Welcome to 2019!!

New Adventures for a New Year

So as the new year begins, I've committed myself to getting more organized. Note: I did not say resolve, as I don't do New Year's Resolutions. In my process of getting organized, I managed to get my bike back on the trainer...always a temporary status, as I ride outdoors most weekends. The struggle was finding a place to set it up in my house, as I usually would set it up outside on our back patio (now occupied by a cute family of feral cats) or in the garage (currently trying to get that organized, so that was also a no go). I figured out the perfect spot in the kitchen, had counter with outlet--away from sink and stove-- to get setup. Since I now had access to a power source (electrical outlet, no power meter yet), I decided to try out Zwift, a virtual cycling program. 

My first attempts at Zwift

My Zwift/Trainer setup

Give it a Tri

Dr. Sean teaches us how to stretch and strengthen our cores.

I also help out with a triathlon training program at my local triathlon shop, Tri-Zone. We just started week 1 of our 7 week training program for Race on the Base, a local sprint triathlon. Follow this link for my blog post from the Race on the Base. Week 1 had the latest turnout of any I've seen so far for this program. The program consists of clinics with a guest speaker, then  a workout, usually a bike then run, though there are several weeks which include swim instruction in the pool after the clinic. It's a great way for people who are new to the sport to learn about it, as well as develop friendships/new training buddies. 

Well it's been a while...welcome to 2018

Crossing the finish line for my 40th.

Recap- Getting up to speed

Well, here it is almost 75% through 2018 before I get a post in after not posting for a while. So here's a quick recap- May 22, 2016- fell when riding with a group, fractured my elbow, had continuing issues for almost two years, still raced, including Tempe 70.3 and several other sprint races. At the beginning of this year I was starting to feel better about the elbow related issues, and in February spent my 40th birthday at Disney World. Yes, I went across the country just to run on my 40th birthday. I am not the princess type, but I ended up doing the Fairy Tale Challenge (10k Saturday & half marathon Sunday- total race milage 19.3), this was suppose to lead me to getting a coast-to coast medal after doing Star Wars Light Side race in January, but Disney in their Marvel-ous Infinity Construction Wars decided to cancel all of their races in California for the time being, so no bonus bling for me 😩.

A Big Headache

Helmet post-crash

So all is going along swimmingly, until April 22, 2018. Some of my friends, most of them named Jeff,  decided to go for a long bike ride. I thought it would be fun and I decided to join them. Well about 47 miles into the year 53ish mile ride, I crashed. I have no memory of the crash itself, and it happened after the last of the guys had passed me (last thing I remember). I ended up taking my very first ambulance ride to the hospital, where I spent a few hours in the ER, about 24 in the ICU, and another about 24 in a regular hospital room. Needless to say, that meant some time off for me. Fortunately the bike came out of the accident pretty much unscathed, just needed to replace the damaged bar tape, went with a pretty blue since I couldn't get the blue helmet replaced.

Back to Racing

Do you think there is enough blue?

Chula Vista Challenge - August  

My first race back was a race that Tri-Zone was doing as a part of their Give it A Tri program. I was feeling okay with swimming and biking, but still not quite there with running. The bouncing on the run still makes my head hurt. I signed up last minute to do the AquaBike (swim and bike, no run) to test my fitness.

Yes that's 2 medals, 1-finisher, 1-3rd place 40+Aquabikr

Friends make racing fun!!

Well I ended up doing pretty well. I enjoyed the fact that the water was warm and it was a non-wetsuit race. I brought my swim skin just in case, but the zipper broke as I was having it zipped up before the race, so raced without it. I didn't really like the drag caused by the tri top, usually if I don't have a swim skin, I just race in my bikini-type tri bra then put on the tri top in transition. Being a former swimmer I really don't like excess drag in the water. 

The bike was good, mostly flat except this stupid j-shaped section where you have to go up then down the same hill twice with a very narrow u- turn at the bottom and the second time up the top.

It was a fun race with a lot of familiar faces, as there was a large group from Tri-Zone as well as some friends from a local tri team.

Trick or Tri- October

Coming out of the water

This was my first complete triathlon since my accident. They offered a camping option the night before, and I took it, as I don't like having to wait to get in the park in the morning, especially if I need to use the bathroom. 

This time I wore my DeSoto Slowtwitch sleeved tri top and bottom for the race, first time racing in this kit. I really love the sleeves and the fact that the top is a SkinCooler so I didn't overheat on the run. The top did, however, provide a bit more drag than I was anticipating, so I would not wear that again in a non-wetsuit race. The bike is always fun at this race, and I always get great pictures. The run is still a work in progress. I really need to work with a run coach or do a run focus this offseason. 

Always great bike pictures at this race.

Ahh! The finish, first tri of 2018!!

Briana won her age group

Tinsel Triathlon- December

I always like to finish out the year with a fun Christmas themed race. So this year my teammates from Beach City Divas Tri Team decided to go out to Hemet and race in the Tinsel Triathlon. This is a very fun reverse triathlon. I wore my DeSoto Slowtwitch kit again for this race, taking off the top in T2 before hitting the pool for the swim. I ended up pretty close to my time from last year, so I was very happy with that since my fitness is still far from where it was last year.

 Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures, the picture posted is of Briana, my friend's daughter who ended up winning her age group for the second year in a row, and improved her time as well.