New Jersey State Triathlon - Olympic Distance 7.26.09

Here is my race report for the 2009 New Jersey State Olympic Distance Triathlon which took place on Sunday July 26th. This is race #2 out of 3 consecutive race weekends. I went into this race looking to beat my time from the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon which I competed in on June 28th by 1 second. My time for that race was 3:05.

Pre Race:

Great setup by the Jersey Shore Triathlon Club with a tent and an RV. The RV was awesome for the simple fact that it allowed me to avoid using the (overused) port-o-johns on the race site. Downside here was that we had to arrive at 6:00am to set up in transition and my wave was the second-to-last to start the Olympic at 9:15am. So, just some waiting around, but it ended up being well worth it.

Swim (0.9 miles):

The swim was in the lake at Mercer County Park, 0.9 mile. Seemed like forever! The race was just barely wetsuit legal, so I took advantage and wore the wetsuit for the swim. I felt a little overheated at times but I think the suit helped out with that distance of a swim. Finished the swim in about 34 minutes which I was happy with, but I know that maybe someday I'll speed up on the swim.

Bike(23miles):

Transition from swim to bike was about 2 minutes which I was cool with - able to get the wetsuit off pretty quickly, put on the helmet and sunglasses, slipped into the bike shoes and took off. Practicing mounting the bike with Bryant the night before definitely paid off today! I was able to average about 18.9 mph on the bike which I was thrilled with.

Run (6.2miles):

This run felt pretty brutal because it got pretty hot by the time I was out on the course. The first 5K was mostly flat and shaded with an awesome water stop with frozen washcloths! Felt so good! The second 5K was rough - HOT!!! Honestly, I felt like I walked more than I ran during these 6.2 miles but somehow was able to average a 9:50 pace

I finished in 2:53:32 which beat my PR for the Olympic Distance by 12 minutes!!! So happy and excited all at once.

I'm really enjoying this triathlon thing and having a great time :) I am lucky to have Bryant as my support crew! He got up at 4:50am just like I did so that means alot in my book!

Next race:

SheRox Sprint Triathlon in Philadelphia, PA on 8.2.09 - cannot wait for this one! It should be a ton of fun and Kacy is racing too, so that's icing on the cake! :)

- Kel

Sunset Challenge Sprint Tri - Bridgeton, NJ - 7.18.09

Race Report for the Sunset Challenge Sprint Triathlon

Bridgeton, NJ

07.18.09

Swim was great! No wetsuits were allowed because the water was 82 degrees. This made me a little nervous at first because this would be my first open water swim without a wetsuit, but I did a little practice swim before the

start and felt okay. Definitely a little more work than with the wetsuit, but manageable. The water itself was decent - there were a few patches where you had to swim through some thick seaweed, but I made it through this time without freaking out. The swim felt good overall and I was out of the water in about 18 minutes.

Transition took about 2 minutes from swim to bike. I always seem to be a little shaky clipping into my pedals before I get going. The 16 mile course was very scenic through horse farms

, fields and neighborhoods. The roads were in decent conditions and there weren't any major hills. In fact, I didn't have to get out of the saddle even on the biggest one. Only downside was that there was a headwind for most of the course. I ended up averaging 17.3 mph and finished the bike in 55 minutes and change.

Transition from bike to run was about 2 minutes. The run was actually alot of fun - most of it was on a trail/towpath with part of it through a grassy field and some street running. I felt decent on the run but had to take some quick walk breaks through the water stops. I ended up finishing the run in 27:55 for a 9:00 min/mi pace which I was happy with.

My total finish time for the race was 1:45:55 which was good enough for 1st place in the Athena division (females 150lb and over) which is the equivalent of the male's Clydesdale division.

I stuck around for the post-race food and awards ceremony. The food was great! The Bridgeton Exchange Club made some excellent pasta salads and there was a great spread of Jersey Fresh fruit - peaches, bananas and amazing blueberries!

Bryant was a real trooper - he woke up with me at 4:30 to leave for the race and stuck around with me for the whole thing. I can't say enough how awesome it is to have him come watch me race and to be my support crew! I wouldn't trade him for the world! :)

Next up is the New Jersey State Triathlon next Sunday - Olympic Distance! Going to try to beat my time from the Philly Insurance Tri which was 3:05 - even if that means I finish in 3:04:59!

- Kel

Nutrition!

So back in April, I decided to consult with a nutritionist who works with all populations but who has a wealth of knowledge working with athletes. His name is Tom Bilella and I attended a lecture he presented to the Jersey Shore Triathlon Club in March. I've known all along that nutrition was a missing link in my training ever since I started getting into this running and triathlon thing. I decided to take the first step and consult with Tom early in April. Without going into the nitty-gritty details my body composition testing showed that my body age was in the 50's!! And here I thought I was at least in decent shape. I'm happy to report that in 3 months of following an individualized program, I have lost a total of 9 pounds, lost 7 pounds of fat and gained 3 pounds of muscle and lost 3% of my body fat :) I highly recommend Tom and the people at Nutrition Treatment Center in Red Bank, NJ if you have any desire to address how nutrition effects your everyday life!  - Kel 

www.nutritiontreatmentcenter.com

Gonna try to pick up the pace!

So, I signed up for a running technique class in hopes of picking up the pace a bit for both triathlon and as part of my marathon training for the Marine Corps Marathon in October. It is going to be a lot of track work which I am looking forward to but at the same time dreading because I usually hate running on the track! Hopefully I'll learn something in the process and get some rewards by running at a faster pace!!! I'll keep you up to date :)