New Bike And Great Training Weekend

So, finally got the new triathlon bike. Words can't describe how awesome this thing is. The bike shop did a professional fit, so it is so comfortable, much more comfortable than my road bike. Now that I have this bike, I doubt I will ever ride my road bike again. I felt so cramped on my road bike, and my back was hurting bad on that thing. This new bike also has a gel seat, so that makes the ride much nicer as was. I went on my first somewhat long ride with it this morning, but more on that later.

Friday I finally bit the bullet and signed up for the Jacksonville Bank Marathon. My first marathon! It will take place on December 19th. That will be a few weeks after my husband Joel gets home from Iraq, so I am super excited he will be here for my first marathon. He was home on 2 week break on May when I did my first 5k, so this is another milestone he will get to witness. I ordered him a cowbell to ring at the race. Loraine and the girls have one too so I will have a whole cowbell section.

Saturday was my long run day. I ran 16 miles. The past 2 Saturdays on my long run days, I had issues. I would start off way too fast and try to maintain the fast pace the whole time. So my runs were ending in death marches and after the runs I would just be exhausted. Yesterday I told myself that I have to start off slow and pace myself to be able to go 26.2 miles. All this self talk seemed to work, I kept a pace 1 minute slower than my usually pace and I was able to go the whole distance feeling fine. At the end my legs were tired, but I wasn't spent, and if I had to go further I could have. This is going to be my target marathon pace 10:00-10:30 minute miles.

This morning I went on my somewhat long bike ride with my new triathlon bike. I haven't ridden on the road since the triathlon I did on October 10th. I rode 32 miles and it felt great. The bike is so comfortable, and fast 2. I didn't pedal any faster than I normally do, and my average speed increased 2 mph, which doesn't seem like much, but in a triathlon it matters. As I ride more and increase leg strength I hope to go faster. I had also bought an aerodrink system at the bike shop, a water bottle that fits between the aerobars with a silicone straw. Its just awesome, I love having a big water bottle sitting right there. I love this bike, I periodically go in the garage just to stare at it, I can't believe its mine. Here is a pic of my new beauty.

Training and School Grind

Well, I have a good excuse on why I haven't been updating on here very often, I just started going to school full time again. I was having a lot of trouble trying to decided what I would like to do with the rest of my life. So I would go to school for a few months, then stop going, then start again, then stop going, its been a vicious cycle since I got out of the Army. I didn't want to get out of the Army, I was fully prepared to put in 20+ years in the Army and enjoy a retirement pension. When I wasn't allowed to reenlist because of my weight I went into the old "what do I want to do with the rest of my life" panic. So now once again I am using my GI Bill to pursue an education. I chose Business Administration as my major this time, lets see if I stick with it. One the other hand, I have found it easier to stick with stuff since I lost weight, so I might finally find educational success.

I am planning on registering for the Jacksonville Bank Marathon scheduled for December 19th. Payday is on Friday so that's when I plan on registering for it. I was all set mentally for this race, I am putting in all the training miles, but of course just yesterday an article came out saying marathon running can damage the heart. So me being me, and reading too much in EVERYTHING like I do, this scares me. The article warns that it can cause heart damage if the runner is not properly trained, but doesn't divulge into what it means to be "properly trained". So this makes me wonder if I am going to be one of those runners at the marathon who are "properly trained" or will I be one of the runner who is "improperly trained" and will be risking heart damage by running this thing. Fortunately, whatever happens, the heart repairs itself between 2 weeks and 3 months. Earlier this month I ran a half marathon in 2:05:13, I felt good running it, I was tired but not absolutely exhausted, and I feel the pace I kept during the race to be right at my ability level. On Sunday I did a 14 mile training run and it felt pretty good, this weekend I will be doing a 16 mile run. The plan I created for myself, I will do a 20 mile training run 3 weeks before the marathon, then the next week the taper starts.

During all this training for the marathon I have also given myself another challenge, in the month of November I will do 2 half marathons in 2 week. I am running the Bluffton half marathon on November 13th, and then doing the Jacksonville Outback Distance Classic Half Marathon on November 25th, Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is such a boring holiday the half marathon will give us something to do. Speaking of which Loraine bought herself and the girls cowbells to cheer me on at the finish line at my races. That will be so cool.

I pick up my new triathlon bike in Friday, so just have to get through tomorrow. I am so excited about this, I never imagined I could get so excited about a bicycle. Because of other expenses next month, I will have to wait until December to register for the Orlando Ironman 70.3. It shouldn't sell out by then. I am so excited about this race. I am also planning on doing the Macon half ironman distance triathlon in October of next year. It's an independent event, meaning it is not ran by the ironman corporation, so it will be cool to see the difference in how the ironman company and a non ironman company run things.

Well, back to my mountain of homework, can't wait to tell you all about my new bike!

The Off Season-Sort Of

Well, as you see from my race report last week, triathlon season is over. I'm proud of what I have accomplished, but I'm a little bummed that triathlons are over for the year. I have a few running races planned for winter, to include 3 half marathons and a full marathon, but triathlon is my true passion. I have already started training for next year's triathlons, I am really excited about all the big races next year. Joining the YMCA and using their pool has made a difference in my swim training in only a few short weeks.

After the 2 triathlons I did this year, I know now that I want a triathlon bike. So on Tuesday, I went to one of the bike shops in Savannah and put a down payment on one. The bike shop took an hour and a half to fit me to the bike. Its such a dramatic difference in fit compared to my road bike. I don't feel so cramped on it, and my aero position on the triathlon bike is much more comfortable. The shop let me test ride it up and down the street, that thing is FAST. I will pay the rest off on the 29th, then take it home. I can't wait, I never thought I could be this excited about a bicycle. This make me even more excited for triathlon season next year.

Got the good news that my husband Joel will be home sometime the first week of December. I am counting down the days. I am doing 2 half marathons next month, so hopefully that will make the month of November go by a little bit faster. He has to go to Virginia for 8 weeks in February through April for a school, I'm pretty bummed about this, since it will be so soon after he gets home, but we plan on visiting him for a few of the weekends. Shortly after he finishes this school, we will be heading down to Orlando for my first half ironman on May 15th. So while he's gone, again, I will keep training hard, in order to make the time go faster, and to be ready for my first half ironman.

I think my girls know something is up, they have really been acting up lately, more than usual, to the point I want to rip my hair out. They are both daddy's girls, so the second they see him they will be little angels again, and Joel won't even know this mayhem.

Race Report-Tri Red Triathlon

This was another sprint triathlon, my second one. It was a 400 yard swim in the Atlantic Ocean, a 14 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run. I placed first in my division(Athena), which was really exciting, anyway, on with the report.

My parent had driven down from Maryland on Friday, so that way my mom could watch the girls during the race, and so my dad could go watch the race and cheer me on. Woke up on race morning at 2:30am, drank a click shake and got ready. Loaded up the car with my bag and bike and me, my best friend Loraine, and my dad were on the road by 3:30 am. Transition opened up at 5 am and it was an hour and a half drive so it was a good time to leave. Made it to the race site, got body marked, and set up my transition.

After setting up transition I hung out with Loraine and my dad. Finally it was time to don my wetsuit and head down to the beach. I put on a thick layer of body glide all over before putting on my wetsuit. This was my first time swimming in a wetsuit, I didn't even get to practice swimming in it. I was in the third swim wave, we waded in and waiting for the horn. The air horn went off and arms were flailing everywhere, I was pleased to see I could swim just fine in the wetsuit, and it helped with flotation. The swim was out to the first buoy, turn left and swim past 3 buoys, and finally swim back to the shore. It was a tough swim with the current and the waves, I was happy to feel the bottom again and run up the beach to transition.It was a long run from the beach to transition, but gave me plenty of time to get the top half of my wetsuit off.

Wetsuit came off easily, put on my helmet and shoes, chugged some G2, grabbed my bike and headed out to the bike out. Got on my bike at the mount line, clipped in, and took off. This was a fast, flat course, I really pushed it here. This was my last tri of the year so I wanted to make it count. My usual pace on my training rides is between 16-17 mph, during this race I maintained 19.2 MPH the whole time. There was a turn-a-round at mile 7, I had to push hard to get back up to speed. Right when I was really starting to feel tired the dismount line came up, I unclipped, got off my bike, and ran into transition.

Racked my bike, took my helmet off, put my running hat on, took off the bike shoes, put on running shoes, I skipped socks this time to save a few seconds, put on my race belt, and headed to the run out. It was an out and back run course. I kept a comfortable pace, the ocean was on the right on the way out to the halfway mark. I kept looking at the ocean, I had not been to the beach in a long time. When I was morbidly obese I locked myself in my home out of shame, and didn't get out and about to see such beauty. It made the run nice. When I hit the halfway point I got excited because I was almost done, I picked up the pace all the way to the finish. I saw my dad right before I crossed it, he had a big smile on his face. My dad and Loraine found me after my timing chip was removed, and they both congratulated me and gave me a big hug.

We hung around after the race, I wanted to see my time on the bulletin board before we left. In the meantime I picked up my bike and gear from transition and loaded it in the car. They finally posted the results and to my complete shock I had placed first in Athena, the girl in second in Athena came in 5 minutes behind me. Because of this we stayed for the awards ceremony. Got my hardware and more hugs from my dad and Loraine.

This was a really fun race, it was so awesome having my dad and Loraine there, and my mom for watching the girls so we could all go and not have to drag cranky toddlers with us. I will defiantly do this event next year, it was fun yet challenging. Here are my times:

Swim(400 yards) 8:24
T1 3:04
Bike(14 miles) 43:49
T2 1:42
Run (3.1 miles) 25:50
Total 1:22:37
Athena 1/13

How Quickly We Forget

Wanted to get this thought on here before I move on to something else and completely forget. As I was relaxing in my bathtub this evening, I was musing on my swimming and biking, and how I was a little disappointed, maybe a little downright bummed, that even though my run leg is good, my swimming and cycling are lagging, and with the last triathlon of the year on Sunday, I wish I could do the 2 faster.

As I was thinking about a winter training plan to improve my swimming and cycling while still maintaining my strong run, it hit me. This time last year, I was a 286 pound woman, with a BMI of 49, sitting on my couch waiting desperately for my life to start. Tired and miserable all the time, the thought of even doing a 1 mile fun run was something that was not even in my reach this day last year, let alone the 13.1 race I ran on Saturday.

As I had this epiphany, I realized I need to stop being so hard on myself. My swim and bike will improve over time, I am after all, still a newby to triathlon. I train hard, and I have confidence I will continue to make big strides just like I have these past few months. My years spent as a morbidly obese woman have made me who I am today, and has made me a better person. The 286 pound woman is always with me, even though sometimes I would like to forget her.

Another Wednesday

I don't really have anything specific to talk about today,so I'll touch on a few things. My husband will be home for good in 2 months, so we are at the point in the deployment where time is standing still, so close yet so far away.

As you see, I finished the Jacksonville Marine Corps half marathon in 2:05:13. I was happy with my time, and most of all for running the entire thing without stopping, not even for a bathroom break. I haven't been as sore as I imagined I would, I'm not sure if its because my body is used to high mileage, or the snazzy new calf compression sleeves I bought that I have been wearing after runs and bike rides. I took Sunday off, on Monday I did my weekly weight lifting and swam some laps, Tuesday did a 17 mile bike, and this morning did an 11 mile run. I am doing the last sprint triathlon of the season on Sunday, so I have been wanting to get these solid workouts in since I take 2 rest days before a triathlon.

Speaking of swimming, my problem has been solved. I joined the local YMCA, and their pool is just awesome. I went lap swimming after lifting on Monday and it was great, my best swim training day to date. Its such a big difference swim training there as opposed to any of the pools on post. What also probably helped was that I invested in a high quality swim suit (swim team style). So now I don't feel like the ultra dork at the pool swimming in a tri suit, and I'm not ruining my tri suit in the pool anymore.

Like I mention, my last triathlon of the year is on Sunday, I'm a little bummed, I love doing triathlons and the season is over already. I have big triathlon plans for next year, I just have to train hard through the winter. In this region we still have road races through the winter so I will continue doing those to satisfy my love for racing.

I'm starting to get a little bummed that most of my race support is from people online. I am grateful that I have my best friend Loraine at all my races, and my friend Sadie has been to a few races, and Joel would be at every single one if he wasn't deployed, but it would be nice if a few friends/acquaintances came to a race or two. I would do the races regardless because its what I love to do, but a few extra cheers at the finish line would be awesome. Loraine has been great though, she always cheers loud for me and is looking to buy a cowbell for the finish line.

Race Report-Marine Corps Half Marathon

This was my first half marathon from this morning. I woke up at 2:30 am since we had a 2 hour drive to Jacksonville Florida ahead of us.I drank a click shake and got ready. Me and my best friend Loraine loaded up my 2 little girls and my 2 little weenie dogs in the truck. We were on the road by 3:30 am, I drove, I ate a snickers marathon bar on the way and drank a bottle of G2.

Made it to the race site around 6 am, I picked up my race packet, and went back to the truck where my girls were still passed out in their car seats. I attached my race number to my race belt and put the timing chip on my shoe, it was a souvenir chip so I got to keep it. I chatted with Loraine and did some last minute stretching. Soon it was time to line up at the start line. I told Loraine I'll be done in about 2 hours 20 minutes, and she said she would head over there with the girls and dogs in about an hour and 45 minutes.I walked over to the starting line, and picked a spot in the middle and waited. Finally the gun went off and the crowd started moving, when I crossed the timing mat I started my garmin.

I wanted to take it easy for the first mile with the big crowd, so I aimed for a 10 minute pace, my first mile split was 10:09, right on target. After a mile the crowd spread out a little and I was able to pick up the pace.2nd mile was 9:30, 3rd mile was 9:48, 4th mile was 9:23, 5th mile was 9:41, 6th mile was 9:41, it was at this point I took a salt tab, I also had to pee really bad, but every time I saw a porta potty there was a long line of runners, so I decided to just suck it up and keep going since I had a target time in mind. My 7th mile split was 9:49, at mile 8 I ate half a pack of sport beans, my 8th mile split was 9:51, ate the other half of the sport bean, my 9th mile split was 9:44, and at this point it hit me I was almost done, and I felt good, so I bumped it up a little, 10th mile 9:27, at the 11th mile marker there was a very steep uphill, suddenly I got hit with a surge of energy and sprinted up this hill, getting a lot of strange looks from people I was passing, but I didn't care, I was only 2 miles away from finishing my first half marathon. 11th mile was 9:30, 12th mile was 9:16, this was it, only 1 mile to go, I used my excitement to bump it up,13th mile was 8:16. I headed into the finishers chute and crossed the finish line. A marine put the finisher's medal around my neck and another marine gave me a souvenir pint glass.

I caught up with Loraine and my girls, Loraine gave me a hug and told me good job. I reached into her backpack and pull out the 2 kids medals I had bought at party city for the girls earlier that week. I told them thank you for being good girls for Loraine and put the medals around their necks. I saw a big line at the beer kegs for the runners, they were filling up their souvenir pint glasses. I must admit a beer did sound yummy right about now, but I have to wait until I am a year post op, which is next month.

This was a really fun race, I loved the distance, and look forward to doing more half marathons and eventually full marathons. I am proud of myself for running the whole thing, and not wetting myself when I had to go pee so bad. Here are my results.


Bib# overall class chip gun pace

 417 251 49 Jillian O'Malley,27,Hinesville, GA 2:05:13 2:06:16 9:33