Forecast Update!

Still looks great...few degrees warmer.  Stay tuned for more updates!

Just a quick note...we got our wetsuits yesterday!  Joleen and I struggled for a good 15 minutes trying to put these suckers on! 

But man, my TNT coaches were right, these babies are awesome!  After I got over the initial choking feeling aroud my neck, I felt like I was a seal flying through the water!

Have a great week everyone! More updates to come!



REDMAN FORECAST!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...every dollar counts! Just click here!

Hello, friends! For those of you traveling from out of state, Oklahoma weather is notorious for extremes.  I came here to work as a meteorologist at KFOR-TV for this reason.  I'm pretty sure plenty of people have been praying for nice weather and CALM WINDS, including me and my Grandma and Papa.  It must have worked because the forecast looks fantastic!  However, I will give the standard disclaimer that this will be updated.  Winds will be the most challenging to forecast this far out.  However, right now they seem to be rather light. 

Without further adieu...drum roll please...HERE IS YOUR REDMAN FORECAST! 

Please check in periodically for new updates and of course, you can check out the latest radar imagery, temperatures, and videocasts at http://www.4warn.com/!

Okay, for those of you new to the site, here is a brief overview.  I am a TRI newbie, introduced to the sport through Team In Training.  I've been a swimmer my whole life so I thought I'd have a small advantage over other newbies.  I also have a few friends that have participated in endurance events through Team in Training and I thought it sounded like a great cause.  It's been a long 5 months of training but I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.  I've met so many great people, joined several new communities, and have made new friends along the way.  I've especially been touched by the families impacted by Leukemia or Lymphoma and use those stories as fuel to cross the finish line on Saturday.  This blog is about the entire journey and several new milestones along the way.  Please feel free to skim over old entries and check in from time to time!

Moving on...

So as I was writing "6 days" earlier...I had a mini freak out.  6 DAYS! AHHHHH! I can't believe race day is almost here!  I am excited and nervous all at the same time.  I am also very excited to carb load.  I've mentioned "eating baguettes" so many times to my TNT teammates this past week that they could have made a drinking game out of it.  I may purchase my first baguette tonight.  We will see.

Cold & Rain? What Is This?

Nerd Alert! Don't even care..it's cold!

After the hottest summer on record, highs in the 50's came as a shock to many Oklahomans this past Thursday and Friday.  That probably explains why I was one of the only people venturing out to Lake Hefner Thursday afternoon.  I thought, "I am a Chicagoan, the cold will feel great!"  All I can say is one loop around the Lake was enough for me.  I was cold, wet, and had a runny nose.  I think this summer made me thin blooded!  Brr!

Last Saturday Morning Training

Wah wahhhhh

It's bittersweet thinking Saturday was our last TNT early morning training.  Joleen says the 40 mile training rides will not be missed (hence the picture above).  As much as I dislike getting up at 6 or 7am on Saturdays, I do enjoy meeting up with friends and getting a big work out in before I go to work. 

We started at the Braums on Memorial and MacArthur at 7:15 am and rode about 40 miles.  It went well until we had to ride back South straight into 15-20 mph winds.  My speed dropped to about 10 mph.  It was pretty sad!  Like I said, WIND is my main concern for race day.  So far it looks good...but I do not want to jinx anything!

Looking at the week ahead, we have our last team swim practice Monday where we will test out the wetsuits.  I'm sure I will have an entry telling you all about it!  Thanks for checking in and thanks for the support!  Have a great week!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...every dollar counts! Just click here!

Longest RUN ever & OBS Streak

Hello, friends! I can't believe race day is less than 2 weeks away! HOLY COW!

First of all, I'd like to say CONGRATS to all of my Team in Training team mates that just finished the Nation's Triathlon benefitting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  The event is an Olympic-distance triathlon held in Washington D.C.  This year the event coincided with the 10th anniversary of the September 11th tragedy.  Rumor has it that the swim portion was cancelled at the last minute due to a strong current in the Potomac River from several recent rounds of heavy rainfall.  I suppose this was good news to many triathletes...however, I know a few of our team members have been spending lots of training in the pool or lake in prep for the swim portion.  I would be bummed!  I will be excited to hear about how it went!

Run, Emily, Run!

Last Sunday I achieved a new milestone in my least favorite of the three: running.  I ran about 17 miles around Lake Hefner.  It took a little over 3 hours.  I was doing the "grandma shuffle" for the last 2 miles.  I met an old man named Dick and he helped me get through the rest of the run.  After talking for a bit, he told me how he did a full Ironman at the Redman 4 years ago.  He said he did all of his training at the YMCA and tried open water swimming only 2 days before the race!  He finished though, in 19 hours!  I don't know if this is inspiring or insulting?  He was a nice guy, regardless.

So why did I run 17 miles?  It was more of a mental thing than anything else.  I still can't comprehend how I'm going to run a half marathon after all the swimming and cycling...so I decided to tack on an extra 4 miles.  This will help me mentally during the half Ironman knowing I can push myself to new limits.  This also let me know that I have no desire to run a marathon.  I thought my knees were going to fall off!

Apparently Falling Isn't Just For 70 Year Olds

Okay, I'll keep this short and sweet.  Last Tuesday I walked briskly towards the news studio on straight up bit-it.  I mean, I just wiped out and before I knew it I was on the floor. Embarrassing! Unfortunately, I landed right on my already sore knees from the long run mentioned earlier. I hobbled away and a few co-workers helped me out by bringing me ice.  No matter what, the show must go on!  As much as it hurt, I got through the noon newscast and then headed to Urgent Care. 

I could walk so I knew it wasn't terribly serious but it was hard to walk up and down stairs.  I was quite upset.  Not so much about the pain but about the potential for this freak fall to mess up 4 months of training during the hottest summer on record!  Thank God the X-Rays came out okay and I just had to ice my knees for the rest of the day, take anti-inflammatory medicine, and not run for a week.  Whew!  So I had several swims and a few short bike rides since then...

OBS Streak!

As you may have read in past posts, I am a huge fan of the Oklahoma Bicycle Society, or OBS.  They basically took me under their wing and taught me how to work my bike and about group ride etiquette.  So I thought it would be nice to support the group by participating in my first sponsored group ride!  My TNT buddy, Janna, is a huge fan of the sponsored rides, so I thought I'd give it a spin! (Pun intended).  You could choose between several distances.  I chose 40 miles. The main downside, like most rides/races, I had to get up at 6am! Yuck!  It was actually chilly in the morning with lows in the mid-upper 50s!

I met up with Janna and we stayed together through most of the ride.  We took this opportunity to practice race day nutrition.  I tried a new protein bar before the race by Luna.  It was tasty except for the fake minty taste.  I like the texture though so I will just try another flavor next time.  Janna gave me another type of gummies.  I did not have tape to place it on my bike so we creatively used a rubber band to hold it.  During the race I ripped it open with my teeth and stored the rest in my sports bra.  Not the most conventional method, but it stayed put!

I started out unnecessarily fast.  Competitive Emily comes out during group events.  I will have to be aware of this on race day so I don't  burn out early.  I was passing people left and right at the beginning of the ride, going about 22-25 mph!  Then the hills kicked in.  That slowed me down a bit.  I had to stop when my chain suddenly came off.  In typical OBS politeness, several people asked if I needed help and I was quickly fixed and back on the course.

Janna and I decided to stop at the second rest stop around mile 25 or 30.  They had homemade cookies!  Yum! I may or MAY have stashed a few in my bike bag for later.

My right knee started hurting in the last 5 miles or so.  I think this just verifies the previous thought that I need to take it down a few notches when starting out.

After crossing the finish line, Janna and I ran for 5 miles.  She has a sweet sweat visor.  I really want one for running.  It's very functional because sunglasses are annoying while running and the visors keep the sun out of your eyes and sweat off of your face!  Thankfully she wore a fuel belt, so we had drinks along the way.  I tried GU but I did not like it again.  It's kind of how I feel about eating shrimp.  I can have a bite but I don't prefer it and would never order it.  It's a lot easier to tack on miles with a training buddy.  I still am not sure how I will be able to do 13.1 miles.  I was ready to stop at 5 miles.  I guess I am just banking on adrenaline, familiar faces in the crowd cheering me on, and the drive to cross the finish line.

ONLY 12 MORE DAYS! Stay tuned....and have a great week!

Longest Ride EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...every dollar counts! Just click here!

Hello, friends!  We did it! Joleen and I actually got our butts out of bed Friday morning and conquered the race course (plus a few extra miles).

I will not go into full detail but here are highlights of the course:
1.  There are definitely some rough patches of road.  At times I felt like I was mountain biking. Miraculously, MJ did NOT get a flat?!  Neither did Joleen's bike, Newspaper.
2.  We ride a LONG time north on MacArthur.  I thought we rode to Kansas.  Turns out it was only 12 miles or so...
3.  Next, we ride a LONG time west on Waterloo Road.  I thought we drove to Clinton, OK.  Turns out it was only another 14 miles or so.  For some reason this stretch was a bit more enjoyable.  It's rural out this direction, less cars, farm animals, and nice scenery. 

We did ride past tornado damage from the Piedmont tornado.  Wow.  I have not seen this in person yet.  I really feel for everyone impacted by the powerful May 24th tornadoes.  There are still piles of debris and completely damaged houses.  I think a few people are straight up building a new house next door.  My thoughts are with them.  I think this will be striking for competitors visiting Oklahoma.

Damage from Piedmont tornado on May 24, 2011...not necessarily along Waterloo Road

4.  Thank GOD they will have water stops.  I ran out of water on the way back and with no where to stop, it was miserable!  Finally, I stalked a landscaper in a neighborhood off of Council Road for water.  He was very kind.
5.  Council Road has the bumpiest/roughest stretch of road by far.
6.  Hills are not bad.  There is an intimidating hill on Council road right before the Turnpike.  I just kept my cadence high and my resistance low and it went okay!
7.  There is a 7-11 on Council Rd and 122nd.  At mile 50 with empty water bottles and climbing temperatures, this was my savior.  Literally, I said out loud "I see the light!"  Joleen said she said "Seven fricking Eleven!"  Best tasting Gatorade I ever had in my life. (For real, raspberry melon is pretty good.  Then again, I would have drank blue green algae water at that point.)
8.  There is a small road we are supposed to turn on before the CVS on the corner of Council and Northwest Expressway.  Joleen and I did not recognize this until after we carried, yes *carried*, our bikes through the grassway between CVS and Britton road.  I was NOT about to get a thorn in my tire at mile 54!  Note to self, turn onto small road BEFORE CVS.  LOL.  Of course, on race day, it will be marked.
9. Traffic is scary, but again, on race day we will have traffic cops.  That will be nice!


Other highlights:
1.  I tried to put a Vitamin Water in the back pocket of my TNT jersey.  I found out it only holds for 10 miles.  A big bump sent it flying.  I mourned the loss for 2 miles then moved on.
2.  Immediately after the Vitamin Water incident, a very small black dog came running out of the front yard of a house along MacArthur.  Joleen flipped out, passed me and started sprinting.  I have never seen her cycle that fast!  I think I will have to sick a small dog on her for the Redman.

3.  Finally, being the classy gal I am, I flipped the bird at a big white pick up truck.  I am not proud of this, but let me explain.  As mentioned above, Council Road is a bit tricky.  It's very rough terrain so it's hard to stay on the right side of the road.  I couldn't get completely over and I guess there was an angry gas-guzzler behind me.  He honked at me and in my dehydrated cranky state of mind, I flipped him the bird.  It serves him right! Have respect for cyclists! I'm doing this for charity, man!

I tried "Honey Stinger Energy Chews" in cherry.  Basically they were fruit snacks/gummies and I will definitely use these on race day! Delish!  I also ate peanut butter crackers.  I've decided that the goo or gels do not work for me.  Gross! 

Team Jo & Em Fundraiser #3: Icing on the Cake!

Thanks for the free appetizers and gift certificate donation, Stella!

Charity Contributors!

We hosted our third fundraiser last Tuesday night at Stella in Oklahoma City.  Steve Blevins of Dallas, Texas basically coordinated the whole thing and Joleen and I showed up and smiled.  Thank you SO MUCH to Steve Blevins, Stella, and all the donors involved.  Although we did not have a stellar turn out at Stella, we managed to raise $695!

We have now surpassed our goal of $5,000!  Thank you to everyone who has supported our journey along the way!  Every dollar goes to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...so please keep donating!  We will accept donations up until race day...which is only 21 days away! AHHHHHHHH!

Thanks for reading and come back for more!  It's going to get intense these next couple of weeks!

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...every dollar counts! Just click here!

4-1-1 on the Redman Course

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...my goal is $5,000 and every dollar counts! Just click here!
Hello, friends! I know, I know, I've left you hanging for awhile.  I was in Colorado for one of my sorority sister's (and former roommate!) wedding.  It was beautiful!

It's always challenging to fit a work out in on vacation but I did go for a 4 mile hike with the bridal party (pictured above) and a solo one-hour run.  I also did a short run the morning after the wedding (hardcore!) All I can say is, I know why most professional triathletes move to the Colorado Rockies!  The altitude whoops your butt!  I thought I was just making things up in my mind when I started having shortness of breath running uphill...that is, until I started getting dizzy!  Unfortunately, it does not burn any additional calories, it only acts as a drag.  I guess the theory is when you come down to flat land for races, you have full oxygen and perform a lot better!

God's beauty is amazing!

REDMAN Race Course

So I finally checked out the Redman bike course.  I heard it was posted online not too long ago.  Drum roll...

http://www.redmantriathlon.com/Portals/0/docs/Bike_2011_062811.pdf
Whoop! There it is!  For some reason I could not get this as a pic...but just click on the link for the pdf map of the course.  Joleen and I are going to try it tomorrow morning...or I should say, we are striving to ride the course tomorrow morning.  I just think we'll feel a lot more comfortable getting to know the course instead of letting it be a surprise race day.  The only thing I don't like is how we loop around the same roads.  This may make me painfully aware of how much further I have to go.  Or perhaps...it can help me gauge how much further I have to go?  I guess we will see!

If we get sick in the bike or run portion...this is why.

http://www.redmantriathlon.com/Portals/0/Lake%20Hefner%20Run_Swim%202010.pdf
Here is the swim course.  I wish we were swimming clockwise instead of counterclockwise.  I breathe to my ride side, so clockwise is more favorable in terms of spotting buoys. 

The run is included on the map as well.  For anyone familiar with Lake Hefner, it looks like the focal point of this race is near the parking lot accessed from Hefner Road.  The run seems rather straight forward, from the fore-mentioned parking lot to the ball park and back...twice.  Once again, I do not enjoy the loop concept because I will be painfully aware of the distance I need to go and have to pass the finish line the first time around.

Other Musings From the Redman Web Site

Swim to Bike Transition: 
After exiting the swim, you have the option to have your wet suit stripped. Following the wet suit strip, proceed through swim exit. Full distance athletes then proceed to the change tents. Athletes may dress for the bike portion of the race in the tents or at their rack! We do strongly urge you to consider the impact your changing may have on traffic through the bike lanes. This suggestion is for your safety as well as our race staff. NO PUBLIC NUDITY ALLOWED! Personal nutrients are permitted if carried on your person, in a front pack or in your gear bag. Sunscreen will be available in the changing tents.


So no getting naked! Wasn't planning on it...


7. Bike Repair: Each athlete will be INDIVIDUALLY RESPONSIBLE for any repairs or maintenance of your bike. Each athlete should be prepared to handle the repair needs or mechanical breakdown of your bike. Technical vans/roving bike support will be on the course to assist with emergency repairs whenever possible, such as replacement of tubes, tires, chains, etc. Technical vans will roam the course throughout the day, but are limited in number. Be prepared! If you require medical assistance, medical vans will pick you up and take you back to the medical tent, where you will receive treatment. If you have a technical problem or have bonked then the medical vans and technical vans will only take you to the next aid station. The Sag vehicles can take you back to the transition area if you still require it. We will not leave any athlete stranded on the road. We will have radios to contact ambulances and medical assistance. If you have a problem, please go to an aid station for further help.


Bonked? What does that mean?  All of my flats may serve me well in the field...at least I will know how to fix it!


And as if we didn't have enough to worry about...

SEVERE HYPONATREMIA IN ULTRA ENDURANCE ATHLETES:

CAUSES, PREVENTION AND EARLY DETECTION:There have been many athletes with symptomatic hyponatremia (low blood sodium concentration).

Severe hyponatremia is rare but a life-threatening complication of ultra endurance athletic events.

WHAT IS HYPONATREMIA?To remain healthy, the body requires the concentration of sodium to be regulated within a very narrow range. The body achieves this through the kidneys, which are able to adjust the concentration of sodium in the blood by varying the amount of water released from the body. To do this, when deprived of water, the body secretes a hormone called anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) which instructs the kidneys to conserve water. On the other hand, when an excess of water has been ingested, ADH secretion is shut off, allowing the kidneys to release the extra water. ADH may be secreted in amounts that are inappropriate to the body’s needs for water conservation. For example, some vomiting and nausea and severe pain can cause ADH to be released beyond the body’s normal needs, resulting in abnormal water retention and lowing of the serum sodium concentration. Mild hyponatremia may cause no symptoms, or may be associated with headache and mild confusion. As serum sodium concentration fails, headaches may be become more severe, and confusion more obvious, to the point of disorientation with unusual and inappropriate behavior.

In severe cases, severe hyponatremia can lead to collapse, convulsions, and rarely death.

For More Info, Click HERE

The good news is that we will get to practice swimming both Thursday and Friday morning before the race from 7-9am.  I will definitely take advantage of this.

This is NOT a picture of Lake Hefner.  This is a picture of Lake Arcadia.  Our past 3 TNT swim practices have been in open water.  I love swimming in open water.  It's very peaceful and I feel like time flies faster when you're not looking at a lane line or doing flip turns.

The race starts at 7:15 a.m. Saturday, September 24th.  I can't believe it's only 23 days away! AH!

Wetsuits! Weather’s typically very warm all summer, but each of the last three years we have been wetsuit legal, so we’ll plan on it again in 11'. But this is Oklahoma, so you never know!


Since it's now officially the hottest summer on record in OKC (hardcore training!), I'm wondering if the race will truly be "wetsuit legal."  Other triathletes swear by wetsuits and say it adds bouyancy, but I think I'd rather not wear one.  Oh well, if they deem the water too cold and make it "wet suit legal," that means you have to wear a wet suit or you will be disqualified.  ***CORRECTION *** Wet suit legal means you CAN wear a wet suit.  If it is not "wet suit legal" then you are not allowed to wear a wet suit or your time won't be official. *** Thanks Coach Megan for the correction!


And finally, here is the "weather" section on the web site:

In many ways, Fall is Oklahoma's most attractive season. Autumn features mild days, cool nights and plenty of sunshine. The cool spells, which herald the approach of winter, are normally not seen until after mid-October. The brief periods of cool weather are frequently followed by extended periods of mild, dry weather. Fall leaves in the wooded regions of the state put on a breathtaking display of color. For the weekend of REDMAN: Sunrise Sunset Avg. High Avg. Low Water Temp 7:19 AM 7:26 PM 81°F 59°F 77°F Will Rogers once quipped, "If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, wait a minute and it'll change." I believe the record for the day is 92 degrees.  The way this summer has been going so far, it would not be out of the question to have a new record high.  This would be unsafe for many athletes, however, I have been training in 100 degree + heat, so I think I could do it!  My biggest concern is the wind.  I pray it will not be incredibly windy.  That would make the swim choppy, the bike much more tiring, and fly particles in my eyeballs during the run.  I will start praying now! Okay, friends!  This is enough for today!  Joleen and I had a fundraiser Tuesday night!  It went really well!  I will have details in an entry soon... Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...my goal is $5,000 and every dollar counts! Just click here!

Arcadia Triathlon Results!

FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Emily Sutton             26 Oklahoma City OK        

Total Time: 1:18:15   

Swim Time: 10:16   

Transition 1:  1:01   

Bike Time:  41:30    

Transition 2: 0:44   

5K Time: 24:46            

I am happy with this! If I continue to pursue sprint tri's, I'm going to have to work on my 

transition times! I don't think I've ever run that fast before! WOW!

57 Mile Haul, Watermelons, & Arcadia Tri

Thank you for all of your donations so far!  Please donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society...my goal is $5,000 and every dollar counts! Just click here!

Hello, friends!  First off, let me apologize for the lack of blogging.  I have been working A LOT lately. Both our morning and Chief meteorologists took off for 2 weeks at the same time!

The storm reports from Monday, August 8th show what this past week was like!  We had a wind gust of 96 mph reported in Lahoma! Wow!  The heat dome moved away and BOOM! We had Northwest flow aloft and storms rolled through.  Another wind event slammed central Oklahoma Tuesday night, particularly Edmond.  I also stayed up Friday night through 2 in the morning Saturday tracking storms at the station.  I think our coverage went well but I was wiped!  

We're Going How Far?!

So let's rewind back to last Saturday, August 6.  As you've likely read before, our Team in Training workouts are usually on Saturday morning and swim practice is on Monday.  Two Saturday's ago I met up at Lake Hefner at 8 in the morning expected a 30 or maybe 40 mile ride.  In typical Emily fashion, I showed up a few minutes late and scrambled to set up Michael Jackson (the name of my bike because it's Black and White!).

Michael Jackson was bad, was bad, you know it! (haha)  Seriously, I started out with a back flat tire which is the worst one to have due to dealing with the gears!  I fixed it and we prepared to head out.  Right before I clipped in, Coach Megan explained our route to Okarche.

*Scratch* OKARCHE?!!!!!!

Remember this picture from a former post?  Yes, only a few weeks prior my parents and I DROVE about 30 minutes to Okarche for fried chicken.  How ironic I was riding my bike there to not eat fried chicken but train for a triathlon!  I guess I did not know what I was getting into!

  

About 45 minutes in, I get another flat.  Coach Jill Hull thankfully stopped to help me out and change it. I tried to not get upset but Michael Jackson's obsession with flats was killing me!  I realized something was wrong with my gears.  It was taking 10 seconds before switching to another gear, which is not normal.

I later found out from Schlegel's repair shop that I bent a part when I fell on the grass at an early morning ride with Joleen and Heather the week before (picture on the left).  Side note: we rode 40 miles before heading into work that day! Hardcore!

After the flat fiasco, Jill flew ahead and left me behind.  I was nervous because I did not bring my phone and did not have any supplies left for another flat.  I just prayed I would make it to Okarche to meet up with the group!  Riding with messed up gears and a poor attitude, I bitterly pulled up to Okarche with two empty waterbottles.  Once I washed the bike grease off of my hands and filled up on water, I felt a bit better.  This was 30 miles in.  I realized I had a long ride back!


Coach Jill warned me that the way back was hot, windy, and hilly.  I mentally prepared myself for a miserable ride and it ended up not being too bad!  A few other people got flats on the ride back so at least I wasn't alone.  The only problem on the way back was lack of water.  I only have two waterbottles on my bike and in 100 degree heat, they run out fast.  Thankfully I didn't have to go for too long...we stopped at a few gas stations to fill up, eat a few snacks, and wait for our full group of six.

After all the pit stops, we finally got back to Lake Hefner 5 and a half hours later!  The ride itself took around 4 hours total.  But more importantly, I reached a new milestone!  57 miles! On race day I will have to do 56 miles but it will not be as hilly or hot.   I was exhausted, dehydrated, and hot but I felt great for accomplishing what I never knew was possible!  I ended up with a nasty heat rash on my thighs but I will spare you by not posting the pic.  Thankfully, it went away the next day.  I looked it up and there isn't much you can do but just keep the area cool so the pores can open up.

Team Jo & Em Fundraiser #2

Let's jump ahead one week later to the Rush Springs Watermelon Festival Dunk Tank fundraiser!  Joleen spearheaded this event since it's her hometown and she is a runner up Watermelon Queen!  I must admit, after staying up until 2 in the morning tracking severe weather, I did not exactly want to wake up at 7 in the morning to drive an hour away and get dunked in cold water.  However, fundraising is part of the training in Team in Training.  So I got my butt out of bed and it ended up being a blast!  I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Bobbie Miller, Joleen Chaney, Emily Sutton

Rocking our new Watermelon Festival hats!
Thanks Representative Joe Dorman!

This watermelon weighs more than Bobbie!

We had fun and raised $361.85! Thanks to everyone who came out to support the cause!

Arcadia Lake Triathlon

Me, Nate, Janna

Brittany, me, Janna

Just when I thought I couldn't handle anymore...I add a sprint triathlon to the crazy week!  After the watermelon festival I worked my regular shift doing the evening shows at KFOR.  I got home from work around 11 last night and by the time I packed for the race and washed up for bed, it was 1 in the morning!  Determined, I set my alarm and got my booty out of bed a little after 6am.

This time around I felt a lot more comfortable setting up since I had one sprint tri under my belt.  Once again, I had to borrow tri-shorts since I'm holding out for the new TNT tri-shorts.

A few people have asked me what the difference is between tri-shorts and bike shorts.  Bike shorts have a bigger chamois (pronounced "shammy") as shown above.  A chamois is padding so your butt doesn't hurt on long rides!  The only problem is...if you swam in it and then rode your bike and ran, it would feel like a big wet diaper.  Here's where the tri-short comes in.  A tri-short has smaller padding to help enough with the bike ride but not hold you down on the run and swim.

I picked up my registration packet, timing chip, and set up my bike and belongings in the transition area. This particular race provided a swim cap.  Men's age division triathletes comprised the first "wave," or round of people to swim and they wore green caps.  I was assigned a yellow cap for the second wave, women's age division triathletes and aquabike (a triathlon minus the run) participants.  First timers and slow swimmers made up the third and final wave and wore pink caps.

Loud Noises!

The gun went off and we rushed into the water like a bad Baywatch episode. The open water followed a pyramid pattern, sanctioned off by five neon orange buoys.  This is the reason why I signed up.  I wanted to have the open water swim race experience under my belt before the Redman.  I'm glad I did.  I need to practice open water swimming a bit more.  It's a whole different ball game from the pool!  Spotting can be a challenge but the worst part for me were people all around kicking and elbowing me.  Fortunately, it wasn't too bad and I managed to keep a decent pace.

Once we were done swimming, we had to run up the beach to the transition area.  I quickly put my socks, cycling shoes, helmet and sunglasses and ran my bike out of the transition area.

I believe this is a map of the race course.  It looks good on paper but if I could make it 3-D, those hills would pop out of the page and slap you in the face!  There were some BRUTAL hills.  The good news is, this is where I saw my biggest improvement compared to the OCCC Triathlon a few months earlier.  I was going around 20 mph for most of the ride!  I managed to clock up to 33 mph going downhill!  I've never gone that fast before!  Of course, it all equals out with the uphill.  I tried to keep my legs spinning fast but it was so steep! I think my speed dropped to 10 mph on the hardest hills.  I was happy to pass several people this time instead of vice versa!

Run, Emily, Run!

Once I made it back to the transition area I was pumped to run and get'r'done!  I quickly racked my bike, switched to my running shoes, and hit the pavement!  I did not have a race belt, so I had to safety pin my number while running out of the transition area.  Like the bike course, the run course was hilly!  But like the bike course, I surprised myself on how much I've improved!  I don't know how fast I was going but I was flying! I still don't consider myself much of a runner but I knew I could push hard for 3.1 miles.  I actually passed 4 or 5 people!

I often play songs in my head while working out.  It's a skill I learned back in the swim team days.  During the run portion I played  "Give Them Something To Talk About," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "I Believe I Can Fly," and for the last leg, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."  I knew Whitney Houston could help me get up that unnecessarily steep hill up to the finish line.

 I sprinted to the finish and thought I was going to have a heart attack.  Sprinting across the finish line with everything I had I promptly wheezed out, "holy sh*t!"  Classy, I know. You stay classy, Emily.

I guess the pushing was worth it.  I won first in my age group!  Check out my trophy....a kick board!  I think that's a great idea!  It's a useful medal.  I believe I placed 6th overall in the female division.  Janna and I were only 90 seconds apart!  However, she biked 54 miles the day before while I sat in a dunk tank.  I set out to accomplish this marathon as a training for the Redman but I'm quickly discovering how much I enjoy sprint triathlons.  I love unleashing my competitive side.  There's a great camaraderie as well within the triathlon community.  Afterwards we all hung out, ate some food, drank some beer (yes, they had a keg?!) and talked about the race.  I will definitely be doing another sprint triathlon in the future!  But first....let's focus on the Redman! It's a little over a month away!

Thanks for sticking with me!  I know I wrote a lot...but think of it as a 3 for 1.  3 blog entries for the price of 1.  Have a great week and stay tuned for updates!

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