The Magical Mystery Tour..better known as The Pursuit of a Quality Nutrition Program

So we're a month into 2013 and everyone vaguely remembers the strong resolutions they [drunkenly] toasted roughly 35 days ago.  Some resolutions were to work out more, some were to be a "better person" and some were to eat healthier...  While I'd love to preach about being a better person =P I'm here to talk about the last...NUTRITION.

The problem with creating and following a "healthy" diet is that in the field of nutrition these days there is such a broad spectrum of what is considered "healthy".  There are extremists on all ends of every nutritional argument and there are more articles online about nutrition than seemingly anything else health-related.  Why is this? Everyone has to eat! Everyone has done their own anecdotal study on what works best and everyone has been eating their whole life--true story!  How are you supposed to sift through this shit pile of information? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but one must get their hands dirty when dealing with a pile of shit (or call upon their inner ninja powers and somehow magically remove the shit).  The point of this post is to help you sift through this ominous pile of fecal matter that is "nutrition articles" on the internet and maybe you'll start to see something beautiful (or at least sensible) out of this mountain of "nutrient-less" waste.

For starters...who am I to talk?  Well, I'm by no means the most qualified of all experts, but I do have a background in Nutrition (from the University of Arizona) and I have been a competitive athlete for a solid 14 years.  Now, all of those years were not dedicated to nutritional study, but I have been reading and researching, attending seminars, webinars, etc. pretty extensively these past 5 years.  This post is NOT going to be a "10 best secrets to a diet for your greatest season ever" or "Perfect Race Day Meal Plan" or anything of the sort...what I'm hoping for is to inspire YOU to research for YOURSELF and find what combination of recommendations work for YOU and your gut.

To address the first problem--the endless piles of shit that exist about nutrition on the internet.  
My guidelines for a successful search on solving your nutritional mystery:

1. Efficacy- Is this article I'm reading true?
Start by investigating what the article is saying...is it saying that there is a magical supplement that will make you faster, stronger, more energetic, etc.?  It's probably not entirely true, and if it is, it may be selling something illegal and I don't think you want to be the next Lance Armstrong, so investigate further and determine which portions, if any, of the article are actually true.
Things to watch out for:
Gimmicks (Ex: "you'll lose 10lb per week", "Gain muscle faster than ever", "Better results with less training"), Unwanted additives (Supplements are NOT regulated by the FDA, therefore, they don't have to include their entire ingredients list like normal foods do...be sure that you trust the company you are buying from and be sure they don't add any mystery ingredients that could be harmful).
Where to start:
Pub Med!  this is an EXCELLENT source if you want to find REAL information.  The information from these articles is all peer-reviewed--meaning, there has been a group of scientists that are well qualified to determine whether this fits in the general shit pile or not and they deemed this piece of research worthy of their scientific journal.  I will talk later about how to determine which of these articles is more reliable and more helpful than others when dealing with nutritional research, just be patient :)

2. Everyone is Different (just like Everyone needs to eat...and poop)- Some people have an ironclad stomach--they can eat oreos all day or right before a race and not have a problem, some people are not quite so lucky.
Read articles that are scientifically relevant that speak on all sides of an argument.  For example, a popular argument in the endurance community: to veg or not to veg? Read articles that are both for and against plant-based diets.  Go into this quest with an open mind and maybe even take notes if you're really hard core.  Write down the information from both sides of an argument and determine which side is relevant to you.  Determine if you're the kind of person that "feels better" with less meat or if you're the type of person that absolutely needs your 'Merican dose of good old beef.

3. Be Your Very Own Lab Rat--Start A Case Study- That's right, start performing lab experiments on yourself.  Not as scary as it sounds, I promise.  You are the only person that experiences every "feeling" that food gives you.  If you're really ambitious-- start a food log...write down things about your energy level, how you felt (did you bonk really hard after an hour? are your finger nails starting to fall out? did you have explosive, uncontrollable farts for your whole run? you don't necessarily need to be that explicit :) ).  Consider all aspects of food--energy level, digestion, performance--document what you eat, when you eat it.  Be a scientist!  Find out what is going to work for YOU on race day and during training.  Try different recommendations for set amount of times (2 week vegan trial, 2 week meat eating trial, etc) to see what works best for your body.  This may get really shitty at times (pun-intended) but when your stomach, muscles, brain, and heart are happy and working as a well-oiled machine on race day all the "failed tests" will be worth it.

My Personal Research--Good books I've found along the way that helped kick-start me my very own Magical Mystery Tour:


A couple years back I sat and listened to a nutrition talk given by nutrition guru and Fluid Recovery founder David Brown.  He had some AWESOME information about the timing of nutrition and recommended this read:

 This was the first of lots of research for endurance training!
Book on Amazon

I continued to struggle with nutrition and had an awful time at Wildflower in the Long Course race in 2012 so I was recommended Bob Seebohar's book: Nutrition Periodization for Athletes

This book has been a life saver for me! And I recently found out there is a version specific to Endurance Athletes!
Book on Amazon


Personally, nutrition has been a topic of research since I was about twelve years old.  My coach told us we could swim faster if we ate healthier and gave an example of one of the older girls on the team that had amazing ten second time drops after changing her diet.

I have done most every diet (except Atkins) under the sun.  I was allergic to wheat in high school and followed a mostly gluten-free diet; I never swam as fast in my best events on that diet as I did when I was younger--while diet may not have had a lot to do with it, I always wonder!

When in college I expanded my personal nutrition experimentation even further while studying it at a university level.  I was vegan the Summer leading into and most of my Senior year of college--I was convinced this was what was the best diet for me because I really did not like or crave meat and it always gave me a stomach ache. I had already abstained from red meat for three years so it was very easy to cut out all other meats as well.  After about 10 months my nails and hair stopped growing (I usually have very fast growing hair and nails!) and I'm sure there were other actual signs of malnutrition but I never went in for a blood test!

I have calorie counted, protein counted, charted my daily diets, etc. BUT  I have never been happier, felt better, or been leaner than recently when I stopped counting calories, and followed the Fuel Targets from Bob Seebohar's book^  This happens to be a comfortable resting place for me on my Mystery Tour, but the point of this whole blog is that YOU are an entirely different person and YOU should search for the key to your nutritional success :)

 So go out there, read, eat and be merry!!




Music Recs!!

Space-Time Thrombosis by Valeas 
I'm absolutely obsessed with this song right now, I refer to it as STT for short! Give the guy some new hardware and WOW!  

Starry Eyed Driver Mash-Up by Isosine 
I was totally diggin' this song during my trail run today so I thought I'd share it :)

Enjoy!! :)

@nicoletruxes 


  

An Explanation, A List [of sorts], and a 10m Platform

Greetings! I know it's been soooo long since my last post ;) but this time of year I feel is all about communication, fresh starts, and fresh ideas!  After reflecting on my year, I reflected on this blog (naturally).  I realized I'm missing something pretty major--the explanation of why it's called "Hug it Out"...it has nothing [well something, but you'll see] to do with triathlon and is pretty ambiguous. 

Hug it out.  What does that even mean? 
The first explanation that I hope comes to mind is to approach conflict with a "hugging" mentality.  I once had a coach that told me when her little boys were fighting they had to hug each other until they settled their little tiff and I thought that was really cute.  I thought about the idea of "hugging it out" as a way of working things out and it has really developed into a sort of mantra for me.  Hugging is a form of embrace.  A step to solving any problem or obstacle is looking it straight in the face and figuring out exactly what it is--in my mind I like to think of this as a sort of hug.  Hugging is also a form of affection.  So any good or positive that comes into life we want to embrace in a not so abrasive way [hug it!].  Hopefully you can kind of see where I'm going...
No matter what happens...no matter the hoops you have to jump through, or the walls you have to climb, you should always embrace them as part of your journey!  Same goes for all of the good things in life...enjoy and savor the moments that make you smile and laugh!!  Essentially to hug it out means to hug life and this is what I try [and sometimes don't succeed...no one is perfect!] to strive for :)

The List
Which actually is not going to be a list at all.  Most people will give you a list of their resolutions...kind of a reader's digest version of their goals for the year...I'm not really feeling that.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE lists...what type A personality doesn't?...I just felt that there was no good way to put "a list" of resolutions together this year.  
So, what's in store for this year? Well, my first professional season as a triathlete is at the forefront of my mind...there are so many unknowns to deal with because I really am swimming in uncharted territory!  So I decided I would focus on something that IS familiar to me to take my mind off of what I don't know (because as a human, what you don't know is automatically scary...right?).  I DO know that the community I choose to surround myself with matters.  When I say community, this is a very broad sense of the word because my community extends far beyond the city limits of Phoenix.  Community to me is really anyone that has an impact on my life.  Starting close to home of course there is my family, Lucas, and Lucas's family---huge impact, big supporters and I'm so thankful I have TWO families to love and receive support from.  Branching out to the greater Phoenix area...there are fantastic groups to ride with, lots of helpful hands and smiling faces at early hours of the morning...I'm SO thankful to live in a place where people are active and excited to be up and out on the road!!  In addition to this community of fellow athletes I also have a fantastic support system as far as coaching goes.  My coach, Brian Grasky (founder of Grasky Endurance Coaching), has shown tremendous support for me in the past year and I really look forward to working closely with him again this year!


^this is just a taste of the work they do at the Tucson Endurance Performance Center (TEPC) awesome computrainer rides...weekly group road rides, TRX, running and swimming lessons...lots of stuff and lots of knowledge :)

To apply for coaching, follow this link

I also have an exciting new form of support...a racing team!  I am officially part of Team Trisports for 2013.  This will be the first time I have linked up with a racing team in a sponsorship format.  I am excited to represent their company because I have been relying on Trisports.com for all kinds of gear and advice since I started triathlon.  I will never forget the first time I went to the store (there was only the Tucson store back then, but now they have a convenient location in Tempe just down the street from the Beach Park!!)... I needed cycling shoes, never even looked at them before, didn't know a thing about them, all I knew was I wanted the cheapest pair possible.  I asked one of the sales associates to show me where they were...he looked at me a little funny, but humored me and walked over to the cycling shoes with me...he asked if I knew which pair and I wanted and I said I knew nothing, but I wanted to spend the least money possible...an hour later I was leaving the store very well educated on cycling shoes, clips, how to clip in/out, etc AND I left spending the least amount of money possible (starving college students have no choice but to be cheap ;) )...needless to say I was pleased :)

To have your own amazing shopping experience visit one of their Retail Stores:
Tucson Location

Tempe Location

Or you can shop online: trisports.com



ANYWAY...that was quite the tangent, but you get the picture... COMMUNITY it is an extremely important part of anything you do and this year my goal is to not only recognize this, but give BACK to that community.  I feel a really important role of mine this year is to realize my place in this community and make sure that I give everything I have to those around me...the stronger each member of a community is, the stronger the community is as a whole.  If I can help drive my community forward I will have had a successful year :)

A 10m Platform?
Yep, I feel like I'm standing at the end of one...I'm excited, nervous, shaky, scared, and thrilled that I'm about to jump off into a fantastic year of unknowns :)

Until next time kids :)
@nicoletruxes

Music Recs!!

Two of my favorite songs in a Mash-up...never would of thought of this combo, but it works!!
Muse vs Chidlish Gambino "Bonfire Desires" Mash-up by Isosine 
  
 Kind of a chill vibe, but this artist has some really cool sounds up on his Sound Cloud...this one is a free download!!
Tender Love by Kill Paris 

Twenty-one "Oh" Two- Happy New Year to you

Wow, it's already December 30.  Where did 2012 go?  I suppose time flies when you're having fun :)  When I think about 2012, I think of a few things... mainly boxes (or Trader Joe bags in most cases), travel, family and triathlon (of course =P). 

I've been trying to write this post for almost a week now, and I just haven't brought myself to sit down and do it because I feel that it simply won't do this year justice! How can you sum up an entire year of life experiences in one post? That's a lot of pressure!  So, with that disclaimer, I'll do my best in recapping an AWESOME year, and sending some well wishes to all of you for an even better next year :)

So first, the boxes (or like I mentioned, Trader Joe bags). 

This is my stuffed BruRu, you can't see the army of Trader Joe bags, but believe me, it was recycling at it's finest. Definitely essential for all of the moves this year.

Over the course of 2012 I have lived in four houses (five if you count Lucas's parents' house :) ).  Starting in Tucson

One of the most beautiful Tucson sunrises :)

 graduating, moving to Northern Cali--starting in Brentwood with the Piquero Family,

The Magical Studio of Fun--Brentwood, CA

Briones Trail in Walnut Creek--beautiful hills!

moving our way into beautiful Walnut Creek,

Lovely view, technically Scottsdale, but it's all the same ;)

and circle it all back up to home--good old Phoenix, AZ at my folks' place (and like I said, sometimes Lucas's parents').








I think the best adjective for that many moves is dynamic.  There was certainly never a dull moment this year, but I do hope 2013 brings at least one less move ;)




The rest of the major themes of my year: family, travel, triathlon--can all be reflected upon together, because, as I learned, they are all closely entwined.  

Lessons:

• You never know what you have until it's gone--family, friends, familiarity...all of these things are SO easy to take for granted, but the more you leave home, the more you realize just how warming home can actually be-- to all of my family and friends: I LOVE YOU, thank you for making my life full and beautiful!
•  Dream big and be your own friend.  Do a favor for yourself: listen to your internal speech, how do you talk to yourself?  Would you be your own friend?  The answer should be "yes!".  I'm not saying you have to be in love with yourself (in fact, don't, that's usually not very healthy or fun).  However, with out falling madly in love with your own reflection and shriveling up to die...be your own friend!  Make big dreams, chase them, tell yourself (realistically) that you can reach them and not only will you be happier, but those around you will pick up your vibe and be happier :)
• Hard work pays off-- in everything you do, working your butt off will always get you further.  One catch is that it also (at least in my case) makes you want more ;)  Don't let that stop you...don't be afraid to pull your sleeves up and throw some elbow grease in there ;) 

 I had a LOT of fun:

February: Grizzly Peaks- my FAVORITE spot in the Bay. This was my first view of it, not the clearest, but on a sunshine-y day you can see the entire bay<3 Sick video referencing "Grizzly Peaks, San Fran lights, ya heard?"

 

March: Lake Louisa, FL- the spot of my very first taste of ITU style racing.  The first of many to come in my young triathlon career :)

April: The last of my good, old-fashioned college fun ;)

May: A big BONK at Wildflower (long distance), lesson learned, still had fun :) (I suppose I also turned 22 in May...but considering I drunkenly cried about the fact I was one year closer to 30, I won't include any pictures, although most of it was very fun ;) )

June: To Florida for the second time...this trip: DISNEYWORLD. The Wellings were kind enough to include me on their family vacation, and this was the view from our Hotel Room :)

Disney continued: Still my favorite photo from the trip...Piper meets Princess Aurora<3

Chancey Pants joined us, like a "real man" on the Tower of Terror...he was 7 at the time. Aubree also joined, she's 5, baller....oh yes, and we were behind the Incredibles...through the entire line.

There are no words.

July: Collegiate Recruitment Camp...a truly LIFE CHANGING experience.  Amazing, thank you again!

August: Qualified for my Pro Card! My Aunts, Uncles, cousins, all there cheering me on...dream come true!

September: LA- my first beach swim: scary, salty, fun

October: Goose's birthday! Of course we're at Grizzly Peaks...one last time!

November: Back home to Phoenix, and immediately entered in the Women's Half Marathon :) 

December: My Parents, high school sweethearts...aren't they cute?

Christmas- I LOVE THESE KIDS <3

Christmas, cont: My brother and my puppy, Pima...a little pre-game nap ;)

My Love <3

So, I'll call 2012 a success! Bring it on 2013, I'm ready.




Final music recs of the year :)

Some fresh Valeas:
First, Gain Their Trust
^ballin electronic music, and a free download, can't beat it!

Play Hard by Krewella
^some cool kids from Chicago making some pretty awesome beats!! I feel like this is a good theme for 2013...Play HARD!!!

Piggies in a Blanket

This is just a little tidbit I thought I'd share...it will probably lead most of you from colder climates to say, "Duh!", but for those of you in AZ that still haven't had this epiphany...here ya go!

So your feet get REALLY cold when you're cycling in the Winter...so cold that it's tough to walk when you get home from even just a brisk ride.  I have used plastic baggies wrapped around my feet and shoved in my shoes for the past couple of years.  This year I finally invested in some toe warmers that conveniently fit on the front of my shoes.  BRILLIANT! They are worth MORE than what I paid for them and I can't believe I didn't invest in them sooner!

These are the kind I have and am now infatuated with:

Cannondale toe cover...should come in right under $20...but I'm telling you...comfort, warmth, convenience they're worth it!

That's all for now...keep your little piggies warm! (Did anyone else ever have their mom sing that song to them...you know, "This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, etc?)

Just Keep Swimming...and Breathing

So I've been on this swimming kick lately...and by that I mean, my coach has me swimming like a mad woman! ;)  Regardless of the reason I've been drenched in chlorine day in and day out...I've come to realize some things being back in the water that I feel are important to share!

The first is that training with open water swimming in mind is TOTALLY different from training for races in the pool.  First of all, you don't have the luxury of turns in the open water--this, at first, brought me much dismay because as a swimmer, flipturns and underwater kicking were kind of my thing!  So, these flipturn things are taken out of the equation in a race...should you still do them in practice? In my opinion, absolutely!  Do they suck sometimes? Absolutely!  The benefit they bring to you, pool swimmer or not, is that they teach you to budget your air.  So when that huge wave comes crashing down on you in the middle of the ocean or a turbulent lake, you breeze through this little time lapse with no air rather than panicking and ruining the entire front half of your race.  Also, because most of our training as triathletes is done in a pool, you start to become more of a "swimmer" the more swimmer-like things you do, and yes, flipturns are faster if done properly!

Don't know how to do a flipturn?  Here is a video if you want to take that next step in the pool!

Speedo Pace Club Tutorial

Technique of a flipturn is probably not the most important thing to you as a triathlete, but they can be a fun thing to practice and definitely give you a different perspective/feel in the water, so add a couple to your next workout if you're not already doing them!


Another major difference I noticed in open water situations is that because there are no walls there is no barrier to break your breathing pattern.  This was the recent realization that drove me to post this.  Ever since I joined a competitive swim team at eight years old (circa 1998),  I have tried very hard to maintain a specific bilateral breathing pattern.  What does that mean? A bilateral breathing pattern assures that you work each side of your body symmetrically; mostly used to prevent injury but it can be used to see your competition on both sides of the pool ;).  My breathing pattern has evolved over the years from every 3 to a combination of 2's and 3's.  I know this might sound like gibberish...but I will explain just hang tight!  So these breathing patterns benefit me in a pool setting because I had a certain number of breaths per side, per length.  In open water races I found myself struggling to settle into a comfortable breathing pattern because there is no wall to begin and end the pattern.  At first this was frustrating and made me uncomfortable, but recently I started to think...it might actually hold a great advantage!  I have begun to play around with breathing solely to one side going one direction of the pool and then solely to the other side coming back because the coach at masters made it a "drill" in a warm up set.  This means I am breathing every 2 strokes no matter what.  I can't believe I didn't try this sooner in my swimming career.  I have known distance swimmers to use breathing patterns like this in the past, but I have always been stuck in my ways breathing to both sides on every length.  There is so much more flow and rhythm to my stroke following this every 2 breathing pattern and I can still maintain body symmetry by switching the side that I breathe to each length.  What about siting?  I thought about this the other night during a long aerobic set (I know, I'm a nerd, but one with enough ADD to let my mind wander away from the set I'm swimming =P) and practiced siting as I was nearing the wall...simulating what it would be like to switch sides in open water.  I'll let you know how it goes when I'm actually in a racing situation, but the plan is to treat siting like a wall and switch sides each time I look for the buoys.  Like I mentioned before, I'm a total nerd, and a little OCD about making sure I'm symmetrical so I know exactly how many breaths I take each length and will use that to judge when to sight in open water!  If you're not as OCD as I am you could try to do it by feel, you can usually get a good idea of how much one side has been used vs. the other.

Okay, for all of you that are lost on my breathing pattern explanation (sometimes visuals are better anyway)...here are some videos:

Turns out the video selection on youtube is pretty miserable for bilateral breathing.  This video doesn't actually show any bilateral breathing, but it is one of the best swim coaches in the world talking you through breathing technique, so it is worth a watch!  Bilateral breathing in the most basic pattern is breathing every 3 so...right, left, right, [breathe], left, right, left, [breathe], etc.

Bob Bowman talks Breathing

This is the breathing technique I am now trying to emulate, breathing every 2....Ian Thorpe "The Thorpedo" is the swimmer in the video; he is one of the great distance freestylers--former world record holder in the 200, 400 and 800m freestyle (I would say he knows a thing or two about freestyle breathing! ;) )

Ian Thorpe-Freestyle Breathing Every 2

One more benefit I would like to discuss about the every 2 breathing pattern is the actual physiology of it.  When breathing every 2 you get a lot more air which allows you to stay aerobic slightly longer than if you were to adopt a breathing pattern where you breathe less often (every 3 or some combination of 2's and 3's).  This reason isn't as strong as the other two, in my opinion, because I don't know quantitatively how much it benefits you physiologically without spending lots of time and money (that I don't have) on testing ;)  Overall, however, I have noticed that with the extra breaths per length and the rhythmic flow of this new breathing pattern, I feel stronger in the water than I have felt in probably four years!




Now for my fav part...MUSIC!

Valeas has some sweet new beats...an entirely electric album that he released about 2 weeks ago...free download and listen here !

Some Kaskade is always good to keep you going (Just Keep Swimming :) )
Don't Stop Dancing


And last, but certainly not least....check out the website for Ver Duco!!
www.verducoproducts.com


That's all for this episode....keep training, keep learning, and Just Keep Swimming :)

@nicoletruxes

Riding in the Dark

The early mornings are getting colder and darker faster than anyone can really handle.  Normally this is when I decide to hibernate in my bed and not go out to ride until about 2 in the afternoon when everything is finally thawed and the sun is shining bright in the sky...  early mornings were always saved for sleep or the occasional long run, but NEVER a ride.

Since I've returned to the desert (yep, back home to good old AZ...but more on that later) I realized that people here are not afraid to ride at 5:15am in the cold and in THE DARK! This is a totally new concept to me...riding in the dark? That's dangerous though?  Maybe so, but something I never thought about is the fact that riding in the dark forces you to trust your bike, and yourself.  You may not see every little piece of random hazard in the road, and you may not see every little bump or crack, but believe it or not, this is a great thing!  In the last two weeks I have gained more cycling skills in the dark than I ever could have imagined. 

What I'm NOT SAYING is to go out at 5am or 10pm for that matter by yourself with no lights and fumble around in the dark until you're comfortable on your bike...please don't do that, you'll probably eat it and then blame it on me =P  What I AM SAYING is that there are major benefits to going out in a group, with BIKE LIGHTS and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.  In fact, I felt that this was important enough to blog about ;)

This light is like a spot light that goes on your helmet, super bright and intense...someone had it on the ride I was on this morning...I was pretty impressed with the visibility (Blackburn, front click)
 
This is the kind of light I use, and if you're bike mount challenged like me...you'll really like the little strap it has to attach the light...super easy to use and surprisingly effective for its size (and its rechargeable...always a plus) !



Back red flashers are also a good thing to add to your morning attire!!

Back in the Grand Canyon State so soon?  Yes, after a few months in lovely California, Lucas and I decided to turn around for home.  It's a long story as to why we left, but I definitely want to say-- home is where the heart is.  Since we've been back we've both seen our families more than we have in years and the living couldn't be better :)  I guess you have to leave something to realize what you actually left!

^Sunrise driving into AZ...after 12 hours of packing and 15 hours of driving Lucas and I were happy to be home :)

 Also, I'm working at a new job!!  I'm working with Ver Duco, LLC to launch a new product...stay tuned for more info...but in the mean time check out our logo, and maybe follow us on Twitter (@verducoproducts)...website and everything else should be up and running soon :)

I can't skip out on the music recommendations for this post :)

It's only fitting for moving home:
Welcome Home by Radical Face

An old favorite...and definitely a good way to pep up your morning...at say...5 am!
Jerk It Out by Caesars

That's all for now...happy exploring [in the dark]!

@nicoletruxes

Chapter One--Done!

 Last weekend Lucas and I traveled down the coast to lovely and eclectic Venice Beach for my last race of the 2012 season, the Herbalife LA Triathlon.  The race was a point to point triathlon meaning you start in one place for the swim and then the bike [usually] takes you to an entirely different place to do your run and finish.  Point to point triathlons mean two transition areas and usually some kind of bag claim system for you to retrieve your stuff after the race.  This race started near the pier at Venice Beach, the bike took you down Venice Blvd towards downtown LA and the finish line was right next to the Staples Center at LA Live.

^I never knew so many physicians practiced on the boardwalk ;) I was so pleased to see the community around Venice Beach is as unique as I've always heard it to be

Normally I have very little to no anxiety about the swim portion of a race.  Having been a competitive swimmer for twelve years preceding my triathlon career, the swim has never gotten me too shaken up.  However, in all of my years swimming I was sheltered in my local, chlorinated, crystal clear pool!  I've definitely race in lakes many times, but I had never once done an ocean swim before this weekend.  In fact, this weekend was the third time I'd ever been in the ocean in my entire LIFE!  I am a pretty big fan of shark week and I always manage to watch it right around a time where I'm going to be in the ocean...needless to say I was terrified for the swim.  The day before the race Lucas and I started the day out at Venice beach so I could play in the waves and hopefully get at least somewhat comfortable before the race start tomorrow.  The beach was packed with surfers and everyday beach-goers so you would think it'd be a relatively comfortable situation to get acquainted with the water.  The first wall of surf that I tried to swim through was so much stronger than I could have anticipated and threw me around a bit.  Within five minutes and three waves I was back on the shore completely out of breath telling Lucas this was going to be a long swim in the morning!  He said to relax and told me to dive down below the waves when they came instead of trying to fight them.  I went back out and gave it a shot and came back out with a better feeling about the next day's race.

--> ^me trying to stall/looking for reassurance before I braved the ocean !
Race morning had arrived I was waiting up in the holding pen watching the pros start. The men had some pretty rough surf on their start and this made me incredibly nervous to watch!  The women were next for the start and the waves died a little for them.  My wave was set to leave five minutes after the start of the pro women's so I was hoping the waves would stay calm.  I don't think I took my eyes off the ocean from the time the women started until it was my turn.  It seemed like the waves got bigger with every crash.  The announcer gave a ten second warning and it felt like it was ten minutes!  When we finally got the signal to start I let all my fears go and ran down to the water.  The first wave was coming and I was so afraid I was going to hit it wrong and get thrown towards the shore.  I dove underneath and barely felt the power of the wave at all, it was a good start!  As the swim went on I felt like I got more in sync with the flow of the waves and could swim just as in any other open water swim.  Although most of the swim was smooth sailing, fear returned when I was swimming back in towards shore.  It didn't occur to me that the waves might be too high to sight anything over them.  I was picking times to sight when I could actually see anything but waves.  This happened three sightings in a row and I was starting to get scared that I was completely off course because I didn't see anyone else or any sign of buoys.  --> So I swam a few strokes with my head out of the water to figure out when a good time to sight would be.  I finally saw the shore and was relieved that I had not gone much out of the way and I was actually very close to the swim exit.   I did a few dolphin dives before I got up to run out of the water and was on my way to T1...safe, no sharks this time!

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^Beautiful Venice Beach...about 20 hours before race start!

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The bike was a deceiving course.  Most everything appeared flat, but there was actual a very gradual grade going up on the way out and on the second loop into T2.  At my last race I went much harder on the bike than I am used to.  This strategy turned out to be tough on my run and I wanted to fix that this time around.  I established a comfortable pace for the first loop on the course, checking to see that I wasn't slowing down too much about every five miles.  When it came time for the second loop I rode a little harder on the way out (it helped that it was a slight downward grade at this point!) and then started setting my mind up to run.  

Coming up on T2 I had to be prepared for anything.  Since this was a point-to-point race there was no entry into T2 the morning of the race; instead you had to drop a bag off the day before and they would set it up for you.  I was expecting to have to go on a mini hunt for my running shoes but was presently surprised at the dismount line.  There were volunteers directing us to where we were to rack our bikes and pick up our T2 bag; very quick and painless!

I was off on the last leg of the last race this season.  I felt like I nailed my bike pace, instead of feeling totally toasted the first mile of the run I felt like I was revving up to have a great run.  One of my major goals for this race was to break the elusive 40 minute barrier that I've been hovering towards this summer.  With my split in Chicago being so far off I was very nervous I couldn't make it happen coming into this weekend.  The run course was set up perfectly for me to have a good time.  There was a pretty steep hill right after mile one that you found yourself running for a second time near mile four. What goes up must come down so the course also took us down this cruel hill.  The first lap went by so fast; I think the main reason was that I was a little starstruck!  The pros were finishing their final lap and I got to see them fly past me; total eye-opener on exactly how much work I need to do on my run!! When I turned around the cones for the second lap I glanced down to see if I was on pace to break 40, and I was!  It was time to really get my head in the game and gut out the final three miles to achieve my goal!  I felt smooth and strong even in the last mile, and I managed to squeeze in at 39:50!! It was a big breakthrough for me to not only go under the 40-minute mark, but to also feel that fluid on a run course.

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 ^Lucas and I have never been so happy to get back to the bay...Carmageddon 2 was enough traffic to last us a lifetime!

The take away:

This season I've learned SO many things. It was the first of many to come and the most important thing I've realized is that I'm only at the tip of the iceberg; there is so much to learn and so much space for growth in this sport.  Heading into the off-season (pre-season ;) ) I have my head high in the clouds, the earth at my feet and my heart beating roughly 164 bpm (or somewhere most likely in low Zone 3). 

Music, as always, enjoy :)

My favorite long run "groove" song...there is just no way to be sad when you're enjoying a long (preferably trail) run and jamming out to this song:

Bombay by El Guincho 

 

-->**Warning: if you find nudity offensive, you will certainly find this video offensive

I love this music video and Childish Gambino!

Heartbeat by Childish Gambino