NYC Triathlon

This past weekend I raced in the New York City Triathlon.  It was my first trip to the big city and I'll admit I am quite proud of my navigational skills!  The alarm went off at 3am for the 5:52am pro women race start.  It was pretty comical watching the jet skis, boats, and paddle boarders (which were the most hilarious) try to go against the current of the Hudson.  The paddle boarder was going backwards!  We knew this would be a quick swim down river(~13 min).  It was a dive start off of the dock and then I worked to get over to the first pack of swimmers.  I came out of the water 6th, then pretty much maintained that position on the bike, and then ran to finish 5th!  Each race, I become a bit more confident and more competitive.  I'm learning not to become complacent at any points during a race, because you lose valuable time that way.  I'm excited for my next races and the training ahead.  Working with my coach, Paulo Sousa, has made a huge impact on my season and I look forward to being back with the squad soon.

Utah Training Camp - St. George

Now that I'm home from St. George, where the squad had its most recent training camp, I'm reading "The 19th Wife", about one of Brigham Young's many wives, Ann Eliza, and polygamy.  It's interesting because much of it takes places in southern Utah and names places that we saw or rode by during camp (Kanab, St. George, Zion, Snow Canyon, the "crystal meth labs" of Hurricane, etc.).  

St. George has some incredible scenery.  Very deep colors (sky, water, desert, canyons etc).  It was awesome to train there for a month in the desert, but it would be a tough place to live year-round.  It gets HOT.  It's the kind of hot that makes you feel like you are breathing through a small straw and your skin is turning inside out.  BUT, we had some great places for open water swimming at a couple of the reservoirs (see photo below), tons of trails to run on (through canyons, around the reservoir), endless riding options - we could ride on a highway for an hour and see maybe 5 cars-, and treadmills for when it was just too darn hot.

The squad had a good block of training with coach Paulo on deck, on land, or in the Element urging us on.  I love the competitive atmosphere of camp.  Now i'm back in Richmond for a while, finally cooling off after the   10 day heat wave that just came through.  I'm taking a couple of easy days and then back into training.  Next race is Columbus, OH at the end of July!  

Bonus picture from Wildwood, NJ...this picture changed my stereotype of the Jersey Shore!