BSLT 70.3 Camp with Playtri

I guess Collegiate Nationals wasn't enough Lubbock for me for one year because here it is a month later, and I'm back! Myself, Ben, Michael, and Philip are all doing the BSLT 70.3 this June, and, seeing as those three guys are all in much better shape than myself, I decided I needed an edge so here I am. (Also, my coach told me I had to go). I came into town yesterday afternoon with Aaron from Playtri - that drive never seems to get shorter. Nothing like seemingly endless brown plains to pysch you out mentally - and of course the wind farms all around the outskirts of town don't exactly put you in the best frame of mind for cycling! But the hotel we're staying at is pretty nice, and my room only costs $36 a night! And we have wireless, so I can do important things, like post on the team blog.

Last night we just had lectures with Ahmed, but we got some fun camp shirts and water bottles and such, and had a chance to get a good meal before the ride this morning. Today we rode the BSLT course, doing the section of the course with the toughest hills twice just for good measure. We ended the ride with a rabbit chase drill to practice legal drafting. All in all, it took about 5 hours. My muscles feel surprisingly good, though I kind of messed up my hydration - I lost abooout 3 pounds during the ride. No bueno. And my arms and legs are definitely a bit sunburned! But I had a great time riding with Jeanne and got so much good information from her - and also an opportunity for the UNT team at the next Playtri camp in Austin. I think our performance would increase dramatically if we all had the information I'm getting this weekend, so anything that gets our members to one of these camps is reason to be excited.

The rest of today is all lectures - on heart rate, power training, mental toughness, etc. Aaron and I hit up Pei Wei between the ride and the lectures, and managed to get back to the hotel for about 15 minutes, so I got to take a cold bath and let my leg muscles recover a little bit better, and I got honey-seared chicken. Talk about a happy end to a long training ride. Today definitely has me excited for the race at the end of June. I'm a little nervous for the Buffman and Squeaky Oly on Sunday, but that's mainly just because it's coming after a loooong weekend of training! Anyways, it can't possibly be as bad (i.e. COLD) as it was at Nationals, so at least there's that to look forward to. Tomorrow we have 2 hours of open water swimming, 2 hours of hill repeats, and we're running the run course for BSLT. Basically, another 5-6 hour day of training. I'm not sure what the lectures are tomorrow.

Anyways, all and all a great first full day of sweating and going hard. I know I'm going to feel much better prepared for BSLT after this weekend.

my legs hurt.... and my non legs hurt.... everything hurts

this is a good thing eh?

spandex convention

my face hurt in the water. my legs hurt on the bike. my gut (the margarita belly) hurt on the run...along with my knees and ankles. but man was i excited to finish!


crazy as it sounds--i really wanna go train out there this summer a few weekends to get a head start on conquering those hills! (the cold water i dont know what to do about.....except ear plugs and two caps)


so someone please hold me to it!

NATIONALS!!!

So the USAT Collegiate National Champsionship this past weekend was AMAZING! For the first time ever, UNT Triathlon is a nationally ranked team. We had a full team in the Olympic, and even some extras spilling over into the sprint - including Coach Sean!

We crammed the whole team into 4 hotel rooms, and there were five of us girls (and four Specialized bikes) in one room. We spent about an hour running around with our swim caps on and taking pictures with our bikes. Then Kira talked about floss for about half an hour. Andrew shaved himself a mohawk for the race, and Coach Sean gave our bikes the once over Friday night before the big day.

The course was intensely difficult - there's a reason the Half they have there is a Kona qualifier!!! The water was freezing cold, and a number of people were pulled out of the swim for hypothermia. I know my race strategy was gone as soon as my face hit the water - I was really wishing I had a wetsuit with SLEEVES! The temp when we were checking into transition was 38, and I think the water was around 55 - as opposed to the predicted 65 degrees. Ugh. Transition was tough after the swim because I couldn't feel my limbs! The giant hill out of transition was difficult with my calves wanting to cramp up from the cold, but at least I knew to put my shoes on IN transition, and have my bike set in the easiest gear. The bike course was challenging, to put it mildly, and that was with only a mild Lubbock wind. Riding it for the 70.3 this summer will be an adventure! The run was tough for me - after being sick the past couple of months, I've been having some stomach problems, and they came back to haunt me for the entire run course. Had to stop and walk a number of times which NEVER happens for me. I think my pace was 9:30... as opposed to the 7:30 pace at my last race! Ouch! But considering how sick I had been two weeks before, I was just so happy to be there and racing.

Getting to watch the 2012 Talent ID race was way cool - as was the bowling, arcade games, and pizza at Main Event with the team later that night! I'm so proud of our team for competing, and I'm ready for us to dominate next year!!!

i ran today with miss kira, and then swam. i forgot my suit an the only one i had in my car was one that did not want to keep my "girls" covered when i was pulling. made for a short swim. it was lime green though, and that made me happy, BUT note to self- preplant suit at pool so boobs dont show.

amanda

the lonestar festival was amazing! there were zillons and zillons of people there! i did the sprint on saturday which was more windy but not as hot as sunday's races. chris was the only other sprinter from UNT to race-- all our other athletes took on the oly. i realized i should probably be more organized and what not, i forgot my cap...and wetsuit....and gels at morgan's place on race morning. my T1 was a fieasco, with one rubber band not breaking, and the other shoe becoming unclipped...still attached to the rubberband and my bike being literally stuck on someone elses. and i totally practiced all that good stuff the day before with miss morgan. the bike was wonky, i was suppose to go today to get it fixed, but the shop is too busy :( so hopefully sometime before nationals-or i cry. the run wasnt too bad physically, but mentally i was drained. i dont like courses that you can see all the runners ahead of you still going out, it makes it seem longer. but thats okay cause all in all i think i did okay. debating a wetsuit for nationals....i dont know weither the T1 time will be outweighed by the leg flotation and what not. k, hope all that made sense im going to get ready for the TT.
amanda

ride

Went riding today around 1:15ish and went out jim christal expecting a short ride but after the turn around I decided to head down TN skiles and go down that way. The wind was kinda a pain in the gluteus maximus. I am beginning to take the look of Michael H. the shirt without a shirt and skivies with out skivies tan lines. dont know how far i went, i was riding without my trusty dusty computer for an hour and a half i thinks.
andrew

Trying to Recover

This weekend was awesome for the Team

Congrats to Ben of course for dominating and showing people what the team can do and i have to say everyone made a good showing with almost all top 5 finishes

Finding it hard to recover though :( red bull and greasy foods for the day should get my motivation to get out and going again by the end of the day

70/4 brick

Michael H. and Andrew S. met up for a bike ride Saturday morning, along with a future tri-team member who will transfer to UNT next year to help us win races.

We left the rec center at around 9 am and rode around Denton for a little while, then headed up into Sanger to the gas station at 455 & 5th. We stopped to refill on Gatorade and some little girls helped us out us with their delicious bake sale cookies.

We headed back into a headwind for the next 10 miles before turning onto Jim Christal and taking that down until we hit C. Wolfe/Skiles and taking that down to Hwy 156. On the way back to Jim Christal, Andrew had to turn back to Denton since he was under a time constraint (and had already extended his 2 hour ride to just over 3 hours). Future tri-team member and I headed the long way down Jim Christal, then headed back to my apartment.

We spent ~5 minutes in my apartment throwing on our running shoes and ran a 4 mile brick around campus and up Hickory/Oak. My legs were strong and I ran sub-8's, while future tri-team member bonked! We got him to Pita Pit immediately for some nourishment.

All in all, it was a great day for a long workout. Good friends, good weather and exercise. That's what training should be!

Michael H.

geese, with the wind how it was today-- you could point your bike in any direction and you would still be headed east! i could barely walk against it. (this is how zack said it would be in lubbock) use your imagination!!!

amanda

cause im super woman? yes.

ran the square and back. it was like orgasmically perfect....untill my IT band tightened up, and my knees felt like they were going to pop. why does this happen? i got new chews on, they are as close as they come to what i thought was the right pair. could it be the chews, my running style (which andrew says my right leg kinda does this circling thing and actually i dont really know how to direct my legs....i say, legs go! and sometimes they listen, sometimes i watch a movie instead....) ANYWHO, ran then swam with andrew at the rec. planned on 2000 yds. okay funny story, last thursday i was in my basketball class and we did this super fast calisthenics thing where you did the most you won. well the team i was on lost. but my back was UBER sore from passing soo much i guess. this soreness has yet to let up! so i was crawling along today in the pool and every hundred or so i'd just die. ended up doing like 15-1700 instead. its good to get those muscles moving im sure. and it felt good to wear my new unt tri team swim cap! yay working out!
amanda

beautiful day for ridin!!!!!

went ridin this morning, I almost forgot how much I enjoyed waking up before the sun comes up to workout...brings back wonderful memories. anyway it was kinda wet and cool this morning, I had a tail wind going out and had a slight head wind on the way back. well thats about it, it was quite uneventful so I will leave it at that. Happy training!

our banner should arrive tomorrow! woot! and i did a 1650 TT in the water tonight which felt mighty fine! actually the first few hundreds sucked bananas--but im a second half person anyway. i kept count by alternating breathing patterns every hundred, also helped keep me sane! actually andrew was the "offical counter" but i ended up counting correctly in my head. at about the 800 mark i start to pick it up. i have no clue why. but i ended up going a 23:59. which isn't my best by any means, but all i was hoping for was under 24 and i made it by a hair (and a true balls to the wall last 100!)

amanda

official monkey buisness

our official swim caps are in and they look snazzy!!!
KEIFER did an awsome job! i can't wait to bust one out at the pool. yum. im so excited everything is finally coming together! the jerseys are getting close, and our banner should be arriving soon too! we will have lots to talk about at the next meeting--and that makes me happy!
amanda

RUN

yesterday morning I got up around 7:45 to go out for a nice and cold run, I ran around the lake in my grandparents neighborhood twice plus some (its about 1.5 mile around). I did a short run because after 10 hours in a car i needed to see if my legs could still function properly. needless to say my legs still function.

Andrew S

st pattys day triathlon

and i'm still thawing out.... but finally getting back into racing was fun! as always with the begining of a race season, i need polishing on some things.
temperature this morning in keller, tx was around 43 degrees so i decided to attept layers on the bike portion to discourage any form of the flu, but in T1 the jersey just didn't wanna go on-and in the back of my head i thought of morgan's coach, aaron, hounding us on our transition skills and speeds. so i nixed the jersey idea and headed out for the bike course in my paper thin speedo one-piece. cycling today didn't feel too cold for me, probably because i wore gloves. my legs didn't hurt either, they were numb and red :) but thats the way i like them (no pain). Even after getting my bike (Hal) fitted by a local bike shop, i dont think my fung shui is accurate yet. my knees still hit my boobs in areo position! Hal and I weren't friends on the last leg of the loop that goes through the neighbor hood--haven't figured out why yet. okay then T2 came in which i managed to lose my timing chip for a brief amount of time. thank goodness for the nice people at the run-out exit--so i doubled back, grabbed the chip, returned it to my leg, and headed out for the run...oh the run.... i felt slow but steady-untill mile two. then my right inner ankle area got real tense and i couldn't go further with my footwear. so it took it off. shoes in hands i ran the last mile (where lauren flew by like a jet plane). by the end of that mile, those shoes felt like ten pound weights in each hand--i really just wanted to chuck them into the woods for like a homeless guy or something, but i think that would cause a penalty of some sort.... i didn't deam it safe to try my new transition skills due to the cool weather-but there is always galveston (which will hopefully be warmer!)
amanda

Take a Hike Ike

First team race of the season - too bad it sold out before anyone could register!!! But I was lucky and got in on time, so this weekend Mandy and Andrew and myself drove down to Houston for some chilly triathlon fun. Highlights of the trip included transition practice in the hotel parking lot, wetsuit stripping practice in the unheated hotel pool (the staff pretty much thought we were nuts), walking the beach in Galveston, and chasing each other with my helmet. Also, I placed second in my AG and 8th over-all (unofficially - still waiting for official results to be posted). The triathlon was changed to a duathlon due to 40 degree temps, choppy waters, and a lot of first-timers (potentially dangerous combo), so it ended up being 3.5 mile run, 10.8 mile bike, 3.5 mile run. I'll admit - I gave a cheer when I found out I didn't have to get in the 54 degree water!!! I don't care how good your wetsuit is... that is never fun... and mine is sleeveless... The whole race was pretty much supposed to be at training pace, so I took it pretty easy. Averaged 8-ish miles on the run, and averaged 17-18 on the bike. Still had plenty of energy crossing the finish line.

Unfortunately, I smashed my TT bike driving back to Denton - DISASTER! So I'm trying to figure out how to get it replaces at the moment... until then, the old road bike will have to do.

-Morgan

NO SWIM PRACTICE NEXT WEEK

no swim next Wednesday due to our monthly March meeting
March 4, 2009

meeting will be at 8:30 pm-held at the City parc apartment complex right off of fry street. email for directions!
thanks
amanda

im super excited this stuff is finally getting done!

hey ya'll don't forget wednesday's swim from 8-9 pm! i have a video camera to record your strokes! also, dorm length or gigantor mirrors are welcome! (put them at the bottom of your pool so you can see your self swim)

meeting march 4th (wednesday)----we won't swim that night, just meet at city parc!


who else?
amanda

Hi!

Hi everybody - welcome to our new blog! We wanted a way to keep all of our supporters and alumni in the loop on all of our doings, so, in addition to our new website, we've created this blog so that all of our members can keep you updated on their adventures in the triathlon world. Add us to your favorite blogs, and keep checking back for new posts from your UNT Triathlon team!

-The UNT Tri Team