Race Recap: Old Hickory Lake Triathlon

I competed in my third triathlon on Saturday, the Old Hickory Lake Triathlon hosted by Team Magic.  I just learned that you're considered a beginner for your first three triathlons, so I'm officially not a beginner anymore.  Read about my last triathlon here & my first triathlon here.

Like the other two triathlons I've done, this one was also a sprint distance.  Unlike the other races, this one was open water (swim was in a lake as opposed to a pool).  Also, this race had two runs.  We had to run a mile from the swim to the bike in addition to the 2-mile run after the bike.

400 yard swim:  10:37 (2:54 per 100/m pace)

Apparently open water swims are my jam.  I jumped in & swam like I had gills.  I had a couple of people, & by people I mean assholes, who grabbed my foot & tried to pull me down so they could swim over me.  I had been warned about this & threw elbows like it was my job.  Open water swims are no joke, y'all.  It was like the Thunderdome out there.

T1:  1:30

I was bib # 106 & Lana was # 107, so we got out of the swim together, put our shoes & socks on & took off on the 1 mile run to our bikes.

1 mile run:  12:55

This kind of sucked.  We had to run from the lake up a 1-mile hill to our bikes.  Lana & I ran it together.  People were flying past us, but we stayed slow, trying to save our legs for the bike.  Here's the iPhone video my mom took of Lana & I running past her:



T2:  1:08

This is a fast transition for me because I don't clip-in; I don't have to change shoes.  I just grab my bike off the rack, put my helmet on & take off.

12 mile bike ride:  52:04 (13.8 mph pace)

Oy vey, the bike ride.  The race was in Hendersonville, so we rode to Vietnam Veterans Blvd, got on the Blvd & then rode a 6-mile out & back route.  The entire 6-mile ride back was uphill.  It was biblical.  I was going so slow, I actually thought I got swept (I didn't).  I'd say more, but I've already repressed the memory of this ride.  Here's the video my mom took of me riding back into transition.  The audio of the woman standing next to her is hilarious.



T3:  0:54

Thanks to the tip from Allison about connecting everything to my race belt, this transition is super fast.  I just have to grab one thing, take off & then I put everything on while I'm running.

2 mile run:  25:47 (12:30/mile pace)

I don't even know how I did this run because I couldn't feel my legs.  The first mile was downhill & the second mile was uphill.  I was at the point where I was going to either puke or cry & I saw my friend Jonell (who had already finished) standing there & she ran me into the finish.  Thank you, Jonell!  Here's a video of me at the beginning of the 2-mile run:



And here is the video of me crossing the finish line.  You're welcome for the Skynyrd.



Total time:  1:44:53

So this is hilarious.  I was pleased with the race, thought I did well, whatever & forgot to look at my race results.  Then on Monday, Heidi texts me & asks, "Did you get an award for the tri?!?!"  And I'm like whaaa?  Yeah, I totally placed.  I came in Second in the Athena 1-39 Division.  Ha!  If I had known, I could have stayed for the podium event.  Agh!!!

Y'all, this is the first award I've won for ANYTHING IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.  And I missed it because it never occurred to me to look at the posted race results.  What's even funnier, is that at the beginning of every race, I turn & say to whoever is racing with me, usually Lana, "See you at the podium!".

Lessons Learned:

Well, obviously, A) look at the race results before you leave the premises because maybe, maybe you won something.  (I won a paper weight -ha!)  (They're mailing it to me.)  PRACTICE RIDING YOUR BIKE ON HILLS.

Looking Ahead:

I have until Friday to decide if I'm doing the Tri Fall Creek Falls Triathlon in August.  It's an olympic distance tri, which is the next step up from sprint.  It's a 1500 meter open water swim, 25 mile ride & 10k (6 mile) run.  I can do all these things individually, but I don't know if I can do them together as one event.  I'm particularly worried about being to able to get off a 25 mile bike ride & run 6 miles.

Friends that have done olympic distance tris, please send along your thoughts/advice.

Athena # 2, signing off!

Birchbox Review: May

Here is what I received, & thought of the products, in last month's Birchbox.

Beauty Protector | Protect & Detangle
Birchbox description:  Great for all hair types, this nourishing elixir locks in color, adds shine, & instantly detangles.  Full-size, $21.95

My Review:  I had heard rave reviews about this detangler, so I was excited to open my box & see it.  It's a shame I didn't receive it while I still had long hair, but I digress.  I LOVE this product!  First of all, the smell.  It's soooo good!  As Mary Katherine said, "You'll want to eat your hair".  You will!  I don't have enough hair to detangle, but all of my long-haired friends swear by it.  I'll be buying this one when my sample runs out.

COOLA | Classic Face SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for Face
Birchbox description:  This mineral sunblock is infused with organic anti-aging ingredients like evening primrose extract & borage seed oil.  Full-size, $32

My Review:  This is a moisturizer first & an SPF second.  My friend Heidi put it on before a run & it ran into her eyes.  But it smells good & it's moisturizing.  Maybe just stick to a sports sunscreen for outdoor activities.  I doubt I'll buy it, but I've enjoyed using the sample as my daily SPF moisturizer.

Isaac Mizrahi | FABULOUS Isaac Mizrahi Eau deParfum
Birchbox description:  For his first scent, the designer created a fanciful blend of mandarin & jasmine laced with vanilla.  Full-size, $20-69

My Review:  No.  Just no.

Sumita | Color Contrast Eyeliner
Birchbox description:  Inspired by traditional Indian formulas, this velvety liner glides on easily & lasts for hours.  Set of 4 mini pencils, $21

My Review:  Meh.  Disclaimer:  I started using Bobbi Brown gel liner last year & now nothing else compares, especially pointy, stabby pencils.  I like the color of this pencil.  It's a deep purple, which works with my green eyes, but I'm just not a pencil person anymore.  This reminds me, I promised this to someone...  Mary Katherine?

Oh, I also received that pen in the picture, which is more dumb than not dumb.  I refuse to review it.  It's a pen; it writes - whatever.  It doesn't magically shoot lip gloss out of it's end or anything.

Weekend Wrap Up: P2T Edition

Every year, East Nasty hosts a free couch to 5k program to train for the Tomato 5k in August.  The program is called Potato to Tomato, or P2T.  I coached for the first time last year & am coaching again this year.  Do I have room for 3 more work-outs in my schedule?  No.  But coaching new runners is important to me, so I'll figure it out.

P.S. The program officially started on Saturday, but it's not too late to join.  If interested, we're meeting at the Nature Center in Shelby Bottoms tonight at 6pm.  It's free.  Just show up!  More info here.

Jaime & I love a Belcourt matinee.  This week we saw Stories We Tell.  We both heard the Fresh Air interview with director, Sarah Polley & were intrigued.  It's an interesting story for sure.  The movie was good, not great - a little too long.

The Old Hickory Triathlon is THIS SATURDAY, so yesterday was our last chance for an open water swim practice.  Me, Lana & Jonell piled into my car & headed to the Anderson Road Rec Area.  This isn't Jonell's first rodeo, so she smartly suggested we swim outside the barrier to get a feel for what the water will really be like on race day, which we thought was a good call.  Can you hear the foreshadowing in my voice?

Yeah, we totally almost got kicked out of the rec area.  I was oblivious that any of this was going on because I was swimming the hardest swim of my life, & I can't hear underwater, but apparently an old man on a golf cart who patrols the beach yelled at us on a bullhorn to get back inside the barrier for like the entire time we were swimming.  I had no idea.  Jonell & I were going totes rogue & did the whole swim out in the lake, but Lana heard him & swam back into the approved swim zone, which I guess appeased him as he drove away & never came back.

Y'all, that swim yesterday was ROUGH.  Literally & figuratively.  It's the hardest I've ever swam.  Every other stroke, a wave went over my head.  It actually made for a good rhythm, but I got super sea sick.  When I stopped swimming & tried to stand up, I couldn't because I was so dizzy.  When I quit dry heaving (not really), I realized I'm kind of a badass & should probably be on Baywatch.

No rest for the wicked.  After our swim, we drove back to East Nashville, hopped on our bikes & did a 10 mile ride.  I wasn't sure I ever wanted to ride my bike again after the great 5.8 debacle of last Tuesday, but I persevered.  Also, my new bike gloves helped.  Oooh!  And I rode on an actual road yesterday!  This is a big deal.  We rode from Lana's house to Shelby.  Look at me, conquering fears!

We were going to run after our ride, but were too distracted by hunger, so we broke for the day & went foraging for food.  I think Jonell went home to grill out & Lana & I went to Five Point Pizza for my favorite post-work out meal of "salty bready things".  I wish I could quit you, garlic knots.

I had left my house at 7:45am & by the time I got home from lunch, it was 1:30pm.  I took a shower, washed the lake-catfish off of me & then fell asleep on the couch.  John woke me up for dinner, I ate something, tacos?, & then went to bed.  This?  This is why I have no social life.

My Fitness Foe, Part Four

*Disclaimer:  I am not a medical professional, nor am I in a position to give medical advice.  This post is based solely on my experiences.  Please consult with a doctor before embarking on a training or meal plan.

It's been a little over a month since my last post where I described my appointment with Mari-Etta Parrish, a board certified Registered Dietitian.  Mari-Etta changed my life.  She told me I'm eating too much; this way of life is not a punishment; & she gave me ideas on how to break my binge snack eating habit.

To refresh your memory, I was on a 2,000/day calorie goal.  Mari-Etta wanted me to drop down to 1,400, but that terrified me, so she put me at 1,700 & told me to drop down to 1,400 when I was ready.  I dropped down to 1,420 after my last triathlon & have been there for about 3 weeks now.

I'm happy to report that as of this week, I've lost 11 lbs.  I've been trying to hit the 10 lb mark FOREVER.  According to MyFitnessPal, I've logged in for 110 days in a row.  So it's taken me about 3 months to lose 11 lbs, but I've only been at the correct calorie goal for the last 3 weeks.  Also, as Mari-Etta said, my goal is Fabulous By Forty, so I'll get there.  Slow & steady wins the race, right?

Dropping down to 1,420 calories a day has been hard.  My two biggest struggles are snacks & eating out.  I have about a 7 hour gap between lunch & dinner & I have trouble finding things to snack on during that time that won't put me over my calorie goal.  My suggested solution is "fun water" & popcorn.  It's actually working.  I've been drinking these grapefruit Perrier things that I'm learning to love.  I may try LaCroix water next.

The only way to lose weight is to curb eating out.  Period.  But...  John & I love a Saturday night dinner date.  I'm having a lot of trouble tracking what I eat at restaurants, mostly because we eat a lot of ethnic food that isn't in the MyFitnessPal database.  I try to be smart about it, but there's no way I'm accurately tracking it.

Weekends are hard.  I work-out a lot & I eat out a lot.  Again, I try to be smart about it, but it's a work in progress.  I think this is common, but I tend to weigh more on Sun-Mon-Tues & weigh the least Thurs-Fri.  I just need to be careful not to fall into this cycle where I gain 1-2 lbs a weekend, lose it during the week, & then turn around & gain it again.  John has the same concern, so that will help as a lot of my eating out involves him.  We can decide to eat at home more &/or make sure we're making smart decisions when eating out.

Long term weight loss goal?  Not sure.  At the least, I'd like to lose 10 more lbs.  And then maybe 10-20 more?  When I see myself "Fabulous at Forty", I'm not sure what that looks like yet.  Good thing I have 3 more years to figure it out.

This process isn't easy & I'm lucky to have friends around me who accept & encourage my behavior, like stopping to check MyFitnessPal before I order at restaurants.  Special shout-out to my homegirl, Lana, who I work-out & train with, no shit, NINE TIMES a week (we have a triathlon next week).  Lana keeps reminding me that my goal is fabulous by forty, not fabulous by Friday.  It helps so much.  Lana, thank you!

To be continued...

Weekend Wrap Up: Open Water Swim Edition

On Friday, my sister came to Nashville to drop Abigail off to spend the night with me.  Abigail's three little sisters came along for the ride.  The twins are scared of Linda, but they eventually warmed up to her.  Linda was a good sport, but she was definitely in over her head.

In between back-to-back episodes of Hannah Montana, I introduced Abigail to Sweet CeCe's.  As you can see, she changed into her frozen yogurt finery for the occasion.  She also dressed me up.  I had to wear 3 necklaces, 2 bracelets on each arm, all of my rings & my gold high heels (with jeggings).  I looked like a colorblind hooker.

My sister picked Abigail up early on Saturday morning, so I had the whole day to myself.  Everyone keeps telling me to check out Hey Rooster General Store, so I headed east.  Y'all, this store is my spirit animal.  I love it so much.  Please go check it out if you haven't already.

With all afternoon to kill, I decided to hit the Marshall's by my house & the secret Bellevue TJ Maxx.  Marshall's was a bust, but TJ Maxx had tri suits!  The Speedo one is actually the same one I was going to buy on Amazon for $68.  The TYR one was obscene.  No one needs to see that much of my back.  And by back, I mean butt.  I bought the Speedo suit for $16.99.  $16.99!!  Take that, Amazon!

My dinner plans fell through, so I decided to stay home & carb-load, obvs.  Since spaghetti immediately puts me in a coma, I have no idea what else I did.  I probably fell asleep on the couch watching something educational, like RHONJ.

My first open water swim triathlon is in (gulp) two weeks, which probably means I should start practicing swimming in open water.  Yesterday was the day, until I woke up & it was storming.  Lana & I decided to risk it & drove out there anyway.  It literally stopped raining long enough for us to swim one lap & then the sky opened up, it started storming again & we had to run to the car.

The swim was great!  I've really built up my endurance over the past month, which is handy since there are no walls in a lake to grab onto & catch your breath on.  We got in a solid 16 minute swim & then about 5 minutes of practicing how the swim will start on race day before Storm Town happened.

We were supposed to ride after the swim, but... Storm Town, so we went to Barista instead.  Of course we did.  Sixteen minutes of swimming = moto biscuit:  Kim math.

I've been dying to see Frances Ha, but couldn't fit it in last week.  Luckily, the Belcourt extended it & I was able to go see it yesterday with Jaime.  This movie is sooooo good!  I highly recommend you find time to see it before it's gone on Friday.

Weekend Wrap Up: David Sedaris Edition

David Sedaris is one of my favorite authors & he did a speaking/book signing event at Parnassus Books on Friday night.  I've since learned that none of my friends knew about this event, so take a minute & head over to Parnassus' site & sign up to receive their email updates.  Their events are small & usually fill up fast, but being on their email list ensures you find out first.

This was actually my first Parnassus event & it was totally awesome.  I RSVP-ed late, so I sat outside as opposed to being in-store, but it was fine.  I brought a chair & they provided everything else, including free catering from Chinatown, Donut Den & Harvest Breads.  Oh, & a photobooth.  I had a lot of fun.  David read a chapter from his new book, read a couple hilarious dog poems & then read about 15-20 minutes of diary entries from his own diaries.  A lot of the entries were written recently after his other book signing events, so it was funny & mildly uncomfortable to know that he would go to his hotel room & write about what some of us said &/or wore.  He's amazing & I'm so glad he keeps coming back to Nashville.

This was a weird weekend in that I didn't have a lot to do.  Because of scheduling & weather, I didn't have any work-outs lined up, which usually take up the majority of my weekend.  In addition, John was out of the house all day Saturday, so Linda & I sat downstairs & read the first half of my new David Sedaris book.  What?  Linda can totally read.

I took a break from reading & watching Freaks & Geeks on Netflix to get the mail & found my birthday Birchbox had arrived.  I'll explain.  I received two Birchbox gift cards as birthday presents (thanks, April & Claudia!), so I ordered a bunch of stuff I typically wouldn't have bought for myself.  You know, like $18 body wash that will be gone in two weeks.

John's friend Michael is leaving us for NYC this week & Saturday was his going-away party.  For what was actually kind of a sad event, the party was the most fun we've had in a long time, venturing on ever.  Everyone in the world we know was there, plus there was tons of really good food.  And by food, I mean cupcakes, of which I had 1,000.  Oh, & John wore is bolo tie.  I just felt like that needed to be pointed out.  If you look carefully, his shirt is pointing at it.

After Michael's party, we went to see our friends, Dead Confederate, play at The High Watt.  Let the record show that not only did I got to a party & a rock show, I did them on the same night & didn't get home until almost 2am.  Who am I?!

Needless to say, yesterday was kind of a throw-away day.  I slept until 9am, which is the latest I've slept since my twenties, then woke John up to take me to ML Rose for a heaping basket of ranchero fries.  I think the only other thing I did yesterday was lay on the couch digesting cheese & watching more *Freaks & Geeks.

*I keep getting pulled into conversations involving Freaks & Geeks lately & not remembering any of the references.  Turns out, I never watched Freaks & Geeks.  I don't what I think I watched, but it wasn't it.  So this weekend, I dug in & watched the first 6 of the 18 episodes.  It may be the best show I've ever (never?) watched.