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 :)

Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon!

Just completed my first Olympic Distance Triathlon and I'm feeling pretty good :) I finished in 3:05 which was exactly what my goal was for the finish time. The swim was about 28 minutes which was helped significantly by the current pushing me along the Schuykill River! The bike was pretty tough . . . well, tougher than I expected it to be - there were more hills than I thought, but I was happy to make it through. I started to run out of gas during the run and averaged a 10:28 pace - I'd like to improve on that for my next race! Overall, it was a successful day and I felt good during the recovery! Now . . . I'm on to a Sprint race on July 18th and the next Olympic is NJ State on July 26th! Wish me luck! :)

JSTC Time Trial Weekend

So this weekend will definitely be a challenge! I've signed up for 3 events as part of the Jersey Shore Triathlon Club's Time Trial Weekend. First on tap is the Bay Head 5K - 3.1 mile test of speed on a flat course in Bay Head, NJ. Afterwards, it'll be off to Lavalette for a wetsuit demo and open water bay swim and timed 1/2 mile swim. On Sunday, I'll be participating in my first Cycling Time Trial - it's a 30K time trial race which is approximately 19 miles of trying to finish as fast as you can! Little nervous about that but I think it will be alot of fun and challenging. I'll report on the weekend after it's all over :) Wish me luck! 

Long Branch 1/2 Marathon

This year instead of participating in the annual Broad Street Run in Philadelphia we registered for the Long Branch 1/2 Marathon and New Jersey Marathon in Long Branch, NJ. As you can tell by the pictures, it was a rainy, wet day. We didn't let that bother us, even after we arrived at 5:30 am and had to wait an hour for the buses to bring us from the lot to the start line. The start of the race was delayed because of traffic for about 20 minutes or so. I felt great for most of the race but did have some tight quads starting around mile 8, but nothing that couldn't be stretched on a few occasions around the route. I'm thinking the legs were still recovering from the Bassman Triathlon the weekend before.  It was actually a really nice/fun course despite the weather. We felt good enough to go for a PR . . . and we ended up getting our PR - 2:15:41 :) Very happy indeed. It was a long day with the trip back to Philly by train but very happy with the results!

First Triathlon of the Season!

So I completed my first Tri of the season last weekend. It was the Bassman Triathlon in Bass River State Park in NJ. The race was a 1/2 mile swim, 29 mile bike and 4.2 mile run. I finished in just over 3 hours. Unfortunately, I had set my goal as 2:50 and missed the goal. I fell behind at the very beginning because I had a mini-freak out/panic episode during the swim portion of the race. We swam in Lake Absegami which was not as cold as I had expected (60 degrees) and it was clean and clear. Only problem with being that clear was that you could see all the lake weeds and debris, which by the time I started swimming with the women's wave that went off last, had been kicked up close to the surface. So every time I put my head in the water I saw all of this "stuff" in my face and it just got to me. I thought I was prepared for the swim, but I guess I was not. I can swim over a mile in the pool - easily! But it's a whole different game in open water. The bike and run went well but I lost too much ground in the swim to make it up on either the bike or run to meet my goal. So  overall I was disappointed in my performance, but if I learned anything from the first race of the season it is that I have alot of practicing to do in all 3 sports to meet my goals for the races I have scheduled later in the season! :)