Tres Chicas Rule!

Today was my first every triathlon relay! The event was an Olympic distance triathlon at Big Fish Triathlon in Ortonville, MI.

Here are the highlights:

1. My team: The illustrious Patricia Nemeth, swimmer extrodinaire, the incredible Jo Laansma, awesome and dedicated runner and little ole me, the biker.
2. Beautiful morning. Started out about 60 degrees.
3. All 3 of us were under our personal goals. (Swim 42:49, T1 1:30, Bike 1:26:09, T2 :29, Run 57:33)
4. My sister Teresa and her husband Bob came!
5. Tim - what more can I say? :D
6. We weren't last.
7. A really fun day. Before we said it felt a little like cheating because we weren't doing the whole thing, but after, since it was the longer distances (1500 meter swim, 25 Mile Bike, 10 k run), we all said it didn't feel that way after.
8. Awesome pictures can be found here.

It was just so fun to experience this with my good friend Jo and my bestest cousin Patti. Tres Chicas, you rule!

Please Pay Attention

Ok, this is probably preaching to the Choir, but check this out and then read on:

Today Tim and I went for a bike ride. We biked up to Kensington Metro Park, which is about 7 miles from our house. From there we biked around the park and then back home, the plan was for a 23 mile ride.

Well on the way home, we were coming up on this intersection where we needed to turn right. As we were approaching the corner, this car coming in the other direction turned left super fast RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME into a gas station. Fortunately Tim was able to barely escape him, but I was not so lucky.

As he was turning in front of me, in that split second I looked for options, couldn't go right, couldn't go left, so I knew I had to hit him. So as I was breaking for my life, I turned my bike a little to the side to side swipe him as I thought that was my best option.

My shoulder bounced off his car and I almost whacked my head on his mirror, and then my body slammed to the road, my right elbow taking most of the impact. Of course I was ripped right off my bike.

I was able to get up and walk away from it, which was good, but it shook me up pretty good. So I went to this grassy part in front of the gas station and sat down.

The first thing he said after he said he didn't seem me (obviously) was that we should be on the sidewalk! Tim corrected him right away letting him know we have every right to be in the road. The guy was very concerned and bought me a water and some ice because I was getting quite the goose egg on my elbow, but the whole time insisted it wasn't his fault.

As I was walking it off, Tim went and got the information from the guy, and this woman came up to us and urged us to call the police, because even though she didn't see my accident, he had JUST cut her off down the road and was driving recklessly and was apparently in a big hurry. Just as she said that, the police showed up, someone else called them.

As everyone was giving their statements (including the woman mentioned above), the guy kept insisting it was my fault!
He kept saying *I* hit *HIM*
I said "Of course I did, you turned right in front of me!"
He said "You side swiped me!"
I said "I did that on purpose to avoid getting killed!
He said that he didn't see me and that he never sees cyclists on the road and I said "Well *that* is a problem, we're everywhere!"

We got into a little heated discussion because he was totally pissing me off (no I didn't swear!) and the officer finally said "Ok, Ok, let's calm down" and I walked away. I did apologize later to the officer and he said not to worry, that he understood why I was angry.

So after the guy was issued 2 tickets (One for failure to yield and one for no driver's license), he did say he hoped I was ok, but NEVER apologized.

At first I felt fine to ride home (we had about 5 miles left), but then, I was a little worried about putting pressure on my arm. It's a little on the sore side, and I think it is ok, but I am keeping an eye on it. If it really starts hurting, we'll get it looked at. But in the mean time, I'm just bumped, bruised and scratched. So since I couldn't ride, the police brought me home. He told me in the car that the accident report stated that the other guy was at fault, which I kinda knew, but is nice to hear.

So anyway, I think I'll live. My bike appears to be fine, but I am taking it up for a tune up just in case since I do have a race next weekend.

And just in case I can't ride with "Tres Chicas" next weekend, I have a substitute: "Dos Chicas y un Hombre"!

Humidity + Jeanne = Bad Day???

Maybe/Maybe not. You decide.

Today I ran in a 5k race in Brighton to get that official time that's been eluding me the last few weeks. Outside of Triathlons, my fastest 5k race was last October and it was 33:09.

Today, the race started at 8:30am. It was only 72 out, but my GOD it was about 100% humidity or at least it felt like it. I felt great going into the race, but after mile 2, I had to walk a little, because the humidity was sucking the life out of me.

When I finished the race, it took me about 10-15 minutes to recover, which is very unusual for me because I usually recover very fast after working out. But the humidity really zapped me. I felt worse after this race then I did after last week's triathlon!!!

The other thing about this race was it wasn't chipped timed, so there is always margin of error on these. I'd say at least 20 seconds off. (Because I start at the back, and everyone "starts at the same time" but I didn't really cross the start line for about 10-15 seconds, plus they are doing everything manually on the way in, so there is always room for error)

I did like the race though. It was on the cheaper side, as far as registering at the last minute for races go, and you got a cool Tshirt AND a pancake breakfast afterwards. It was all good.

Am I making you wait long enough for the results??

Despite the humidity and me having to walk probably 1/3 - 1/2 of a mile in that last mile, I still had a PR: 31:16. Had I not walked, I would have been under 30 I'm sure of it. That's a 10:04 pace. I know that I was wishing for at least a 9:59 pace, but I think I can live with this.

So though I wasn't too happy I had to walk, I was pretty darn happy with the result, and know that I'll be under that in the next race.

yay me!

2008 Tri Season begins

So today marked my 4th time I've completed a sprint triathlon, but the first time I have done the same one year over year, so I have a comparison now of my improving over last year.

My over all time I improved by almost 12 minutes over last year which I was pretty happy with. I was HOPING to get to the 1:20 mark, but I was a little over the mark at 1:23.

Where I was the happiest was in the run (5k) I improved a whopping 6 minutes over last year. I averaged a 10 1/2 minute mile, but after swimming and biking, I'm ok with that pace! Where I continue to struggle is in the swim. I was only 45 seconds faster than last year. I didn't do freestyle the whole way (Which I didn't have the stamina for last year, but did this year), a lot due to the fact that the coldness of the water just took my breath away and also there were 200 more people in the race than last year, and well for a small lake, that's a lot of bodies. My bike was about 5 minutes faster than last year. I averaged 18.1 for 10 miles. I'm MOSTLY happy with that, but I was hoping I was a little faster there.

Overall a great day!

A couple notes on the day:
1. Patty beat me by 45 seconds!!
2. Mindy finished her first ever triathlon! Congrats to her! I'm very proud of her.
3. Tim finished his first triathlon! I am also very proud of him. He *HATES* the run, it really hurts his body, and he struggled with it today for sure and had to walk much of the run.
4. I beat Tim (but don't tell him I told you). ;)
5. Next sprint tri is scheduled for July 20th
6. However, I am participating in a 3 person relay of an olympic size tri on June 22nd. I am the biker chick (25 miles) , Patty is the swimmer chick (1 mile), Jo is the runner chick (10k). Tres Chicas!

Thanks to my AWESOME nephew Matt who came to cheer us on and take these awesome photos!

I was lost, but now I'm found

This post is dedicated to my good friend Jo. Here's the story:

Jo and I met in college. We were computer science majors at University of Michigan - Flint, and had many good times and laughs in college. (I will not tell you what year it was! ;) ) Well, life happened and we drifted apart. Fast forward to 2004, when I get an email from Jo. She'd been looking for me for years and finally found me. Since then we've been back in touch constantly. The cool thing about our reunion has been that it never felt weird or awkward, it felt like we just were on pause for a few years and picked it right back up. Of course our lives were different and we'd both grown up, but our talking and laughter has not changed one bit.

One of the other really cool things about Jo is that she is a runner. I mean a REAL runner. This weekend, she completed her first Marathon. She's been running the Crim for years and now this. She's been struggling with injury also, but she pushed through and completed this monumental goal. A marathon is really nothing I have an interest in, I'm more of a short distance girl, but I have a lot of respect for the amount of training she has put into this.

Since I picked up my running shoes again in 2005, we have a new thing in common! She's been one of my main motivators in getting me back in running shape. I don't think I'll ever be the runner she is, but I do push my self more and more because of her coaching.

You might call her my Master Po, or better yet, my Master Jo.

Ok, so what I'm about to tell you next may have you thinking "Did you say all those nice things about her so she wouldn't kick your ass?" And the answer is no, her marathon just happen to coincide with this and I really wanted to post a tribute to her on here.

I've been telling her for like a month that I'm gonna run a 5 k. Which I really am. It's not like I don't have the ability. I need to get in an official time because she's been coaching me in getting faster. Anyway, this was another weekend I was supposed to run. Actually I should be there right now, but I decided not to go for several reasons. (My excuses are weather, allergy and bodily function related, that's all you need to know!) So, don't be mad at me Jo, because I WILL run in one soon, it'll just have to wait until after the triathlon next week.

On a good note, I biked 12 miles on Friday, 30 miles on Saturday and 45 on Sunday. I actually feel great physically, so that is NOT one of my many excuses!

So I salute you Master Jo! Congratulations on your great achievement. And about my 5K...

Don't hate the player, hate the game!!

Today's ride

This morning Tim and I went out for a ride near Ortonville State Recreation area. Why Ortonville you ask? Well, June 22nd, I'm doing an Olympic Distance Triathlon Relay with my cousin (swimmer) and my friend (runner) and I am doing the bike portion, which is a 26 mile course.

The course description says that the course will "kick your ass", but I didn't find it too bad except for two hills. One of course was at the 25 mile mark so it was tough, the other one was about 16 miles in. The rest of the hills were long and gradual, and a fair amount of false flats (it goes through a lot of farm lands and through the cute little town of Hadley).

But I averaged 16 miles an hour and it took me 1:40. I think I can do it between 1:20 & 1:30 (probably closer to the 1:30 mark), so I'll be training hard to bump up that time. We didn't really push it, so I was pretty happy with my time overall

Oh and it was a gorgeous day for a bike ride.

Running

Today I went for a run on a new route around my neighborhood.

Normally I run inside my neighborhood, but this one takes me out onto some of the surrounding and fairly busy roads, one being M-59. I am trying to increase my distance, so this is my first attempt at a 4 mile route, and I really don't like doing loops (because I have a hard time making myself do them), so I wanted something different.

I had a good run, 4.3 miles in 45 minutes, so I'm happy and I feel good.

Then I get a message from my cousin this morning on my voice mail: "Um yeah, it's 6:11 am and I'm on M-59 on my way to work, and I see this hot brunette running on M-59 between Prestwick Village and Livingston road with a reflector vest on. I mean she's totally hot, but kind of an idiot for running on M-59. Do you know her?"

Then I talked to her and explained that I was only on M-59 for 2 minutes and the shoulder is very wide there (a car width), so I am totally safe. She was impressed that I had the forethought to put the reflector vest on, running on busy roads, so I think she kinda approves now, not sure.

I just thought that a) her message was funny, b) It's so nice of her to be concerned about me and c) it was such a coincidence that she saw me when I was only on the road for 2 minutes and it was my first time!

Anyway, it was a good run. Next run: 5 miles.