Ice Blocks

The start of the race, Ocala Hits Triathlon, was delayed to wait for the sun to rise; not sure if they wanted the sun for the light it would provide or for the potential heat it would provide.  Waiting on the shore that morning, the air was 52 degrees and the water was 64, I noted that doing a triathlon in March may be too early in the season...even in Florida.  This was the first race of the season and the kick off for my official "Road to Augusta 70.3."  I was, as usual, nervous.  Super nervous in fact.  I always doubt myself when it comes to the swim. And even with a few open water swims for the season (at Lucky's Lake), I was still nervous about the 750 meter swim.  Most sprints are only 400 meters.

Pre-race nerves setting in. Trying not to freeze, cry, or quit.

Coach Tammy giving me a prep talk.  Still dying inside here.

And we are off!  Yes, I am one of the people still running at that point.  I am always confused to when the right time to start swimming is, when the water is barely waist deep.  But eventually I had to start swimming.  And that I did.  When it comes to open water, I am hesitant to just "swim." I know that sounds strange, but I constantly check my watch, stop to breath "extra," and worry about people around me.  So my goal was to worry little about time and focus on only looking up to site.  I did stop a few times, but my swim felt good...

But when I saw my time, I was mad...I was really mad.  This is me stomping and pouting my way out of the water cause I was 3 minutes slower than what I wanted.  For a brief moment, I was questioning why I even wanted to do a tri. I spend several hours a week in the gym, I give up some social time, I give up sleep, I give up my weekends...for what?  To get up at 4am on a Saturday, drive to another city, freeze my booty off, stand among people thought to be crazy by their friends, and swim a crappy time after all that hard work...EEERRRRRR.

But, I would at least finish.  Let's be honest, the race shirt was pretty cool; and you can't wear it unless you finish.  So get it together; run through transition, strip the wet suit, grab the helmet, and hop on the bike is exactly what I did. I wasn't much happier on the bike for the first mile or two.  I was wet and cold and pissed...really pissed.  But then, that anger turned into something glorious, strength.  I reminded myself, that just because my swim was weak, didn't mean that my bike or run had to be weak; strong mind = strong legs.  I repeated that mantra in my head over and over and over.  All of a sudden, I was having fun again.  Hauling butt out there and taking names.  Before I knew it, I was back at transition and ready to rock the run.

The combination of wet feet and then the cool breeze created on the bike, made for an interesting run.  I hadn't noticed on the bike, but once I hopped off, I realized my feet were ice blocks. And every s-i-n-g-l-e step HURT.  Or maybe it burned.  Either way, I didn't like it.  But since my attitude had changed so dramatically, I didn't care.  I just thought, "the faster I run, the faster my feet thaw." So I went hard and fast and tried to make up those 3 minutes from the water.

Doing work and pushing hard AKA huffing and puffing my way to the finish line.

What could have easily halted my training for triathlons turned into an amazing race with great lessons and hunger for more.  I say all the time that there are completors and competors that show up to these races. I've always considered myself to be the completor.  There for the race, but more importantly the experience.  But this race help me to realize that even though I am not winning these things, I am winning against myself (I know corny...but true). And every time I wake up earlier, go further, push harder; I get stronger both mentally and phsically.  That is winning in my book.



And by some strange happening, I place that day too.  I took second place in my age group. Tammy totally rocked in the OLY taking second in her age group as well.  Here is us celebrating the win for the day and the kick off to an amazing season ahead and the Road to Augusta 70.3.

Not so Savage

This was the calm before the storm.  Literally, a super crazy storm. We took our pre-race photo and lined up to start the race.  It began to sprinkle and a mile in, the sky just opened up.  It down poured like crazy, followed by thunder and lightning.  The closed the obstacles, closed the course, and we could finish.  Luckily they were willing to accommodate us with free race entries to the October race...so we will be back to dominate.

I forgot the best part...

They crowned us and gave us booze.
That's the perfect end to an awesome race!
Excalibur 10 Miler

Run, Fun, and Finish

What could be more fun than waking up at 4am on Sunday morning to go run 10 miles?  How about waking up at 4am to run 10 miles with a theme!  That's right, the Excalibur 10 miler was in full renaissance mode last Sunday morning.  And I was in full running mode.  This was actually my first 10 miler race, so my expectations were low.  Just finish, have fun, and run.  Well, and if I broke 1 hour 30 minutes...that wouldn't be a bad thing either.

Starting the day with Tammy and a few new friends.

Great start to the morning.  First 3 miles flew by.  I was in my running/music zone and didn't notice how fast they flew by.

 I might have been having too much fun out there.  I ruined this poor ladies picture.  But yeah, I kinda love races like this.

Speaking of having fun.  Tammy was having more fun than anyone.  She was taking photos, facebooking, and meeting new friends.  She always makes this look way too easy.  But she kept me motivated to keep a solid pace.  We scored this sweet goofball photo along the way.

Somewhere around mile 7 and I was still having a good time, jamming to my music, dancing, and of course smiling.  This was probably around the time that I realized I could actually run a sub 1:30. Maybe all the effort, time, and of course intervals were paying off.

With a strong sprint, I managed to finish 1:28:51.  8/83 for my age group.  Definitely can't complain about that.

Lucky's Lake

So maybe I can swim...in a pool.  But open water is a different story.  I pretend to not being dying inside...but I usually am.  Simply at the fear of really dying.  I've been avoiding Lucky's Lake for some time now, but with Augusta just 7 months away...it was time to sink or swim.  I mean swim, definitely swim.

It was a cold morning and the water was just about 64 degrees.  So not only did I have to conquer to idea of drowning or being eaten by a gator, I also had to worry about not freezing to death.  This is the look of fear covered with a fake smile.  But heck, there were tons of people and Tammy was there to hold my hand (she literally same the first length right next to me).

And that's what a real smile looks like.  I completed a Lucky Lake's crossing and went back for more ("Coach" Tammy kicked in and decided one crossing wasn't enough).

Signing the wall.  Let's do it again!!

A year to celebrate...

...leads to a year to work harder.

Over the last year, I found my inner athlete and took my running to another level, I discovered my drive to get faster, I found more inspiration and dedication to working out, and I finished 8 races including 4 triathlons and a tough mudder. I really couldn't have asked for a better race year.

2013 Race Results and Division Place:
(11/28/2012) The Annual Swenson 10K Super Run World Cup 56:41 (3)
(11/02/2013) Tough Mudder (12 Miles w/Obstacles)
(10/27/2013) Cooter Triathlon (.25/12/3.1) 1:39:55 (4/4)
(06/02/2013) Pinappleman Triathlon (.34/15.4/3.34) (1:56:18) (20/26)
(05/05/2013) Rocketman Triathlon (.25/34/3.1) 3:35:33 (27/35)
(04/11/2013) IOA Corporate 5K Finished
(04/14/2013) Cocoa Beach Triathlon (.25/12.5/3.1) 1:38:31 (8/10)
(01/13/2013) Color Run 5K Finished

Swenson 3rd Annual Super Run World Cup

Swenson 3rd Annual Super Run World Cup

After 3 consecutive times, something becomes a tradition.  And on Thanksgiving this year, our "Swenson Annual Super Run World Cup" finally became that.

With new rules this year (set by last year's first place finisher, Josh), everyone had a solid shot of taking home the trophy...but my money was set on Mom.  The weather was a brisk 34 (yes, we were in Florida...WTF?) that morning and I wasn't looking forward to freezing my butt off.  But none the less, we suited up (SASRWC gear and all) and headed out to the starting line.  In normal Reese spirit, he took off like a bat out of hell and had a solid lead for the first mile.  But soon after that, gimpy (okay, that isn't nice, injured dad) caught him and the gap between the remaining three of us started closing in on Reese yet getting became more spread out among us.  With the sun on our side that day, we were finally warming up at this point and getting into the groove.

I had been in training mode for months and knew I would make my moves between mile 3-4 (which is where I caught Josh and Reese the first year).  So when I hit the 3 mile mark I decided to start sprinting for periods of time.  Really, it was one mail box to another in the distance. So no real rhyme or reason, but it helped me quickly cover some ground, pull out 2 sub 8:30 minute miles and catch Josh. With Reese just ahead (dad way ahead of him), I continued on with the sprints and got really close.  Like really really close...but not close enough.  I think that little snot trained this year and I just couldn't catch him.

As the race came to a close I finished in at 56:41. It isn't my fastest 10K time, but given the cold cold weather; I'll take it.  That put me in 3rd yet again this year.

And although Dad finished first, when we added in handicaps, Mom did ultimately take the cup (she is already talking smack about next year's race...now that is true Kelly style).  Reese took second, me in third, Josh in fourth (which is baller considering he ran carrying the winner's cup and a six pack of beer...all part of the rules), and dad in last (the whole reason the rules change, helps keep the fastest from winning every year).

Next year...that cup is MINE!