Race Review: Black Bear Triathlon

First race of the season is done with! And unlike other years it was an awesome experience, which is very surprising considering that I feel the most out of shape this year but maybe I'm not in as bad condition as I thought...yippee for me.

Leading up to this race I have been struggling with breathing and being able to get my heart rate up while running and when cycling hard. My bike time trials have been significantly slower, like 2-minutes over an 8-mile course and running has just been dreadful. So needless to say I expected nothing to be pleasant about this course.



The Black Bear Tri is hosted by CGI Racing (http://www.cgiracing.com/) who do an amazing job of hosting an event. There were absolutely no glitches within this race and we started exactly at 8:00am. The only thing that I would have liked differently was to have mile markers on the bike course because idiot me has lost the Garmin charger and had no way of knowing where I was on the course. Black Bear takes place in the Poconos of Pennsylvania which is super hilly with lots of twists and turns on the descents. At first I thought I would totally suck on such a hilly course because I am so used to dragging behind Luke who cranks up hills. It turns out I did really well on the bike course and only had 1 woman pass me. Once I entered transition I just focused on breathing slow and easy. I did not want any chance of hyperventilating and not being able to pull it together for the run. So off I went at a nice easy trot. I kept a consistent pace and my legs felt strong. There were times when I was telling myself to pick it up but freaked out once my breathing got a little out of control. So I maintained a good pace and a good attitude. My overall time was a 2:50which sounds slow but everyone's time were way slower on this course so I was really happy with my finish. I was 7th in my age group and 21st overall female. Not bad for still feeling sluggish and out of shape.
Next race up is a sprint distance at our local pool which means a yucky indoor pool swim but this race has always been a challenge for me so I am looking forward to racing hard. I will be continuing to work at tempo running during my training so I can gain back some confidence when having to run hard.
It has been super hot in the Northeast which has made training great. I love the HEAT! That's all for now.

Swim 20.20 (3rd fastest female)
Bike 1:25
Run: 1 hour and 25 seconds
Overall time: 2hrs, 50min, 35 seconds

Coming back slowly

I have slightly recovered from my last post. The anxiety is over, confidence is coming back. Sunshine will do that for you. I went to the doctors and got an inhaler to use for when my breathing gets out of control. This past week has still been busy with lifestuff other than triathlon but I made a great effort to consistently train and get moving even if it was only for a little bit. I am slowly getting over the issue of feeling like if I don't do a huge workout my time has been wasted. My proudest moment was after spending 10 hours in a classroom this weekend I went out for a run and bike ride after each day! That is awesome for me.

My personal training workshop that I attended this past weekend with Afaa was awesome. It helped my relearn some of the things I have forgotten and motivate me to continue to branch out more in the fitness industry. I am already looking at some work exchange where you get to travel free in exchange for teaching classes.

So this weekend will be my 1st race of the year! Of course the race is rated as being totally hard so my goal is to just use it as a good training day and set a strong, steady pace. I am starting to feel excited for this season and for my big Ironman training weeks.

Slightly Freaking Out!

So the training has not been the greatest since my last post...........i have not been even close to consistent which is supposed to be the theme of my training plan this year. I have missed so many days in a row due to nasty, stupid allergies that I HATE!!!!. Once the general symptoms of allergies (itchy eyes, headache) were over I wake up in the middle of the night feeling as though I can't breathe......I am guessing that is what an asthma attack feels like. I just couldn't get good air in. For the past week, this is what I have been feeling anytime I exercise or even just walk up the hill at work. NOT GOOD! So today I am going to make a doctor's appointment to figure it out. It has not bee a good two weeks for training. But on the brighter side of things.....I got my new car, which I have been waiting for over 3 months to get and Luke and I ordered 15 baby chicks so we will have our own fresh, organic eggs to eat. I hope everyone out there is training hard so I can read your posts and get motivated!