Star Spangled Spin Class

I really love a theme for spin classes and there's nothing like a holiday to help determine a theme.  This week it was obviously the Star Spangled Fourth of July Spin.  If you have any playlist suggestions for independence, fourth of July, America and summer music, feel free to suggest.

Spin Playlist at Sky Club Fitness on July 2, 214
1. The Star Spangled Banner, Jim Hendrix
2. Independence Day, Mel C. (Spice Girl)
3. American Girl, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4. American Boy, Estelle feat. Kanye
5. Blister in the Sun, Violent Femmes
6. The Boys of Summer, the Ataris
7. I love New York, Madonna (a tour of the states)
8. Lubbock or Leave It, Dixie Chicks (NY to TX)
9. Lump, the Presidents of the United States of America (get it?)
10. American Pie, Madonna
11. Young Americans, David Bowie
12. Firework, Katy Perry
13. America, Simon & Garfunkel
14. Ice Cream, Sarah McLachlan

And let me tell you the class could have used some ice cream or fro yo after it was over, even though it was 6:45a.m. because this morning was H-O-T!  It was 80+ degrees and HUMID in New York City today.  To beat the heat, I did my brick workout inside today.  10 min on the treadmill before class and then spin class, back to the treadmill for 15 min and then a quick swim before work.  Gearing up for the triathlons we just signed up for July 19 Hopkins Vineyard Triathlon and Niantic Bay.

This Friday we'll be kicking off our 4th in style with a Firecracker 5k.  I started this week with a great Monday night run and yesterday had a kick ass bootcamp class (workout to follow).

Unfortunately the fireworks are no longer over the Hudson, but this was our amazing view last year. 

Flat as a Pancake Triathlon Recap & Race Season Realizations

I have once again been a bad, bad blogger not having posted in about a month.  Unfortunately, keeping pace (pun intended) with training and wedding planning plus my new position at work, has left minimal room for blogging.

So what have I been up to?

Well, on May 9th I posted about race season but since then I've had to minimize my goals, the sprain is taking longer to heal than I hoped, though most people are telling me I should be glad it's healing so quickly! I did my first 5k on May 18 and ran about a 10:30 pace, but definitely felt sore.  So I am aiming for one sprint triathlon per month and a few 3-5 mile races peppered in and still hope that once the wedding is over but before the honeymoon I can complete a half marathon. Here's to hoping.  Fortunately, my most favorite race of the season Niantic Bay is still on the calendar.

But first I had to make sure I still liked triathlon, despite the training, the cool awards and free t-shirts, occasionally right before race season, I start to think of all the downsides - early wake-ups, pain and soreness, ugly weather, etc. - so I wanted to get in an early race and make sure I still loved it. Normally I do a triathlon over Father's Day weekend in CT but unfortunately for the second year in a row it's cancelled so we decided to the Pantanella's Flat as a Pancake Triathlon in Staten Island, I've heard about it for a few years, but never was able to go as I was usually doing the NYRR mini 10K.

My fiance and I both signed up at the last minute in a now or never approach.  Here's the recap:

Pre Race
We were so late!  A friend of mine was already set up and posting to Facebook before I was even out of Hoboken.  The bridge was closed so we had to turn around and backtrack, we just made it and were in the parking lot when they announced transition closing. I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast and swallowed some Nuun before starting.  Fortunately, I remembered everything. No chance to warm-up aside from the walk to the beach.

Swim
Well, maybe not everything! Since we signed up so late, I had to have my mom FedEx my tri suits but there was no way to send the wetsuit so I went sans wetsuit. It was COLD!  But I got in anyway and pulled off a decent swim of 10:10. :) I had some trouble after the swim getting up the beach, I had the energy to run but sans sneakers in sand my ankle was pretty unstable. :(

T1
I think I stumbled around a bit not knowing the course and being freezing, I had half a mind to put on sweatpants and sit down but we put on bike shoes. 2:20

Bike
I had been worried about the 3 loop course but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, there was enough room to pass and I enjoyed watching the bridge get closer as I circled back.  Time of 43 minutes, need to work on my speed but not bad considering I'd just debated a nap.It didn't hurt to keep seeing my fiance on the course and keep cheering for each other!

T2
I think here I started to get worried as my ankle had started to hurt again and I was still freezing, but I changed shoes and grabbed my baseball hat and pressed on. 2:20 again.

Run
I started out very slow, and was considering walking when my friend from the gym passed by and gave me (unbeknownst to her) a second wind, I did walk the set of stairs to the first water stop and had some water and pressed on to get to halfway, my fiance passed me at the halfway point and I told him to keep going, he had an amazing run and I finished with a 10:40 pace, not too far off my 5k time from a few weeks before.  I even managed a burst of speed at the end with some cheers from the crowd.  The view was great and it was - flat as a pancake.

Overall
Great race, definitely had me eager for the next one, it was nice to be done by 10am and on our way home and headed to the Farmer's Market (see my breakfast below) knowing we'd worked out that morning. The weather was beautiful and it was well-run.  Maybe not my favorite t-shirt but nice to have pancakes at the end! Though I didn't eat any it's really cute, I can't eat at races until a few hours later.

Our bikes after the race!

Chatting with a friend post race.

Post race fancy pose.

In the parking lost after the race. 

My pancake breakfast post race with fresh Farmer's market strawberries and farmer's market whip cream.

Tough Tuesday Workout: No Stoppin! (9/10/13)

Like I said Tuesday between weddings, workouts and work, all words with "w" have prevented me from posting any of the Tuesday bootcamp workouts that I've been doing, but we have to make time for what we love so here was out workout this past week 9/10/13.

There were 3 segments that made up this workout - all from Bodyrock and Zuzka Light, my two favorite sources of inspiration. I like these workouts because you can do them as a class with proper intervals in between, in between each set we took about 2 minutes to recover and get water.  But in a pinch you could do these workouts on your own in a gym and only spend a few minutes.See below for my BodyRockin trip to Vegas.

What you need: One set of light weight and one weighted bar, bench w/ 4 risers (high) and a mat and a gymboss or other interval timer. 

Warm Up - Jog, Jacks and Jump Rope, Wide Leg Pushups (3), Squats and Lunges  (about 20 of each) and stretching for the hip flexors, shoulders, calves, etc.

This round of workouts was the ultimate test of pushing for 10-15 minutes, recovery and then going again. I called it No Stoppin' because despite the 10 seconds rest there wasn't much time to recover between moves

Set 1 - You can see the Bodyrock version here and I made some edits based on what equipment is in the gym.Set the timers for 50/10 and I put about 1 minute between sets. This one combined cardio, weights, body weight and plyometrics for real interval workout

We used the bench but you could also do this on the floor.  Hold plank, do a 3 point jump bringing the knees in each time, Right, Center, left, Center. Pushup, Jump in, Star Jump.

• High knees, tapping on the bench.
• Sitting on the bench, relax back on the sit bones and crunch knees in and out. 
• Elevated push up, we put our feet up on the step, hands on the floor. 
• With the bar, step up, step down on the risers, alternating legs. 

Set 2 - This workout is the from Zuzka Light Power Cardio and is number 6. This workout was again a 50/10 and there was no recovery between the 3 sets. This was straight up cardio, my heart rate monitor hit 172 which is over 80% for me.

•  Plyometric Sumo Squat Jump
•   Flying Jump Lunge
•   High Knees
•  Side Burpees
•  SuperHeroes - lying on back arms and legs held up in superhero flying pose

Set #3
This last one was again 50/10 and we only did 2 rounds because we were running out of time. I took this one from Bodyrock but made edits so we'd be lifting. The pushups were exhausting.

•  Reverse lunge
•  Pushups
•  Deadlift Row
•  10 biceps 10 triceps and keep alternating
•  Squat curl press

Then it was onto rest and stretching.

As I mentioned, I use Bodyrock and Zuzka a lot when traveling.  I went to Vegas a few weeks ago for work and hated to miss my Tuesday bootcamp, plus I had a triathlon that weekend. I spent 30 - 40 minutes in the gym.  I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and then did a Bodyrock workout that I looked up on my phone.

I took my NYRR mini 10K shirt to Vegas and repped some pink while staying in the Flamingo hotel. With a pink yogurt. 

At the conference I scored this cool red waterbottle.

The flamingos at the Flamingo hotel!!

Niantic Bay Triathlon (and a Surprise), Camping and Catch up!

A Big Surprise Waited for me at the End of the Niantic Bay Triathlon!

I have not been blogging in awhile, sorry for the drop off, but a lot has happened since the Niantic Bay Triathlon last month!

Catch Up
I am still teaching classes and we're still rocking our Tuesday bootcamp workouts, and I'm going to start up with those again this Thursday. (Promise!)

I have a few triathlons to catch up on, first and foremost, Niantic Bay today. But we also did the Tobay Triathlon on Long Island for the first time and I did the Women's triathlon for the 3rd time.

Races
The Niantic Bay Triathlon is one of my favorite out of the Hartford Marathon Foundation races. I love the location.  The swim is great (especially when no jellies!), the bike is scenic (who doesn't love a course where people blast music to get you up the toughest hill?), and the run is flat and so scenic (which as a lousy runner - I love).  The whole experience makes you want to get up and do it again.

Quick Race Recap

Swim 13:19
I beat my best swim time by almost 2 minutes coming in at 13:19.  I made myself move to the front and tried to stay with the leaders as best I could. I definitely think there was a strong current pulling us in because I felt like I'd landed back on the beach in no time flat and despite being unable to find my wet suit strap I got a helpful hint from the announcer on the shore.

T1 2:28
Shocking! Considering it normally takes me 20 minutes to get out of a wetsuit, but I must've been in high spirits.

Bike 45:25
Not a bad showing for me, exactly where I wanted to come in at.  I was hoping to be at an hour after the bike and that's just about where I was. I was glad to see the family blasting helpful tunes up the hill.

T2: 1:27
After a smooth showing on the bike I ran down the hill, if you've never done Niantic Bay, there is a big down hill after the bike and you need to remove your bike shoes to get down quickly and safely. 

Run 35:38
Running is always my downfall and since my great illness of May and June, I haven't been running like I should.  But, I was pleased to keep my average pace under 12 minute miles and to run the entire course with only a small stop for water at mile 1.5.

All in all it was a great race, and I had always thought I'd never go under 1:45 on this course and I made it in 1:38 so that was a huge success!

Crossing the finish line at the beach!

But the best part was still ahead.  Turns out I got a big (semi) surprise at the end and was rewarded for my hard work with a proposal. (That's why I've been busy!)  Wedding planning, working and running around can make you crazy!

Slightly better than the Niantic Bay medal. 

A great day with the additional surprise of having our favorite kiddies and their parents there! And my mom and dad! 

Fortunately, we also did not have to right back to work after getting engaged and were able to enjoy my first camping trip in the Maine Woods.  We went up to Portland, Me. and had a great weekend just outside Portland at a campground and then staying in Portland. A few highlights

I only spent one night camping and though I enjoyed it, it wasn't without challenges. It took us awhile to build a fire, which almost meant no s'mores (I almost went home!)  We had an animal sneak in to test out our left out beers at midnight and he came back a few more times. And I had to pee.  But all in all it was great. We had s'mores, pancakes and enjoyed a day at the beach the next day.

Our Humble Home for one night outside Portland.

Delicious goods from Two Fat Cats. 

We taste tested most of Portland after fending for ourselves at the campground. We had ice cream and fried clams near Old Orchard Beach.  We ate pie for Breakfast at Two Fat Cats (and whoopie pie) and we had croissants at Standard Bakery.  We ate a great meal at 5 Fifty Five and a out of this world meal at Fore Street. Fantastic foodie town Portland. And we had lobster rolls, all over!!

My wall climbing. 

We did a lot of biking, walking, running and other activities while on vacation. Our last day it was rainy and I was feeling pretty tired. I had done a triathlon that weekend!  So Thursday morning we went for a long walk and stumbled across this park which had awesome obstacles.  We tried to do each one and it gave us a great workout.  I am thinking about signing up for Hoboken's obstacles course race in a month and this was a good test!

Well I will get back to Tuesdays this Thursday.  We had a great workout this morning.  Post my end of summer spin playlist and recap the latest 2 triathlons soon!  We have one more triathlon this season this weekend HAMMERFEST in Branford. It's scheduled in amongst wedding venue searching! Last week's triathlon was in and amongst dress shopping.   Then its on to some runs before the cold sets in. But all in all.

Yes, we spent a lot of money in the life is good store, but look how cute this towel looked on Long Island's beaches.

Litchfield Hills Triathlon Recap

On Sunday, July 14th, my friends and I did the Litchfield Olympic Triathlon.  For me, the Olympic triathlon has proved troubling.  I have had trouble with Olympic distance for the past few years, this was my third and failed attempt.  The first one, I got 2 flat tires and fell on the bike and in Round 2 I made a wrong turn on the run.  I felt terrible after the experience but I found a blog from a fellow who did not finish after training for the Ironman and his disappointment and story of picking himself up afterwards was very inspiring.  I was very glad to be there at the end of the race to see my better half finish the Duathlon and he did an amazing job.  I also got to see my good friend Jen finish and she did great.

This year, I will admit I did not trained properly.  I was so focused on getting through the half in June after being sick for most of May that I did not put in the proper training effort. I also have not been swimming as much as I should have. So right there, 2 things to work on. However, one positive, we got to make use of the brand new 4 bike hitch and bike rack on the back of our car!

Brand New bike rack!

 Race Recap
I started off the swim great, I was only a few seconds off from last year, so I was pleasantly surprised. 31:36 for a mile.

In T1 I was 2 minutes faster than last year, which was great considering it's a .25 mile run uphill after the swim on a rocky path back to transition.

On the bike I got started strong down the screaming downhill and started a good pace.  Unfortunately, things headed downhill from there.  My odometer wasn't working so I started focusing on that instead of riding and then at some point in the first 5 miles I developed a searing pain in my glute.  I know a pain in my ass and OMG was it.  I felt like couldn't peddle, it hurt to sit in the saddle, I couldn't stretch it out.  By the time we got to the uphill side of the ride I wanted to cry. I also wanted to get off my bike, throw it in a ditch and beat it with a baseball bat.  Needless to say, it was some pain.  I made it up Bruning Hill which is a final 2 mile uphill and the last push to transition and started to get off and wanted to see if I could run.  I was already limping along and mentally I had given up.  The 6.2 mile run just seemed too far, I felt like too bad of a runner to finish it, and I wanted to sit in an ice bucket.  So for the first time ever, I gave up.  I spoke to the medic and he advised turning in my chip and sitting in ice.  So, I turned in my chip and got an ice pack and waited for my pals to finish.

Fortunately, I have a fantastic boyfriend and friends who were encouraging.  The race kicked off the week of heat and humidity and we dealt with some serious heat and humidity during the race.  Afterwards, we went home and sat in a cold pool. It was seriously wonderful.  My boyfriend even offered to share his medal with me, he said I could have the swim image since technically he never swam during the race.

I think the Litchfield Hills Course is gorgeous, but it has beaten me, abd I think if we tackle it again next year, the better half and I may tackle it as a team.  But, I will not give up on the Olympic distance....yet. However, that means putting in the training and setting goals.

Tough Tuesday Workout: ZWow'd Week 1 (6/11/13)

Tough Tuesday Workout - ZWow'd

 I have always been a big fan of Zuzka Light, the delightful online fitness personality, who now has her own website and DVD's, which I bought up immediately. Her DVD's ZCut Power Cardio and Zcut Power Strength have 12 10-20 minute workouts that are incredibly tiring and an incredible workout.  I thought they'd be a cool addition to our bootcamp class as we keep in shape this summer. 

What you need: two sets of weight - I had 8's and 12's, mat, bench and a mat

 Warm Up - Jog, Jacks and Jump Rope, Wide Leg Pushups (3), Squats and Lunges  (about 20 of each) and stretching for the hip flexors, shoulders, calves, etc. 

Section 1 - Cardio 
I used the ZCUT Power Cardio to lay out this workout making a few small edits for my class

10 burpees
10 squat jumps
20 lunge jumps or alternating legs
10 squat jumps
30 pendulums
10 squat jumps
40 side to side leg kicks

Repeat 5x so you have a total of 50 burpees by the end. It was killer and everyone thought so!

Section 2 -  Strength

3 Rounds
10 squats
10 dive bombers
10 pistol squats

Abs

Crunches - 20
Plank with knee tuck - 10
DoubleCrunch- 20 
Forearm Plank with knee  tap - 10
Hold Plank 30 seconds

Weekly Workout Summary - Week of 6/10

Monday - Nothing drove back from CT and after a weekend at the Oakley Mini and a brick workout and a 3 hour drive home I was done. 

Tuesday - Above workout and short run

Wednesday - Bike and Swim

Thursday - Running

Friday - Bike and Swim and Friday night YOGA!!

Saturday - 5.5 mile run up Patterson Plank Road (huge hill) and just about 20 miles on the bike in the afternoon (flat)

Sunday - late in the afternoon - 11+ mile run to Liberty State Park to get ready for Fairfield Half marathon next Sunday.

Post workout in my brand new compression socks ready to dunk my feet in an ice bucket. 

My other weekend activity - gardening!

 

Here is a better full view of the socks I was wearing - they are brand new - thanks to @skinnyrunner's promotion from procompression and I wore them Sat&Sun. 

Back to the races & Plymeteric Paradise: June 4

 Back on the Road to Racing

I have slowly started to make my way back from illness!  And it's been a long road.  Before I got sick, I was doing really well with running (for me) and ran the HOHA Hoboken 5 mile in just about 10:30 miles, which was great for me.  The run was great, fantastic morning and I was there with some great pals from Sky Club.

After the HOHA 5 Mile on Mother's Day.

Then, I got sick as I talked about in my previous post, and lost all ability to move much less run.  But, this weekend I came back with a vengeance (ok I just came back) and ran the Oakley Mini 10k.  The race ending up being a lot of fun. I had been really excited about doing the race and then Friday it poured rain, like Noah's ark prep.  I had mentally prepared myself that the race was going to be cancelled, Hoboken was going to flood, I'd lose power, and sleep in.  So had my better half.  But, race morning came, so did the sunshine and birds chirping and with my pal Run Lift Repeat saying she was up for the race, we were off to the races, literally.  Fortunately, the drive by car into NYC is speedy quick, which left us plenty of time to get registered, talk my better half out of being mad at me for waking him up so early, and use the restrooms. He set off on his own run around the park and I went to the starting line.  I ended up being last. How? I dunno. 

I was expecting to have a horrible race after eating pasta and pizza by the pound at 10pm the night before, but amazingly I was setting a 10:30 pace a week after being sick, I slowed up some on the hills in Central Park but my finish was only a minute behind last year, so I was happy overall.  I was happy I didn't cough, throw up, or DNF, especially since I had forgotten many of the hills that were involved. Whoops. The one at the 5k mark always gets me.

I was very excited the medals were pink! Especially since I was wearing pick.  One the way into the race, Run Lift Repeat and I had a long discussion on race fashion, much to the disgust of my better half, who couldn't understand dressing up to sweat.The race has a great "go women" vibe and I love the medals and carnations they give out.  I also cannot forget some love for the super race volunteers who made bag drop easy.

Post Race Pink!

This is the 5th year I've run the mini and the tanks that they gave out may beat some of the previous T's. Go partnership with Oakley.

Missing a medal from 2010, maybe I lost it? But otherwise 4 years of medals starting from 2009!

Last week, before the Mini 10K, I also formally got back to teaching classes.

 Plyometric Paradise.

Warm Up - Jog, Jacks and Jump Rope, Wide Leg Pushups (3), Squats and Lunges  (about 20 of each) and Stretching

I decided to change up my Tuesday class and I set up rows of benches. We did our usual warm up and then a plyometric workout.

They lined up in front of the benches and did plyometric jumps all the down the benches (6 in a row at varying heights) and then lunges back (3 rounds).  The first set deep squat on the step.  Second set was deep squat when jumping down and run back after 10 squat jumps.  The 3rd set we moved laterally and did toe taps down and shuffle back and reverse.

We broke it up (each set) with heavy weight work and 3 minute challenges. The 3 minute challenge was 3 minutes of 5 competition burpees, 10 squat jumps, 5 burpees, 10 mt climbers. I was exhausted by this. The weights we did squats, curl press, push ups, single leg dead lift, and dead lift row. (10-15 of each).

Here is a link to the video that inspired me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLzI1mcvIv8


Remember to always check with a doctor before doing any exercise and to always keep on tri'n! 

Weekly Workout Summary - June 3 - 9

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Plyometric Paradise and Swimming - 20 min, 20 min run at night
Wed - Spinning 45 min and 20 min Running
Thursday  - 40 min Run in the Rain
Friday - Spinning - 45 min and some ab work
Saturday - Oakley Mini 10k
Sunday - 17 mile bike on some big CT Hills and 20 min Run (BRICK!)

Tough Tuesday Workout: Tabata Inspired.

This workout started out with another buy in, which was a concept stolen from Zuzana Light.   This time instead of one exercise, I did 4 two minute intervals of high intensity cardio. Warm up as you normally would - we do a 5-7 minute warmup of stretching, squats and cardio. This is to the best of my memory since I had a BUSY Wednesday.

(30 Seconds each exercise until 2 minutes) one minute rest in between
Round 1: football run and high knees
Round 2: skater jumps and jump squats
Round 3: football run, high knees
Round 4: lunge jump, jumping jacks

1 minute rest
1 minute of burpees. Remember you don't have to do the push up or you can do it on your knees.

That should've been tough. Hope you did the best you can! :)

Weights: 20 - 30 seconds rest after each exercise

20 lunges L with a curl

20 overhead press

20 lunges R with a curl

10 dive bomber pushups

20 squats with a heavy weight

20 one leg row L

10 push ups

20 one leg row r

10 push ups

20 dead lift with row

10 push ups

Grab a ball and go the wall - squat up and down 10 times with weights in hand, pulse for 20, repeat 3x.

10 pushups on the ball - knees on ball.

10 knees in and out on the ball.

10 each L/R repeat lunge and curl with overhead press center

10 knees in and out for abs and then tricep dip (10)

Abs - Krav Maga inspired

40 crunches

10 start in downward dog, squeeze in abs, lower knees to one inch off floor

20 crunches

10 start on your stomach, arms in T, lift chest then press to a plank

10 right side crunch then 10 on L

10 reverse crunches

1 plank - 30 seconds.

DONE!

An Olympic Spin

With the Olympics here it was all I could do to contain my excitement about creating a (maybe multiple) Olympic playlist for class on Friday (next week).  It was virtually impossible due to the secrecy around the ceremony to see what music they used so I picked some of my favorite British music and inspiring music.

The Olympic Spin Playlist



London Calling - Obvious choice.

Spice Up Your Life  - Brits ladies and a good one to get the heart rate up.

SuperGirl  - Favorite song of Nastia Luikin, US gymnast and 2008 Olympic all around champion.

London Bridge - Starting to climb to a lil London tribute.

'Till I Collapse - Hauling up that hill after that intro and a great one to showcase how hard the athletes work and how hard can you push.

I'm Still Standing (Live) - Flush to another England legend and then run in 2.

That's Not My Name - This English indie band is great for sprints.

We Will Rock You - Heading up a steep hill at one minute mark all you've got. 

Dog Days Are Over  - My fav English lady and flush it out then run in 2 and jumps in 2. 

Firestarter - I found out this song was going to be used and I hadn't heard it awhile so it was great for sprints.

What Makes You Beautiful - Irish/English pop boys make for a climb to the end with hill run in 2 at the chorus

Jenny Wren Paul McCartney - Sir Paul to cool down.

White Ladder - cooling down.

This was super fun and I can't wait do do another one.

Triathlon Take I: Sherwood Island Triathlon

Mom and I post race

I came back to beat this girl at the end. More pictures below of the swim and bike.

The first race. 
The first race of the season, when nerves take off and you wonder if you've practiced swimming enough and wonder if you'll drown.  I did not but I was definitely nervous.  I stayed at my mom's house as the race was 45 minutes away on Sherwood Island in Westport. It's a gorgeous location and a great race so I would recommend it.  This was my second time doing this race and the previous year I'd seen an ex there so I was nervous, nervous I might see him again and also ready to rock. Here's my recap.

Pre Race
Had an early dinner and went to bed early.  Was up several times in anticipation.  The alarm sounded way to early at 4:40 am since the race started at 6:30.  I would recommend day before packet pick up to get some more sleep time, this is what I did but it's still early.  Otherwise I would've been up at 4:15. Ugh.

I ate a bagel and some PB and hunkered down for a little sleep in the car.

Here's where things started to go awry.  I got the bike out and checked to make sure my bike computer for mileage, etc. was working. No dice.  Evidently upon further review, it's finicky but it had somehow run out of batteries or decided to pick that day to stop working.  The lovely Hoboken bike store Flo on Wheels fixed in for free later.  So that was out.  I was frustrated and kept trying to get it to work. I couldn't find my number because some girl had put her towel on top of it, she was in the next rack but evidently needed a ton of space, so I was down to zippo time.  I quickly warmed up and went to suit up in my wetsuit - the zipper busted in my hand. HORROR. It was pretty chilly out and the water looked grey.  We tried fixing it, I debated quitting and finally decided to proceed.  I was one of two people not in a wetsuit.  I got in and the water was pretty warm until we had to wait five minutes to actually head out.  Then I realized my heart monitor was not working.  GRRR.  The woman next to me asked if I always swam with out a wet suit and I quickly explained the story.  "You'll probably PR," she replied.  I hoped.

Swim
It was cold but I was cutting through the water to get back to the shore.  The way out took forever fighting waves, the straightaway was great and back to shore was pretty smooth sailing.  I emerged in around 14/15 minutes and ran across the beach to the tranisition. My mom was pretty impressed

T1
I was pretty impressed I ran all the way to transition and threw on my bike shoes.  Then grabbed the bike, helmet and one of the clasps from the helmet came off in my hand.  I was in shock.  I had checked it on Thursday.  I quickly tied it on and threw on my helmet. I took off thinking I was done.

Bike
The bike is gorgeous.  Out of the park is a bit dull but once you're off the highway it's all nice back roads and nice rolling hills and long flats.  I was back in 48 minutes crushing last year's time.

T2
Feeling good off the bike I made about a 1 minute trans. NICE!

Run
I started the run feeling super slow. I was pissed at myself and kept pushing myself to catch up to whoever was near.  Well it worked. I clocked myself in at 10 minutes for mile 1.  Knowing only 2 miles were left I worked to keep my speed and not get down if I was passed.  I managed just about 10/11 minutes for Mile 2 which had a few hills and tried to push for the last one.  Right around 600 yards left I got passed.  I was bummed and with a quarter mile left we entered the beach.  I suddenly realized I had nothing left to lose and ran with everything I had to pass the woman who passed me.  Her husband was running with her down the beach but I took off past both of them towards my dad who was screaming at the tight right turn that left about 5 yards to the finish.  Realizing I was so close she picked it up and I had to fight to keep ahead.  I beat her by 5 seconds.  When I turned and said good run - she was definitely pissed. Oh well. Can't win them all!

Post Race
Post race stretch available on site, bagel and celebration at mom's!

Next race - June 24, 2012 - Litchfield Hills Triathlon. 

You can see I am only one without a wetsuit.

Me on the bike towards the finish.

Post race stretch.

Heading Home.