Buffalo Springs 70.3

Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon is done :-) It is kind of strange that my first 70.3 of the year is at the end of June!!! But with moving and getting married and traveling to Olympic Distance races and Duathlons...it has been a busy year.

2 weeks before Buffalo Springs was forced to stop running thanks to a foot problem...but I went to Texas anyways, to try out where I am with my swimming and my cycling. So my friend Pam and I sat in the car, drove for 12 hours and landed in Lubbock, TX. What a drive. It goes from pretty mountains with trees...to hills without trees...to flat without trees...to flat without trees and cow poop smell :-)
It was nice to get there 2 days early. Usually I get in the day before and out the day of the race. We settled in our hotel and started searching for...a pool off course.
After 10 unsuccessful calls to a variety of pools (for members only...what...what is lap swimming?...we are not open for the public...) we decided to ask someone at Texas Tech to let us
in as guests...and we were successful!!! On the first attempt.
The pool was great with lap swim and super fun diving bords and a slide and a lzy river. Which we, off course, had to try.

Well, Sunday morning came around and the race was on. It was a non wetsuit swim with a beach start (2 new things for me :-). We went off and I found some feet to draft off, but then those feet decided to let the group in front go. I swam as hard as I could for about 2 min and caught up to the group in front of us. 26:30 min later I was out of the water with about 5 people :-) Success!!! Even though I was the only person without a swim skin (OK, what is the deal here...they totally give you an advantage...and they will be illegal shortly...so why are they even legal now?) but my Kiwami suit was great!!! Take that swim skins!!!

Onto the bike: I felt great, pushed hard, was very careful on the downhills (too much bad luck lately made me be careful) and I had the 4th fastest bike time!!! Yeah, my swimming and biking are great right now.

Onto the run, I felt good for about 3 miles...moved up a few spots...and then my foot started hurting...I started compensating and pretty soon (around mile 4-5) my hamstrings were TIIIGHT...I was shuffeling/stretching and even walking for the next 9 miles. So frustrating. I hate getting passed and not being able to respond. Especially since I have a running background. Oh well. I finished in 10th with a 1:47 half. Good news is that I know what I can normally run and believe that would have put me into 4th place which is a great success.

Pam PR'd on this awesome course which has a very tough 13.1 mile run at the end. On a flat course she would have PR'd by 20-30 min for sure!!! She did great in all 3 events!!!

After the race we sat in the car immediately to drive back to Phoenix so that I could be at work the next day :-)

Ouch...if you think your hamstrings are tight after a 70.3 try sitting in a car for 12 hours after doing a half :-)

It was a great trip with lots of fun!!!
Here are a few pics:

Jack playing in the water before leaving.

Flagstaff on fire.

And again...

Cadillac yard in Amarillo, TX.

Lazy pool. Not sure how I ended up under the mat :-)

Pam's diving skills.

Oh oh, here we go...

At least the landing is soft...hopefully...

Recovery time is coming to an end now and I will be working on getting my run/foot better again.

Phoenix is getting hotter and hotter so JR and I are escaping to Flagstaff for the 4th of July!!!

Where has time gone...

The middle of June already... here are the quick updates:

1. still waiting on the house...shortsales...
2. Phoenix is getting hotter...and hotter...and people tell me this is actually a nice June :-)
3. can't wait to race in my first 70.3 of the year...

OK, now here is the full story:

The wait on the house is incredible, but we knew what we were getting into when we signed up...if we can close by the end of this month we will get the tax rebate which would be GREAT!!!
I was hoping to go do the Liberty Classic with Team Colleen - www.teamcolleen.org. Unfortunately I couldn't get my UCI license and I had to stay at home. I would have loved to represent at Philly with some great Teammates!!!

Instead JR and I went to the Deuces Wild Triathlon in Show Low, AZ. The race was very fun but sooo hot. I was excited to race against my batteling buddy Katie-she is an amazing athlete who knows how to fight!!! We rode the "legal" together until she flatted. From then on it was just me against the clock :-)

The run was incredibly hot (guess I am not a Phoenician yet). I ended up running my slowest 10 since...I can't even remember...but broke the course record by a few minutes. JR took home the 3rd place overall male trophy!!! Great comeback...After 5 years or so out of the sport.

We spend the next weekend in Flagstaff. BEAUTIFUL!!! Lots of riding, not so much running :-( My foot has been hurting so I took a few days off...

Thanks to Endurance Rehab I am back into full training and getting ready for Buffalo Springs.

It is getting hotter and hotter here in Phoenix. We hit the 100 mark almost every day, but everyone tells me we are still lucky. Usually it is way over 100 every day...let's hope it stays the way it is:-) FOREVER:-)

Going back up to Flagstaff this weekend for some good training again before taking off for Texas on Wednesday!!! CAN'T WAIT. 2nd time in Texas:-)

Pics from my busy busy busy weeks :-)

Busy busy busy

Life down here in Phoenix is very different. I love sleeping in but down here you have no choice but to get up early to hit the track or to ride a bike. It just gets too hot!!!

I have to say that I am enjoying it though. I finally get things done. By 9 am I am done with my workouts, then I go to work and at around 9 pm I am in bed to recharge for the next day.

Unfortunately we are still waiting on our house. But we are not giving up on the thought that we can move in by the end of june.

Racing down here is great too. I finally don't need to search for a hotel anymore :-) Or get up at 2 am...

I competed in 2 local races lately the Tempe International Triathlon and the Tribal Triathlon and one out of state triathlon the Columbia Triathlon.

Tempe International Triathlon:
I had an OK swim, go onto the bike and rode the 2 laps with lots of corners like a crit. Katie Ellis was in front of me (as usualy she comes out of the water in front of me), but I gained every lap on the bike on her. Unfortunately she crashed going around one of the tight corners and was out of the race. This is always sad, because she is such a great competitor. She can push herself really hard and therefore make me work really hard. Good thing was that she walked away with roadrash only. I got on the run and finished the race in first place. It was a lot of fun to have the entire Tribe crew out there cheering. My team, Tribe, also won the award for "best looking team"!!! We totally deserved it :-)

The next weekend I went off to the Columbia Triathlon jn Maryland. The start list was the following:
Natascha Badmann
Margie Shapiro
Rebeccah Wassner
Laurel Wassner
Desiree Ficker
Amanda Lovato
and...ME
The lake was super tiny and full of algae. The water temperature was at 68 degrees (which is right at the cut off for wetsuits for Pro's). Race morning it measured 69!!! WHAT!!!??? No wetsuit...=bad for Angi. Everyone (except for me) wore one of the "thin wetsuits" which I thought where illegal in 2010...but I guess not. The gun went off and even going as hard as I could, I could not even stay with the "swimmers" for the first 100 m. I swam with Natascha Badmann for the entire swim which was very cool :-) I hit her on the head a few times too...sorry...I came out of the water and jumped on the bike. Since it had been raining all night/morning, the transition turned into a mud field!!! After about 10 min on the bike I was approaching a roundabout. Unfortunately I must have had a leak in my tires and ended up sliding on the pavement because my wheel didn't grab. Yeah, more roadrash. My race was over which was very unfortunate. Not only did I travel around the US to get there, but also if I would have finished in my "normal"speed, I would have won around 1000 $ which I could have used for more travel.

On my trip home I got chosen to be in the naked scanner at the airport!!! Yeah!!! Since my hip was swollen they kept asking me what I have in my shorts. I told them I crashed, I have nothing in my shorts. I don't even have pockets!!! So I got padded down by a lady who kept going over my roadrash...trust me...it is just a swollen hip!!!

Not that that was enough bad luck. I arrived in Phoenix, just to find out that US Airways failed to close the bike box right after inspection and now the box is broken. The claim is in the mail, but who knows if I will ever see a reimbursement.

I jumped right back into training on Monday to prepare for the most recent race. The Tribal Triathlon. My favourite race in AZ!!! 1000 m swim, 23 km hilly bike and a 3.6 mile trail run. This was the 4th time I had done this race. The first time was when I was still a college runner. I PR'd by 2 min on the course and won the race. After the tri I jumped back into my wetsuit and completed the 2000 m open water swim. It was a great day of training, racing and being around fun peeps!!!

The day after the race was a long ride which was really fun too.

Monday I had a long run. JR and I found a great area to run at. Reach 11. It is a 12 mile trail system in Phoenix with non rocky trails, mostly flat. Perfect for intervals and long runs. And some of it is shaded. It is great!!! Who knew that Phoenix has this much to offer for athletes?