Peace out 2012!

Ok so I’m writing with like 3 1/2 hours to spare- yay for procrastination! So I thought I’d make this a look back at this past year and my ideas for 2013.

2012

General Life; k so this past year began with me turning 20 and finally being able to say that I’m in my 20s (barely). I went somewhere cool for spring break by going down to visit my grandparents for the week in Florida and getting to go to Disney World.    I ran for my school’s SGA Vice-President and won.  I became a senior (by credits) somehow and am on track to graduating on time (even early if I wanted) while adding a minor last-minute.  I finally decided upon law school as the route I wanted to go to continue my education.

I’ve gotten over broken hearts and general embarrassments that I always bring on myself (I’m terribly clumsy).  I’ve bonded with the SGA President, Ra Ra, whom I would call my friend. 

Even though I’m sure I have a tendency of getting on his nervs and take any and all opportunities to do something to him like pie him in the face….. multiple times. 

Running; I  also ran in the Plattsburgh half-marathon for my 2nd time and brought my time down 15 minutes.  I ran my first marathon that seriously tested my mental and physical capabilities.  I brought my 5k time down another 2 minutes from the previous season, while at the same time managing to stay major injury free (which was a serious bonus from the previous year).  I got a new awesome team when a bunch of new people joined.  And I’ve learned my priorities when it comes to running, which are; I love running and if I really want to drop my times I have to train harder, but I recognize at the same time that its fun and sometimes I can’t take it too seriously.

I completed the Pine Bush Sprint Tri for the 2nd time and brought my time down around 11 minutes.  I joined (sorta) a triathlon training group and trained with my friend Christine, in addition to attending my weekly running group.  And I’ve learned and seriously love that running with someone makes the run go 10x faster- no seriously try it.

And honestly that’s all that I can remember as being super-duper important this past year, I don’t dwell on the little stuff too much.

2013 Plans:

1. Make time for my running more in my schedule, by not letting my schedule get as hectic as this past year. 

      i.e. Learn how to not stress as much and learn to leave my office by around 7- 8 p.m every night instead of stressing myself out and staying there till midnight.

2. Swim more.

     i.e. Because I love and miss it…..

3. Make President’s list again this coming semester, by getting a 3.6 for the semester.

         i.e.  Law school is very competitive!

4. Improve my 5k, half-marathon, and marathon times

5.  Compete in and finish a half-Ironman

6. Run in and finish a (“short”) ultramarathon

7. Not die on my 21st birthday

            i.e. I just think its a good goal to have, because well…. I don’t wanna die.

8. Lose ~5 lbs. and just feel better about my body.

9. Remember to take my multivitamin more frequently

       i.e. I’m anemic and sometimes forget to take it 😛

! 10. Just have fun!

     i.e. Learn to let some things go and learn that nothing is really a life or death situation, except of course if you are trapped in a car that just fell into a river and it is filling up and if you don’t get out you’ll die, but that’s an exception….

I think this is the perfect picture to end 2012 with because we don’t need to dwell on the past, and for all of you who know me in life can we forget all my clumsiness and embarrassing moments of the year? Because that would be super awesome too!

I’ll see y’all in 2o13! So until later, TTFN!

I’m a Triathlete… there. I said it.

I’m a triathlete, yup that’s right I said it.  Whatcha gonna do about it? Nothing? Good!  I’ve been calling myself a runner for so long that its hard to give myself another exercise related title.  I mean running is easy, all I have to do is put my shoes on and get out there for a few miles.  But triathlon brings on a whole new brand of training.  It’s a 3 pronged race; swimming, biking, and running.  I mean everyone is stronger in 2 legs then all 3, but you have to put training into all 3.  That’s a different mindset for me, whose so used to training for 1 sport only.

Since, I first started last year, I’m finding that it’s not that difficult to train for 3 sports.  I mean it definitely takes up more time, there’s no doubt about that.  But oddly enough I don’t mind training more, I mean biking and I both have our good days and bad days.  But mostly, every day that I bike is a compromise day.  Because well, biking and I don’t exactly see eye to eye all the time. 

Anywho, I went to the CDTC (Capital District Triathlon Club) with my friend Christine again this Tuesday.  Let me just stop and say; Woman is ridiculously awesome to me, she feeds me, pays for me when I forget my money (I totally pay her back, but still) and puts up with me during training- I call her amazing!   Anywho, I did the open water swim again, 1 mile and my new PR for an open water swim is now 29:48! I took 23 seconds off of my time! I’m very excited. 

So let me break my swimming and running and training down for you.  I’ve come to realize certain things with my swimming thus far;

1. Bilateral breathing (breathing on opposite sides) definitely helps me go faster in the water, but on the one hand- straighter… debatable. I mean I probably swam straighter than last time, but I can’t really tell in the water.

2. I get distracted VERY easily. “Oh, hey look bubbles!” “Is that my arm?” “Is that a fish down there?” I especially love taking a quick breast stroke type break and having the lifeguards stare at me like I’m cray cray as I analyze other peoples’ swimming styles around me during the workout.  Oopsies!

3. The longer the swimming (or running) distance, the better my body does.  Swimming sprints+ me= no good.  Swimming distance+me= very good.  I feel more comfortable when I have time to really get into my groove, if that makes sense.

So anyways, those are some of the conclusions I came to while doing my mile swim in the lake.  Also, a storm came up while I was finishing.  The wind got so bad that I kept thinking that someone was drafting off of me and was splashing me.  I got so fed up that I turned around to look and it ended up being my kick splash hitting me in the face from the wind.   Oh and then there were the waves, not the kind of waves that are like ‘hey, let me help push you along’ No the kind of waves that are like ‘every way you turn to breath, I’m going to make sure you get water in the face’  After, I did a quick 3 mile loop and then we went home.  I liked to think of it as a productive night. And I’ve come to the realization that I am a triathlete. I may not be very good, but I thoroughly enjoy the sport and that’s all that really matters.

So until later, TTFN.

Pine Bush Triathlon Recap

Okey dokey, so a race recap was promised and a race recap y’all shall have!  As a sidenote all my pictures will be at the end, because my family computer is dumb.  I started the morning nice and early at 4:45 am.  It was glorious because only my brother and I were home.  I had already put my bike in the car the night before.  So I went through my checklist of things I had to do- yes I have a checklist.  I ate, drank me some coffee, made sure that I had everything that I was going to need for the race, got dressed, took a little relaxation time and then headed out.
I was a little nervous about getting lost, simply because the last time I was there was for the last time I did the race.  But, I managed to find the place ok (with a few, excusable goof ups in my driving) and parked my car.  Even thought it was only like 6:30 in the morning there was a decent amount of cars at the start.

I took out my bike and the things that I was going to need for the swim/bike transition and brought them to the area.  I think I was so early because I didn’t have anything for the bike/run transition because I decided to wear my vibrams for both the bike and run, thereby cutting down some time.  Anywho, I checked everything I had, laid everything out, made it all nice and anal-retentively perfect and headed back to the start.  I had everything with me already that I was going to need for the start of the race.

So basically I waited around for an hour and a half, but I’m not sorry I got there so early because I got a supreme parking spot and I was all ready when I needed to be.  Plus, since I have a tiny runner’s bladder it allowed me to use the bathroom as many times as I wanted before the race before the crowds came.  Sorry, but I have a tiny bladder.

Swim section;  I was kinda nervous, but I was pumped.  I actually didn’t have that many people in my heat and I ended up giving a girl next to me tips because it was her first Tri.  I felt like a seasoned veteran giving her advice! Anywho, the swimming went as the swimming always goes, semi-fast, and with absolutely no breath.  I sucked wind hardcore, which I’m partially blaming on my lack of ability to swim the week before the  race, but I digress…

Biking section;  I hoped out of the water and raced to my bike.  My transition was much faster than last year and I got going very quickly.  This year, my friend let me use her road bike which was so much lighter and easier to use than my mountain bike.   So during the race I felt like I was flying, I legit had fun on the bike leg, compared to last year when I just wanted to die.  This year, the end came up sooner than I thought it would- I mean I was going that fast in comparison to  last year!

Running section;  So my bike to run transition was also much quicker because I made the executive decision to wear my vibrams for both legs so I wouldn’t have to change.  I hopped off my bike, and kinda threw it on the side (shh don’t tell my friend that I borrowed the bike from), and then started running towards the run.  Once on the run, it took a good mile maybe mile and a half for my legs to not feel like jello.  I really need to start doing more Brick workouts. Anywho, I felt pretty good and I saw a few people I knew.  I ended up passing people, which is always nice.   The end is uphill, which really sucks and I have to keep remembering to tell the race directors I hate them for that.  But overall, my time was; 1:32:44.

I’m very happy with my time because it’s almost a full 11 minutes off of my time from last year, which was; 1:43:03. I don’t think I’m going to do this race again next year, not because I don’t like it, but I believe I’m going to do it as a relay with my two brothers (they actually want to do it! I don’t have to convince them or anything!)  And I’m going to try doing an Olympic distance next year (this was a Sprint), but first I’m going to save up and get me a road bike- no more mountain bike for me! So that’s it for now.  All my pictures are below, they include; the bike I used, an awesome sign at the lake, and more!

Sorry for the recap taking so long to go up, its been a hectic few days, hopefully I’ll be able to tell you more later. Until later, TTFN.

Let’s play catch up.

Ok blog peoples, I’m terribly sorry for the serious MIA the past few days.  But as I explained in the most recent blog post my computer has sadly pretty much died.  I’m waiting until Sunday/Monday to get it fixed *fingers crossed* so a continued hijacking of the family computer is happening.

Ok so now I’ll start with a quick blog recap of the past week and then I’ll move onto the present! Let’s start with last Thursday; trail run with ARE STRS.  The trail was super rocky and dangerous, one guy fell and we had to call an ambulance because he hit his head and needed stitches.  Luckily, he’s ok.  I saw him at this past trail run (not running), but walking and there for the cookout.  The stitches looked gross and horrible,but I guess he said was pretty good.  So yay! Hopefully he’ll be 100% soon.

Next, last Saturday my mom and I went to the Troy Farmer’s Market.  It encompasses a full street and then some, I think I’ve given my mom the Farmer’s market bug because she went cray cray spending money on a butt load of fresh food that we ended up making into a meal that night.  So yeah basically our whole meal was made from fresh, local food =win!

And I guess my family computer doesn’t like me enough to put my pictures where I ask so I guess they will all be at the bottom of the post…. Moving along.  I took a picture of our super awesome bounty of food.  Which included; mussels, chicken, vegetables, bread, cider, pesto, cheese, applesauce, and I think that’s it…. It was interesting because I’ve never bought meat at the farmer’s market because its really expensive.  But I managed to get a decent amount for like $8.  It’s definitely a once and awhile buy though.

Oh, I got lovely pink eye…. in both my eyes.  Yay me!  I’ve been on medication for the past week.  It’s all cleared up now, but it meant that I couldn’t put my head under the water at swim lessons, so I didn’t get any good swim workouts this week.

Tuesday; Colonie Relays which was fun my friends Eric and Abby ran the mile with me again.  I didn’t run it as fast as last week: 7:46, probably because I was barefoot and the track totally  tore up my feet a bit.  Lesson learned.  One thing that I thought was cool was that I got my first blood blister, weird thing to get excited about I know, but then again I’m odd.

Wednesday, I bought some black heels for work, they look super tall to everyone because I don’t ever wear heels, but I’m starting to.  And well, I fell down the stairs.  I didn’t get hurt, but my dad proceeded to make fun of me for the rest of the day and to tell me that I had to take back my shoes.  It wasn’t my finest moment to say the least.

Thursday’s ARE STRS run was very uneventful compared to last week.  I ended up doing around like 5 miles.  And it was cook out night, which was good because I wasn’t sure what I was going to eat for dinner.  There was music, and Josh- the guy who basically started it and is kinda amazing in my opinion.  If you can’t tell, I have a slight crush on the guy, it’s mostly because he runs… and he works for (started?) a race timing company, has an awesome body, amazing calves- Runner’s calves!  Anywho, Call Me Maybe came on and Abby and I jokingly were singing it to each other and he started singing into the mike his number… if only I had a pen!  Hahaha anyways, it was a good mileage night and a lot of fun!

That brings me back to today, Saturday.  I went to the farmer’s market again, mostly because my dad was begging me to buy him more pickles- he loves them! So I took the money my mom left me for food this weekend and spent it there plus a bit of my own money.  I didn’t spend much, but I try to spread out my purchases among a bunch of different stands so I can support as many people as possible.  Don’t worry I took pictures of this spread too! Now all that’s left of today is to get my stuff ready for my triathlon tomorrow and to go through all my rituals.  Come on, we all have our prerace rituals we have to do.  I am no exception.  I also have to get some work done and then relax.  I’m hoping to take like 5 minutes off my time from last year.  Plus, my friend Christine let me borrow her old road bike so I don’t have to use my mountain bike, I call that a win!  Don’t worry, if I have time tomorrow or sometime in the days after y’all will get a full update!  So that’s it for now, I shall end the post with a super photo bombing!

So until later, TTFN.

My new vibrams

This week’s spread.

My first blood blister.
My new black heels.

Last week’s spread.

And the Farmer’s Market.