Sigh No More
I don’t really like to think of New Year’s as a special event. It’s just a day like any other, and frankly, I don’t do well with resolutions or “how I’m going to change my life in a day” hulabaloos. It’s the same reason why I don’t practice lent (that, and I’m not Catholic). But, even though I tend to disregard January first as a significant day of change, I do still have this feeling of starting afresh. Jan 1 (well, Jan 3, actually) marks the start of focused training, since I have attempted, and failed, thanks to the move, new employment, and holidays. I’ve struggled over the last few weeks to stay focused; I’ve struggled with coping with life. I have been sleeping a lot, I have been lackluster about running, and that’s just not me. Frankly, being an adult sucks, and I want to get whisked back to the time (about three months ago) when I wasn’t concerned about having enough money (because I could just take out a student loan and I split rent with a roommate). Without getting too mopey about it all, I’ve basically struggled with being alone, broke, and overwhelmed.
But, I can exhale now. I have a roof over my head, I have been paid, and I have food in my cupboards. I’m finding my groove at my new job, I’m committing to training runs and swims, and I’ve found a few people…
Endurance Meg’s Holiday Wish List
The holidays are coming! Eek! My list hasn’t even been tackled yet. Double eek!
If you are like me, you already know what to get your significant other who 1) likes to ride his bike, 2) is in grad school and 3) lives in a snowy, cold place. Ok, so I have this one a little easy. But other than buying him a case or two of Pamela’s lemon shortbread cookies and a 5lb bag of Snowshoe Brew, I might be at a little bit of a loss. Endurance athletes aren’t really all that hard to shop for, if you have a billion dollars to spend on them. I thought I’d make it a little easy for those quirky endurance athletes on Santa’s list this year, no matter what your budget.
$5-35
- Energy-o-rama: A nice variety of energy treats will bring a smile to their face. It will also give them an opportunity to restock their supply for the upcoming season or give them something new to try. I bought Baberaham a grab-bag of energy foods a few years back that had all sorts of awesome stuff, and it gave him an opportunity to try new things that he otherwise may never have tried before.
- Gift cards! Good places include:
- All3Sports so they can put it towards some new tri gear
- iTunes so they can jazz up their music collection
- or
…
Categories: Product Reviews, Technology, Tips
Recap: 2010 “Sophomore” Season
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that my 2010 season is wrapped up. I’ve even had two weeks of my post-season do-whatever-I-want awesomeness, [which really hasn't been that awesome]. Racing this year has been a blast! In my second season as a triathlete, I raced more and improved from last year. And, I felt strong in the run of practically every race, which made me happy.
I set some lofty goals at the beginning of the season, and although I didn’t make them all, I’m happy with the level I’ve risen. Anyway, it’s time to reflect on what racing in 2010 brought me:
* Two more marathons are checked off my 50×50 list (Utah and Michigan)- I BQ’d in both of these, too. Although I didn’t reach one of my goals (another marathon PR), I am still incredibly satisfied with where my run has made it. In fact, although I didn’t PR in the open marathon, I broke my marathon PR in the 140.6 distance by over 30 minutes. And, I also shaved off a minute from my previous best time in the 10-mile.
* I ran the farthest I’ve ever run before, in a training run no-less. Although I was registered for my first ultra, I bailed because of sub-optimal health/stress levels. The ultra world is still there, and I’m striving to make it a to-do for 2011.
* I broke 11hrs in the…
Categories: Athletes, Racing, Training, Triathlons
Beginner Triathletes: How to pick the best bike for you
My Facebook News Feed is full of friends talking about how they’re setting up transition/pumping their tires/putting on their wetsuit for the last time of 2010. The end of the racing season is upon us, and although I have one more race left on my calendar this year, I’m pretty much ready to put my feet up (with a glass of scotch in hand) and relax for a while.
One of my friends is particularly interested in the end-of-the-season deals that she can get from her local bike shop. See, she doesn’t have a bike, but she’s been itching for one for a while. Right now is probably the best time to buy a new bike, because of course, bike shops are looking to dump their extra stock of 2010 bikes so that when spring rolls around they have a full room of flashy 2011 models. And dump they will. My LBS is having a sale this weekend, and all their bikes are on sale for one amazing discount or another.
Anyway, her questions about what bike is best for her got me thinking about how I got into cycling, why I chose the bike(s) I did, and why it was important (for good and bad reasons). So, I thought I’d put together a little help list of different things to consider when purchasing a new bike:
What different kinds of bikes are there?
I’m going to…
Categories: Athletes, Biking, Tips, Triathlons
Megan’s Rev3 Cedar Point FullRev Race Report!
I was thinking about this post when I was finishing up the bike leg of the FullRev. I was thinking, around mile 95, of excuses I could make to tell you about why I got off the bike in T2 and never left with my running shoes on. I was construing various stories that left you with the feeling of “Oh, I get it” and “If that were me, I’d do the same damned thing.”
But before I tell you these stories, I should tell you the first one.
I considered not traveling to Cedar Point at all.
I got it in my head that leaving work for five days (weekend included), in the thicket of dissertation writing, and with two campus visits coming up (one in New York City, and the other in St Louis), I just couldn’t go. I needed to work on my slides for a lecture at Hospital for Special Surgery. I needed to go through Chapter One with a fine toothed comb so I could send it to my advisor for editing. I needed to write a manuscript on stuff I did this spring, finish a manuscript for stuff I’ve been working on for nearly two years, and work on the transitions between chapters 3-8 of my dissertation. It just didn’t make sense to leave right now. Not like this.
But Baberaham wondered why I would do that. My friend AJ was going down
…
Categories: Race Reports, Team, Triathlons
What’s wrong with this picture?
My guess is the driver didn’t have a case of the Taper.
I have been reading a lot of blogs about “my A race is approaching, its time for taper, OMG WTF! ROFLCOPTER!” and I am not sure what the big deal is. I personally like tapering. I put in the training, it was hard; Now I get to bank on the fact that, no matter what I did for training, there’s nothing I can do now in that department to make me race any faster.
At this point, do I want to go for a long run? Not really.
Do I want to ride up Brockway four times until I puke? Not particularly.
Would I rather be doing a 120 mile road ride this weekend, followed by a 5K tempo run off the bike? Um, gonna have to pass.
I’d rather be splish-splashing during an open water swim than putting my head down and heading for the dock that is a mile away. I’d rather be cruising nice-and-easy on my bike with my cadence up than hammering out hill after hill until my quads burn like battery acid.
I want to race. The race is the reward for all that hard work. I want to take all this stored energy that has been filling up my legs for the last week, and put it toward something fun. I want to compete, get in the zone. I don’t want…
Categories: Athletes, Tips, Training, Triathlons
Rev3 Knoxville- EXCITE!
My dad and I arrived in Knoxville yesterday afternoon, and it’s been quite the whirlwind since! We headed straight to Jim and Evy’s and relaxed with a bit of front porch sitting. Just like old times…
I got to meet (quite a few) of my teammies last night at dinner at Calhoun’s on the River. It was great to chat, put (real) faces to names, and meet new people. The Three-Gluten-Free sat next to each other (Katie, me, and Savannah) and we fared well, even with southern barbecue. Turns out, southern hospitality is a real thing, and our waiter was outstanding.We even had surprise guests at our dinner table, as the Lovatos and Richie Cunningham stopped by. EXCITE! I mean, no big deal. hmph… !!!
This morning, although I was feeling like a Rev3 trailer hit me, I met the rest of the Trakkers squad that came to race this weekend in Knoxville. We had a team photo shoot, a quick run, and some major bonding time at the Trakkers tent. Sonja’s dad, Eric Willis, was the master of photography for sure, and he took some amazing shots. If you can’t find me in this photo, just look for the gal with the whitest legs. Something about the Great White North rings true.
And I even got to spend some q-time with the pros. Rev3 is seriously the Hollywood of triathletes. Check it out: and yep, that’s me…
Categories: Triathlons
A little bit makes all the difference
One week since the Salt Lake City marathon, and I am feeling a bit under-the-weather. No time to get sick, though. Rev3 Knoxville is only two weeks away. I am doing my first Olympic distance triathlon, and I am a bit nervous and excited. Nervous, because I’ve never raced a triathlon so short before, and I hear it can get a little hectic in transition zones. Excited, because I can ease into triathlon racing, instead of going for the big guns right off the bat in a half.
Since I have this weird, throat/cough thing, I am trying to take it easy. I don’t want to overdo anything, and risk making myself any more sick. But, I am so itching to get out on my bike. I was having a really rough go at first, when I got the new bike and felt awkward as, trying to ride in aero position and feeling like I was going to fall over. What was wrong? Had I forgotten how to ride a bike?
Turns out, my saddle was a little too high. Since I have a seat mast, which doesn’t allow me to telescope my seat up and down, I had to shave off – inch by inch – until I thought I was close enough. Check out how much stood between me feeling like I’d never ridden a bike before and how I feel now (similar to Chrissy Wellington, perhaps?):
Limits
A grad-school friend of mine encouraged me to listen to WNYC’s Radiolab on our Union Break one summer morning. I got hooked, and found that listening to the latest Radiolab got me through lonely runs and labtime and writing in my office. It inspires me to think about different things than my typical research stuff. Plus, I really enjoy learning. So on this sunny, Sunday morning, I decided to listen to the recently released Radiolab instead of saving it for my drive downstate. It was quite possibly the best motivator to get me out of the funk and out the door on my bike.
Earlier this week, Jad and Robert hosted an episode entitled “Limits.” It starts off with an interview of Julie Moss and Wendy Ingraham, women who are infamous for their determination in the Ironman. Julie, who competed in the fourth Ironman, went into the race with very little endurance training, just sort of on a whim, and almost won the race. She had no real goals before starting the race, but when she found that she was second off the bike, she started to want it. She caught the lead woman within eight miles of the run, and wanted the win more and more. Here’s a recap of the run portion of that infamous race.
Julie and the Radiolab gang discuss the limits she faced in that fateful day. She refers to it
…
Categories: Racing, Training, Triathlons
Oofta
Nothing beats a good, long Sunday run.
It has been an incredibly busy past-few-weeks for me, but I have enjoyed it immensely. No, I am not throwing down any big training weeks or traveling for races. I’m a grad student, and the ebbing and flowing that is my dissertation work definitely opened the flood gates in mid-March. For the last two weeks, I have been in the lab, running experiments, incubating, harvesting, and in general not being able to think about anything else but what was on my plate at the time, all while not having any clue when I would be able to get in my next run or bike. I have been spending at least 12 hours a day on campus, including the weekends*, but I’m not complaining. Really. I love what I do.
Poor planning on my part lent itself to having Swim Week at the beginning of these experiments, and I unfortunately had to bail after just three swims (I was planning on doing at least 8 swim workouts, and about 28k yds of swimming). I did get into a good rhythm last week, and was able to squeeze in a Wednesday Drop Ride with some guys at The Bike Shop and some hill repeats with Marg. Since she is training for the Lutsen 50K in the Superior Trail Festival in May, she’s been shooting for more time on her feet. Her plan for the weekend…
Recent Posts by Megan Killian
by Megan Killian @ Houghton, MI
Endurance Meg’s Holiday Wish Li...
by Megan Killian @ Houghton, MI
Recap: 2010 “Sophomore” Season
by Megan Killian @ Houghton, MI
Beginner Triathletes: How to pick the...
by Megan Killian @ Houghton, MI
Megan’s Rev3 Cedar Point FullRe...
by Megan Killian @ Houghton, MI
