A Full Plate

No, I don't mean a full plate as in a food plate, I mean a full plate as in a life plate. Although I don't have a job, I go to school full time. The semester just started last week, and these classes are going to be a lot of hard work. I am a bit overwhelmed at the amount of work I have already had to do for these classes, but in a few more weeks I will be in a rhythm and it will be manageable. I am really getting tired of school, I am really looking forward to graduation. Although I am only 28 (will be 29 in March) I feel like I am too old for this. At the same time, the girls are 2 and 5, two challenging ages, some days I just want to rip my hair out.

I was so excited about becoming a coach and volunteer for Girls on the Run, but unfortunately, the days and hours will not work for me. Its Tuesday and Thursday late afternoon, with the girls I would have to pay for childcare so I could do a volunteer position. I already have to pay $10 a day for 2 hours of  childcare 4 days a week for my 2 year old while I am sitting in class. Plus the logistical problem of someone being able to pick up my 5 year old from school in the afternoon. Girls on the run is all over the country, so I really feel this is something I will be able to do once Joel is out of the Army and we move back to the Midwest and the girls are a little older.

I am on the blog team for the Team RWB Triathlon Blog, I am one of the blog writers. Honestly, I am having such a hard time coming up with topics for the blog. My blog is easy, its just about me and the happening of my life, boring at times, but my life is pretty boring to normal people's standards so it is ok. I am also fairly new to Team RWB, so I am still learning the in and out of the team and about being a teammate. Team RWB does so much I am trying to learning about everything so I can write informative blog posts for the triathlon team. I am exciting about being given this position and want to do a good job.

I was all set to do the Florida 70.3 in May, I hadn't registered for it yet, but I had the hotel booked and the plans were started to fall into place. We found out Joel has to go to Louisiana in May to play war games for a month, so he won't be able to go. A half ironman is a race I won't do without a sherpa. Loraine offered to go, but then we would have to bring the girls and the dogs. She is my best friend and I wouldn't do that to her, that is just too much for a race lasting more than 5 hours. So I canceled the hotel and I am now looking for another early season half ironman. I am highly considering Set Up Event's TryCharleston half on April 21st. It is a small half iron race, usually around 300 people, I like a crowded course, so I will really have to think it through to make a decision on this race. I will need to make it fast, if I am doing it I need to start the long distance training.

Since Loraine is from Muncie, Indiana, I will be racing the Muncie 70.3 for the second year in a row. This will give me a chance to truly see how much progress I have made in 1 year's time. I am excited about it. The run is challenging, but at least this second time around I know what to expect and I will be ready for it. The Augusta 70.3 is going to be so much fun, that is the race I am looking forward to the most this year. I am doing it with some close WLS friends and for that fact alone I know it is going to be an epic race. The rest of my race schedule is coming together, by the beginning of March I will be registered for all the races I want to do and I will let you guys know, If you see any races I am doing that you are also doing let me know! I always love meeting new people.

We just filed our taxes are a getting a nice tax return, so exactly 2 weeks from today me and Joel will be getting out brand new bikes. I am so excited! It makes me feel like a kid again, being so excited about getting a brand new bike. I have decided on a Cervelo P2. Joel is getting a Felt AR5, he wanted a road bike since he is interested in doing century rides, and not so interested in racing triathlons.

Saturday I did the first race of the year, a small 5k in Brunswick. On Friday I had a cold, so I was wondering if I would even survive this race since I felt awful. I couldn't skip the race though, my 5 year-old was doing the half mile kids race as her first race ever and she was so excited about it I couldn't break her heart by not going. I had already registered for the 5k so even though I had a cold, I decided to do the race knowing I wouldn't PR and just run the best I could with a cold. Laci's race was first, so I ran it with her and she had a blast, she was smiling the whole time, and I was surprised that she pushed herself. At the finish line they had finisher's medals for the kids, it was so adorable. For my race, I started off good and for awhile didn't think I would have a problem. Then, right after mile 2 the chest congestion and faucet nose got to me and I couldn't maintain my pace. I finished the race around the 23 minute mark, not a PR but not too bad considering I had a cold. Joel has been at the finish line counting female finishers and let me know I was the third female finisher. At the awards the we only doing overall awards for first place male and female, so I placed first in my age group. The awards were these really cool medals, silver finish, with a shark on them. Here are a few pics from the race.

Dreaming of Tri Season and a Few Other Notables

Almost there, just have to hold on for a few more weeks. I'm actually doing 2 sprint races in March, Jacksonville on the 4th and Parris Island on the 17th. I don't think I will have my Team RWB tri kit by then so that is a bummer, but I should have it by the end of March. About 4 more weeks to go until I finally get my new bike. Right now I am leaning heavily towards a Cervelo P2, but, unlike the first time I bought a tri bike, I am going to get what fits me best as opposed to just what I can afford. Unfortunately, by the time we get the money to be able to buy me a new bike, the Cervelo $2000 off 2 bikes will be over, so we will have to pay full price. Hopefully I will be proficient on my new bike by the time the first sprint tri of the year comes around.

This year I am getting back to focusing on writing more blog entries here. I was making video blogs on YouTube for awhile last year, and I am just tired of talking to the computer screen. Add to that my video blog was mostly about life as a WLS patient, but nothing much changes day to day in WLS land. I have been in maintenance for a long time, and I really don't have much to say in term of WLS-ness. The more time that goes by, the more I feel like a "normal" person. I don't really have food issues, and my nutritional needs are different than those of an average WLSer because of all the training I do. I will still be posting videos, but it will be videos I have been wanting to make for a long time, videos on the technical aspects of triathlon such as bike set-up, transitions, nutrition, etc. I will still be watching video to those I am subscribed to and lend support whenever I can.

I am currently in winter "down time". Its where I only train 6-7 hour a week. It drives me crazy because I feel that I am not doing enough, but I know my body needs the break from ironman training along with marathon training as soon as I recovered from ironman. I have been doing shorter, more intense workouts. They are tougher, but the time spent training is much shorter to come out to 6-7 hours a week between all 3 sports. In the middle of next month I will start the build up for the Florida 70.3 on May 20th. The course was moved off Disney this year so it will be a brand new course.

My race schedule is coming together, I will be registering for a bunch of races when we get our state taxes back. Will be doing 2 half ironmans, hopefully 2 Olympics, and a bunch of sprints. I am already registered for an all women super sprint as well. My first 3 races are pool swims, but a tri is a tri and no matter where the swim is I will still love it. I am a lousy swimmer regardless of where the swim is anyway. 

My Feature on the Team Red White and Blue Blog

Recently I was asked to be interviewed for the main Team Red White and Blue blog. I can't describe how truly flattered I am that I was chosen for this honor. I hope my story inspires someone to change their life for the better. Here is the feature on the Team Red White and Blue blog

Gear Review-Saucony Kinvara 2

I have been running in these shoes for a month now, I can now fully give a review, you can't really review something like a shoe off of a few day's use, so I gave it a full month before doing this write-up. I was searching for a new shoe, I had been running exclusively in Zoots for a year. My Zoot trainers were over 100 mile over their max mileage and was down to the foam in the forefoot area, and because of it were giving me hot spots on my feet in the forefoot area. I switched to Zoots over traditional padded running shoes because they promoted a midfoot/forefoot strike, and I wanted to see if that would ease the pain of my ITBS, which it did, and I haven't had ITBS issues since switching.

In October Joel switched to the new Brooks Pure Project shoes, specifically the Pure Flows, and has had huge success with them. I wanted to try something similar, Zoots still have quite a bit of cushioning along with a 10mm heel drop. I was looking for a shoes with a 4mm or less heel drop, and minimum padding in the forefoot, in order to continue running with a midfoot/forefoot strike.

Running warehouse make selecting the exact shoe you want so simple and easy. I did an advance search for my shoe size(size 11, I have huge feet), 4mm or less heel strike, and minimal cushion. A few shoes came up in my search. Brooks Pure Project Pure Connect and Pure Flow, but I didn't want to get the same shoe as Joel, not that I don't like them, they are really cool looking shoes and Joel loves them, I just wanted to get something similar but different so we can have our nerdy conversations about running shoes. The other shoes that came up in my search were Nike Frees, Merrell Trail Gloves, Newtons, and Saucony Kinvara 2s. I wasn't feeling the Nikes, so moving on. The Merrell Trail Gloves were cool looking, and I have heard great things about them, but I'm not ready for that type of minimalist footwear just yet, I need to ease into only having an inch of rubber between my foot and the asphalt. Newtons, I have been wanting to try Newtons for a long time. These shoes get a lot of hype in the tri community and I must admit I am intrigued. During this online shopping session I must admit I almost pulled the trigger on the Newtons, but after wearing 10mm heel drop Zoots for over a year, I still felt like I needed a transition shoe before taking the plunge to the 2mm or zero drop Newtons, especially considering I would be running my marathon in these new shoes since my Zoot trainers were so worn out, and the people at Newton high recommend easing into Newtons slowly over time. So moving on, but Newtons are on my short list for my next pair of shoes for next time.

Finally I looked at the Saucony Kinvava 2s and they fit the bill. The only thing I found odd about them for being a minimalist shoe was the traditional looking curled toe in the front. Other than that, the stats were practically the same as Brooks Pure Connect. I quickly Googled reviews on this shoe and found nothing but positive reviews. My first color choice is always hot pink if they have them. These shoes come in hot pink but of course they didn't have any in my size. A close second choice for me is always neon or lime green. I really lucked out here, when I selected this neon green color, the price dropped to $70. Sweet! This kind of stuff never happens to me.

Putting them on right out of the box I realized something. I always thought my Zoots were minimalist, and I was wrong. I put these on and stood up and right away I felt a connect to the ground, and I felt somewhat like I was leaning backwards because of the 4mm heel drop. I wore them around for a few hour, went to town and ran errands in them, and they felt good, but we all know walking around in a shoe is nothing like running in them, so this really has no basis. But they are comfy, and I like they way they look, so far so good.

Unfortunately, my first run in them was on a treadmill, and we all know you can't truly know how a shoe is going to perform on the road based on how it is on a treadmill, there is just no comparison. This is why I don't bother with running stores that let you "test" running shoes on a treadmill. They felt good on the treadmill, but a treadmill is cushioned, so practically any shoe feels good on a treadmill. The next day I tried a 7 mile run on the road. Immediately I knew I loved these shoes. They are responsive and have a great step-off into the next stride. They seemed suited perfectly for my style of running. I have a "quick step" style of running. With my short legs, big feet, and midfoot/forefoot footstrike, for every stride a long-legged heel strike makes, I make about 2-3, the give you a rough visual.

The cushioning on them in minimal, but with my footstrike, its just enough. The entire 7 mile run I didn't experience any kind of pain or tenderness. My usually 7 mile training time improved on this run, probably because I wasn't getting hot spots anymore, the hot spots were getting really bad in my Zoots, and these shoes are really cool looking. I can admit that when I have cool new gear I feel cool and it makes my running better. Sort of a placebo effect for running.

The only con to these shoes is the back where the Achilles tendon sits. I wore my usual no show socks, and after my 7 mile run it was rubbed raw and bleeding. I hate getting blood on brand new shoes. I have to wear slightly higher no show socks with these shoes. No big deal, but every review needs a con since not product is perfect, and this is the only one I could find. 

2 weeks until my second marathon and I was going into it with brand new shoes. I got in a great 10-miler the weekend before the marathon. All my training runs in these shoes had gone great and my feet were loving them. Then the true test came, race day, my first really long distance run in these shoes.

These shoes were awesome for the marathon. I felt connected to the ground and I actually appreciated the flipped up toe box, it gave me a nice spring step into my next stride.  26.2 miles and no hot spots. The shoes were instrumental in helping me achieve a marathon goal time I though I was years away from, sub 4 hours (I ran a 3:56).

I have been doing all my runs and these and I just love them. I have owned them for a month and they have made me a fan. The have a vinyl outer so if anything like mud or sports drink gets on them it is easily wiped off with a damp cloth. They also expand nicely. I was a little worried, out of the box they are fairly narrow and I have wide feet, but on my runs as my feet swell they expand easily.  They are great for training and racing. I can use them for my distance runs as well as my sprint/speed workouts. I only wish they had a sockliner so I can use them in my sprint and Olympic triathlons. 

Would I recommend these shoes? Well, that really depends on the person. Many people swear by their heavy padded stability shoes, and I am not going to tell them they are wrong. When I got diagnosed with ITBS, I wanted recovery, and that meant dropping the heel strike. Had I not got ITBS, I might still be wearing those types of shoes. I did notice that when I switched to my "quick steps" style of running my speed increased, so even if you don't have an injury it might be something you want to try one day. I would recommend these shoes to anyone who is already a midfoot/forefoot striker or someone who wants to become one. If you are perfectly content and happy heel striking I would not recommend them.

New Year New Look

So I tried the dynamic view for a few months, and just didn't like it. I have switched back to a more traditional looking blog, as you can see here. I spent all morning fixing it, and I like it so far. So lets bring on 2012 and all that it has to offer! First race of the year for me is a 5k on the 21st