What is EFS:  Electrolyte Fuel System.

It comes in two formats powder/drink and liquid shot format. This write up will be about the drink/powdered format.

I have only once previously tried with 1st Endurance  and have finally purchase a full 25 serving bucket to use long term. For me, I think the 25 serving will last about 2 months or about 800 miles of  riding. I’m gonna try to track how long it really last. I am three weeks in on the Fruit Punch flavor. I have heard the Grape flavor is great (that will be my next purchase)

just lost my write up… have to do it again..sucks!

I decided to forego my usual hydration/electrolyte mixture and go all the way for this weekend’s race, Showdown at Sundown, with Fruit Punch flavor of 1st Endurance EFS.

Benefits/ Features of EFS

• highest electrolyte content – over 1000mg compared to 162 to 430mg per 12 ounces.
• prevents cramping and dehydration
• mix at varying strengths (just about all powders are)

Other info (per 12oz)

• 96 calories
• 200% DV of vitamin C
• 16g of sodium
• 24g of carbohydrates

What are electrolytes (salts)? Calcium, potassium, sodium, and magnesium) and anions (of chloride, carbonates, aminoacetates, phosphates, and iodide). These are nutritionally called macrominerals. These are lost through perspiration or other forms of dehydration, particularly in heat stress situations.

Why are electrolytes important? They allow cells to generate energy, maintain the stability of their walls, and to function in general. They generate electricity, contract muscles, move water and fluids within the body, and participate in myriad other activities.

I started the bike leg with 32oz of Fruit Punch EFS. Premixed just short of 3 scoops with 32oz of water. Only one water/aid station on the bike and entered T2 with half consumed. I was sipping pretty much all day and was surprised with how much I had left. I even forced myself to take in extra liquid when I realized I how much I had left.  I use the Oasis One-Twelve hydration system (single behind the saddle set up).

What I noticed/like about EFS Sports drink from this weekends event and training

• was not dehydrated
• muscles still functined for the run
• very granular/not powdery –  so no clumping and dissolves “quickly”
• clear, no artificial  colors
• lots of electrolytes – I am not a heavy sweater, so it actually may be overkill for me, but I do not think anyone had been harmed by overdosing on electrolytes
• light flavor, no artificial flavoring. No candy like taste.

What I dislike about EFS drink (just my opinion, everyone has personal taste)

• “Over” sodium taste. Yes,  I can continue to dilute but that will water down the flavor and electrolyte content per serving.
• That “over” sodium taste gives it a “heavy” taste, similar to the older Gatorade Endurance formula.

If I was a heavy sweater or the event was on a very hot day (ei Hawaii World Championship) I would not be complaining about this..  The race would a lot have to have lost of aid stations. Showdown at Sundown had only one water station on the bike.

In conclusion I give 1st Endurance EFS Sports Drink rate an 8 out of 10.

I will be going back to my “special” hydration mixture for races. But my pre-race hydration will be EFS Energizing Sports Drink! I will continue to use for my training rides and find that perfect ratio to eliminate the “over” sodium flavor.

I will say that yes, I do think doing the Ironman distance races require a dose of insanity, mostly because really, your life becomes about Ironman. No doubt.  I suppose I could be someone who wakes up at 4:00 a.m. and rides the trainer, or goes to the gym and runs on the treadmill and during Soren’s nap, i’d ride the trainer and after Soren goes to bed, head to the pool. I *could* do this and I know people that do, but right now, that all sounds just very…very….tiring.  So, what I decided to do when my kids are “little” is race the shorter stuff, meaning, maybe two workouts a day during “peak” training, but definitely not three.  And yes, i’ve done three workouts a day……and yeah, I feel a little insane for writing that, but then again, someone once asked, “how do you do an Ironman”.  That’s how.  2-3 workouts a day….about 15-20 hours, maybe more a week.

So, how does one do all this.  Not just “eating well” and, not even really sleeping because when you’re training that much, you’re jittery at night. Yeah, you’d think you’d sleep well, but you don’t…or maybe you do, I can’t even remember, but I don’t remember waking up, ever and thinking “oh wow, I slept well”.  Great, so now you’re training 15-20+ hours a week, how do you keep doing it?

With a very very good nutrition plan, that’s how. I don’t just mean, fruits, veggies, etc, I mean, you need a good nutrition plan for before, during and after. So, don’t skip breakfast–really, even if “I can’t eat breakfast before I run, I throw up.”  Well, find something that doesn’t make you throw up.  Maybe try greek  yogurt instead of fruit loops?  Do NOT start your workout  hungry.  You can be a little hungry, but if you’re “really” hungry. Stop and eat.

If you have a workout that’s longer than an hour, bring water with some calories in it, or eat something along the workout.

After, you workout for longer than an hour, you need to eat protein. Period. I prefer protein with a carb, but that’s just me :)

What really gets me through these workouts and aids in my recovery?  First Endurance Products.  Why? Because when I was training for both my Ironmans, I thought I used proper nutrition, but I don’t think anything I used was a good fit for me.  I always had stomach issues and battled small injuries.  I have a REALLY sensitive stomach and First Endurance makes products that I can use before, during and after workouts and quite honestly, they don’t leave me running for the toilet like most of these other products.  Additionally, last year was quite stressful for me with racing, but using first endurance, my body felt recovered and ready-to-go!

What do I recommend? My favorites:
EFS: this is a powder that you put in your water, my favorite is fruit punch, gives you calories for your workout and it’s clear so you don’t have those ridiculous stains on your shirt or around your mouth like kool-aid :)

Liquid Shot: this is a liquid that comes in a canister, carry it with you on runs or on your ride. I LOVE this stuff.  Tastes delicious, and my favorite is that it comes in a pre-marked canister so you can see how much you’re “shooting” as you’re running, so you know how many calories you’re taking in.

Ultragen: Where to begin? This is a powder that you can put in water or milk or mix in a shake post-workout.  This stuff is addictive. I swear.  I love the Cappuccino flavor and sometimes i’ll workout even harder knowing I can have this after :)  I have zero time to stretch these days. I walk in the door and I have to chase after a toddler.  Dave will mix me up some Ultragen with skim milk and boom, around 300 protein filled calories and i’m ready to carry on through my day.

I love these products and I use them because they WORK.  Far too many products out there are stuffed with “fillers” that you don’t need and could be why I was left with many an upset stomach through most of my long-distance training.

So….as you’re investing in triathlon, or any sport that requires some training, go the extra mile, do your homework and invest in a good nutrition plan!!

So what is there to do?  Aside from a lot of time on the bike and one-legged flip turns in the pool, I’ve now focused on changing the diet up a bit.  I am now working on the Paleo diet – well, I’m trying!  I cannot believe how wierd it is to not have bread, rice, pasta, bagels, etc.  And I don’t think I’ve eaten this much meat since I even started this sport.  I actually bought a WHOLE chicken the other day.  It almost makes me gag thinking about it.  But we’ll see how this goes – I’m game to try anything once.  The real test will be to see what happens to my power numbers on the bike.  Last time I made a drastic change to my eating habits, I just about lost all power on the bike.  This was when I went RAW for an entire 4 months.  I figured 4 months was enough time to decide if that was the right diet for me.  It wasn’t.

So Paleo it is - for how long, who knows?  I’m trying new recipes and learning what to order when I actually go out to eat.  Paleo is like the “caveman” diet.  Wait, caveman didn’t have First Endurance?  OK, I guess I’m not going to be 100% on Paleo – there are some things I just need to have!  I mean, have you tried the Wild Berry yet??

I decided that the whole day was going to be focused on two main ideas:
Take the whole day one mile at a time
Enjoy every mile of my only first Ironman
Those two mantras would end up driving me for the next 140.6 miles.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Other than a minor pre-dawn freakout in transition area. I was able to keep a pretty level head as I set up my bike, organized my transition area and filled up my nutrition bottles. I was pretty happy and surprised with my attitude. I’ve been a LOT more nervous for a LOT shorter races.
I’m not sure what it was, but I was just ready to race, get out there and start tearing up the course.
Heading over to the swim start and patiently waiting for the gun to go off. Sam was an amazing sherpa and helped me stay cool calm and collected up until the second I had to leave her and dive head first into the water. Just as I was starting to head through the start gate, she handed me her cell phone. It was my mom calling from Connecticut to give me some last minute last minute well wishes. Hearing how proud she was of me to just have made it to the start line brought such a big smile to my face that I couldn’t even muster up any response beyond “Thanks Mom!” before I handed the phone back to Sam and pointed myself towards shore and the start of the race.

Swim:
The plan was to keep it nice and relaxed and not to threaten the race before I even headed out on the bike. All of the FullRev athletes (about 450 of us) went off in one big mass start. No matter how far back you hung in the pack, you were bound to run into some people. I landed some unintentional kicks an punches and took my share as well, but it eventually spread out and allowed me to focus on keeping an even pace and smooth form instead of dodging kicks to the sckull.

The first loop went pretty smoothly. I even had to pee and just let it rip instead of waiting until I was out on the bike. I’d peed in my wetsuit plenty of times before, but never while actually swimming. It was always while standing in the water waiting for the gun to go off.
I figured it was a good sign that I started the race well hydrated. It is good to know the digestive system is working and doing its thing, even if nature calls when I’m only 1 mile into the race.

First loop: 41:17 (2:08/100 m)
The second loop was a little more of the same. My arms felt strong all the way through and I was having a blast. Nature even called AGAIN! I didn’t even feel like I was drinking a ton on race morning, but just like the first time, I just went with it. My pace did slow a little bit, but I exited the water feeling awesome. My time was right in the middle of my prediction and I was psyched to start the bike.

See? I’m even turning around to smile and wave to Sam as I exit the water. I told you I was having a blast out there.
Second loop: 43:19 (2:15/100 m)
Total swim time: 1:24:36

Bike:
I didn’t have any major expectations for the bike. I knew that it was probably going to be my strongest sport of the day. I just wanted to get out there, hold a nice even pace and start the run feeling good.
The course was WAY flatter than anywhere I’d ever raced, but it was also WAY windier than anywhere I’d ever raced so it was tough for me to make any sort of average speed expectations. I just went out there and did my thang.
The bike started with plenty of drinking straight water to make sure that my stomach stayed as happy as it was during the swim and was processing whatever I threw down my gullet. The first bike pee came around mile 25 and I was as happy as a clam.
As we made a turn and headed West, I started FLYING. I had a nice tailwind and a nice clean stretch of flat road ahead of me. It was beautiful. I was cruising at between 22 and 23 mph and barely working for it.

That was until I took the next turn at around mile 35. From then on it was a constant battle with the wind. No matter where the course turned, it felt like the wind was following me. No matter how aero I tried to get, I was constantly battling the wind. Doing 13 mph (and working hard for it) on a nice flat even road definitely puts things into perspective after ticking off all of those miles at 22 mph with a tail wind.

I figured there was nothing I could do about the wind and just kept an even effort level. Eat, breathe, drink, pee and repeat. The course was beautiful and I tried to just soak it in as much as I could.
I got off the bike happy with how things went and psyched to slip on my Saucony Paramounts and start running.
Time: 6:14:43 (17.93 pmh)

Snuck a little good luck chat with Sam before heading into the changing tent and off on the marathon.
Run:
I threw on my run gear, filled up my water bottle and headed out on my way.

My run plan was to sip on just water for the first 20-30 minutes until my HR settled and I could start taking in calories without letting my stomach seize up. Those first three miles felt great and I was slowly ticking off the miles at a nice even pace.
At around the mile 3 mark, I tore open my EFS Liquid Shot flask and took tiny sips each 20 minutes. Unfortunately, that didn’t last too long. By mile 6 I realized that all the water that I was sipping on was just sloshing around in my gut. Crap. I wasn’t really pushing the pace, so the only real decision to make was to start walking. It was MUCH sooner in the marathon than I had expected to have to walk, but I knew that I didn’t have the strength to grit and bear it through another 20 miles of running without being able to absorb a single carb, electrolyte or ounce of water.
Miles 6-10 were slow and painful and included a lot of walking but eventually I could feel my stomach emptying and the next trip to the port-o-potty was by far my favorite of the day. It was an awesome sign that my stomach was functioning again and taking in the goodies I was tossing down.

My run performance was quickly turning out to be way less spectacular than I had hoped, but it was cool. I run walked and made some friends along the way. Meredith’s husband Dave caught up to me and we ran together for a while for a while before he left me in the dust. Then I ran by some girls at an aid station and over heard them say “What, you aren’t going to complement him on his butt?” They definitely didn’t think that I heard them so I caught them off guard when I stopped, struck a pose and called out “What, nothing?!”

After getting their approval, I proceeded to knock off the rest of the marathon, mile by mile. My pace got slower and slower and my quads were increasing amounts of pain, but I kept on ticking off the miles. Let me tell you, I’ve never big a big fan of all that random stuff that they have at aid stations. I’m usually just a gel and sports drink kind of guy, but a cup of grapes at mile 20 of an ironman marathon may be one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted.
For the last few miles, I made a new friend from Louisville, KY and we chatted it up, took run/walk breaks together and kept on moving forward. I can’t remember his name, but having him next to me for those last miles was perfect. It helped distract myself from my legs as they slowly disintegrated beneath me.

As I approached the finish line, I really had no idea how I’d react. To be perfectly honest, I was an emotional roller coaster and thought that it was entirely possible that I’d cross the line sobbing like a baby with tears streaming from my face. Or maybe I’d have some triumphant primal scream as I tore past the finish line.
In reality, I was too busy being being just plain excited to think about anything else. I wasn’t thinking about all the hard training sessions that it took to get me there. I wasn’t thinking about all of the people that helped me get there. I wasn’t thinking about all the things that I did right and all the things that I did wrong during the race. I wasn’t thinking about how my legs were screaming in pain and could barely take another step without having me trip and fall over myself.

I wasn’t even thinking about anything as I crossed the line. It was just elated. Huge smile. My mind was just blank, enjoying the physical experience of finishing my first ironman. I think there were just so many possible thoughts rushing thought my head that my mind just shut them down and forced out one gigantic smile.
All is good.

I broke the tape and was immediate surrounded by a hand full of my Trakkers teammates and found Sam waiting just outside the finisher’s area. I shuffled my way over to her and gave her a gigantic hug. Two seconds later we got a call from my mom who was watching me finish on the live video feed. While it sucked not having her there, it was awesome knowing that she was able to track me all day with my Trakkers GPS device (until the battery ran out just before the end of the bike) and watch me live as I crossed the line.
My chip didn’t register over the finish line, so I’m still not 100% sure on my time. I’m guessing that it is somewhere around 13:24, but I’m not all that concerned about it.
I did miss going sub-13:00 like I was secretly hoping for, but I’m not letting it get to me. I handled the obstacles that were thrown my way really well and that is all that I could ask for.
So in the end did I enjoy every mile of my first ironman? Heck yes!
Will I do another one?! Yell yeah! (but just not next year)
This year was filled with tons of epic training adventures, but far more time away from my friends, family and girlfriend than I would have liked. I’ll be definitely returning to the iron distance sometime in the future, but I’m looking forward to some shorter races where it’ll be much easier to balance racing and the rest of life.

Race Report by Jeff Dicky

To close out my season, I’ve been doing some long distance racing – the Shenandoah 100, an 18 hour adventure race at the end of September, and most recently, the USARA Adventure Race National Championships in and around Hidden Valley, PA.  The national championship race is a 30 hour co-ed event for teams of 3 that included something like 150k of mountain biking, 3-4 hours of kayaking, and a whole lot of running/trekking and orienteering. 

I was racing with my adventure racing team, Team Remington-Mountain Khakis/Trakkers, a team I’ve been with for a few years, who had fielded two co-ed and one masters teams for the event.  Going into the race, the R-MK/T team was the #1 ranked team in the US.

Unfortunately, the pro mountain bike woman who I was to race with broke her foot a few weeks before the race and we were just able to find a sub for her before the event started.

The race started off cold and early with a short orienteering course around the Hidden Valley ski area (this was after we had less than an hour to plot out all of our checkpoints on two huge maps and try to determine the best route). We ran to the top of the ski area to get our orienteering maps and got all of the first checkpoints in quick order and back to the finish to begin the first bike leg of the race.

We got out to a good start (perhaps 12th out of 35+ teams) and eventually made our way to the top of Seven Springs ski area, a few miles away.  From there, we bombed down some fast roads, onto some trails and found our next checkpoint.  After that point, I began towing Sheila, our substitute teammate who is from Texas and not used to hills or wet rocky trails or roads. I hooked up a bungee cord from my backpack to her bike and motored along (probably all-told, I rode this way for 50 or so miles – talk about a power workout!).

After an hour or two of riding, we caught up to the leading teams on a huge paved climb, but we missed a turn and got lost on the top of a mountain that was covered in ropy thorns.  By this point, the second of our co-ed teams caught up to us, and after 30 minutes of bushwhacking through deep thorns, we found our way again.  On the next descent, Sheila crashed heavily and I think she lost some of her nerve for east-coast riding.  But, she soldiered on with us and we made it to the start of the paddling leg of the race at around 1pm – a 4 hour ride….  I was eating GU packets like mad – trying to keep up my energy for the day and into the night (my favorite flavor is Mint Chocolate - I think I ate 17 of those during the course of the race).

We had to get 3 paddling points, but the Ohiopyle river reservoir was so low, paddling was difficult.  While we were on the water, a fierce squall blew in and we could see canoes blowing up into the air and rolling over and over.  It was hard to paddle and we had zero visibility.We decided to ditch our boat on the shore after the first checkpoint and trek 20k to the next two points and back to our boat. I really dislike paddling, but it was tough to carry a kayak paddle in my pack for almost 15 hours and only use it for an hour of paddling…

After the paddle, we determined that we’d made up 40 minutes with our route choice and we rode to the next transition area – nighttime orienteering.  When we arrived at the orienteering start at 7:30pm, it was dark and cold.  We had also caught up to the third of the Trakkers teams and all 9 of us went out into the night.  I was using my Lupine Tesla 5 headlamp (thanks Bill of Gretna Bikes!) which put out a huge amount of light – so much so that it was easier finding checkpoints at night than during the day.  After getting some of the points easily, and others not so easily (one tough one involved a 1,500+ vertical descent and return down a river valley), we headed back to the bikes at 2am for a long ride back to Hidden Valley.

Our teams were getting really tired out and I was wishing I had some more chamois cream, if you know what I mean (I’m glad we have Enzo’s ButtonHole Chamois Cream on board as a sponsor for 2011 – no saddle sores for me next year).  After a long ride with some missed turns and a lot of hills, we got back to Hidden Valley at 9am.  It was kind of a tough ride.  I started drifting off to sleep while riding uphill and pulling another rider.  Not good at all… 

When we got back to the ski area, we grabbed some breakfast and I drained a lot of coffee and headed out to get 2 of the 9 possible optional orienteering points on the final leg of the race - we were too cooked to get any more than that.

We finished up at 10:30, 27.5 hours after we started.  My Polar watch said that we’d climbed 16,000+ vertical feet and I’d burned something like 14,000 calories. I’m still tired out almost a week later…

We placed second overall for the season and 17th in the race.  Not the finish we had hoped, but it gave everyone motivation for next year.

Next up for me is another 30 hour race – this time in Moab, UT on October 29 for the Checkpoint Tracker National Championships.  This one involves a bunch of kayaking, riverboarding, mountain biking, a huge Tyrolean traverse/rappel and a bunch of trekking and orienteering. I’m already shivering, anticipating the 2-3 mile swim (probably in the Colorado River).  Hopefully, it doesn’t snow!

I finally had a talk with myself the night before the race and answered my own questions.  Why does it matter how much i’ve trained, or would I like the distance or how much i’ve biked.  I signed up, and I love racing, so just go DO IT and have fun!  Such a difficult mentality from someone who while they were pregnant would get passed by a walker at the lake and try to mow them down!  Just “go have fun,”….easier said than done.  No matter how little training I do, I still want to mow the person down in front of me.  Doesn’t matter if I haven’t biked over 33 miles at one time this year (Vineman 70.3 will be painful i’m sure)…..or that I can’t remember the last time I practiced running off the bike, I need to go back to the reason why I started triathlon in the first place and that’s because it is FUN.  I could still be competitive, but keep it realistic.

Due to my travel and pending move, Amanda initially told me to scrap the race–I think she was more worried about me getting upset if I didn’t have a good race, rather than finishing.  Hmm, she may know me really well =0.  BUT! I promised I wouldn’t whine if my race didn’t go as it should’ve/would’ve in the past.  I just really wanted to race. So, I did and here is how it went:

5:00-wake up, shoveled yogurt….literally that was it, a small yogurt.  I grabbed a granola bar thinking I would eat it later.
6:00-sitting in the car outside of Starbucks watching people warm up, as I sat in the car feeding Soren..hoping that they wouldn’t really close the transition area (thankfully at this race they don’t).
6:15-I run to transition (my warm up)–see a girl I had known from a while back, Stacy D. who had also been stuck in a car pumping since she has an 8 month old and we both laughed and we’re like “those were the days when we had time to warm up!”….we ran to our spots and started unloading.
6:30-I realized my years of doing triathlon had paid off, I had virturally zero things to unpack as the girl next to me unloaded 5 gels, two towels, and multiple other chotchke’s that I didn’t know whether I should have some of those or be grateful that I figured out how to minimize my “stuff”.
6:45-crap, I forgot to get bodymarked….
7:00-bathroom…..and standing by the water as people asked me “are you going to warm up?”……I saw Stacy Schlocker which was awesome, I didn’t know she was racing so I was SO excited to see her!!!! Relief!!!
7:05-helped some poor girl in my age group who decided to SWIM BEFORE putting on her wetsuit which led itself to a rather difficult situation in wetsuit-putting-onning.  She was shaking and i’m like “it’s ok, I promise, you’ll be fine, we’ll get there”-
7:10-in the water….treading…not warming up…..just treading….
7:20-I see Christine the Machine Gould in front with her fast goggles, I give her a high five she says “yayyy first race back!” I told her if she felt a slight tug it was me holding on to her ankles =0.

Swim: 15:36 (1,000m)
Well, my Amanda Lovato wetsuit was freaking amazing…seriously….I FLEW in the swim (my version of flying)…..I know, you’re not supposed to toot your own horn, but seriously people–with all my negative energy leading up to the race I have to be a little positive here, I was thrilled with my swim–the wetsuit was a little tight around my neck so I was super excited to have some TriSlide product to prevent any chafing, which it did…and FOGGLE which allowed me to have a race where I didn’t stop constantly to wipe off my goggles!  Love TriSlide because it doesn’t get clumpy or sticky like Body Glide.  TriSlide is a spray so you just spray it on and it doesn’t get all gooey and yucky! Felt great in the swim, however, I forgot that “head pounding” feeling when you stop swimming and stand up. D’oh.  Made it through though!

Bike: 54:55 (30k)
This was anyone’s guess. I had zero clue how fast I was going because my speedometer wasn’t working, as in I looked down and it said “Sleep Mode”.  So, not only did I know I hadn’t been riding a lot, but I also didn’t know HOW I was doing.  Ended up being the best thing ever–I went solely on feel.  I love this course. It’s short and has some climbing, but has some fair rollers as well, just a beautiful, fun course.  My Kestrel Air Foil in it’s race debut was SO SO SO much fun to ride, it handles really swift and I love riding 650’s!!! I like it because I think it’s easier to maneuver!  My amazing friend Marit has lended me her Zipp 404 race wheels so all my slowness was assisted with a fast machine and fast wheels!!  Helped me be “way less slow!” =0.  Thanks MARIT!!!  I went up and down and saw a few familiar faces, some I passed, some I got passed by!  No worries…just kept riding…..sipping my First Endurance powder and taking swigs of EFS….makes racing so easy..all my nutrition in one water bottle and one flask…no pesky tablets or gooey mess!  I’ll be doing this again at Vineman, it worked awesome!  Nutrition in triathlon for me is simple, I don’t like carrying a lot of extra “things!”  Hopped off bike and had no idea what to expect for the run….hmmm…

Run: 48:47 (10k)..
Holy smokes people…..my legs felt awesome as I hopped off the bike.  Now mind you, I didn’t know how the run was going to go and I grabbed my inhaler because I figured i’d try everything I could to push through!  I continued with my “timeless” knowledge, didn’t wear a watch and raced on feel…..again, best idea ever.  I didn’t need to know that I wasn’t really moving fast and to look down at my watch and feel disappointed….so, I didn’t wear anything.  Ok, so I actually FORGOT my Garmin, but whatever, glad I did! =0  I decided to just push..not to a point where I would blow up, but just push hard and if I felt bad, back off.  I put on my Saucony Fast Twitch 4’s and off I went!  First of all, these shoes are SUPER light.  Think running barefoot but with some cushion–I had been nervous to wear them because i’m used to more padding in my shoe, but they worked awesome and I swear I ran faster!! It’s my blog and I can think that if I want to!  My legs felt good so I just went with it, stopped for water a few times, sipped my EFS gel and felt awesome!  Thrilled with my run!

The very cool part about this race though..were the people on my support crew: my MOM, Dave and Soren! As you guys know, my mom had major back surgery in December and it injured part of her leg in the process, so she’s been rehabbing for months. Anyway, she was able to come out for a week to visit and she came to the race!  She was so excited to watch me race and sometimes, well, you just want to see your mom.  I loved seeing them out there-grabbing their cameras and shouting!

Crossing the finish line, I had nothing left, I felt like I did in my previous 5k and 10k races, like I had truly went as hard as I could–and I did.  I said hi to some people and finally found my little crew…and my eyes filled up with tears.  I almost didn’t race.  I didn’t think I had trained enough and I hadn’t because of our crazy recent schedule, I thought maybe I wouldn’t love racing the shorter stuff any more…..but, I did.  I raced and I had FUN and for one race, I finally stopped looking at my watch and worrying about nuances and just freaking knocked out a swim, bike, run with less analysis.

I said to my mom and Dave between tears that I had fun….I truly did….was so glad to have raced and I fell in love with triathlon all over again.  Sounds cheesy–how can one “love” a sport….when you take some time away from something that you love to do-and you find your way back…..you’ll rediscover what made you love it in the first place.  I learned that I can do a race and be satisfied with my results, even if I couldn’t train as much as I want, or it’s not a longer distance—I love triathlon and I love racing and that’s what was most important.

This season has been about learning all over again for me–learning to be patient with my progress in different sports with balancing life with a little guy.  It’s all worth it. I wouldn’t change a thing—-I consciously train less to have more time with Soren.  He’s only little once right-pretty soon he’ll be wiping off my kisses and getting on the school bus.  His time is now—-but i’m learning I can carve out some time for myself as well!

MAJOR thanks to some super super awesome sponsors:  Kestrel, Saucony, First Endurance, TriSwim products……I used ALL of you in this race and I like to think that you guys gave me some pep in my step!!  Super appreciative for all the support and honored to represent your brands!

Amanda—-thanks for believing in me and encouraging me to race —even when I wasn’t so sure I believed in myself!

Hugs to my mom, Dave and Soren—–always a shoulder and awesome shouting support!!! =0

Next up: Vineman 70.3….2 weeks…gulp!

Things like that really make you take a step back. Here’s a fit man in his 50’s that was seconds from not making it back home after a weekend of doing what he loves. We as humans and as athletes are truly blessed. Blessed that we have great families, great bodies, and an incredible country where we live free of violence, where our children can grow up without any worries and where we have an abundance of all of our needs. I don’t know why God has provided me with the blessings he has, but I am grateful that He has and I hope that I can glorify him in all that I do.

As I was enjoying the incredible morning this morning on a nice easy ride, I was praying for Uncle Ken and giving thanks for all of the beauty around me. 5:30am surrounded by beautiful scenery and the sounds of nature is just an amazing time..almost surreal and it feels like you’re taking in what most people are missing out on…like if they only knew they’d be out there joining you? Well, on my ride this morning I was also thinking about my race on Sunday, not necessarily because I wanted to, but because my legs were hurting so much I couldn’t NOT think about it! I came up with a list of things that went well and what I would change:

The good:

• The whole weekend was awesome. It was great to have the family there, the host hotel was awesome as was the venue.
• The Tri-slide that I used was awesome. I had no issues getting my wetsuit over my bony feet or wrists. No chafing either.
• My nutrition plan worked out well. No cramping, no loss of energy. The combination of the First Endurance EFS drink mix (2 full bottles, 300 cal), the Liquid Shot (400 cal) and the Clif Bar (240 cal) on the bike was perfect. On the run I wasn’t able to tolerate much, but I did get half a flask of Liquid Shot (200 cal) down as well as MANY cups of water.
• I tried to keep my effort down during the first half of the bike course and push it after the big climb around mile 30. That worked out well and I was strong for the second portion of the bike as well as the run.
• I tried to keep my heart rate and core temp down on the run. It worked out well, although I was crawling up the hills, I wasn’t walking. I was dumping two cups of water over my head at each aid station.
• I always carry two pumps and two CO2 cartridges. After changing a flat at mile 8 I was glad to know I still had one more set with me.
• I decided to race in the Saucony Tangent 4’s. With the uphills, downhills and gravel roads I was glad I had the added support. The Fasttwitch’s work great for me for 10k and below, but the Tangents gave me the support I needed. I have no foot or knee pain. (It was awesome to chat with Michael Lavato post race and hear that he has similar shoe strategies with his Saucony’s).

What I would do different (good news, there’s not much here):

• I would be more aggressive to start the swim and I would focus more on sighting early on.
• Get a post race massage.