look what came in the mail today!

Apparently I placed third in my age division for the Red Rock triathlon!

I checked my results and saw I was in fourth, and didn't bother waiting around after that. Luckily the top finisher in our age division was in the Overall top three and so she was pulled for the age division category, so I got bumped up to third.

How nice of them to mail me my award!

Kate's Race Report - Nathan's Triathlon - Sprint division

Kate and Annette after the race.

Today was race day!  The Ironmoms were tackling Nathan's triathlon.  I was originally slated to do the Olympic distance with Kim but I knew I wasn't ready.  The diet made me pretty weak so I thought I would die.  Plus, I knew the swim would be brutal for me since I haven't had a bit of swim time and I wouldn't be able to wear a wetsuit.  So I switched to the Sprint distance.  The sprint was 750 m swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run.  I felt pretty comfortable with the distances. 

My day didn't go as planned.  First, I only had 2 hours of sleep the night before.  I attended the NABA-AZ dinner and might of had a couple too many glasses of wine.  Not the plan.  The plan was to stay at the dinner for a short while and then go home and get a good night of sleep.  Instead I partied like a rock star until the weee hours of the morning. 

I set the alarm for 4:30.  I thought this would give me time to get ready and get to Annette's house house for pick up.  I guess the alarm didn't go off and I woke up to Annette's phone call at 5:20!  UGH.  I manged to get there in a couple minutes but I wasn't on my A game.  Not only did I oversleep, I forgot my earplugs, my swim cap, and my timing chip!  Plus I realized I had a mild hangover! 

Even with all the morning chaos, I managed to finish the race.  It was just ok.  The high point for me was the run. I wasn't fast but I felt pretty strong. I usually feel strongest on my bike but I wasn't feeling it today.  The low point was my swim, as usual.  I didn't panic but I was still slow.  A positive note about the swim was that I did a much better job sighting in the water. The race was not my finest moment and not a total disaster.  I looked at the results and finished 3 minutes faster than in 2009.  That is good considering I was not on my A game.  Plus, I finished under 2:00 hours!  That is awesome for me. 

I'm looking forward to get the training going again.  Lots of potential to have some great races.  I'm also very proud of all of us Ironmoms.  We are doing it!

Nathan's Tempe Tri

It was a warm day for a tri, but that didn't stop the Ironmoms!! I finished the Olympic distance and felt pretty good. My swim was alright, my bike was great (I averaged over 16 mph!!), the run, however, could have been better. It was in the low 90's by the time I crossed the finish line and I definitely felt the heat on the run. There was a great bit of time (for approximately a mile) during the run when the sun was behind a cloud. Otherwise, it was hot, hot, hot. We also had a freak rainstorm (very light rain) during the ride, which was very odd. All in all, it was good to get out on a race course again.

After I was done, I had to ask myself if I was ready to double that for Soma's 1/2 iron distance in October. I am not quite there yet (and definitely not ready to quadruple it for the Ironman), but I know that I can keep working the bike and the run and I will feel a lot better.

Annette and Kate ran the sprint--it sounds like they had a good day too, but I'll let them report. :)

Kate's Weightloss Update

For all of September I've been a dieting machine.  I've been doing a pretty extreme diet and it has been working.  I've lost 10.8 pounds in 2 weeks and 2 days.  I weigh now about what I weighed when I finished Ironman in November.  I feel good having the weight off again but I know this diet is making me weak.  I have been working out, but I do not have the energy I should. 

I know some do not agree with my extreme dieting but I do have a plan.  Here is my thinking.  I want to lose as much weight as I can before I start working towards Ironman 2012.  That gives me a months before my training really gets moving again.   So my September is crazy but I promise I will start being smarter at the end of the month.  The thought of having less weight to carry around excites me!

Red Rock Triathlon

Bike and run slightly slower than last year, but close enough.

I'm getting excited for all the upcoming events, such as...

Nike Women's Marathon

Ragnar Las Vegas

Volunteering for IRONMAN AZ!!

We're just over a year away!

Nice Group Ride

We had a nice group ride today.  We ended up riding 22.5 miles.  It was short but nice. I think the best part about it was the weather finally broke.  It was absolutely beautiful out.  Here is a photo of me, Annette and Kim taking a break at the end of Pecos Road.  Feels great to be out there.

Splash n Dash! Want to Swim?

Hey ladies - Here is the link for the first splash and dash.  Annette sent it to me today.  This will be a great practice round for Nathan's triathlon.  Anyone in?

http://4peaksracing.com/event.php?id=187