Friday, June 1, 2012

Beach Week - YAY!!!!!

I graduated from University of South Carolina Upstate's Nursing BSN program about 4 weeks ago and was so excited to be able to come down to Florida with the family for a week. Honestly, I travel out of town almost every weekend, but this is really the first time that I have gotten to actually relax. Of course, I continued to train while I was down here ... but it definitely was a more relaxed atmosphere.


We started out the week with a reveal party. What is a reveal party? Well, no one knew the gender of my sisters baby except me, not even her or her husband. I ordered a cake with the gender specific color inside and then we all got together. Ben's parents were skyping on one computer & my grandparents were on another computer. It turned out great ... and ... it's a GIRL!!!

It has been a great week with the family. Too bad I have to go back to reality soon. My NCLEX is two weeks from today, and I am freaking out! My goal is to study full time until then so I'm cutting down my work hours. I plan to kick this tests butt! =)

Low Country Splash 2.4mi: 05-19-12

This was a swim I have wanted to do for the last several year & was finally getting to do it!

During the summer of 2008, I started racing triathlons. It was then that my love for swimming took hold. Ever since then I have wanted to race this 2.4 mile swim, but was unable to due to it landing during my families vacation time in Florida. This year it fell on the week before our FL timeshare & I was so excited. From really a year out I was planning on racing this event. I was telling everyone I was racing ... but there was only one problem ... I forgot to register for it! Yep, that's right folks. I forgot again! I had asked off work and was planning on driving down there Friday morning after my early bike ride with Nicole & Jeff. We were biking early b/c we wanted to spend the afternoon in Charleston. Thursday night I awoke in a cold sweat when I realized that I had not registered for the race. Stink! I pulled out my smart phone and looked up the website & found where it said "Online Registration Closed [and] No On-site Registration." I was devastated. How on earth was I going to tell Nicole!

I was really grumpy the next morning. Maybe b/c it was 4:30am, but it was also b/c I knew I had to break the news to her that something I had been planing for a year wasn't going to happen b/c of my stupidity. On the drive over to meet Jeff for our bike ride I finally told her. Turns out she had received an email the day before saying there would be registration at packet pick-up. YAY!!!

The morning of the race was weird. There was no bike to haul, no transition bag & no tri suit to put on. We had heard rumor that conditions were dangerous and it might get canceled ... so the alarm goes off & Nicole instantly looks up the website to make sure it was still a "go!" I think she secretly wanted it to be canceled! =) We arrived at the parking lot & the busses were ready to take us to the start. It was bazaar standing there, only holding my goggles, swim cap & towel. We were bused to the start line and it was a throw back to the good 'ol elementary school days. The air temperature was freezing and the winds were crazy! What are we doing!?! I had to strip down to my swimsuit and then stand around while they were doing the pre-race talk. It was sooo cold. Nicole was trying to use me as a wind blocker and hide behind me - stinker!

The swim went great. I had never done a "swimmers" event and was surprised at how aggressive everyone was at the start. They were not there to play nice & if you got in their way they were going to push you down as they swam over you. Thankfully I'm pretty aggressive as well. I held my own & didn't let them push me around. I had overheard some of the swimmers talk & say that once you got to the bridge there was only 3/4ths of a mile left to go. My strategy was to swim strong, but keep enough in the tank so that I could really push from the bridge to the finish line. There was only one problem with that. After the bridge the bay opened up and the water became very choppy. When I say choppy I mean it was the choppiest water I have ever swam in. It felt like we were in a washing machine. It was nearly impossible to incorporate sighting into your stroke while keeping your stroke seamless. Sometimes you looked up & all you saw was water because you were at the bottom of a wave. Sometimes you would put your arm out and all you felt was air because you were at the top of a wave. It really was crazy, but I loved it! My finishing time was 1:00:11. Woohoo!!!

I had so much fun. Even though I couldn't crank it out the tail end of the swim like I had planned, it wasn't because I didn't have the energy left for it. I was so excited when I got out of that water and still had energy. This means my base training is there as I start to venture into Ironman training I definitely felt like I could have gotten on a bike after hopping out of that bay water.


We finished the day by going back out & through the markets and shops in Charleston. It was a great trip.

Lake Murray Sprint: 05-06-12

Playing in the lake with everybody ... even Lily the dog!
You know the old saying ..."don't do anything new on race day?" Well, I kinda botched that one up!

I like this race. The area is beautiful and I was lucky enough that one of my TNTers had a house right there on Lake Murray. Three of my TNTers, Nicole & I went down to race this triathlon. It was so nice to play in the lake & just relax the night before the race. Nicole made us all our normal pasta dinner while I went over some last minute open water swimming tips with the TNTers in the lake and then washed the bikes down.



So happy after its over
Race mornin: The TNTers were all nervous since this was their first triathlon ever. Everyone found their places in TA and got all set up & then went to go get warmed up. Time did not allow me to warm up in the lake & that threw me off a bit, but it's all good. The gun goes off and we are swimming. I had told Nicole to hang on my feet and draft, but I guess that didn't really work. My sighting was right on and I finally got into a nice groove about half way through. After taking that last turn and heading back to shore I started hitting men from the wave before us. Wow, I slammed right this one guy ... he was going perpendicular to me ... um, WRONG way buddy!! Got out and it was a mad dash to TA to get on the bike. The bike felt great! I had recently changed my bike fit around so I could start activating my gluts. This was my BIG MISTAKE of the day. This race was really the first time I had been on a real bike ride with the new fit.

Emily celebrating after placing in the Novice division!
It felt great ... until the run! I have changed my mentality when it comes to running. My goal is to consider myself a "runner" by the end of the season and so I went into this race excited to see what I could do on the run portion. Ha! With the newly activated muscles on the bike, I was in for a long run/walk 5k. Yes, I said run/walk. I've gotten new running shoes and absolutely love them. My form has improved and also my times. Unfortunately, every time I hit an incline my legs cramped like no other. My legs cramped so bad that I would end up swinging my legs around to put on in front of the other. It was a pretty funny sight!! I stopped a few times to try and stretch them out, but they came right back. Oh well, live and learn right! I still had fun and was excited to feel good on the run (when my legs weren't cramped so bad that they were stuck straight out). =)
Scott rocking it as he ran into the finish chute

TryCharleston Half: 04-21-12

"The triathlon that didn't happen"
Yes, this is where we were supposed
to be swimming for the race!

This was my first half of the 2012 season. I was excited to be going down and racing with the crew. Lots of friends, a long weekend at the beach, and a big race ... nothing could be better! 

... Uh oh, I forgot to register for the race. I knew Wednesday was the last day to sign up, but I thought it closed at 7pm not am. OOPS. Crisis averted - Elizabeth w/ SetUp Events said I could register at packet pick-up on Friday. Whew!

Turns out there has been a stomach bug going around I just happened to get it Friday night. I ended up hugging the porcelain thrown all night. After a rough night I knew there was no way I could race, seeing as I would be going into it dehydrated and still sick. I decided to sit this one out. Nicole ended up having an ear infection & couldn't swim or stay on her bike b/c her equilibrium was all off ... so BOTH of us were out! Ugh. 

I definitely think that pulling out was a good decision for both of us. We rested up and managed to wander out to the race site to see our friends cross the finish line. Even if our cheering wasn't as enthusiastic as normal we still wanted to go out & show our support for the crew.

The Crew