive off the side of the lake, which was also much to my advantage with my swimming background.  The only unfortunate thing about the swim is that it ended up being a couple minutes short, and I really wish I would have kicked it up a notch a little earlier before exiting the water.  Regardless of the length and late acceleration, I came out of the water 3rd!  I haven't been in the front pack of a swim yet in an ITU race, and this has been a point of frustration for me coming from a swimming background; definitely a highlight of the race!

Transition was kind of crazy and an obvious point of improvement for me in the future; it's not my skills that are lacking anymore, it's my intensity.  The other girls had such ferocity running into and out of transition, whereas I look like a little girl running through a daisy field...  Building this aggression in transition will help me to get a better position earlier in the game and not have to fight for the spot I want!

The bike was a good experience.  In the previous two draft legal races this season I have been in small packs of 3-5 where it is very easy to organize and work together (as long as everyone is willing).  This pack was 10 right out of transition and 11 by the end of the bike.  The benefit to this large pack was the amount of energy I saved in the draft, however, the downside was the lack of organization.  It was tough to make any moves to get further away from the packs behind us.

Finally the run... I started out a little behind because I made a silly move on the last lap of the bike.  I was near the front most of the final lap and the final turn was very close to transition.  Right before this turn, everyone rushed to the front to get into T2 first. If I would have been smart, I would have maintained my position, instead I watched everyone go by me--don't know what I was thinking! I didn't think twice about it while in the race and moved on--I had a plan for the run, I was ready to have a good run off the bike for the first time this season.  I started out strong and made up some of the distance that I lost out of T2.  The first couple of laps were good, I could feel my energy building and I

On the run, probably before I bonked :)

was slowly getting closer to the girls in front of me.  The fourth lap came around and I was starting to get that fog where you know you're racing, but you just can't think anymore (aka brain running out of glucose!) and next thing I know volunteers are yelling at me because I'm running on the wrong side of the road! Ran into a little bit of a bonk... I tried my best to snap out of it; grabbing cold sponges and water at every station.  The girls from the pack behind me were starting to get dangerously close. I told myself to hold them off as long as possible... sure enough, lap 5 started and I was passed by the first girl of the second bike pack and I knew there were others behind her that could very well run me down.  I told myself, "2500 meters left, no one else passes you!" I tried to stick with the girl that passed me, but she was going WAY faster than me and instead I settled into the best pace I had left and held my position to the finish.  I've never felt so unstable crossing a finish line, and realized it was a lack of nutrition that really restricted my performance.  I was still extremely excited because I went 4 minutes faster than in Sarasota (I didn't know the swim was short at the time) and I still felt I raced the best I could.  I ended up 11th, which is the highest finish I've had in an ITU race so far this season :)

Lessons:
-Even when it's hot and you don't feel like taking in nutrition, you still need it!
-Transitions are part of the race, obviously when you're trying to catch a pack, but for optimal positioning as well!!
-I am finally becoming a swimmer again! :)

Lucas, best support crew ever :) <3

Thank you to my wonderful boyfriend, Lucas for coming with and making this trip essentially stress free!  Thank you to my coach, Brian Grasky for continuing to make me faster, and thank you to Trisports.com for your support this season!
No race is ever perfect, and this one was certainly far from it, but I came away from the experience excited for my next opportunity to race this format and it certainly solidified my desire to race the ITU circuit!

Until next time :)

@nicoletruxes

It's All in the Details

May has been a great month (so far!)--another race, another birthday, always lessons :)

The Tempe International is a local race here in, you guessed it, Tempe!  It took place Sunday, May 19th.  It also served as the Arizona Club Championships.  I was really

Pre-Race, lots of people ready to race :)

excited about this race for many reasons. 1- racing when you can sleep in your own bed is amazing! 2- having your family there to support you is also absolutely amazing!! 3- this race has a reputation of being HOT (temperature wise of course ;) ) and this is perfect prep for upcoming races this Summer.  Needless to say I was excited going in!

Race morning started and it was much cooler than I expected...around 75* when I was leaving my car! The race start got pushed back by about 45 minutes so things warmed up really fast.  Water temperature was mid-70s so according to USAT rules it was wetsuit legal, however, I opted to swim without the wetsuit.

Scopin' a buoy, so much easier sans wetsuit!

This was the first detail of the day I was very glad about!  Swimming without a wetsuit, for me, is SO much better--so much more freedom and control.  If you are a former swimmer and you feel like you never quite settle into proper body position when wearing a wetsuit, give a non-wetsuit swim a try--it's been my fastest swim yet this season!

The bike was good, the course was very similar to Marquee, which I raced a month ago.  The familiarity with the course allowed me to take a little bit riskier turns because I knew where all of the bumps and loose gravel were. I still haven't quite figured out how to go "balls to the

Never realized there was so much Flora in Tempe :)

walls" on the bike portion yet, but I'm making progress.

Finally, the run was bittersweet...I brought a cooler to leave in transition with two baggies of ice--one for the bike and one for the run.  I forgot the first bag when leaving for the bike, but didn't really miss it as the temperature hadn't risen over 90* yet.  So on my way out of T2, I grabbed a bag to later stuff in my suit.  The thought of shoving it down the front of my suit sounded shockingly cold so I opted to tuck it in the back of my suit like you would a shirt on a long run, this was a bad idea.  The bag started bouncing out of my suit and while I managed to grab it, not two seconds later, it slipped out of my hands and exploded open on the ground--bye bye ice pack! I didn't let my mind linger on it long and redirected my focus (to other things I needed to deal with like clipping my race belt on).  The whole first mile was dedicated to getting "situated" and after that I must have been on some kind of endorphin high because everything felt easy and I was honestly having a great time.  I rounded the corner to run up the bridge (over the bridge is the end of lap 1 and it's a short bridge!) after just seeing Lucas and my Dad...I smiled at them, happy as can be, and then I realized, I've never done that in a race..? What is so

Really happy to see Lucas and my Dad!

different? I also realized that I hadn't really checked my watch up until that point...I glanced down and realized why I was so happy--I was no where NEAR the pace I should have been at! Oops! I don't know what I was thinking--heat brain, blonde moment--whatever it was I started booking it over the bridge!  My second lap was only ~10-15 sec per mile faster than my first because I just couldn't get my wheels going any faster. So my run split left much to be desired, but at least I learned a valuable lesson that it is much easier to slow down than to speed up!

One last little detail... I won! I've never won a triathlon before, so even though it was a local race, I was super excited!  As always...I'm very excited to see that my hard work is translating into results, but I am definitely not satisfied and look forward to the next opportunity to improve!

About to cross the finish line, for my first triathlon win :)

THANK YOU to my coach Brian Grasky and Trisports.com for the continued support!!!



Last bit of news... I turned twenty-three last week!  It was a very low key, but awesome birthday.  I made it through the whole day without crying about being one year closer to thirty (I have a track record of doing that ;) ) mostly thank you to my wonderful Lucas :)

Watching the sunset with my love :)

Music Recommendations!

Lucas is working on a new project that I'm VERY excited 

for him to release, so coming soon... but for now, he added
a couple of old tunes he's been holding onto since last
Summer when we were living with James (Crimson) in
Brentwood
Check it out: www.soundcloud.com/valeasmusic

Also recently released, Daft Punk put out their first album 

since 2005--Random Access Memories.

Instant Crush by Daft Punk 

^This is my favorite song off the album!

Until next time :)

 @nicoletruxes

Lucas took me to Macayo's for Dinner <3

Spontaneity

The Line-Up

Normally everything I do is planned in advance... at least a week, month, maybe more.  Last weekend I threw planning out the window and took the most spontaneous trip I've ever taken!  Lucas and a couple of his buddies have been planning to go to Coachella pretty much since it ended last year.  A few hours before he was set to leave, we found out there was a ticket for me AND his friend was going to give it to me for free... I decided that if I was ever going to make a last minute decision, this was the time!!

For those of you that don't know, Coachella is a three-day music festival held in Coachella Valley, CA.  It started in 1999 and has been turning heads ever since.  Over the years, this festival has become so big

Sunset on the first day :)

that they had to make two weekends to accommodate all of the festival goers.  Along with the amazing performances at this festival, there was rarely a dull moment of people watching :)

I've been a long time fan of the Postal Service even though they have only ever put out one full length album. I absolutely love their song Nothing Better...so I think this takes the cake as my favorite performance--great stage chemistry, excellent live vocals, and this song is a valuable piece of nostalgia to me :).




Another highlight was Sigur Rós, who I've also been a fan of for a little over 7 years now!! They are an Icelandic band with some absolutely beautiful music. I have never seen them live before and seeing this made me want to go see them a million more times!


(ps both of those videos are stolen from youtube...I did not capture any excellent video footage of any of the performances!)

What I took away from the weekend (other than a deep desire to play music again) is that sometimes it pays to play it by ear: no plans, no expectations, just living :)  I never would have thought I would

One of many cool pieces of art showcased over the weekend;it slowly moved around the whole  venue!

enjoy something so unplanned. I tend to be a control freak in the worst kind of way... normally I need to have an idea of how everything is going to play out before I even think about doing something and with this I had about 30 minutes to decide to go, and a few hours until we were actually there and it was SO MUCH FUN! Plus, spending three days out of my normal training schedule, doing different workouts in a different environment, made me anxious and excited to get back to the normal training regimen :)  Thank you again to Angel for the ticket and Lucas for bringing me along :)

Day 2 Lucas, Angel and I on our way to catch the evening shows :)

On another, more tri-related note...earlier this month I raced in the Lifetime Fitness Marquee triathlon.  This race was on the heels of Collegiate Nationals at the same venue and almost the same exact course. I happen to live just outside of Tempe so this was a really fun weekend for me!  On Friday and Saturday I got to go and support my former team, the University of Arizona Tricats who are also coached my by coach, Brian Grasky!  Friday was a draft legal race and Saturday had a non-draft race in the morning and a draft legal relay in the afternoon. The Tricats did SO well as a team with the highest women's team ranking in Tricat history; I'm so proud to say that once upon a time I was a Tricat too!!

Sunday was a big day of racing all its own--not only was there a Sprint and Olympic distance for Marquee, but there was also the Leadman 125 that went off an hour before my race start.  Leadman had a pretty large pro field and seemed like a pretty tough course!

Feel silly with a watermarked pic but it's all I have! Crossing the finish :)

Marquee was a really neat race for me because although I am from Tempe, I have NEVER raced there!! It was so much fun to have my parents (and Lucas of course!) come and watch and to run into different families that I knew back in my swimming days!
The race itself was a toughie, the bike course was designed to have 3 extra miles and it doesn't seem like much on paper, but when the rubber meets the road it makes a pretty big difference!  My focus going into the race was to give the hardest effort I could on the swim and bike, perfect transitions and
hold on for as long as possible on the run.  I rarely ever go into a race with this mentality...usually I am conservative to start and save something for the run.  It was very interesting throwing caution to the wind and I learned that I can really go a lot harder than I ever thought possible!  I was first female out of the water and ended up 2nd overall to an Australian olympian, Maxine Seer!  Like always, tons to improve upon; each race is a little lesson in my pursuit to be the best I can be!!

                                             ^Lucas caught the last part of my run on film :)



Naturally while at Coachella I came across some new sounds that I enjoy so I thought I'd share my discoveries with you!!

All of Me by Tanlines
^fun, "dancey" sound, makes me want Summer time to come faster!!

What You Know by Two Door Cinema Club
^was really impressed with their performance and I actually really like their Pandora station!


Until Next Time :) @nicoletruxes

A Whole Lotta Racin'

Sooner than expected, the 2013 season is in full swing.  In the past four weeks, I have completed three races; the most racing I have ever done in that span of time!  With every race comes a plethora of lessons, but I feel the learning curve this year was particularly steep.

Transition setup for Tritonman!

 My last month’s racing journey began on the sunny shores of San Diego in the first ever “Collegiate” draft legal race.  The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Triathlon team hosted this event with a non-draft race the following day.  The idea was to preview what Collegiate Nationals will be like with the addition of the draft-legal race.  I was very impressed that this team put together not one, but TWO triathlons all by themselves.  It is not an easy task to organize college students especially for such a logistically difficult event! 

The race itself was a blast with lots of surprises!  I had my first-ever run-in with marine life—a bloom, or swarm of jellyfish floated into the bay where the swim took place and many people (myself included) touched the tops of the jellyfish without knowing what it was until after the race!  I was glad to know later that it was not just mushy mud, but the top of a particularly squishy lifeform that my hand brushed mid-swim.  The next surprise came in T1…let me set the stage…air temp ~50* F, water temp somewhere in the 60*F region (with much colder pockets mid-swim)…I wore earplugs to help combat the dizziness that comes with frigid waters, but it turns out the earplugs were almost as disorienting to me!  I ran up to the transition area, promptly slid on my butt softball style through the grassy transition and then struggled to yank my wetsuit off for almost a minute until I gave in and sat down to pull it off my legs!  The embarrassment doesn’t stop there…I then ran my bike out of transition to the mount line in nothing resembling a straight line attempted to mount my bike while it is still tilted 45* in the opposite direction from my body…probably very entertaining for spectators.  Luckily, this was the end of the major surprises (and embarrassments J ) in the race and I was able to take a deep breath, catch the pack, and get my game face back on! I ended up 3^rd overall with lots of lessons and excitement to take with me to the next couple of races!

Tricats! Thanks again for letting me tag along, so fun!

Two weeks of training and anticipation went by before I boarded a plane for Orlando, FL.  En route to both my first professional and ITU race, it was almost unreal when I heard the gun go off in Clermont. First of all I couldn’t believe the strength of the women around me and second I couldn’t believe the speed!  The swimming in a professional ITU race is a whole different level and takes entirely different tactics than any swim I have ever completed before.  The swim at Clermont was unique in that the start was very shallow, but the depth varied enough that you had to switch between running, dolphin diving, and swimming.  It also funneled very quickly (because it was a sprint distance) so there were a lot of bodies trying to share the same space.  I got a hand to the mouth, tasted some blood (my own and very little!) and realized I was in for an intense swim! I was lucky enough to spread into my own spot and find a rhythm to finish out the swim.  The rest of the race seems like a blur…riding in my first pack of professional women, not really knowing what I was doing at all and furiously racing through the transitions.  I finished and couldn’t believe my first pro race was already over!  I ended up 18^th in a field with 6 Olympians (and a 10 minute PR from last year’s course)…both in awe of the talent and strength of these women and determination to finish closer to them in future races.

Finishing at Clermont!

After the race, I was fortunate to spend a few extra days in Clermont with a bunch of my teammates in the Collegiate Recruitment Program.  We stayed at the AAA tri camp honing in on our cycling skills and introducing ourselves to the unique wildlife of Florida :) I learned so much in those couple of days both about triathlon and about my fellow teammates—it was a blast! (Thank you so much to John and Jodie for being wonderful hosts to us while we were there; such a cool venue for a camp!!)

Real Lilly Pads!

Alligator friend...I believe someone named him Brevan? :)

To complete my trip, I traveled to Sarasota.  The Scott Family was so generous to take me under their wing for a long weekend.  Mr. Scott introduced me to all of his cycling buddies, “The Village Idiots” and took me on a few great rides around the area (if you're from Sarasota check out Village Bikes, great people!).  I felt like I was at a home away from home, and I’d like to say THANK YOU again!! 

Somewhere in the middle of the Bike!

The race in Sarasota took place on Saturday and had a 2:30pm start time.  Not only was this my first Olympic distance draft legal race, but definitely my first afternoon start time!  I was very antsy leading up to the race…is my stomach going to cooperate? Am I going to overheat? Is it going to be extremely windy? Lots of questions, but only one way to answer them!  Race day came and I was surprisingly calm, and mostly excited.  The weather was beautiful; cool breeze, warm sun, and clear skies.  Though the wind did pick up during the cycling portion of the race, I was lucky enough to be in a smart pack of girls and thanks to their helpful guidance, we were able to combat the wind to the best of our abilities.  Overall, I felt really solid in the race and am very hungry for the next opportunity.  Having double the distance and a diving start made for a very different feeling race and I really liked it!!  I ended up 15^th overall with almost a 10 minute Olympic distance PR.

On the run! Thanks again for the cheers and photos Mr. Scott!

After a month of racing…my lips are wet for the rest of the season, I am hungry to challenge myself on a whole new level and I’m so excited to grow in the sport of triathlon even more in the next couple of months!   

Thank you for the support from my coach, family, friends and sponsors…2013 has started off wonderfully, I can’t wait to see where the season is going!!

Onwards and upwards :)

Music recommendations:

Without getting too mushy…being gone in Florida for 10 days was amazing, but I really was missing one thing…Lucas <3 …I heard this in the airport before I was going to board the plane on my way home and it made my heart smile :) (The link below is a live version)

1234 by Plain White T’s

Some solid riding music...

Fortune Days by Glitch Mob

And finally a little bit of bragging on behalf of Lucas...some of his music was featured on a pretty big EDM blog recently :) 

TopHouseMusicBlog.com