WAC Triathlon Recap

On Sunday, June 24th, I headed down to Wilmington to run the Wilmington Athletic Club Triathlon. It was a short one: 300m swim, 11.5m bike, 5k run. I haven't been in the pool to train since I was pregnant (Weasel turns 2 next month to give you some perspective!) and it's been months since my bike tires have felt actual pavement. I have done a bit of riding on the trainer when Weasel naps, but otherwise, not much. Luckily I've been running for the last year and half or this would have kicked my bootie!

With my setup

Pat, Jill and Liam pre-race. They take turns racing while the other cheers and watches the kiddo. What a great team!

My friend, Jess, was kind enough to volunteer to ride down with me and, being a seasoned triathlete herself, provide me with some tips for the race. She also let me borrow her bib belt which came in handy.

My friends, Liz and Jess (on the right). I didn't get a picture of her on race morning, so I stole this old one from FB.

After I checked in and staged my gear, I headed over to the heated pool to do a warmup lap. Thank goodness I did, because that's when I found out my goggles didn't work! I ended up tying both rubber straps to secure them, but water was still leaking in. I discovered that Weasel had removed the rubber around the actual goggles, so after fixing that, I thought they were good to go. When I registered, they asked me for my 100m swim time. I had no idea, so I guessed a 1:55. That put me in line at number 95 and 26 minutes into the race I hopped into the pool to start my swim. It was 6 lanes down and back. On the first push off, I realized my goggles were definitely NOT fixed. Nevertheless, I continued to swim, passing two ladies and then enjoying some clear lanes. I finished the swim in 5:56 (6th for overall females) and quickly made my way to the transition area.

Me and my fellow SW, Darcie, who was doing her first tri! This is just after my warmup swim when I discovered my goggles SUCKED!

Waiting in line to start the swim. I think I had just witnessed one of several head-on collisions in the pool!

And I'm off...

Exiting the pool and heading towards the transition area

53 seconds later, I was headed out on to the bike course, a 2-loop course with tight, technical turns. The staggered start didn't allow for much interaction along the bike course and I found that I passed two people and was passed by two others. The 11.5 miles took me 38:24, way longer than it probably should have if I had invested more training time.

I ran my bike well passed the "mount" line because the course started with a little hill. I didn't know what gear my bike was in, and I didn't want to get stuck:)

Starting my second loop. I was so bored at this point and really wishing I had someone to ride with.

I had decided not to wear socks for the first time ever and popped on my running shoes right away. I now know why people invest in those quick laces as I felt like it took a lifetime (55 seconds) for me to tie my shoes. And if you're going to buy the quick ties, you might as well add in one of those straps that holds your racing chip, or your ankle may end up looking like this:

This is from my run on Monday, but you get the idea. I was wearing one of those plastic bands they give you and apparently I didn't have it high enough or tight enough.

The plastic band rubbed my ankle raw:(

But soon enough, I was out on the course and running down people one-by-one. I'm pleased to say that I passed about 10 people and was not passed by a single runner. I finished the 5k in 23:46. It was by no means my fastest run time, but I was happy with it. The temps were brutal, but they had two great water stations available that we passed twice since it was an out-and-back course.

Someone was happy to be off the bike!

I don't run like this...I was putting my bib on!

The final turn before the finish line.

My friend Jill's husband was running too and it was so nice to see him a couple times throughout the course. It was also a great pick-me-up to see friends cheering me on! A fellow Stroller Warrior, Heidi, even brought her mini-warrior, Maddie along to cheer!

Heidi and Maddie. (Also not from race day, obviously:). This was taken a week or two after she gave birth. Yes, we are all jealous!

All in all, it was a great race. I ended up placing 3rd in my age group and 7th among all females (63 total females raced). I know I need to do some swimming and biking beforehand next time around, but this was one last thing to do for fun before turning to on MARATHON TRAINING! I promise my next post will finally include the plan I'm going to use. It has been really tough sorting through existing plans without deciding to quit before even beginning!

Me and Pat with our race "trophies." Pat placed second in his AG with a time of 1:06:36

Only the Rubber Balls Can Be Dropped...

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Yes, kind of a weird title for a running blog post, but give me about 30 sec of your time to explain!  In life we juggle so many balls - work, family, exercise, food, kids, pets, and so on.  Some of the balls are made of glass and some are made of rubber...you can only drop the rubber ones!  Do you really HAVE to watch that latest episode of The Office at 10 pm?  Will anyone think worse of you if you don't get those Christmas cards in the mail TODAY?  (These are examples of rubber balls!)

Ok, with that explanation, FitFluential reminds us that it is key to find balance in four specific areas: Eat, Sleep, Move, Enjoy!  Here are a few recommendations for how to find that balance!

1) Make your bedroom a sanctuary!  The bedroom should be reserved for two things - sleep and sex!  Try not to bring your problems into the bedroom with you.  Leave the TV in the family room, all phones/iPods/iPads (pretty much anything you plug into a wall) should be left outside of this sanctuary.

This just looks peaceful!  (Source)

2) Stick to a schedule.  For example, I know that I have to be up at 5 am every day to get to work by 6 am.  That means that I need to be in bed no later than 10 pm if I want to get at least seven hours of sleep. I do not alter this on the weekends.  I love to get up early because I feel like I'm more productive.  Try not to change your sleeping schedule just because you can.

3) Plan your meals, but don't beat yourself up for having that cookie at the office holiday party.  As the saying goes, "You are what you eat."  If you focus on eating healthy foods 90% of the time, your body will thank you for it.  Giving in once in a while (and no, that doesn't mean you can have a cheat "weekend") is good for you and increases your chances of sticking to the 90% healthy.  Everything in MODERATION!

4) Develop a workout schedule....and stick to it.  Try to come up with fun things to do with friends during the holiday season that are not centered around food (like most holiday festivities are).  Movement helps increase your energy levels...and you need a lot of energy during this busy holiday season!

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5) Take five minutes a day to meditate or make a gratitude list.  We all get so caught up in buying  presents, decorating the tree, mailing cards, etc that we forget to just enjoy being.  Calm your mind, be thankful for what you have and your body will thank you for it.  

Trying to Keep Up

And I'm not talking about on a run!  I'm talking about keeping up with Social Media and all of you amazing runners, triathletes, and FitFluential people out there!









Between Facebook, Twitter, HootSuite, and the blogosphere, there is just so much going on out there!  When I finally get a chance to login to all of these different sites it seems as if there was a flurry of activity that went on all day long and I missed out on everything.   How do you guys keep up with it all day?  I spend about one to two hours a night just reading up on what I missed during the day.





There are so many amazing athlete-writers out there too that it is impossible to keep up with everyone!  You guys continue to motivate and inspire me on a daily basis.  So grateful for the awesome FitFluential people out there!


Do you try to keep up with all of these different social networks?  How many more are out there that I don't even try to follow?  

Food Prep: The dreaded chore

For anyone like us, you're incredibly busy from Monday through Friday.  The last thing you want to do after a long day on Tuesday is prepare a healthy meal for yourself for Wednesday's lunch!  If you're reading this blog, we know you are very active and HEALTHY and a quick trip to the McDonald's drive-thru will NOT cut it for you.  This leads us into the dreaded chore....Food Prep.

I'm notoriously terrible about planning ahead, but when I remember, I build in an hour on Sunday to prepare a dish that I can take in my lunchbox all week.  It's never anything fancy and it has to be something that doesn't need to be microwaved...MIL continues to warn me of the dangers of the microwave!

Here's an example of what I make:

Start with the base of the dish, which for me was quinoa.  A quick 20-minutes on the stove and I have a HUGE helping of quinoa to last all week.  Then I choose some vegetables to add, this time I went with mushrooms and green beans (I picked up the beans at one of the local farmer's markets!).  I like the veggies to stay crunchy, so I quickly sauteed them in a tiny bit of sesame oil, which adds a great flavor!

As a vegetarian, I also like to ensure I add a protein to my lunch.  For this dish, I went with some delicious tofu!  I'm a huge fan of all those fake meat products, but I am trying to avoid them - it takes a LOT of processing to make a soy bean taste like turkey...

Combine it all in an air-tight container and VOILA - you have a ready made lunch for the week!

While we were at the farmer's market, I also picked up a spaghetti squash.  So easy to make and very delicious.  This was going to also go with me to lunch this week, but Sean and I were hungry when it came out of the oven...and ended up eating 2/3 of it.  I have a little bit left, so I'll use this for dinner one night this week.

Other things I make sure to have on hand for lunch packing:

-Raw mixed nuts

-Bananas and Apples

-Celery and carrots

-Small packets of almond butter

Do you pack your lunch for work?  Is it a daily process or do you prep your food on Sunday?  What's your favorite "Take to Work" Dish?