Memorial Day weekend.....

Memorial Day, officially launches the summer for most. The Montauk Triathlon launches summer for the Northeast triathlon community. At the Montauk Triathlon, the elite wave is set by the first 50 athletes from the previous year. Twinlab-Full Throttle Endurance Racing has 20 of the 50 slots for the 2010 race in 2 weeks. Bill Kelly and Allison Lind are the defending individual champions, both are a part of the Triathlon machine called "Full Throttle Endurance Racing".

With all of that being said, this is the most humble group of athletes I've ever been around.
Humility from the top down, including Doug Clark, the reigning USA Triathlon Masters Champion 2 years in a row and "Triathlete of the Year" to Jesse Du Bey, one of the Team Captains, who has only won the Overall title in the first three races in 2010. The South Beach triathlon, St.Croix 70.3 Amateur Champion and the Harryman Olympic. By the way, both went sub 9;30 at the Kona IM last year, Doug winning his division. The ladies do their part as well, Allison Lind also won the Overall at the South Beach Triathlon and qualified for Kona 2010 at St. Croix 70.3. New comer Stacy Creamer only wins her division at every race and set a new age-group record at Alcatraz....by 8 minutes.

It is the passion and humility of this TEAM, that makes me the most proud. Have work ethic and always finish with class and dignity.....the accolades will come.

Montauk is only 2 weeks away today......Here we come, Again ;) shhhhh

Worth the Wait

There's nothing like the response I get from civilians (aka: non-triathletes) when I tell them what time I get up to train. Without fail, they immediately spit my answer back at me out of sheer disbelief, "4:30 in the MORNING?!" Following my autopilot confirmation, they mentally categorize me under types of people they cannot identify with, alongside the likes of schizophrenics, the opposite gender, Communists, cat hoarders and the over-medicated to name a few. Feels great. Training is like anything else for which you develop a passion: you make room for it in your life. I don’t wake up singing The Sound of Music, but it only takes a couple of weeks for your body to adjust to 4:30 a.m. wake-up calls.

On that note, there are days when the alarm BEEPING makes me second-guess whether or not the civilians are right about me belonging to a group of crazies. The more seasoned you are as an athlete, the better you get at knowing when to push through the occasional sluggish morning or when to rest because your body is over trained. Let’s put it this way--I’m still learning. Case in point was last Monday...the pillow impressions on my face were reminiscent of a French Bulldog because I woke up in the same position I laid my head down to rest the night before. But hey, it’s nothing a 3000-yard swim can’t iron out. So I squeezed on a swim cap, which actually pulled my face back to normal for me to wear goggles and I flopped into the pool. My body wasn’t having it. It was quite like when a computer freezes...everything you need to function is in front of you but entirely inaccessible and all you see is that little ANNOYING hourglass icon turning over and over again indicating the need for more time to process. As Scott says, “I had nothin’” so I held onto the end of the line and ultimately skipped 50 yards for every 200 my fellow (albeit rested) athletes completed.

The BEEPING didn’t sound any better the next day, but I went to the group spin nonetheless (I catch on quick). It’s easier to push through a spin class than it is in the pool, but my heart rate hovered around 10 beats higher than it usually does, further proving the point that I needed some zzz's. By Wednesday morning, I finally opted for rest and sanity--12 glorious hours of sleep in one night and an extra day off that week. By giving my system enough time to process the training, I'm able function forward. And the only time I have to consider is how to beat the 16 minutes and 21 seconds it took me to complete a loop around Central Park during last Thursday's cycling time trial...must hit sub 16!

I love this team--let me count the ways

It's been a long time since I've blogged so let me jump back in with three reasons I love this team:

Reason #1. I was riding with group 1 in Central Park last Thursday. After a few laps in a two-by-two paceline, we pulled off in the 102nd Street Transverse to wait for the rest of the team. While we were waiting, a passing cyclist told us that we had a man down near the 72nd Street Transverse. There wasn't even a discussion: our group immediately headed south to see if there was anything we could do to help. Poor Scott was already in the ambulance by the time we got there, but I really appreciated the way our priority instantly became getting to him as quickly as we possibly could.

Reason #2. Later that same morning, I was finishing a "kumbaya" lap with Tom and Kevin. Coming up the big northern hill, I saw a guy pedaling with only one foot. His other foot was dangling by his crank. Then I noticed the guy was wearing Full Throttle bike shorts. It was Wyeth!

"Hey, Wyeth," I said, "you totally rock."

"It's a great workout," he responded. "You build strength and learn to have no dead spots. I'm doing another lap for my other leg. Wanna come?"

I passed, but only because I was racing a 10K in two days. I just love that he was doing this hard, extra training and that he immediately invited me to join him.

Reason #3. I knew it would happen eventually: I would forget to pack some critical item in preparing to head to Chelsea Piers for one of our morning sessions. I think I secretly hoped that if I did, the forgotten item would be something work-related. But, no, this particular day I neglected to pack my running shoes. I only realized it when I came back from the pool to change. I knew I had a pair of running shoes in my office. Did I have time to get there and go for a quick run? I was making this mental calculation as I started changing into my work clothes.

"You're not running this morning?" asked Kyla.

I explained that I'd forgotten my running shoes.

"What size are you?" she asked.

I told her and she instantly offered me her shoes. They were a perfect fit!

I already knew my FTE teammates have my back, but I hardly expected them to have my shoe size, too. Thanks, again, Kyla. There's an extra 10K in me that wouldn't be there if it weren't for you.

Meet Jessica Rabbit

I know what you're thinking...cartoon hottie with a RIDUNKULOUSLY hot body in a red sassifrass dress that made Roger's eyes bulge out of his head when she slowwwly waltzed by him? Yeah, not where I'm going with this.

Please note: I got a SLAMMING new bike (Tags: McQueen, Jamis Team, built for Jess).

For the past few bike rides, Scott picked a couple-a suckers from the group as designated "rabbits" (aka: lures for the team to chase). I happen to be one of them. We all take turns on the lead, totaling 3 races in a row. Looking back on the morning, I can calmly comprehend the fact that it makes the "rabbit" stronger by trying to hold off the pack and forces the team to work together to hunt down the rabbit. But when I was in the moment? Here's how it went down in Jessica Rabbit's head: all of my teammates lined up like freshly-branded bulls while I had 5 seconds to get away. Scott opened the gates and unleashed those animals on me. AND NOW I'M A RED RABBIT. And those bulls see nothing else in front of them but my red tush. I pedaled out of the fear of God instilled in me at that point. Half-way up Harlem Hill, MY eyes were bulging out of MY head--pushed my legs as hard as possible to avoid getting pierced by defeat at the finish line.

I felt the hot air streaming from someone's nostrils behind me, so I glanced back and therrrrrre shheee waaas--RIGHT on my wheel just WAITing to make her move. AAHHH--My legs wouldn't move any faster! As I neared the final bend before the finish line, Maria jumped out of saddle and took the crown (insert a few silly curse words here).

By the time I got home, I was entirely depleted of adrenaline and my legs felt like they were filled with bags of steam. What's a girl to do? I promptly spread out on my back on my living room floor (full cycling uniform on and helmet impressions still visible) and did not move for roughly 45 minutes while my brain caught up with what just happened.

It's time to grab the bull by the horns and work hill repeats...