zoomamyd

So close!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:06:00 +0000

Aghhh.

Now that *most* of the projects on my to-do list are crossed off, or just awaiting some code tidying, I set out today to get my own site up and running. This includes a complete revamping of my blog and an organized portfolio to attract future clients.

My pace this morning was vigorous. I've been through several different designs for my own site, each of which I hate a week later. This morning I came up with a new idea that I like a lot, even more than 12 hours later, so I think that's a good sign. I made a lot of headway in the early hours of the day, but now I'm hurting. I really thought I could have at least something to show for today's efforts, but none of it is going up in public yet.

Tomorrow, after a long run on the Vista Trail, I'll get back on it. I can't stand posting on this old, tired blog anymore.

Ok ok no more dawdling...time for bed.

Election Day Eve 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:24:00 +0000

This might be more exciting than any other Eve on the calendar!

I'm so tired of hearing the word 'change' from both parties, but I do think this election has changed me. It's made me more aware of issues in our country and it's also made me develop some really strong opinions about a lot of them. ...none of which I will be sharing here. Not because I lack supporting arguments, but because I'm not one to impose my opinions or beliefs on anyone else. Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion and I completely respect that. If you're especially interested in mine, send me an email and I will gladly spout forth.

All I ask is that people develop their opinions and views using solid sources and not second-hand information. Deciding who you will elect to office is no time to base a decision on what you heard in a glorified game of telephone. If you haven't voted already (and if you're in Colorado that only applies to less than 54% of the electorate) then before you cast your ballot, double check what you think you know from the candidates themselves:

http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/issues/
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

Weekend in Park City

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Jordan and I spent the better part of Halloween driving through Wyoming en route to Park City, Utah to visit our friends Taylor and Martha. Wyoming was everything I expected it to be, complete with a kid trick or treating at a gas station. Thinking about it, that kid's mom could probably drive him to every gas station in the state and he would still not receive as many treats as my friends and I did running around like maniacs in our suburban NJ neighborhood. High population density has its perks.

Our training weekends with Taylor and Martha always put the hurt on me. In March it was the somewhat accidental 6.5 hour bike ride in Moab with Martha. In July, it was a pairing of two intense rides in Aspen. And now, in October, we're in Park City where after a 6 week hiatus I've been reintroduced to my bike. Yesterday I got roped into a 3.5 hour ride with Taylor and Jordan, touring through some surrounding farmlands. It was beautiful and the roads were perfect for riding. Everything was going great until we hit the last climb (supposed to take 40 minutes, and though I didn't time it I can assure you it took me significantly longer). There was a strong headwind and I watched Taylor and Jordan slip away into little black specs far far ahead, and then they were gone completely. Eventually I reached the top and was relieved it was over. I started descending, but since there was a headwind it wasn't much of a relief at all. ...especially once I realized the climb wasn't over. Up up up. I was in pretty bad shape. My legs were shaking. I stopped to stretch for a minute and saw Jordan careening down to come fetch me. Maybe 30 minutes later we were back at the car. My legs killed! Like post-marathon killed.

The good news is that today they seem to be fine, which I attribute to some solid fajitas last night. Today we've got a longer run and a typical epic swim on the agenda.

Some pics from the ride..

We spent a few miles on a dirt road that cut through some farms.

Breakthroughs in the aquatic realm

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:33:00 +0000

I'm in my third week of swimming with Riptide and I'm already seeing some perks of swimming 25,000+ yds/week, aside from scaly skin and sweet goggle lines. Each Thursday we do a set of all-out 100s called "team goals" (sorry, hope I'm not giving away any big training secrets by writing this).

Week one: 1:12, 1:10, 1:12, 1:12, 1:12, 1:12

1:10 was a PR and I was pumped. I'd been stuck around 1:13 all summer.

Week two: 1:10, 1:10, 1:10, 1:10, 1:09, 1:08

I kept coming so close to breaking the 1:10 barrier, then finally I was through!

Week three (today): 1:09, 1:09, 1:10, 1:07

All logic tells me that I should expect to take a second off each week and then by New Years I'll be down to around :49. Sounds reasonable. I'm totally joking. When the plateau hits it won't be unexpected. That said, I'm enjoying the string of PRs while it lasts.

Veloswap - 10/25

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:27:00 +0000

Veloswap returns to the National Western Complex in Denver this Saturday. bikeBounce will be there so make sure you come visit us in booth #78. We'll be spreading the word about bikeBounce as well as selling some Sugoi cycling, running, and triathlon apparel for crazy low prices!

My Quintana Roo Tequilo will also be up for sale:

Don't put another shrimp on the barbie

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:11:00 +0000

Though incredibly tempted with amazing waves, kangaroos, and backwards-swirling toilets, I didn't accept my spot on Team USA for the 2009 Age Group World Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. After thinking it over and talking with Jordan, Sean, and my parents, I've decided to skip Worlds and make a full-blown effort to get my pro card next year. I have a long way to go and it might be a bit of a reach, but that's ok...I'm ready to work. This way, I'll be able to travel to more not-so-far-flung races where I can gain valuable experience against elite amateur fields until I can gain pro status. I'll race in Australia someday, but next year isn't the time.

Yes, I do feel like Cousin Eddy holding off for a management position when all he has to show for himself is a worm farm, but if you don't have a dream to chase, what's the point?

Save the Marmots!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:39:00 +0000

If you know me, you know that I have an uncanny affinity toward marmots. Which is why this is so alarming: Vancouver Island Marmot Faces Extinction.

Where the streets are paved with gold!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Today we're packing up and heading to the land of opportunity: Golden! It's 15 minutes up the road but the effect this will have on our commute will be huge. Gulliver will no longer have to man the shop while we go swim in the evening. Similarly, we won't have to drive an extra 30 minutes to go pick him up and bring him home. The pup can rest in the comfort of his own home while we swim.

Combine that with a beautiful mountain view, a short walk to downtown, and the sweet yeasty aroma, this is going to be awesome! =)

Photos to follow...

Some Cool Tools

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:28:00 +0000

Here are some useful sites I've been using lately:

dafont.com
When your basic fonts won't do, check out this site that has hundreds to choose from. If you looked at the Riptide Marketing Guide below, I used 'Kimberly' for the headings. Some of my other favorites include: ChopinScript, PenguinAttack, and Refuse.

blurb.com
I haven't used it yet, but this is most likely the route I'll take to print the marketing guide. Printing rates are comparable to Kinkos and infinitely cleaner and classier (no gross spirals!).

wordpress.org
Different than wordpress.com, wordpress.org is free open source that you upload straight to your own site. It's all the nasty back-end PHP code needed to run a blog in a nice package. I just got it up and running on my site (still not published) this morning, so I have to go through and customize the styles. From what I've seen so far it looks great and I'm relieved and very happy to have a solid way of getting blogs on the sites I'm designing. Over the next few weeks I'm hoping to revamp this blog and publish my site...now that I'll have a decent amount of stuff for a portfolio.

Recent Project: Riptide Multisports Marketing Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:17:00 +0000

Last month Riptide asked me to put together a marketing guide to help attract potential team sponsors. No hard copies have been printed yet, but it's viewable as a PDF here. Check it out! ..and feel free to pass it along to any company executives you know that might have an interest in sponsoring a triathlon team. =)

Next up: a new Riptide website -- debuting late next week.

Running in the Middle of the Night

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:32:00 +0000

Now that I'm back training I've been trying to wake-up at 6 every morning to get in everything that needs to be done. I've been failing miserably. Until this morning I was 0 for 3. The snooze button is just too tempting, especially when Gulliver is still snoring away.

Today I am proudly 1 for 4! Sonja met me at Lair o the Bear at 6:30 and we hit the trail while it was still dark. This is totally foreign to me, but something I might be able to get used to.

We'll see if I can keep it going tomorrow when I don't have someone meeting me, nor do I even have a morning workout. It won't be easy.

Thanks for meeting me today, Son!

A Look Back & A Look Ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:51:00 +0000

The downtime came to a close today and as I begin focusing on 2009, I thought I should take some time to write about my first year of triathlons. Mainly because I know a lot of you are in similar boats, and also because it'll be nice to look back on next year (when hopefully I've made some drastic improvements!).

I've thought of many different ways to format this post, but I think the most effective would be to pin-point the things that had a big effect on my year and how I will implement what I learned from them in 2009.

Swimming
Last August I told Jordan that I didn't want to buy the annual pass for the Lakewood rec centers because I didn't think I would swim 50 times over the course of the year to make it worth it. I was a little off. I ended up swimming quite a bit, but still not much compared to what Jordan put in. The pass (which I obviously ended up buying) was more than worth it. I joined DU Masters right after Christmas and swam with them throughout the spring. Although flip turns still take a lot of concentration, my swimming has come a long way. In 2006 I did Boulder Peak off of cross-country training, just for kicks. I swam 32:10. This year, I swam 23:10. Coming out of the water in the game is key. Swimming is the foundation that the whole race is built upon. Remember those asics ads that said, "Running makes you a better...runner." well it seems we can say the same for swimming. Which is why...

2009: Swimming, and lots of it! I'm very pumped to be training with Riptide and I know that everyday will be a complete sufferfest. I will be giving off a lovely chlorine odor all winter long, and I'm really happy about it.

The Boston Marathon
Yes, it was a ton of fun and I am very glad I did it, if for no other reason than being able to spend some time with all of my BU friends again, but it really didn't help me as a triathlete. 10k at the end of a race might have felt a bit shorter than going at it totally from my 800m background, but that's really where the benefits end. I didn't feel like I was at the the time, but I totally rushed my recovery. Even though I felt fine, deep down things weren't quite right. I raced a sprint tri on May 11, less than 3 weeks after Boston. Then 2 weeks after that my first Xterra. Then, in June I raced every single week. One stupid move after another and I felt completely spent going in to July when I wanted to race my best. Not too shocking that it didn't happen.

2009: No marathons, or even 1/2 marathons. Maybe a 5k or 10k. That's it.

Iron
I'm not talking Arnold-style, I haven't touched a dumbbell in.......let's just say well over a year. I'm talking about our good friend, Fe, and our fo, anemia. I've had chronic anemia since my freshman year of college and I've never seen my serum ferritin over 18 (normal range is 12-150, but anything under 25 is considered low for a female endurance athlete, especially one living at altitude). In the beginning of July I was down to 14. After feeling crappy in training I decided to actually take the iron supplements I had been prescribed (I hate pills). I became religious about it. Every night, 2 Ferrousols, a multi-vitamin, and a bit of OJ to wash it all down. I started it about 2 weeks before Chicago. I don't think it's by coincidence that I raced well there. For the first time in a very long time my red blood cells were carrying the amount of oxygen to my muscles they were supposed to. Granted, I cut my training back a lot at the same time, but the iron definitely helped.

2009: Obviously, continue with the supplemental iron and don't get lazy about it.

Laiiiid-back
I was an obsessive runner and made an otherwise simple sport into a complex mess by over-thinking every little thing. I got a bit better about it my senior year of college and tried to carry that mentality forward this past year. I cracked a few times on occassion, but overall think I did a pretty good job of keeping it all in perspective. It's sport. It's what I do for fun. Yea, I'd like to be good at it, but the only time I am in control of that is when I am training and racing. I approached this year as a break from track for the first time in 9 years and to thwart any burnout that might have occurred from the aforementioned 9 years and it worked like a gem. My best races this year were when I was really busy with the business and didn't think much about training or racing, I just went out and did it.

2009: I'm going to take it a bit more seriously, but my overall outlook will be the same. I'm getting more involved with graphic and web design (and yea, I know I desparately need to update this thing to reflect that). Between designing, MileHighAthletic, and bikeBounce, I'll have a good portion on my plate year-round.

Slow it down

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:03:00 +0000

It's amazing what you have time for when you're not training. Since we've been back from Las Vegas, Jordan and I have taken Gulliver on some sort of outing every night after work. Yesterday we headed up to Lair of the Bear and as we strolled down the paths we took in all of the things we don't notice when we're running or riding by. For example, beavers! Neither of us had seen a beaver in the wild, but yesterday we saw two chugging along in the creek. They are pretty hard to spot and no way would we have seen them had we been running.

Some more pics from yesterday:

Tonight will be the opposite of a tranquil hike: the VP debate!

Have you seen me?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:59:00 +0000

I'm a salsa connoisseur. A few months ago Old El Paso introduced its Fresh Mexican Style salsa and I fell in love. Smooth, yet still able to pack a punch it could go on anything from tortilla chips to pancakes. And for many months it did. ...only to go missing sometime mid-August. I've searched in Safeway, Albertson's, and King Soopers to no avail.

Old El Paso claims to still make it -- as such a new product it's still featured under their "News" page. Please let me know if you've seen it around. And don't waste my time telling me to look in Whole Foods; there's nothing organic about this stuff.

Oh and I really don't put salsa on pancakes, but if I did, I would use Old El Paso Fresh Mexican Style Smooth Chipotle Salsa.

And no, I'm not getting paid to write this.

Interbike

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:54:00 +0000

The Sunday after the race, Jordan and I ventured over to the Oregon coast to check out Cannon Beach. Really, really cool. We enjoyed the stereotypical weather of the Northwest and strolled along the beach watching the fog wrap around the massive rocks jutting from the waves. A most excellent way to kick off the off-season.

7:30 Monday morning we were on a plane heading back to Denver. After a brief sojourn we were once again on the road, this time in a Dodge Caravan heading to Vegas. Talk about living the dream...

Rolling into the City that Never Sleeps (or is that NY? I always forget..) around 4pm on Tuesday we went straight to The Sands to set up our booth. With the help of Jordan's coach, Sean, and some teamsters, we got everything in place in no time at all. We checked into our quarters in the ever classy Hooters Hotel and Casino, which at $37/night I have to say is an amazing deal. Whoa whoa whoa...before you judge me, let me first say that I, too, was like you. A bit leary of the whole thing would be an understatement. I thought I would be the only girl there. I've never even eaten at a Hooters and now I was committing to spend four nights in one. In Las Vegas. However, it was nearly the exact opposite. The female to male guest ratio was probably 5:4. And I don't mean butch "girls" that I would be scared to ride in an elevator with. Totally normal people just wanting a laid-back experience. It was a lot of fun. And the wings are amazing. I also recommend the Hooters Ale. But I digress...

Walking in to the convention center Wednesday morning was terrifying. The first display I saw was SRAM. I wanted to crawl into a corner and pretend we hadn't even attempted this. Obviously, we soldiered on, and I am more than pleased with how our booth turned out. We had our tactics to draw people in. First, there were cookies, but that lead to excess freeloading, so we switched to Halloween candy and ate the cookies ourselves. We sold our free product as best as we could, and I had some great reception.

The highlight of the show by far was the Sinclair Imports VIP party on Wednesday night (a top-notch team effort as Jordan and Cyrus snagged the tickets and I got us to the front of the line once there). It was on the roof of the Rio, and while I find Vegas to be a hideous city, it looked beautiful from up there. And at $12/drink, that's not the booze talking. We chatted it up behind the velvet ropes with the CEOs of Lazer Helmets and Ridley bikes. Sehr cool. Hopefully some pictures of that night will surface eventually, but for now all I have is pics of our booth. Enjoy!

USAT Age Group Nationals

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:12:00 +0000

I'll start at the beginning.

The weeks leading up to Portland were crazy hectic as we prepared everything for Interbike. I'm pretty sure there were days in there where I spent over 14 hours a day in front of the computer. Fortunately, despite doing everything at the last possible minute, it all came together (you'll hear more about Interbike later on). With so much going on for the business it really didn't leave me much time to think about the race, which is exactly how I like it. It wasn't until packet pick-up the day before that I really started thinking about it, and even then I was honestly more concerned with if the promo cards would be printed in time.

The course venue was beautiful, and the swim started with everyone holding onto the dock with one hand. When the horn sounded I went for it as hard as I could. My tactic of swimming the first 100m all out has worked well for me before, but here it wasn't enough. 50m into it everyone was still right there. 100m in they were still there. Eventually it thinned out, but I still wasn't up toward the front. About 1/2 way through I found my rhythm and got going. I felt good and shook off a girl who was along for a free ride and gained some ground on those ahead of me.

Out of the water in 22:53 and up the steep boat ramp to transition. Got on the bike nice and awkwardly and went out hard. I really got after it on the first lap and caught a few girls in my age group. Then on the second lap I fell apart, almost completely. My stomach was all messed up and I couldn't even think of eating a gel, my focus was lost and all I could think of was that I probably wasn't going to make it through the run. DNFing crossed my mind a few times and had a spot to Worlds not been on the line, would've sounded like a sweet option. I knew I was still doing decently enough that even if I had to stop a few times on the run I could probably still finish top-20. For the last 5 miles of the bike people passed in droves. Uh-oh.

Off the bike in 1:13:27 and out of transition with a focus on staying relaxed and trying to push the run as best I could. Two miles in I realized my stomach would hold up and I tried to push the pace. This worked on the downhills, but like usual I suffered on the ups. ...until a mile to go and I picked it up. A lot. Definitely something I need to do sooner from now on because once I get going I always feel way better and I know I can hold on, I just get scared early on (10k is still so far!). A girl came up with about 5 strides left in the race. If there's one thing I hate, it's being outkicked so I quick stepped it in, but have no idea who got the lean, though I guess I could dig up the results if I really wanted.

The run was 41:53 with my final time of 2:20:50. I finished 6th in the 20-24 age group and 47th overall. Since I move up to the 25-29 age group (!) next year my spot for Worlds was dependent on my place in that category as well, where I would've been 10th. So my goal was accomplished and next September I'll be toeing the line in Queensland, Australia! Sweet!

Real Quick

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:53:00 +0000

I just stumbled across this: Pet Treadmill. Unfortunately, it's not a joke. Fortunately, I can't see it catching on.

Anyway.

We're getting down to the wire! A week from now we'll be somewhere between Denver and Las Vegas in a sweet Dodge Caravan on our way to Interbike. Oh, right, and Thursday we're going to Portland for USAT Nationals! Lots to do, but we're getting it done. Today the last of our printed materials went off to J&R. I really can't say enough about how great they have been in helping us with all of our last minute work.

Today's big project was getting a promo postcard together for the Riptide team. They are hoping to attract sponsors at Interbike and need materials to hand out. In addition to the postcards, I'm designing a book to hand out to companies that express sincere interest.

Front:

Back:

This one took longer to make than the bikeBounce card. I messed around with a lot of pictures. I even conducted a "photoshoot" with four of the guys on Saturday at Lookout Mountain. The photos seemed to come out okay, until I got home and put them in Photoshop and realized the light wasn't too great and the resolution would be questionable when printed. Robert at J&R offered some guidance and I ended up going with a photo purchased from brightroom.com (not sure if that is allowed, please don't turn me in...though for $28 I would think I could do whatever I wanted with it) and then using a photo from Saturday for the back since I was going for a grainy effect anyway.

Interbike or bust

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:01:00 +0000

bikeBounce.com is heading to Interbike, the largest bicycle trade show on the continent, in two weeks. We decided to go about 2 weeks ago and have been working like mad to get everything together in such a short time. 2 weeks ago we had nothing. This is the first time we'll be an exhibitor at a trade show so we had to start at the very beginning.

Now we are 12 days out and things are coming together. Today we put in the order for some T-shirts and postcards I designed. J&R Marketing Tools have helped us a ton in getting our stuff together at the last minute. They are two offices down from us and really convenient and friendly. I can't wait to get all of our shirts and print materials off the presses!

The shirts will come in different colors and varieties, but the basic T looks like this:

The front of the postcard:

Recognize those legs? They belong to Jordan. I shot the picture while he was riding the trainer a few weeks ago.

Cold spell, Hot bike

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:46:00 +0000

Everyone has had his share of laughs at the Trek 1000's and/or QR Tequilo's expense. Sure, they might not be shiny and new. And yea, they are probably carrying a few extra pounds. But - they got the job done. The Trek 1000 endured 3 harsh Boston winters, carrying me through the city streets to class, the track, and on occasion, out to Walden Pond for some quiet refuge. The Roo doesn't have as much of an extensive history with me -- I'm her third owner that I know of -- but we still racked up plenty of hours together on the trainer last winter and throughout my first season of triathlons.

I'm keeping the Trek around for sloppy winter riding and if I ever really need a triple, but the QR has been replaced with this fine steed:

It was bound to happen eventually, so why not now?

I've had it for over a week now, but have only ridden it twice due to a cold I got early this week that's rendered me somewhat useless as far as training goes. Now I know what all the hubbub is about over nice components and frame design. When I click the shifter it changes gears instantly, something most of you take for granted, but not me! Luxurious! The QR required lots of adjusting and waiting and then readjusting and then maybe it would be in gear by the time I got to the top of the hill I had downshifted for.

That being said, anyone in the market for a 650c tri bike? Honestly it's a great bike for someone like me who is just starting out with tri's and still figuring out if this whole thing is for her or if she'd rather go running back to well, running.

I made fun of Jordan last week for buying a pair of Newton's since no runner would ever wear them and the whole idea is just ridiculous. Then he ever so kindly pointed out that no runner would have a bike like mine either. So yep, it's official: I'm no longer a runner, but a triathlete.

Where'd that come from?

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:29:00 +0000

I've been slacking. Chicago was over a week ago and I still haven't updated this thing. Everything has been in whirlwind mode since we got back, meaning work is busy and people are starting to buy skis in droves, which of course is a very good thing! Speaking of which, what will you be skiing on this season? It'll be here before you know it and I know this great little online shop...

Anyway... Chicago.

While Jordan got to snooze for another 4 hours or so, us amateurs (Cyrus, his friend Dan whom we stayed with, and I) were up before the crack of down, pedaling ourselves through the empty downtown streets to the transition area beside Lake Michigan. The transition area was huge, I think they said the size of 6 football fields, so I was extra attentive to where my stuff was. If I got lost in there I might never make it out!

I was in the 46th wave, leaving me with a solid 3 hours to kill after getting my stuff in to transition. Luckily, we had some connections at the Fleet Feet tent, so I just crashed there in a state of tired numbness.

When the elite amateurs went off I wandered over and took some pictures...

A couple hours later it was my turn, and after some Ludicris, Flobots, and an easy run, I was ready to go.

The swim was a total disaster. I tried to squeeze my way into the front row of my wave, but ended up in the second row, close to the wall. People were everywhere and I felt like I had been floundering around for an eternity. Picture a water park wave pool (sans waves) on a 110 degree day...that's the population density I'm talking about.

Finally! Out in the air and a white cap a few steps ahead of me (20-24 females wore white swim caps, don't mistake me and think I was trying to take down an 80 year old). I hustled to pass her on the 1/4 mile run to transition. Then, as I ran off with my bike a few minutes later I saw her ever so calmly toweling off her legs. Classic.

Out on the bike I stayed relaxed, watched the time, and kept the cadence high. I always have a problem staying focused on the bike, but somehow not today. Every time I looked at my watch my confidence grew. Instead of seeing the sub-2:30 slowly slip out of reach, it became more and more of sure bet. About 3/4 of the way through the first loop a lady passed me. She got about 50m on me, then I did something I've never done before: reeled her back in, and passed her. In my head I pleaded with her to not let me drop her...I wanted her to come back for more so I would have a reason to push harder. And she did. And again she took off. And again, I got her back. This time for good.

The first mile of the run was mostly on grass and it felt just like XC. Just like on the bike I felt light and fresh and ready to go. A sidestitch developed about a 1/2 mile in, but unlike at Boulder Peak, I was relaxed and it disappeared on its own. I tried to push myself the last 3 miles because I knew I would be close to sub-2:20, but I couldn't do it on my own and came up just shy by 10 seconds. Obviously happy nonetheless, an Olympic distance PR by over 11 minutes, and pretty much all due to my long time nemesis: The Bike.

Everything about this race was really relaxed and I've come to realize that is the key to good races. When it comes down to it nothing else matters except what's going on in your head when it's go time.

So of course right after finishing I grabbed my camera from the Fleet Feet tent and ran to catch Jordan come in off the bike. What timing we have:

I chased him around the run course, but only got some scenery:

And the fourth leg of the triathlon? Ever determined to not live up to his nickname of Old Man Jonesy, he and I managed to stay out until a not-so-respectable 10:30. We did see Wrigley Field though:

It's been awhile...

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:25:00 +0000

I still haven't written about my trip to NJ and the good times with my family, friends, and jellyfish, but that's coming. Right now I'm in Chicago and 12 hours away from the Chicago Accenture Triathlon.

We flew in from Denver last night and are staying right in the city with a friend of a friend. This is the first time I've traveled to do a triathlon and this is by far bigger than any I have done, so it's pretty exciting. There was a bit of anxiety last night during the cab ride from the airport when I was told my bike hadn't arrived at where we are staying. I called UPS (it might be a bit embarrassing, but I know the UPS number by heart since I call them often with shipping dilemmas for work). They said the box was delivered at 1:18pm that afternoon and was sitting by the door. Not a good sign, since it obviously wasn't. I figured it had most certainly walked. The cab pulled up to the address and right away Cyrus realized the address he was given was off by 10. We hunted around for a bit, and sure enough my bike was sitting at the coach house 5 houses down the street. Elation.

This morning [after an amazing breakfast of blueberry pancakes] we ran over to Lake Michigan and went for one of the nicest swims. Ever. It was amazing...I can't believe how nice it is here! The water was warm (77) and clean. And best of all: to get in we jumped off of the edge of a seawall about 6 feet above the surface.

Cycling here is a different story, and there's even more stop and go than in Boston. I'm actually fine riding in the city, but compared to driving in Denver, people here are insane. I felt like I was in Lima again last night when we to get pizza. I guess it's only taken a year to go from Bostonian to Westerner. What's the rush?

PS - Happy Birthday, Dad!

Bust a Mile

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:26:00 +0000

Triathlons are great and all, but part of me still misses running. Somehow suffering through a 10k at the end of a triathlon doesn't really cut it. Two weeks ago after running 5:44 for one of my mile repeats I decided I would hop in the Pearl Street Mile to see what I could bust out. Aside from 20x200 on the cinders last Thursday I went into today solely on tri training, where my running workouts consist mostly of 4xmile every other week.

I drove up to Boulder with Ofer who also ran the race just for kicks. Pearl Street was hopping, and after the kids, family & friends, and masters' waves went off I took to the line with the Elite Women. My starts are still sticking with me from my 800m days, and when the siren went off I bolted without a thought and found myself leading (!) the first 100m. I settled in around 250m and tried to maintain my spot in 4th place. Top 5 were awarded prize money. Went through the 1/2 somewhere around 2:37 and then started the gradual hill up to the finish. I dropped back into 7th or so, my legs wondering what was going on. I crossed in 5:32 and my lungs KILLED. For the next 15 minutes I thought I had done permanent damage. Imagine the feeling after racing indoors, but then amplify it by a magnitude of about 100. All in all not too shabby for a mile on a whim.

Boulder Peak

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:37:00 +0000

So yesterday didn't go as I had hoped, or had even expected, but that's ok. Really!

Here's the breakdown:

Swim
My best swim ever, I got out really well and swam to the first buoy like the race finished there. Only a few strokes in I realized there was only one other girl around me and another that was coming in from the right. It was a weird, unexpected feeling especially because I couldn't see the second buoy due to the rising sun and there was no pack to follow! I saw some stragglers from the wave before me and followed a trail of bobbing heads to the second buoy. I kept the pace up, swimming about 20 ft to the side of another girl in my wave. I didn't want to get on her feet because we were swimming different lines and I was more confident in the one I had chosen. The swim seemed never ending and I was really knackered from about 3/4 on. Finally the hands started hit sand, I stood up and looked down: 22! Hot damn, where did that come from?! I crossed the mat in 23:10, tying for second fastest time in 20-24...the fastest was 23:09. Lately I've been really trying to stick with Jordan and some of the other Riptide guys in practice and it's apparently paying off.

Bike
Got on the bike thinking that this is going to be an amazing day. Suffered up the steep part of Old Stage and then started passing back people on the gradual incline and second hill. Then the sweet, sweet descent. I passed more people in Left-hand canyon and felt good going out onto 36. I kept track of my time and knew that a sub-2:30 would be in the cards easily if I got in by 1:40. I gradually realized that 1:45 was more likely. I came in in 1:46.

Run
It's ok though, I'm a runner -- I can pull off a sub-44 10k no problemo! Not a half mile in I got a wicked side stitch. I squeezed the hell out of it and slowed to a shuffle. My first mile was over 8 minutes. There was no other choice: I sat down and stretched it out. Got up, and voila! Gone! Now I could get to work. Not so fast. The rest of the run was a sufferfest with a few "No no I can turn this around!" thrown in for good measure. I finished the 10k in 46 something. Ugghh

There wasn't much time to lament my disappointing race, as shortly after finishing I made my way to the bike-in to wait for Jordan. As he came tearing in off the bike in 11th place all thoughts of my race vanished and I ran to cheer for him on the 3-loop run course. He had his best tri of his life and finished in 8th place in a really competitive field.

On a day when I wasn't able to race as well as I would've liked, nothing was better than seeing Jordan succeed. He's had his fair share of disappointing races (see: Boulder Peak last year) and mechanical issues, but none of that mattered yesterday. That's the cool thing about racing, sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down, but you can't let either affect you much in any direction and Jordan does a better job at that than anyone else I know. Yea, it's a bummer to finish 10 minutes behind where you would've liked to, or to get a flat, but those days happen. When they do, you have to fix what you can, stay confident in your training, and eventually, maybe not the next race, or the race after that, or even the race after that, you'll pull it all together and none of the disappointing races will matter.

I'll chalk this race up under the big umbrella that is "learning experiences". Among the lessons learned today is that you can't fake focus nor nutrition for a race this long. Obviously my cycling can stand improvement, but my biggest problem in races is forgetting it's a race and letting my mind wander. On the nutritional front, a sidestitch really shouldn't happen. I wasn't smart about what I ate the day before the race and I didn't really watch what was going in me during the race (too much G-rade at the end of the bike). Don't eat Harribo Raspberries for lunch the day before a race, no matter how delicious they are.

der Besuch von Theresa

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:05:00 +0000

My roommate from my senior year at BU and one of my best friends, Theresa, has been traveling around the Western US since graduating in May. I was really pumped that she was able to spend some time in Denver before she returns home to Crailsheim, Germany for good on July 17th. It was a busy week, lots of hiking and driving, and one of the biggest weeks of training I've ever had. Fortunately Theresa is far from the sedentary type (she's run a 4:30 1500m), so it all worked out fine. We got in several bike rides together and I think now Theresa is hooked =)

Our first stop was to The Incline in Manitou Springs. I'd read an article in the Post about it a month or two ago and was lured by the tales of Apolo Ohno. What the article failed to mention is that The Incline is actually on private property and is technically illegal to climb. It passes through 3 separate properties. The lady at the visitor's center hesitated to give us directions there (although it's not exactly hard to figure out..you can see it from anywhere in town). So many people do it though that you won't get arrested for trespassing, but if you get hurt it's all on you.

The 1.5 mile former cog-railway took us a blazing 50 minutes to climb. People can do it in under 20. I can't see myself ever attempting it again, and if I do it will be at the same pedestrian pace.

Friday we were ready for hike #2, and headed out early to Mt. Yale. I had been up toward Mt. Yale before (once on a run from the Denny Creek TH to Mollie's camp in Buena Vista, and a second time trying to summit but turning back pretty early b/c of an ominous sky and tuckered legs..it was the day after my only tri last year), but had no idea that the climb got so steep toward the top. Steepness is fine going up, but coming down it is entirely unpleasant. Gulliver impressed the other hikers though, and aside from a few marmot-chasing incidents, stayed right with us off-leash. We were within 20m of the summit when Gull started crying -- he couldn't get past some big rocks and was stranded (the top of Yale is all big rocks). We turned back and I started our painful decent. Despite an evening shake-out run, the next day my legs felt the same as they had after Boston. I could barely walk down the stairs. Not good.

Sore legs go away though, and it was worth it without question =)

Can't wait to head to Crailsheim next summer for their annual triathlon!

"I'm talking about a little place called Asssspen"

noreply@blogger.com (Amy) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:22:00 +0000

Jordan and I motored up to Aspen on Thursday afternoon for a weekend of training, dining, and even a bit of relaxation. We met up with our friends Taylor and Martha who had driven from Park City and their friend, Doug, who had arrived at 8000 feet straight from Florida. We all stayed in a condo right on the mountain in Snowmass -- very sweet.

After 4 pretty mellow days of training I was ready to put the hammer down again and I got to work this weekend. Friday we rode up to Maroon Bells and I worked hard to stick with Jordan and Taylor for as much of the climb as possible. They chatted leisurely as I worked like mad until the gradual climb turned steep and in a matter of seconds they were 200m ahead.

Maroon Bells is beautiful, but just as cool is the Marmot X-ing sign:

Saturday Martha, Taylor, Doug, and I rode up along the Frying Pan River. I worked it hard again, riding paceline with Taylor and Doug for a while before hitting the hurt at the start of the steeper climb up to the res. Again, more amazing views.

Jordan and I were able to get a swim in at the Aspen Rec Center on Saturday night. I thought swimming up at that altitude would be torture, but it actually felt fine. Lowered my 200 yd PB to 2:37 -- can't complain about that..I don't think I broke 3:00 until February or so.