tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25133716112309403502024-03-13T19:57:37.258-07:00Work Hard, Race Hard, Play Hard - Christine Kenney's Triathlon JourneyChristine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-55409128515637087672014-02-19T05:09:00.000-08:002014-02-19T11:30:52.255-08:002013 Ironman World Championships - 3rd Time's a Charm!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello Hello – Happy 2014!!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow – is it really February and I am yet to give an update on Kona? My
lack of an update is in no way an indication of my race or experience in Kona.
This race was up there in my top athletic experiences and I left the Big Island
completely thrilled and proud of my race! But, as usual once back in NYC I fell
full steam back into work, offseason, the holidays and just plain enjoying life
without a training schedule dictating my life :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2014 has been in full swing and it has been a great year so
far!! But I feel I can’t begin to welcome the New Year and give you and update
on what has been going on in my world until I give a proper good bye to 2013
and that would include a recap of the biggest race of the season – the Ironman
World Championships!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here goes nothing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I get into the details of race week, let me back up a
bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After qualifying at Whistler at the
end of August, I headed back to NY and had 7 weeks to recover/train/deal with
an injured shoulder from being knocked pretty hard by a guy coming out of the
swim at Whistler and make travel plans for a race that I just qualified for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A race I never had any intention of doing in
2013! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also quite stressed about
who would be able to make this trip with me! Both Mom and Sissy made the trip
to support me at Whistler and with Kona only 7 weeks later, it was uncertain if
they would be able to pull off another big trip!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have been following along you know
that both Mom and Sissy are my biggest supporters/cheerleaders and I am never
at a race without at least one of them, and usually both!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel very lucky to have such a supportive
family and it’s not something I take for granted!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well as it was turning out, my Mom was unable
to make the trip because of work…this news was truly devastating to me. My Mom
has pretty much been there for me at every athletic event since I could
remember - High School games,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>she
travelled to all of my college lacrosse games at PSU, she has been there for
most triathlons, and she definitely hasn’t missed an Ironman or a World
Championship event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could write a
whole blog about how amazing my mom is– but basically in addition to being the
most amazingly supportive mom, she has also managed a successful career on Wall
Street where she juggled 80+ hour weeks with raising a family and not missing a
beat when it came to being “there” for her kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though she worked a ton, she somehow
always found a way to make time for her kids and figured out a way to make it
all work! Well, until Kona 2013 that is (not a bad track record haha)! Mom
is a Project Manager and the project that her company had hired her to manage was going “Live” the week of Kona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, as
much as she tried to figure out a way to be there …it just wasn’t possible. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I totally understood but it didn’t lessen my
disappointment any! I know it may sound crazy to most of you but I had thoughts
of not racing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was somewhat
unimaginable to me that I would enjoy this experience without her there. But
then I realized (with the help of some good friends and family :)) I needed to put my
big girl pants on and make the most of it. This was not a good reason to skip
out on the Ironman World Championships! This whole season was a pleasant surprise
to me, and I did so many things differently than in the past, so travelling to
a race, a World Championship event, by myself was also going to be added to
this list of new things for 2013! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was my 3<sup>rd</sup> time travelling to the Big Island
for the World Championships. Each experience was so incredibly different than
the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the saying “the 3<sup>rd</sup>
time is a charm, couldn’t be more true for my race this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In case you haven’t been following along… a recap
of my prior two trips to the Big<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Island!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2010 – 2<sup>nd</sup> Ironman, 1<sup>st</sup> time at Kona –
10 weeks post shoulder surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
expectations, great race all things considered (ie. Did not train for this race
since I was in a sling with a broken collarbone/torn ligaments from beginning
of August until 2 weeks before the race).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Race results:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Total time: 10:47
(25<sup>th</sup> AG) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Swim 1:17, Bike
5:59, Run 3:22)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2012 – 3<sup>rd</sup>
Ironman, 2<sup>nd</sup> time at Kona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Too much self imposed pressure and season inflicted with injuries. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really struggled mentally and had some
nutrition issues during the race which made for a somewhat disappointing
experience on the Big Island. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Complete
burn out after this race and almost quit triathlon permanently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Total Time: 10:50 (18th AG) Swim 1:12, Bike 6:10,
Run<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3:21<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2013 – 6<sup>th</sup> Ironman, 3<sup>rd</sup> time at
Kona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Third time was a charm!! My best
race and unbelievable overall Kona experience!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Details below :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I flew to Kona on Sunday – one day earlier than I had the
previous two times. And having that extra day to get organized definitely made
things go a little smoother than usual! I also stayed closer to town this time
around. I usually prefer to stay further away from all the race week craziness,
but since I was flying solo this trip, it was logistically easier being closer
to everything! I can honestly say of my three trips to the Big Island, this
year I really enjoyed and took in all that pre race week had to offer, I was
surprisingly relaxed and having fun!! Of course, I was excited and nervous to
race, but it was a good excitement! I really felt so much less pressure than
last year and was just excited to go out and see what my body could do!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on Wednesday, Sissy and Mike arrived! It
was so great having them join me and they were helpful in getting me race ready
and took care of many of the little details so that I could focus on the race
as much as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Race week fun with Sissy!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Underpants Run!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: magenta;">Teddy was ready to race! </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As always, before you know it race day is here and its go
time!! My race plan was simple: smile, have fun and enjoy the experience!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll try to keep the deets on the race as brief as possible :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Pre race send off - best Sissy ever!</span></td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Swim (1:11, 45<sup>th
</sup>AG)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the biggest unknowns for me going into this race, was
again the shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until the week prior
to Kona, I was not able to swim since Whistler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The day I landed home from Whistler I went straight to the doc to try
and figure out what was wrong with my shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because if it was broken, I knew I would need to cancel my Kona plans. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unable to get an MRI because of the plate/screws
in my shoulder from previous shoulder surgery it was difficult to get good
imaging to diagnose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Doc didn’t
think anything was broken so I just spent the next 6 weeks resting it and
receiving cortisone shots and hoping it would hold up on race day. But as I do
before every race….I swam the 2.4 miles course upon my arrival in Kona just to
be sure I could still swim that far :)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The swim is interesting for me.. granted I
don’t swim much in training, but before Ironman I do get enough swims in to
know I have the endurance to get thru the 2.4 miles (some may call this
cramming!), but looking at my times: 1:12 last year in Kona; 1:12 in Whistler in August; then 1:11 at Kona when I literally didn’t swim for over a month…all
such similar times whether I swim or not?!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Swimming is overrated (hehe – Just Kiddin’!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, I was just happy to have survived the
swim and be off on the bike!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(side note:
that shoulder still is not 100% healed and I didn’t swim for months after Kona!
Boo..).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Bike (5:36, 37<sup>th</sup>
AG)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ironically, biking was the one discipline that was going
pretty well post Whistler. For the first time ever after an Ironman, I was back
on the bike the week after the race. Not my typical, toss the bike in corner of
my apartment and not touch it for 4 months post an ironman :)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My legs were feeling pretty good on the bike
and I was mostly indoors on the computrainer at Tailwind Endurance (Thanks Earl
Walton!) with a couple outdoor rides thrown in!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, I was still nervous about how recovered I really would be after
Whistler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pleasantly surprised
when I hopped on the bike and was feeling good!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I felt a heck of a lot better than last year, and just got into my own
rhythm and focused on staying within myself and not get caught up in all the
drafting going around me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its truly
unbelievable the packs that would fly by me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not my thing – I prefer to ride legally and have my results be my
results and not because I sat on some guys wheel!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sissy and Mike were out on the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Queen K and it lifted my spirits to see them
on the out and back! The conditions were certainly more forgiving than last
year, but it was still hot out there and those last 30 miles are brutally hard
into the headwind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As always, I was
ready to be off the bike and into my running shoes….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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AG)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ahhh the run!! This is where the race begins for me, but truth
be told….I was pretty nervous how this run would go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
Whistler, I was dealing with a bit of a calf issue that actually forced me to
quit a few training runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those who
know me, I don’t quit my run workouts…once I get started, there is no quitting.
But there were a couple times post Whistler where I really thought if I
continued I would further injure myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And while my legs felt decent on the bike post Whistler, the same could
not be said for my runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did not have
one good run between Whistler and Kona, so it was another unknown for me on how my legs would respond to another 26.2 miles a mere 7 weeks apart! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I was hopeful once out on the run, my
legs would do their job :)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do think having some experience with this
course, I was more mentally prepared for certain sections of the course and I
focused on pacing a bit better than I had in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, I was feeling ok…ok, not great – I
certainly didn’t have any “pep in my step” but <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just got into my zone and focused on passing
as many people as I could. I also knew the spots that Sissy and Mike would be at
on the run course which helped break it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Loved seeing them out there! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was beyond thrilled to have put up a 3:17 run split and run my way to 11th in my AG! This was my 2<sup>nd</sup> fastest
IM run split, 2<sup>nd</sup> fastest in my AG and one of top overall run
splits of the day. To run a 3:17 so soon after Whistler where I ran a 3:19, on a much
harder and hotter course was a huge confidence booster for me! I didn’t feel
great, but I just remained consistent and found a way power through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was my best Kona time (10:13) and
placing (11<sup>th</sup>)…just shy of top 10 – ouch!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gives me a goal for next time…. :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Some bike photos - lovin' the lava fields :)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbA5ST55yiDq9yQZLs66Jim-Ra9S4OoMf4nbSBmNnlbK1VSokxEy8BIgEBXVD1sFc3UKjy_PfSM-5xENDJWGsEgFDuPFyQ9flZkPaJ2QEjfeM2Aqr4zi9uUK-cyMm9rGwra3Q8rWkwrhg/s1600/0476_59245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbA5ST55yiDq9yQZLs66Jim-Ra9S4OoMf4nbSBmNnlbK1VSokxEy8BIgEBXVD1sFc3UKjy_PfSM-5xENDJWGsEgFDuPFyQ9flZkPaJ2QEjfeM2Aqr4zi9uUK-cyMm9rGwra3Q8rWkwrhg/s1600/0476_59245.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Knowing my mom is watching at home I'm captured here looking up at her on camera saying 'i love you mom' :) </span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjltzzWTJ5FP-zNWdN7vTyfGpAidzzXQ70I_cQqMvH0cn2qQLyL_cBBLnA4GXM1h1JQ86FPdjgTfP0kA_RmtUje_nGmV7tH-f7EAoUbLLadVPftIdHV2bZtX3F9-8ohe6TgzwHRawwXabk/s1600/0476_63165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjltzzWTJ5FP-zNWdN7vTyfGpAidzzXQ70I_cQqMvH0cn2qQLyL_cBBLnA4GXM1h1JQ86FPdjgTfP0kA_RmtUje_nGmV7tH-f7EAoUbLLadVPftIdHV2bZtX3F9-8ohe6TgzwHRawwXabk/s1600/0476_63165.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZBBxdKL7cyxgzQEWG0pDHIS8MA_NwQ21qasRy-2SKK9bcZt8kzkttUVfl6B3F7svFlgsyHhnXvWFOEd5OC_xwCNxMrmVj5s2k6px7YJ7zYkS5tQ4M_9iunWWmjmYmpoZinGirgH2k4c/s1600/IMG_2565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZBBxdKL7cyxgzQEWG0pDHIS8MA_NwQ21qasRy-2SKK9bcZt8kzkttUVfl6B3F7svFlgsyHhnXvWFOEd5OC_xwCNxMrmVj5s2k6px7YJ7zYkS5tQ4M_9iunWWmjmYmpoZinGirgH2k4c/s1600/IMG_2565.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Post race - ohhh what a feeling !</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxXls7W4hHokcRabTFg7M6ba3LxXQvC_2u3WyiAU_FnlYHSq5QqzeU6Gcc004J5BXtoeIVDSsi9UDPFSlSQpTO86owP0-mh5iK-0xecLC8EzY-pyJbe5o2ixOT8UCQBHiUf_YyjWtCp4s/s1600/Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxXls7W4hHokcRabTFg7M6ba3LxXQvC_2u3WyiAU_FnlYHSq5QqzeU6Gcc004J5BXtoeIVDSsi9UDPFSlSQpTO86owP0-mh5iK-0xecLC8EzY-pyJbe5o2ixOT8UCQBHiUf_YyjWtCp4s/s1600/Image.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love a finish line, especially an Ironman finish line, and
there is really nothing like a Kona finish line! I was soooo incredibly happy
running down that finish chute…the 3<sup>rd</sup> time really was a charm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt like I left it all out there and stuck
to my race plan - I smiled, had fun and I can say without a doubt I truly
enjoyed the experience! I was unsure how my body would recover and handle 2 Ironman
races so close together - especially given that I don’t do a ton of volume in
my training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m happy and grateful that
my body rose to the occasion and that I was able to mentally push through and
have a great day!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the race, I enjoyed a couple extra days in paradise
before heading back to the East Coast. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was sad to say good bye to Sissy on Sunday, but we got to enjoy one last Basik
Acai bowl together :) Post race was then filled with rest, awards
banquet, Zoot after party, more rest and more eating:)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Monday night it was back to the East
Coast!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was still on my race high upon arriving home and for a
fleeting second considered racing Ironman Arizona (I had signed up last year
prior to changing my plan to Whistler).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Luckily, my coach talked some sense into me (thanks Brian Hammond) and recommended I end the
season on a high note, enjoy the offseason, and not risk burnout for a sport I
had just come to love again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank
goodness, because I do believe trying to do 3 Ironmans in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 months on my training would have been too
much :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZpbNC9Dt31h5QgvM1mmEAwl7ZwpdT94ZBTZqqUQ12eaiUfcSet9ys5UaJzmiqU2bZ22Lf8lSZS55fB8h2-GUdK_m_-7-mMMhUdY1rplFJOSvHO4Dng3jw4WcJxOoZtOEKLiFUGt53os/s1600/IMG_2582.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZpbNC9Dt31h5QgvM1mmEAwl7ZwpdT94ZBTZqqUQ12eaiUfcSet9ys5UaJzmiqU2bZ22Lf8lSZS55fB8h2-GUdK_m_-7-mMMhUdY1rplFJOSvHO4Dng3jw4WcJxOoZtOEKLiFUGt53os/s1600/IMG_2582.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Zoot party with Morgan and Billy !</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9qNlWCu2QUM4e0QJy_2DKZMyR9I5jRgDv8e53pWJ0F_Jz7FKuDeGsUl_e5Se35XU-roUDcRS0vscZ0scT6Mwy4HbsZtozvz3vVrtgmwa7zPOjQksuisiiNh6ks6e9Ihdjg7hJc3W4lw/s1600/IMG_2602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9qNlWCu2QUM4e0QJy_2DKZMyR9I5jRgDv8e53pWJ0F_Jz7FKuDeGsUl_e5Se35XU-roUDcRS0vscZ0scT6Mwy4HbsZtozvz3vVrtgmwa7zPOjQksuisiiNh6ks6e9Ihdjg7hJc3W4lw/s1600/IMG_2602.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Can never get enough Kona sunsets!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cqx0oywvQNDKaeKsexX1pSKhFeLlWVI6sbTXxjOtaxE3ca4_WQnN3wN4kvkSImKT7I7g9jlgP2AcExqh9UoVrzM0QoUo8PbJlk59e4hNKpX7l0Hi3TxFNVa0K1pG0d4HkhhPHkMqVDg/s1600/IMG_2359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cqx0oywvQNDKaeKsexX1pSKhFeLlWVI6sbTXxjOtaxE3ca4_WQnN3wN4kvkSImKT7I7g9jlgP2AcExqh9UoVrzM0QoUo8PbJlk59e4hNKpX7l0Hi3TxFNVa0K1pG0d4HkhhPHkMqVDg/s1600/IMG_2359.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Or enough Acai bowls! Last one with Sissy before she left. I ate one every day I was there except race day .. oink, oink :)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a tough 2012, I am happy that I was able to turn my
season around and find my love of triathlon again…the love affair may even be
greater than it was before :)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>found my groove this year, I redefined “my best” and have been enjoying
training, focusing on the process and remaining consistent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m beyond thankful
for all the people in my life who helped me get to this happy place. You all
know who you are!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll check back in soon on my 2014 plans! So far it's off to a good start and I have a feeling it's going to be a great year!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">C</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-46360514275820119522013-10-08T09:12:00.002-07:002013-10-08T09:19:27.032-07:00Ironman Whistler - "Mind Over Matter"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Ironman
Whistler – “Mind over Matter”</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I
promised myself I would get this race report written before I took off for my
next and last race of the season. I was sooo close </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
But at least its done before my next race!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">First
of all, before I get into the details of race day, I wanted to mention that
Ironman Canada was an amazing race. Whistler was a great venue for
Ironman, and I loved everything about it! I highly recommend this race!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Secondly,
I believe I executed the best possible race I could on the day and was
extremely happy with my result. I hate excuses, so I don’t want anything I say
in this report to be misinterpreted as an excuse. Ironman is a long day
and so many things can and will go wrong for everyone and its how you deal with
those obstacles that will determine your race. “Mind over matter” as they say!
This is why I love Ironman! You don’t always have to be the fastest, you just
need to the toughest to have a good day. For this reason, I believe my
strengths prevail in Ironman. It’s no secret I am not a “fast” swimmer, or have
the strongest bike, however I am confident in my ability to run a strong
marathon. I also know that I am able to stay “mentally” strong and really dig
deep when I need to. As much as I love running….running 26.2 miles after
biking 112 is never easy, and it hurts a lot….but I am able to just focus and
“embrace the pain.” I had quite a few things go wrong during the race and
I will talk about them not as an excuse, but as an example of the things that
will go wrong, and how I dealt with those issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As
beautiful as Whistler is and as much as I loved the course and the experience,
this course was definitely not a course that suits my strengths. I knew this
going into the race and it was drastically different than my other Ironmans to
date. I typically love races with hot, humid, flat, windy conditions and
non wetsuit swims. Whistler was a wetsuit swim, HILLY, and not very
hot or humid. But, sometimes its fun to challenge yourself and see
how you will fare on a different course/conditions, and how you will do on a
course that is the exact opposite of what you “like to race.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">My
Mom and I flew to Vancouver Wednesday before the race. We stayed in Vancouver
Wed. night and spent Thursday morning exploring Vancouver. Neither of us had
ever been so it was fun to check it out. We ran in Stanley Park, checked out
the Lululemon stores (I am lulu obsessed) and then we drove up to Whistler
later that day. We checked into our hotel, The Fairmont, in the Upper
Village, which was a great hotel and very convenient for walking to/from
everything. Friday was spent doing all the typical pre-Ironman
activities. I went for a ride with the Tribike transport crew,
checked-in, drove part of the bike course and attended the pre-race
meeting. Friday night Sissy arrived from San Diego. Yay! Having my mom
and sissy at my races makes me so happy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTYsvvTZ1uTBWWipSpnqhm1OePs7bakCHC35ck2o800ltCCIOPAwAk1-zx28B-VylegnSw_ZlzxNYzMCLp12_vZif7N3Jd4Y6fPD_AjE1Ri1UvSNGsleZCrVuM-93p7iNBj95XfIqsEw/s1600/IMG_2136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTYsvvTZ1uTBWWipSpnqhm1OePs7bakCHC35ck2o800ltCCIOPAwAk1-zx28B-VylegnSw_ZlzxNYzMCLp12_vZif7N3Jd4Y6fPD_AjE1Ri1UvSNGsleZCrVuM-93p7iNBj95XfIqsEw/s200/IMG_2136.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GpMhO12cLfWdgKmk4zyAaiSkBZ6g_7zyDTcYHU_NOM1xtkYzDbPF3uBbBpP3-JMno6oGklTWIKnETrphwy9sZUPyQRRLFacMO0Xkav2qNYAWwZyHC20QSXjhfU1EKgc1NJs2toIIQBg/s1600/IMG_2150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GpMhO12cLfWdgKmk4zyAaiSkBZ6g_7zyDTcYHU_NOM1xtkYzDbPF3uBbBpP3-JMno6oGklTWIKnETrphwy9sZUPyQRRLFacMO0Xkav2qNYAWwZyHC20QSXjhfU1EKgc1NJs2toIIQBg/s200/IMG_2150.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta;">Views from Stanley Park</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd5aGsfwvlft_c3Gc916fp-CUF3H1i42KxtN8ftST0bRpXHHRzgqfdbaZVRfNxIh8kRH5r0037PIHzohCqaL6SidfAKwemAZMGbKN9rH2JTDQKQxDKwupntgqNuiFmR-ys7UIpT6FZqNw/s1600/IMG_2164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd5aGsfwvlft_c3Gc916fp-CUF3H1i42KxtN8ftST0bRpXHHRzgqfdbaZVRfNxIh8kRH5r0037PIHzohCqaL6SidfAKwemAZMGbKN9rH2JTDQKQxDKwupntgqNuiFmR-ys7UIpT6FZqNw/s200/IMG_2164.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta;">Silly in front of the Hollow Tree in Stanley Park</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta;">Clearly Mom and Sissy are the cheerleaders in the family!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf9K-FP_Uhfga51bsTrFjqJipm4LBVRS4Sx-pPNsRRXqyKhYkfabCz_lhLb78uQKJT4CTfEMWyiMeIgYsUP5b_jiTVyG5GJwtG0U_lcEaEI2k38d-TeEIs75adoFI5mHEEKFFVqx096Vg/s1600/IMG_2209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf9K-FP_Uhfga51bsTrFjqJipm4LBVRS4Sx-pPNsRRXqyKhYkfabCz_lhLb78uQKJT4CTfEMWyiMeIgYsUP5b_jiTVyG5GJwtG0U_lcEaEI2k38d-TeEIs75adoFI5mHEEKFFVqx096Vg/s200/IMG_2209.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As
always, the day before the race is over before you know it and it always ends
up being busier than you think! I went to bed super nervous and excited to
race. I knew I had put in the work and I was ready to just get out there
and do my best!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVBPyXXt-VWGOJvDbrVdrkPogpohz-L_EmQO_6zq2q9N05whBNZOPLpQ40ty4gLFe51gks3_eq2kD_Wg7V28-_Lrusayzw7ngMDj_R4R0IvOlETO4Hehdmbqf_GQpIHwHKTv6Jnf3CCU/s1600/IMG_2188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVBPyXXt-VWGOJvDbrVdrkPogpohz-L_EmQO_6zq2q9N05whBNZOPLpQ40ty4gLFe51gks3_eq2kD_Wg7V28-_Lrusayzw7ngMDj_R4R0IvOlETO4Hehdmbqf_GQpIHwHKTv6Jnf3CCU/s200/IMG_2188.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta;">Green Lake in Whistler.. run course scenery!</span></td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkuSO7N1tGaz-wio_e5nZLied98-DUmTkIJJrCXgr6jioS03zFUYDLSCZ6Q2hQGaMg32wqffJOZu0j_ZP5bad-G_v7sNep40cmOwjq9uJq67UvTq2oJEXVebhBwnT9nRgK4AHKK2felk/s1600/IMG_2380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkuSO7N1tGaz-wio_e5nZLied98-DUmTkIJJrCXgr6jioS03zFUYDLSCZ6Q2hQGaMg32wqffJOZu0j_ZP5bad-G_v7sNep40cmOwjq9uJq67UvTq2oJEXVebhBwnT9nRgK4AHKK2felk/s200/IMG_2380.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta;">Checking out Whistler..</span></td></tr>
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</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0u5FaSy1x40F4CgKZYbfq97pWSSqaXhfg6qGtjLA41ygfk-eDtkYFwAxMyNpfo54tuBVSPUTZ5t7olJKgfqUQMJb7iQ78e-ZHu3FlqqKD0JQ91fcK0DoDlsYsiq1ouYt36Lt7_VgQshE/s1600/IMG_2424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0u5FaSy1x40F4CgKZYbfq97pWSSqaXhfg6qGtjLA41ygfk-eDtkYFwAxMyNpfo54tuBVSPUTZ5t7olJKgfqUQMJb7iQ78e-ZHu3FlqqKD0JQ91fcK0DoDlsYsiq1ouYt36Lt7_VgQshE/s200/IMG_2424.JPG" width="149" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Onto
the race details!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The
Swim: (1:11, 25</span></b><b><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">th</span></sup></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> AG)</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I
typically do not like wetsuit swims. This may seem strange since swimming isn’t
my strength, so you would think I would want all the help I could get, but in
reality, wetsuits make me claustrophobic! I literally feel as if I’m going to
hyperventilate and the sleeves make my arms feel tired! Well, for
Whistler, I was lucky enough to be trying out the TYR Freak wetsuit (Thanks
TYR!) and I can honestly say it was the best wetsuit I have ever worn. It was
comfy, I didn’t feel as if I would hyperventilate, and the comfort in the
shoulders/arms didn’t make my arms feel as tired. As for the swim
itself, it was my typical Ironman swim, where I feel as if I am getting beat up
by the men. Oh how I wish there was a separate Mens/Womens start
for amateurs in Ironman. Unfortunately, when I exited the swim, a male
athlete knocked into me, I went flying and landed on my right shoulder…the same
shoulder that I had surgery on for a broken clavicle and torn ligaments 8 weeks
before Kona in 2010. And it hurt, it hurt a lot! But I continued on…time to bike! As for
the 1:11, I was satisfied with that. Since I shared with you my training
schedule in my last blog, and my lack of swim training, I can’t expect a much
faster time at this point </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbUFBC8Y8ZGnW1Ee0MUrzt2ZN_p4cTKnSyicmEFLwKTAd9cIal6fISrTNptTMIU69GU6sBWbtyrarBi7q9urfkEmj8bDCQ5nX3ZtaSBQQ4s_bGhCkArZn2uBQyxw_y7_s4USIAd_L3os/s1600/IMG_2485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCbUFBC8Y8ZGnW1Ee0MUrzt2ZN_p4cTKnSyicmEFLwKTAd9cIal6fISrTNptTMIU69GU6sBWbtyrarBi7q9urfkEmj8bDCQ5nX3ZtaSBQQ4s_bGhCkArZn2uBQyxw_y7_s4USIAd_L3os/s200/IMG_2485.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Beautiful swim start backdrop!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIvT-_lpYumyq0n4679rAQUNFaICnggtuZl_JafEWdsdfr2pw4jOO-JpdTdJIJv0vZQyc3GjTzYMtYXuCo1SXpeneHSXAvD7BndM1hrfag0enPT_kVIn8mbMZ9VmYI6VG7MGZcLZKez0/s1600/IMG_2457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIvT-_lpYumyq0n4679rAQUNFaICnggtuZl_JafEWdsdfr2pw4jOO-JpdTdJIJv0vZQyc3GjTzYMtYXuCo1SXpeneHSXAvD7BndM1hrfag0enPT_kVIn8mbMZ9VmYI6VG7MGZcLZKez0/s320/IMG_2457.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Thanks TYR and MB for letting me try out this awesome wetsuit!</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The
Bike: (5:55, 15</span></b><b><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">th</span></sup></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> AG)</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Once
onto the bike, I tried to ignore the pain in my shoulder, and just focus on
pedaling. The bike is a continual work in progress for me. And after
taking 6 months off from cycling, I definitely felt out of shape getting back
at it. But I have been putting in some work and feel that I have been making
strides in training. I know I still have a ways to go to get it up there with
my run, but I think I have been moving in the right direction! Thanks to all
the coaches and training partners at Tailwind Endurance who keep me motivated
for those 5:30 am classes! It has definitely been more fun than doing those
solo trainer workouts in my apartment! Ok back to the race…even though I
felt prepared for the bike, I still knew it would be a tough day given the
difficulty of this bike course and the 6000+ feet of climbing! I live in NYC
and do a lot of my training on the computrainer and even most of my outdoor
rides didn’t include this kind of climbing! But I have been training with power
for the past couple of years and was planning to just focus on my watts! Well
once onto the bike I spent the first few miles fiddling with my power meter and
for some reason it just didn’t want to work! My initial thought was UGH!!
But after getting over the frustration, I got it together and knew I would be
fine, I am very in tune with my body and am more than capable of racing by
feel! The bigger issue was my shoulder, it was SERIOUSLY hurting! It hurt to
raise my arm which made it difficult to take in my nutrition. Being aero was very painful. But, as I said…“Mind over
matter.” After driving the bike course and getting a little freaked
out by all the climbing, I really thought a 6:30 bike time was in my future, so
a 5:55 on this course for was a decent time for me. I know I’m capable of
better, but was happy with this result at this point in my training.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Run
(3:19, 5</span></b><b><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">th</span></sup></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> AG, 2</span></b><b><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">nd</span></sup></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Fast Amateur run split)</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">As
always, I was ecstatic to be off the bike and onto the run! My legs felt good,
which was a good sign I didn’t go too hard on the bike! Again, the only problem
was my shoulder, still KILLING me! The run is a two loop course
through the Whistler trails with a lot of twists and turns and wasn’t quite the
“fast” course I was expecting. I was able to see my Mom & Sissy a
bunch of times which helped lift my spirits and keep me plugging
along! I have been running in Newtons for almost as long as I have
been doing triathlons and I absolutely love them! I also always run without
socks and I never have any issues with blisters..until Whistler. At about
mile 5 I started developing blisters on both feet that pretty much encompassed
the tops and bottoms of my feet. It was beyond painful to run like this for 21
miles, but “mind over matter.” I suppose the upside was this pain
helped me no longer think about the shoulder (sort of). It was a hard run
but I just focused on holding my pace and “embracing the pain.” I
passed a bunch of girls but had no idea where I was in my AG. I wasn’t chasing
a Kona slot, or focusing on my place in my AG, but I just wanted to have my
best possible race. I ended up with a 3:19 marathon, which was good
enough for 2</span><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">nd</span></sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> fastest amateur
run time and moved me up to 5</span><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> in my AG. This was my 2</span><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">nd</span></sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> fastest Ironman
marathon time and I again I was pleased with the result. I do know I have a
“faster” ironman marathon in me though, and I’m even more motivated to chase
it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_wNhx6cqECW4Y1REOO_yYNZRj3jWDOguvBPcZdA3DSFaACeajW-OKLqkZRCHs4HIqajBswOzsJ-VgbCa_Gt989zfjV3Ip7KDVgpQp3o8-Diqc00xq8VXxTACBHnqzYlPVfdD8p63iIA/s1600/IMG_2196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_wNhx6cqECW4Y1REOO_yYNZRj3jWDOguvBPcZdA3DSFaACeajW-OKLqkZRCHs4HIqajBswOzsJ-VgbCa_Gt989zfjV3Ip7KDVgpQp3o8-Diqc00xq8VXxTACBHnqzYlPVfdD8p63iIA/s200/IMG_2196.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta;">Happy to be out on the run!</span></td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I
finished in 10:33, 5</span><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> in AG! I
literally couldn’t have been happier with this result. I gave the race
everything I had both mentally and physically.
Ending up on the podium and a Kona slot were icing on the cake!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiu2OjJYgaLpzp6cdzc2B09JKuBcNgFd0oac7OzhsZDDNohp0wMVljA_sw7u0Uw2R29KmydfMIIkcAcuCA3DIJFcM4SiRCAxgfZmUeLjOu5ZzhTkQl_IL2TXw-OowDmujR3_dBtAVV0Bs/s1600/IMG_2471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiu2OjJYgaLpzp6cdzc2B09JKuBcNgFd0oac7OzhsZDDNohp0wMVljA_sw7u0Uw2R29KmydfMIIkcAcuCA3DIJFcM4SiRCAxgfZmUeLjOu5ZzhTkQl_IL2TXw-OowDmujR3_dBtAVV0Bs/s200/IMG_2471.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Post race with Mom and Sissy... you guys are the best. xo</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsXo6zlcLqqv9pOwCtOAT0bcfXbv-c8QIrWjRHBjlGfAeu2e_jEFnVeVch-MV-6KnEFKIBbqVxqbuX6zdkFGae2BPBozHHJp_CgmwhQ_zVU23Wbd1D0RDqMjgbRdri8ltjLPTVeFRfkE/s1600/IMG_2405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsXo6zlcLqqv9pOwCtOAT0bcfXbv-c8QIrWjRHBjlGfAeu2e_jEFnVeVch-MV-6KnEFKIBbqVxqbuX6zdkFGae2BPBozHHJp_CgmwhQ_zVU23Wbd1D0RDqMjgbRdri8ltjLPTVeFRfkE/s200/IMG_2405.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: small;">Back to Kona I go! Woohooo!</span></td></tr>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Thoughts
on Kona</span></u></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Now
I know I said earlier in the season that I had no intention of racing Kona this
year even if I qualified. But of course as the season progressed, I started to
shift my attitude and thinking that if I qualified, I would race. I
wouldn’t take a rolldown, but if I legitimately qualified, I would take my
slot. I didn’t put any pressure on myself and didn’t go into Whistler
focused on qualifying for Kona.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">There
are a couple reasons for the change in plans:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">1.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">While long term goals
are great, as I have learned in the past, life is unpredictable and doesn’t
always turn out the way you expect or plan for. I could spend the next two
years training to get back to Kona to try and finish top 5 in my AG and I could
end up getting injured, or have a bike crash, or a 1000 other things could
go wrong. So sometimes, when life throws you an opportunity you have to
take it. And that’s what I did with Whistler. I figured if it was meant to be,
it would be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 24.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -24.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">2.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">If I don’t go to Kona
this year, I may not have the ability to get back to the Big Island to race for
a few years. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, balance in my life is
very important to me. And triathlon is truly a hobby, so I don’t want to
sacrifice everything and everyone for triathlon. Next year my Sissy is
getting married in September I don’t want to worry about training for an
Ironman during this important time in her life. I want to be fully involved and
enjoy every minute with her without worrying about my training for Kona.
Also, I have another big athletic goal that I would like to achieve and this
could take my focus away from Ironman for a few years. To be determined
on that, so I will share when/if I fully commit to this goal </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In
any event, I made the decision, I took my slot, and I was off to the Big Island on Sunday for my 3</span><sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">rd</span></sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> start at the Ironman
World Championships! I’m beyond excited, a little nervous about how my body
(and my shoulder) will handle two Ironmans in 7 weeks, but I’m mentally
ready to get out there and give it my best!! And I’m so excited to be back
racing in a nonwetsuit, hot and humid race </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCmHNb-Whapij3yItxoXt1vzATcHhQBqXnw7ZddgyIzDZzSXqSz_Eg8bM6oC8fSX-dLyNV8LijiOI4ZDMdiygI2F3D2alopakAavptTFmfbEbiXflFlUv8ZpYzOvZW-V0eUGkxzrBUaQ/s1600/IMG_2404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCmHNb-Whapij3yItxoXt1vzATcHhQBqXnw7ZddgyIzDZzSXqSz_Eg8bM6oC8fSX-dLyNV8LijiOI4ZDMdiygI2F3D2alopakAavptTFmfbEbiXflFlUv8ZpYzOvZW-V0eUGkxzrBUaQ/s200/IMG_2404.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta;">Celebratory drinks with my biggest fans!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmJGBNrNtca-_xaCAvJCDVt5gDfD-4M7nUSdq47eUo7JenfdEg9Ans1wjYQkItJfzUdTRB7dDkdCT6tY94XAAcCH_haMYdxsgaBlkVoOm1gqrxyPHszMtUP5H7IjuQNrdxKtMVT-HgxA/s1600/IMG_2376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmJGBNrNtca-_xaCAvJCDVt5gDfD-4M7nUSdq47eUo7JenfdEg9Ans1wjYQkItJfzUdTRB7dDkdCT6tY94XAAcCH_haMYdxsgaBlkVoOm1gqrxyPHszMtUP5H7IjuQNrdxKtMVT-HgxA/s200/IMG_2376.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta;">Not an Ironman race without the Buskos (and Morgan !)!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKSMJB-KWz2OsHeWocMcsyJK0WtIB4XSjZ3DZS-viJgKYIP83hNxUjjtWTc62qbVKvEFj3eSBMaU_DDauvGhP8o1GrcvH0WoSQ2NaHsy0pDMH8XDXDaWJb-JFUgMHGc2D_cyjwauwRIs/s1600/IMG_2445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKSMJB-KWz2OsHeWocMcsyJK0WtIB4XSjZ3DZS-viJgKYIP83hNxUjjtWTc62qbVKvEFj3eSBMaU_DDauvGhP8o1GrcvH0WoSQ2NaHsy0pDMH8XDXDaWJb-JFUgMHGc2D_cyjwauwRIs/s200/IMG_2445.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I
have so many people to thank, without the support of my family, friends, coach,
sponsors and training partners I wouldn’t be on my way to another Kona start. Mom and sissy..you help me throughout this
journey so much, there is too much to write ;)
Brian Hammond.. you believed in me when I had stopped believing and you
work around my crazy schedule! Dad for
helping me SO much with logistics lately when I have no time to deal with
dropping off/picking up my bike etc.
Earl for keeping me challenged on the bike all those early mornings. And my sponsors/supporters: Tribike
Transport, Nuun, Sparkly Soul, Health Warrior and Newton. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Thanks for reading!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">xox</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">C</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-26391731784374304812013-09-17T09:17:00.002-07:002013-09-17T09:19:38.976-07:00Ironman Whistler - Pre race thoughts<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I had every intention of posting an update from Whistler,
and I actually started writing one but… oops I never finished or posted. So I am going to start off with these pre race thoughts and then follow
up with the dirty deets of race day!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Pre- Race thoughts:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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If you have been following along, you know I had a slow
start to my season with a very long off season (6 months to be exact). After Kona last year, I really had no idea if
I would race AT ALL this year, but after taking some time off I did miss it,
and slowly started getting back into training in March. In April, I started working with my new coach Brian and
began slowly getting myself back into shape.
However, since I had no plan after last season, this also meant I was
not signed up for any races. This is a challenging predicament since races sell
out a year in advance! When the new
Ironman Canada in Whistler was announced, I knew this was a race I wanted to do
in the future, however at the time of sign up I just wasn’t able to commit myself
to any races for 2013. Fast forward to early 2013 I started thinking that maybe
I would like to do an Ironman later in the year and I also thought at this
point that I had no intention of (even if I qualified) racing at either 70.3
World Champs or Kona. After Kona last year, I felt strongly that I didn’t want
to attempt either of those races again until I had more time to dedicate to
training so that I felt ready to compete at the level I know I am capable
of. So, I thought ok great year to do
Whistler because I didn’t have to worry
about trying to Kona qualify earlier in the year. Thankfully I landed myself an entry to Ironman Whistler and an Ironman on the
calendar! </div>
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<br />
I arrived in Whistler very nervous and excited to race. While I was<i> very</i> nervous, it was a good
emotion. It's an emotion I haven’t felt
pre race since before Ironman Cozumel in 2011 (hmm.. wouldn’t mind if this race resembles those race results). I really
felt like I had done the best I could fitting in training with the hours
available to me and juggling my crazy job!
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There were a few main things that had been running through
my head the weeks leading into race day, so I am going to break them out
individually to help me keep this organized</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">1. Is this sport passing me by?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p></div>
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This is something I had been struggling
with so much last year.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> 2. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Sunday I will race my race.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">If it’s not enough to get me on the podium or
Kona.....I am ok with that. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I know I did all
I could do for this race given my limited training time/work schedule. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Ok maybe I skipped a few swims, but besides
that…</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">3. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Thankful and appreciating the opportunity to
race in this amazing place</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">4. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There is no better compliment than hearing you
inspire other people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">5. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Loving it again</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Is this sport passing
me by?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
While I feel I did a good job most of the
time just focusing on all that I could do in training and not on the things
that I couldn’t do, I have to admit I still struggled at times with wondering
how I could possibly stay relevant and competitive in this sport, as it seems
the majority of the girls I am lining up against are able to train 20+ hours a
week. Something that I just 100% do not have the ability to do even if I wanted
to. With so many people going pro or simply training like a pro, how can I
compete with my lame 10-12 hours a week. Even though I trained similarly when I won the Amateur title at IMCoz in 2011 in 9:57, I still would get down on myself and often feel as if I wasn't doing enough! I tried to block this out and focus on just getting the work done day in
and day out. But it’s not always easy to
do that. For inquiring minds, this is
what a typical training week looks like for me:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Monday – swim or day off ( I most always
skip the swim and take the day off)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Tuesday – 1 hour computrainer workout<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Wed -
interval or tempo run<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Thurs.
– 1 hour computrainer workout<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Friday - easy run/swim.
( I most often skip these workouts, and if I’m not skipping I’ll opt for
easy run, except 3 weeks out from the race I will swim)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Sat – long bike…sometimes run off bike<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Sunday – long run<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
There you have it folks…my 10/12 hours of
Ironman training! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Ironically, one day that this sort of
seemed to be weighing heavily on my mind, I received an email from a
coach/friend with a link to an article that he thought I may be interested
in. The article was about Purplepatch
athlete Sam Iinkinen….a lot of you may already know his story…but I
didn’t….when I read this article I had an “AHA” moment. It was as if I was reading about myself (with the exception of the sub 9 hour Ironman
Hawaii time <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> )
…here was a guy who worked similar hours and trained similar hours to me and
has been able to race competitively.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
(<a href="http://www.samiinkinen.com/post/11347268687/hawaii-ironman-secrets">http://www.samiinkinen.com/post/11347268687/hawaii-ironman-secrets</a>)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
What also struck me was how similar our
training schedules are:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Sam’s training schedule:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<o:p> Monday: Rest (or 30 min easy swim)</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<o:p> Tuesday: Bike intervals on trainer (60-90 minutes)</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<o:p> Wednesday: Run intervals on trails (60-70 mins)</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<o:p> Thurs ( Bike intervals on trainer (60-90 mins)</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<o:p> Friday: Rest/Swim (40-60 mins)/easy run</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<o:p> Saturday: Bike long</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<o:p> Sunday Run long</o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph">
This article really helped to shift my attitude and I
realized that maybe my biggest limiter has been my inconsistency in training
and not my lack of training hours. My
issue has also been the months and months I have taken off, instead of just
plugging away day in and day out. I let my frustration of not being able to “do
more” get the best of me. So I have
made a pact with myself to just “keep on keepin on” and just focus on
maintaining consistency post Ironman Whistler.
Thank you to Earl for sharing this article. And thanks to Sam, I don’t
know you, but you are my inspiration!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>On race day I will race my race. If its not enough to get me on the podium or
Kona…I am ok with that. I know I did all
I could do for this race given my limited training time/work schedule. Ok maybe I skipped a few swims, but besides
that… <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was prepared to go out there and give 100%, but at the end
of the day this race was for me and was not about winning my AG or qualifying
for Kona. It was about regaining belief in myself and reigniting my passion for
this sport. So while I am extremely
competitive and always have a desire to win, my main goal was to execute a great race
and stomp out all the demons of last year in my head!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Thankful and
appreciating the opportunity to race in this amazing place <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am filled with gratitude to be able to travel to amazing
places to race. And to arrive in
Whistler healthy and ready to race is not something I take for granted. Whistler is an amazing venue for Ironman and
I fell in love with it immediately! Highly recommend!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There is no better
compliment than hearing you inspire other people. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been so honored recently to have quite a few people
reach out to me just to tell me that I inspire them. I realized that being able to inspire just a
few people to work hard, chase dreams, dig deep, and never give up….means more
to me than winning any race. So thank
you to all who reached out, you picked me up when I needed it and I raced with
all of you in my mind on race day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Loving it again<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And lastly….although this doesn’t need much explanation…I am
so happy to have reignited my passion for triathlon. I have been a competitive
athlete my whole life, and I’m so happy I didn’t throw in the towel at 35 <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> Thank you to everyone who helped me this year
find my love of this sport again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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I’ll be back soon with an update on race day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thanks for reading!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Xox<br />
C<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-13542727559671418702013-07-18T09:56:00.000-07:002013-07-18T09:56:48.488-07:00Focusing on the Journey
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Wow, where has the time
gone. Has it really been 4 months since I last blogged?! I know, I
know I sound like a broken record, but this year is going <i>way too
fast! </i>Now that I have entered what I call my 8 week Ironman
crackdown mode (I’ll explain more later), I figured it was a good time for an
update. I have been living true to my motto <b>"Work Hard, Play Hard,
Race Hard"</b> and there is sooo much to update on!!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Quickly, before I get into
too much Tri talk…it’s not all about Tris is it?! A quick recap since I was last on here.
April was a fun month (except for turning 35). I have to admit, I really
struggled with this birthday. Some people struggle with 30, some with 40 and
I assume maybe 50, 60 etc? But 35 was really tough for me and had me thinking
a lot. I started to think about where I was in life and how it is so <i>not</i> where I thought I would be at this
age. Actually, I can’t even say I had this big picture layout of where I
expected to be at this age, guess I should have set more 5 and 10 years goals
back at 25 and 30. Oops. But live and learn, so yes, the goal
setting has begun for the next 5, 10 years. My lululemon friends will be
so proud :) The build up to 35
was way worse than the actual day…not surprising right?! That
is when I realized I should be focusing on all I have to be thankful for at 35
and not focusing on what I didn’t have or had not accomplished yet. First
and foremost I was thankful for my friends and family who made the whole
birthday week so special and fun -- I forgot all about the age! And what’s a
Birthday without a Birthday present to yourself, right?? This year I purchased
a new Scooter - ROMEO!</span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGDY-4hSZcS-VbeCVdF_dMQ2Vfe0dXwieMZfL9lleVkv02gjy9TRSin3fbC_q2OBq46FcUzM1w2Y8HXE0OQxMu7DPtj7ENzMusksOQURZz9uyva2M1pON-A3lo8xSwSlhfYBWAT84iD8/s1600/Image+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGDY-4hSZcS-VbeCVdF_dMQ2Vfe0dXwieMZfL9lleVkv02gjy9TRSin3fbC_q2OBq46FcUzM1w2Y8HXE0OQxMu7DPtj7ENzMusksOQURZz9uyva2M1pON-A3lo8xSwSlhfYBWAT84iD8/s320/Image+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> ROMEO!!! Isn't he HOT??!!</span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hPjkAN9X0iYBybixcLJnKeLvao6eiXCRkcq2gugzPmNf03PpCqoqsJCB8eYWGsoK8hBwLRBkm0ZHhvjw5yClunpRaHKV2zkn7g2YByXW-ktl1nSAAVc-eyRNQTFWOgSTMjUGxwA15Hc/s1600/Image+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hPjkAN9X0iYBybixcLJnKeLvao6eiXCRkcq2gugzPmNf03PpCqoqsJCB8eYWGsoK8hBwLRBkm0ZHhvjw5yClunpRaHKV2zkn7g2YByXW-ktl1nSAAVc-eyRNQTFWOgSTMjUGxwA15Hc/s320/Image+10.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Celebrating "35" NYC style with Great friends!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSTkDEnglA9B1BHrhdEcyHOrxhL9IjCuck_P0EU3VluN4gDu55Xt1Zb2ccBY9S4zF4PdyDASS3b6QJilvXU0eAqpOItkztuATBPi9B9sE4h0zPWzrwWRwJgDlTShDkyVo1jmKVBcla3g/s1600/Image+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSTkDEnglA9B1BHrhdEcyHOrxhL9IjCuck_P0EU3VluN4gDu55Xt1Zb2ccBY9S4zF4PdyDASS3b6QJilvXU0eAqpOItkztuATBPi9B9sE4h0zPWzrwWRwJgDlTShDkyVo1jmKVBcla3g/s320/Image+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7CUaT-cO47UohQaA1i9tEu5mECYeSIdKi8jh8dLt6xVnDA8cwIQ7PsDZEM1WNYGOHBcfUCpeVx9NPVO_AHAee7FxD1hXyXNRtUQKCEotkdxZ0EAy9w432VpaApqOwZfrkFbQgAdg78w/s1600/Image+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7CUaT-cO47UohQaA1i9tEu5mECYeSIdKi8jh8dLt6xVnDA8cwIQ7PsDZEM1WNYGOHBcfUCpeVx9NPVO_AHAee7FxD1hXyXNRtUQKCEotkdxZ0EAy9w432VpaApqOwZfrkFbQgAdg78w/s320/Image+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> My adorable Godson Eamon blowing out my candles :)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The bday celebration
continued in Cabo a few weeks later with my friend Danielle and Sissy. We
had a great week in the sun and lots of fun :) Sissy now works at
lululemon full time (I am sooo jealous!) and its more difficult for her to take time
off now, so I was SO glad she could make the trip for a few days. Celebrating
my bday without Sissy just wouldn’t be the same.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKv-6yGual4yjwA_FZmty8r22vNScjkETqb1CP8FwTtZjL6Vl8s5MchQK9Szc7Pi1HwsoYkLpC2-DTAiYAcnTb6hJVia3P3ElL35laGvYlRNBiCx1dsAKnpR5u0ZqqdH5mcovZ13o0Xk/s1600/Image+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKv-6yGual4yjwA_FZmty8r22vNScjkETqb1CP8FwTtZjL6Vl8s5MchQK9Szc7Pi1HwsoYkLpC2-DTAiYAcnTb6hJVia3P3ElL35laGvYlRNBiCx1dsAKnpR5u0ZqqdH5mcovZ13o0Xk/s320/Image+8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"> Cocktails in Cabo at the One and Only Palmilla</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">May finally brought race
time for me. I toed the line at Florida 70.3 thinking wow – 6
months since I last raced? And those were 6 months of mostly NO training!
It certainly had my nerves going even more than usual race morning.
Florida 70.3 was my first ever 70.3 back in 2006 and when I qualified for
my first World Championship event and have raced here almost every year since! After not having raced here last year, I was
really excited to go back! I love this race! Let me take a step back...as
you know from previous blogs, I took a very loooong off season! And let
me tell you, boy was I out of shape when I got back! But the good thing was I
missed it - I missed the training and the racing and that is the point I needed
to get to in order put in the work again! So at first when I suggested
Florida to my coach he wasn't thrilled with the idea because at that point I
would only have had about 4 weeks of training under my belt and he didn't want
me to be disappointed with my result. But I was able to convince him that
I needed to get back out there and test my fitness. My goal for this
season has really been to focus on the process and not get too caught up in
individual results. The one thing I know I have lacked in my training is
consistency and I'm really trying to work on that. Nothing has changed in my
job and I’m still working crazy hours, trying to squeeze training in when I
can, and not getting nearly enough sleep, but you know the saying<b><i> "If you don't like something change it, and
if you can't change it, change your attitude!"</i></b> Well that is
essentially what my mantra for the year has been and on most days I think I
have been successful :)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Ok back to the race..I flew
down to Florida with my Mom (I am always so THANKFUL to have her join me on
these trips, I truly couldn't do it without her). Although I have raced
Florida many times, this was my first time at the new venue. Pre race all
went very smoothly and I"m also extremely thankful to have Tribike Transport as
a sponsor as they take off all the stress of having to deal with getting my
bike to and from races! </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">As for the race itself, I
had a good day! I didn't set any personal records, I didn't win the race, but I
did land on the podium with a 3rd place finish and most importantly I REALLY
enjoyed competing again! I had fun out there and I did the best I could on the
day. I think my result was a fair assessment of where my fitness was at. My
overall time was 4:58. I swam 36 minutes. I was happy with this
since I swam a total of 5 times since IMAZ and it was a non wetsuit swim! One
of these years I will find the time to focus on my swim, I know I have a lot of
room for improvement here. But with limited training time, I need to focus on
the bike/run where I know I can make up the most time! I biked a 2:42.
Hmm the bike...for the past year I feel as I have been making big
improvements in training but it hasn't seemed to translate into a good bike
split! But I'm hopeful one day soon that fast bike split will make an
appearance!! And I ran a 1:33. Not my best run, but again with so
much time off I'm happy with my effort and on a day where it was super hot and
a lot of people were walking this was still one of the fastest splits of the
day, so I'll take it :) Overall it was a good day, and I left Florida
happy and content with my performance!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yup Looks like I"m happy to be racing again :) Not sure what I"m doing here?? Carrying a torch to the finish??</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Post race with my Biggest Fan & Supporter - Mom!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">June was a hectic month
with a little bit of everything. Started off the month doing the Rev 3
Quassy Olympic. I had not raced an Olympic distance since 2009, so I was
a little nervous. You might ask, nervous about an Olympic when you race
Ironmans?! The Olympic distance is hard – all out for 2+ hours! The
shorter the race the harder the effort gets right? Well that’s what
I told myself :) Since I am not a great swimmer, olympic distance
events aren't the best distance for me, but I had a free entry for a Rev 3
event from winning my AG at Rev 3 Maine last year and for a few reasons I
decided to sign up for this race! Also, a few friends were racing the
half the next day, so I stayed for the weekend to get in some additional
training and cheer them on!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">As I predicted, racing
Olympics is hard!! And this is a hard, hilly course!! I pulled off another 3rd
place finish and the fastest run split! Again, I really enjoyed racing and was
happy with my overall performance ! I loved racing again and know I
gave it all I had! Rev 3 puts on a really nice race and I had such a fun
weekend racing with friends.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">The next weekend I was off
to Turks and Caicos for 5 days with my extended family. This trip
involved very little training, a lot of beach/pool time, laughs, drinks and
fun. I wasn’t feeling like much of a triathlete after this trip (PLAY
HARD too right?!). Thankfully I followed this trip with a weekend in Lake
Placid with WorkLiveTri team for a training camp. The 2 days of biking
and swimming was much need after my fun in the sun in T&C.</span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ahhh pure heaven...the beach is my happy place </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">After over a year since my
last trip to visit sissy in SD (don’t worry we saw each other plenty throughout
the year) my mom and I headed to SD for a long weekend with JK. Our already
planned trip was such perfect timing as… Sissy and Mike got engaged the wknd
prior!! YAY – congrats. I could not be happier for them. It
was a girls weekend so we did a little bit of everything. Mom, Sis and I did
some runs along the beach, swim, beach time, shopping, good food etc. We
even squeezed in a race – the JUMP aquathon. Fun race, but running right
after the swim with no bike in between is tougher than I thought! Was also
so happy to catch up with my old friend (and MUCH missed training partner) Liz
and meet her adorable daughter Hailey. It was really such a great
weekend and we were all sad to see it end.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Celebrating Sissy's engagement SD style!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">So happy to be reunited with Liz & meet cute Hailey!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> My two Faves!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> I think I'm winning the bike race :)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Back in NY recovering from
the red eye also had me gearing up for my 8 week Ironman crackdown… oh yeah,
forgot to mention I am doing Ironman Canada in Whistler in August. I
learned after Ironman Cozumel 2011 that I can only focus on Ironman
training/intensity for 8 weeks. If I try to do longer I lose focus and
get too tired. And for those wondering what exactly "Ironman crackdown
mode means to me...for me during th<span class="apple-style-span">ese 8 weeks
besides work I really try to make training a priority and I do my best to block
out other distractions. It's only during these 8 weeks that I will not miss training
sessions for a few glasses of wine with friends or skip a ride for a day at the
beach. During all other times of the year I really try to balance social
activities with training. For me, there is so much more to my life than triathlon
training and I can't sacrifice everything else all year long! It is only
during these 8 weeks that life is all work, swim bike and run! I
like to think this would be different if my job wasn’t so demanding on my time,
but since this is what I have to work with right now, I’m working with
it. Back in the winter as I tried to figure out how to approach this year
and what worked and had not worked in the past is when I realized I felt most
prepared for IMCOZ 2011 after only 8 weeks of focused training. So here I
am now…in the beginning stretch of it and really enjoying it. Very late
start to the season for me, but I am enjoying the <i>journey</i> again and that is what it’s all about!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>I knew after last year that I had to make
some changes. As I have mentioned, I
spent a lot of time this past winter thinking about where I went wrong, how I
ended up in such a rut at the end of 2012 and how can I improve on those issues. There were three glaring things that kept
resurfacing every time I reflected back – 1. Find a way to have more
consistency in my training 2. Don’t put
so much pressure on myself 3. Focus on myself and not what other people are
doing. Number 1 speaks for itself, so
I’ll skip to number 2… I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself in all that I
do, but I realized that as excited and proud I was after winning the amateur
title at IMCOZ it also brought even more self imposed pressure. I got so much in my own head last year that I
took the fun out of it. As for number 3…
social media is great in so many ways.
And not so great sometimes too.
For me, the more I knew about how much other people trained, how they were
out getting in extra 100 mile rides mid week, how they were just finishing
their ‘morning’ workout at 9am while I had already been at work for 2 hours and barely could squeeze in an hour training session, or how most people seem to be going to bed for the night just as I'm leaving the office..all of these factors just added to the pressure I put on myself.
And I will admit, this led to some insecurities on race day. No matter how much I tried to tell myself I
have to trust what I did in my training, it wasn’t enough because I was always thinking
about how others had trained so much more. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So while being aware of this is a step in the right direction, I also
needed to make some changes, one of which was a coach change. I decided I wanted to have a coach based in
NYC. For some reason having a local
coach just made me feel like I was going back to my early days of Triathlon
when it was just for fun! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deciding to change coaches is one of those
things that is NEVER easy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am now
working with Brian Hammond of WorkLiveTri based here in NYC.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been really great working with him so
far and I am excited and optimistic for the future together.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, I had to say goodbye to Mike Plumb
(sort of!).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike and I had a great run
together.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He taught me so much, he was
amazingly supportive of me and I am so thankful for all the time and advice he
gave me to me as a coach and a friend.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily he can’t get rid of me completely…he is soon going to be my
brother in law :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Lastly, I am thrilled to be on the NUUN and
Sparkly Soul ambassador teams this year and have the support of Newton.<br />And huge thank you for the continued support
of Tribike Transport, HealthWarrior, lululemon and Sai Systems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Xox<br />C<br /><span style="color: #53565a;"> </span><span style="color: #53565a;"> </span><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-14728706971169310002013-03-08T06:53:00.000-08:002013-03-08T07:07:42.122-08:00IMAZ Update and 2012 Review<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; font-family: Helvetica;"></span><br />
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Here we go again…another long overdue post! In my defense I have been on an extended offseason and have taken a complete break from all things triathlon related since IMAZ (well really since Kona..)…and that includes writing about it! As I have mentioned many times, blogging isn’t really my thing. Why you ask? Well I like to consider myself more of a “do-er” and not a “writer”. I don’t like talking about myself and blogging requires me to do that. I also don’t have much free time in my life…so blogging is the thing that falls to the bottom of my “to do” list. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As I mentioned in my last post I was experiencing some burn out post Kona. I took some much needed time off to just enjoy “life” in NYC. The timing of this break was perfect as it coincided with the Holidays, winter in NYC, a nagging foot injury and allowed me time to get Lasik Surgery (finally! no more contacts and glasses – Amazing!) without having to worry about the required time off of training.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I left off filling you all in on my dilemma as to whether or not to race IMAZ. Before I go into my day, I first want to give a big shout out to Sissy for completing her first Ironman!! She had an amazing race, beating her goal time by almost an hour!! Sooo proud of her and so glad to share the experience with her. Xox<o:p></o:p></div>
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As for me, once in Arizona I made the final decision to race. I figured why not, I’m entered, my bike is here, Sissy is racing, and I could end my season for good after a 140.6 mile “workout.” Let me backtrack for a minute…IMAZ has always been a race I wanted to do. And when Sissy decided that this was to be her “first and only” Ironman to celebrate her 40<sup>th</sup> birthday, I decided to sign up as well. This would be my first time doing two Ironmans in one year, let alone 6 weeks apart. But, I love a challenge and I love Fall Ironmans as it gives me the opportunity to try and get my Kona qualification over for the following year. However, after Kona, I started my offseason and spent little time on S/B/R (one swim, 2x on bike, 5 runs to be exact), and if it wasn’t for Sissy racing IMAZ, I would have definitely pulled the plug on this race. But since I would be flying to Arizona anyway to watch my Sis, I figured since it is a 3 loop bike/run course, it would be fun to be there with her during morning transition and the swim start. Then would see her out on the bike and run course multiple times and also be there when she crossed the finish line! Perfect plan! I was also able to get to a place mentally where I had little expectations of myself on the day and was going to go out there and just “have fun”! Well, all went according to plan until I realized during the first loop of the run that it was 3 <i>figure eight loops</i> and it was not likely I was ever going to see Sissy on the run. Not Cool! So after one loop of the run I decided to call it a day. I didn’t drop out because I was having a poor race, my decision had nothing to do with my race but everything to do with Sissy’s race. I was actually having a decent race (which I found out after the fact since I wasn’t paying attention to my time and place at all, was just focused on Sissy and having fun!) - I got off the bike in a good position, ran my way to 3<sup>rd</sup> by end of first loop, and since running a strong marathon is my strength, I’m confident I could have landed on the podium and with a Kona slot. But, that wasn’t the point of this race, I was there to support my Sister. Sissy has been to every major athletic event of my career. She was at every Ironman, running around cheering like a lunatic, tweeting/updating friends, taking photos, and I wanted to be able to do the same. How could I miss out on what could potentially be her One and Only Ironman! So after one loop, I saw my Mom, told her I was done, and to not even try to talk me out of it. So off we went to see Sissy on her 2<sup>nd</sup>and 3<sup>rd</sup> loops of the run, and we were there to see her cross the finish line. It was so much fun to be out on the run course, cheering and encouraging her, she looked so strong and happy and it made us so proud. And at that moment, I knew I made the right decision and I haven’t regretted it since.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Sissy and I at the race expo</div>
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Sissy and I checking in our bikes!</div>
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Sissy and I post race...soooo proud!<br />
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First (and only?) Ironman done...looking good Sis!</div>
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Race Morning with Sissy<br />
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IMAZ awards morning with Mom & Sissy<br />
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<b>2012 Review</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This past year was a struggle for me…I was really frustrated with my work schedule and trying to fit training in around it. I was always exhausted and constantly feeling like I wasn’t doing enough. I know my training, focus on rest & recovery and nutrition is less than optimal and certainly less than majority of my competitors. I have had this same job and schedule since I got into the sport but still somehow I have been lucky enough to pull off some good race results despite this. But with the growth of this sport and the amount of time that everyone else seems to be able to spend on triathlon, my life situation has really started to wear on me mentally. I talked briefly about this in my last post, and I’m not going to dwell on it further. My goal for 2013 is to just focus on doing what I can within my control and block out all the “noise.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Even though 2012 didn’t go as I had hoped, and I fell short of some of my goals, after having some time to reflect on the season I realized I was probably a little too hard on myself and there were some good results after all, soI thought I would share some highlights and races that I am most proud of:<o:p></o:p></div>
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1. Ironman Cozumel 2011….I know this is 2011 and not 2012, in my mind it was the start of the 2012 season, and one of my proudest athletic accomplishments and this is my blog so I’m going to include it <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> I was 1<sup>st</sup> Female Amateur Overall with a PR of 9:57 (3:14 marathon which I’m also proud of!). This race is a good reminder to me that when my head is in the game, I can get after my goals! I had a rocky 2011 and then in Sept. decided to sign up for Ironman Cozumel, get focused and with exactly 2 months of training, I pulled off this win. This was a huge goal of mine and I was so incredibly excited and proud to accomplish this goal at my 3<sup>rd</sup> Ironman attempt.<o:p></o:p></div>
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2. Carlsbad Marathon 2012 – Overall Female – 2:53 (PR). Winning a marathon was another big goal of mine and I was ecstatic to start 2012 with this Win.<o:p></o:p></div>
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3. NYC Half Marathon – 1:21 (PR). I hadn’t run a standalone half marathon in a few years so I was excited for a PR in this distance. <o:p></o:p></div>
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4. Ironman Racine 70.3 – 1<sup>st</sup> 30-34 AG….after a few 2<sup>nd</sup> place AG finishes at the 70.3 distance, I finally pulled off a win. I was surprised and happy after coming off an injury that kept me from running for about 8 weeks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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5. Rev 3 Maine – 1<sup>st</sup> 30-34 AG – this was my first Rev 3 race and was thrilled to win my AG at this race.<o:p></o:p></div>
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6. And last but truly the highlight of 2012, although its non-triathlon related, this was a huge 2012 highlight, my first nephew and godson, Eamon James Kenney was born in September. And I am totally in love with this cutie.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just love this picture...total Heartbreaker!<br />
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Christmas Morning with Eamon<br />
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Stylish Eamon! Love!<br />
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NY Giant Fan!<br />
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First minute with Eamon<br />
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My brother Sean - proud Daddy. Sweet moment :)</div>
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I’m excited to report that after almost 4 months of off season, I am FINALLY starting to miss triathlon and l am looking forward to racing again. I am still working on my race schedule and will likely be starting my season later than usual this year. I will update on this once I have it all squared away.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am also really excited about old and new sponsors that I am working with this year and will update soon on this as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A huge thank you to all my 2012 Sponsors/supporters: My Family, Tribike Transport, Health Warrior, Lululemon, Sai Systems, Tripower Multisports, Terrier Tri, Bicycle Planet. Your support means the world to me, thank you!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I hope everyone is having a great start to 2013 and hope to see you all out on the course soon!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Xo<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-14032865524953673562013-01-09T20:04:00.002-08:002013-01-10T09:34:41.353-08:00Kona Pictures.. Finally! Blog update with more than pics to follow - Promise!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Billy B! Always great to hang with the Buskos in Kona! And yes of course my abs look like that too ;)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Underwear Run. Thanks HealthWarrior!</span></td></tr>
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<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;">B</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwAeFKZuvv_31ETUXcbuKDTE3-8l6unxOAzzlXDEMZpYpLzJAYFwfxYtleYF-Pi5pg-Gtp7BApNBS5yrgOScE4MSwEj9_GbUFMSXWghYiihR-aH9cH6erIXhMRZrjWF-4Am5Rkne1XXaI/s1600/IMG_0850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwAeFKZuvv_31ETUXcbuKDTE3-8l6unxOAzzlXDEMZpYpLzJAYFwfxYtleYF-Pi5pg-Gtp7BApNBS5yrgOScE4MSwEj9_GbUFMSXWghYiihR-aH9cH6erIXhMRZrjWF-4Am5Rkne1XXaI/s320/IMG_0850.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We thought these were so cute and funny. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPxn-5oCo2H9DnlCdgAXDM84IEidQZxMjn2yx192EorsCyadI7r7aW74yav9rF0IRUcSnL5p1cYut4C5T2okst87kBDoFsRJ_45zVuK93QKEWT9DbXJU9MULApiUaXSFMqgxlxFdO-d0/s1600/IMG_4409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPxn-5oCo2H9DnlCdgAXDM84IEidQZxMjn2yx192EorsCyadI7r7aW74yav9rF0IRUcSnL5p1cYut4C5T2okst87kBDoFsRJ_45zVuK93QKEWT9DbXJU9MULApiUaXSFMqgxlxFdO-d0/s320/IMG_4409.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Best support team/cheerleaders EVER - Mom and Sissy. Love you guys.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2uw3OKBjUgV0aQV3vGUdGu0EJmjKWmXzdVUPONUzStqRojBbLkRf-nYX-89KuuKhnPaUgMwIsBaA5XWcSENNfPS4bFQt2eqaU4tiIyesnWs3DzdyCRzKlvcdqKO4Qmn2jW3iO1FQFww/s320/IMG_4410.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2uw3OKBjUgV0aQV3vGUdGu0EJmjKWmXzdVUPONUzStqRojBbLkRf-nYX-89KuuKhnPaUgMwIsBaA5XWcSENNfPS4bFQt2eqaU4tiIyesnWs3DzdyCRzKlvcdqKO4Qmn2jW3iO1FQFww/s1600/IMG_4410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #351c75;"></span></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6njDepg_sUWZy76HlfriTet71jjXGDCeiqsi8Hf5TX0iuQTYRy7AbQZEScjrZZV8IAvtsRuHoGDmH7gV4X4UXrnD-03gyzuoLFZ5a6G2iXqm2uLUQuCx7_co0TZNvn4GrhIUk5gyG2x0/s1600/IMG_1012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6njDepg_sUWZy76HlfriTet71jjXGDCeiqsi8Hf5TX0iuQTYRy7AbQZEScjrZZV8IAvtsRuHoGDmH7gV4X4UXrnD-03gyzuoLFZ5a6G2iXqm2uLUQuCx7_co0TZNvn4GrhIUk5gyG2x0/s320/IMG_1012.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Pre race routine - sissy does my braids while I sip my tea, No coffee for this girl</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27qC052vOv6bkYWMTJboNo31Bu5U94caojM4YtuGv795V9Pif3uvAUyPLjrzAiUOpJd0vJm08lAGnsRfGEpShYtkE0fg28Cg0EB5wDTcnfHJzjw1KQ1dQSppIcxlut-9zQKrA7VVQtjY/s320/IMG_0873.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Pure happiness</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27qC052vOv6bkYWMTJboNo31Bu5U94caojM4YtuGv795V9Pif3uvAUyPLjrzAiUOpJd0vJm08lAGnsRfGEpShYtkE0fg28Cg0EB5wDTcnfHJzjw1KQ1dQSppIcxlut-9zQKrA7VVQtjY/s1600/IMG_0873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #351c75;"></span></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7MY2b8JBji8ooquUIV43BEEjPKONfLCXYCeLm5fjIW880ydxtjna0Ygfz3Xw5xAJpK-HIiXzGp_COdXXXr7oCCYzemazwoCLOMdkeaNt34SamknJYgh9i3yw4IL9da2bABETAz_RDU0/s1600/0244_19701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7MY2b8JBji8ooquUIV43BEEjPKONfLCXYCeLm5fjIW880ydxtjna0Ygfz3Xw5xAJpK-HIiXzGp_COdXXXr7oCCYzemazwoCLOMdkeaNt34SamknJYgh9i3yw4IL9da2bABETAz_RDU0/s320/0244_19701.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Some official race pics.. Really thought the 112 mile would never end..ever</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0I9HUGetMTLYXnksnGOqc43PSEC09sxT4qZDjyFy1GDDc60s82XaWat4hlICewfgsvfme32JaXZLr_Yo7hWiKOvBvaAVOW1Vdz26GIhyTJq-ZLogd7I0js-obHd6plROm5G-QoxufaQU/s1600/0244_44639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0I9HUGetMTLYXnksnGOqc43PSEC09sxT4qZDjyFy1GDDc60s82XaWat4hlICewfgsvfme32JaXZLr_Yo7hWiKOvBvaAVOW1Vdz26GIhyTJq-ZLogd7I0js-obHd6plROm5G-QoxufaQU/s320/0244_44639.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Always love a finish line and this one is THE BEST feeling ever.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUwBTKVWlKLOYhjfRY4j7MB_prdKxnwcIdYrxnTz_B5G89WjwlyDqrQNhmtshfihqYRH3rWzFveZ0A_1qRSZ83EYixCaILRkMfzWz7Jp-DEf8Xiyhi94F96ugSF_ZpjGCeXJ0_2Gu-ig/s1600/IMG_0876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUwBTKVWlKLOYhjfRY4j7MB_prdKxnwcIdYrxnTz_B5G89WjwlyDqrQNhmtshfihqYRH3rWzFveZ0A_1qRSZ83EYixCaILRkMfzWz7Jp-DEf8Xiyhi94F96ugSF_ZpjGCeXJ0_2Gu-ig/s320/IMG_0876.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Mom and her fan. haha too cute</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj682V9ID5oxdu_Zxwz2q154Gcc4gXQ8cD0rrnwGlER8b2x4AYJkPOe50hCv6GThRXknhmfRCvMw3FNDaaPDuLId_u4gk65QvH2tiEz03AltzLpLBpjL5_PE6bEryt_v9EDruhyphenhyphensNz_4Rs/s1600/IMG_0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj682V9ID5oxdu_Zxwz2q154Gcc4gXQ8cD0rrnwGlER8b2x4AYJkPOe50hCv6GThRXknhmfRCvMw3FNDaaPDuLId_u4gk65QvH2tiEz03AltzLpLBpjL5_PE6bEryt_v9EDruhyphenhyphensNz_4Rs/s320/IMG_0021.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Post race with my favs. xo</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSDVNzPKSLDcRztWixQC-YCQj2_ox8sQL8gU3E8O1eQdczj-0VY747peMJKKBngqIRbeO3DrPEOLiSj_if_pKVMTFw5i0KlLpf_qEhdTLN3Smzg5haqeKzHxWGjk9WwdB0SDYs2XWrHo/s1600/IMG_0871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSDVNzPKSLDcRztWixQC-YCQj2_ox8sQL8gU3E8O1eQdczj-0VY747peMJKKBngqIRbeO3DrPEOLiSj_if_pKVMTFw5i0KlLpf_qEhdTLN3Smzg5haqeKzHxWGjk9WwdB0SDYs2XWrHo/s320/IMG_0871.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Bike drop off. Always one of the last ones...no matter how organized I think i am :(</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span>
Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-18181018271425007842012-11-12T16:36:00.000-08:002012-11-12T16:51:12.736-08:00Kona Race Report - and a little therapy session!!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A month later and I am finally sitting down to write a
little bit about Kona. I’ve really been
struggling with what to write, where to start and how deep to get! As I have mentioned in the past, blogging really
isn’t my thing. I guess I feel like an
open book if I tell too much. But
today…I am going to try. I think being
open here will actually help me with a lot of what I have been feeling. So brace yourselves..haha. Oh and I’ll try to keep it organized, but my
thoughts are sooo all over the place lately. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Let me first say – Kona 2012 was amazing. The week was really great – spending time
with mom, sissy, coach and friends.
Actually pretty cool how many NYers were there racing. Way to represent from the concrete
jungle! Despite being nervous and full
of emotion, I tried to take in all the pre race week had to offer. The week before really is so much of what the
whole Kona experience is all about. I
just wanted to start with this because I’m afraid the rest of what I am going
to write may sound like negatives. But
keep an eye out for silver linings :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simply put – my race didn’t go as I had hoped. However, I am still proud of my effort and am
thankful to have had the opportunity to race in Kona again. A lot of lessons learned in this race, so I
am going to breakdown this race report by what I learned:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="msolistparagraph0" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt;">You
really do get out of something what you put into it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="msolistparagraph0" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt;">If
you have doubts and negative thoughts pre race, they will affect your race.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="msolistparagraph0" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt;">When
things aren’t going as you planned/hoped, how you react and handle the
situation is what matters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="msolistparagraph0" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt;">When
it’s not your day, cheering and supporting your competitors is even more
gratifying than when you are having a great day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="msolistparagraph0" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Salt
water will mess up your stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="msolistparagraph0" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">6.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I’m
tired.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">1. You
really do get out of something what you put into something.</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok, I have to admit – I slacked big time on my
training going into this race. Which I
am embarrassed to admit since I was racing in KONA. But in hindsight I feel like I didn’t work
hard enough. So all race while I was
struggling, all I could think is….you deserve this. I qualified at IMCOZ in Nov. 2011. I felt like I had so much time to get
ready. So I decided to run a couple of
early season marathons and then pick up the tri training in the spring. Great plan except the injury during the
Boston marathon in April set me back and derailed my plans. It set back my training and my race schedule. I really wanted to get in some early 70.3s,
then have a few weeks to recover before IM training. That plan didn’t happen. And now looking back, I just don’t feel like
I made a new plan that worked well. I
felt strongly about getting in another 70.3 before Kona and there weren’t many
August options. I decided on Rev 3
Maine, which was the weekend in between my 2 weeks vacation. I didn’t train through the race (maybe I
should have? I don’t know!) but I just
feel like I didn’t maximize those 2 weeks of NO WORK! And earlier in the summer when I couldn’t
run, but I could bike, I just didn’t feel like it. I was so exhausted from work every weekend
all I wanted to do was join my mom on the beach. I know this sounds crazy since this is a
sport I love, but I’ll revisit this again when I get to #6). Bottom line is, I could have done more. And I didn’t.
And I knew that. And it was in my
head A LOT as the race approached and it was too late to do anything about it. Which brings me to #2…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">2. If you
have doubts and negative thoughts pre race, they will affect your race.</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had MAJOR doubts. I guess I started to realize I didn’t put as
much as I could have into the training and I started to doubt myself. I have always been fortunate to have decent
results despite not putting in a lot of hours of training. (For those wondering – a max week for me is
15 hours and that probably happens once a year. 10 hours is pretty typical and
sometimes less). However, I suddenly
felt I ramped up the IM training/focus too late and the Rev 3 race was not a
good idea. I lost a couple of weekends
of long rides and runs because of that race.
My confidence comes from knowing I can run strong off the bike. But because I hadn’t done any long runs as
of labor day weekend – I really started to panic. I managed to get a couple in, but I’m not
sure it was enough to quiet the noise of doubt in my head. That just spiraled over the next 6
weeks. While I may not have been as
trained as I should be…the negative thoughts did not help me on race day. I took myself out of the game before it even
started.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">3. When things
aren’t going as you planned or hoped, how you react and handle the situation is
what matters/ 4. When it’s not your day, cheering and supporting your
competitors is even more gratifying than when you are having a great day/ 5. Salt
water will mess up your stomach</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Combining #s 3-5 here)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Its ironic, I was finally able to quiet the doubts
once I was out on the course, but it may have been too late. The swim was really tough. Swimming is not my strength and not something
I focus much on in training, but I didn’t expect to battle people for 2.4
miles. I really did have bruises on my
arms after the race from getting hit.
Unfortunately, due to the battle for 2.4 miles, I seemed to swallow A
LOT of salt water (something I need to work on!). I was so happy to be out of the water in
1:12, which was actually a decent time for me as the swim times were slower
this year. But once out on the bike I realized quickly the water I took in was
not going to be good. All the way out to
Hawi – everything I took in for nutrition/fluids came back up. All I can say about the rest of the bike leg
is - demoralizing. I don’t know what
happened out there, besides the head wind that felt like it would never
end. What I do know is I reallllly
struggled. I felt like I may never get
back to transition. I would look down
and see my speed and want to cry (I’m sure I did cry!). Thankfully I saw an old teammate out there
and that lifted my spirits a bit. I just
kept telling myself – get to the run, get to the run. That’s where a race usually starts for me
anyway. Not the case on October 13...I was feeling soooo dehydrated which I
assume was from getting sick the first half of the bike. I ran well the first 8 miles or so. Then I saw my mom, who is always so sweet and
supportive. I never stop in a race or
really even talk to my family when I am out there, but I yelled to her, “I
don’t know what to do. I feel awful.” She yelled and I mean YELLED (with this look
on her on her face I have never seen because she never yells, EVER),
“Christine, you keep going. KEEP
GOING” Hmm ok, no sympathy from her I
guess. Haha. But she was right and I needed that tough
love. She knows me better than anyone
and knows the disappointment I would have felt if I gave into the pain and
dehydration. I slugged my way up Palani,
saw Sissy and Coach. Told them what was
going on and just being able to tell them made me feel a little better. Out on the Queen K I met my race Angel. Jennifer Hanley-Pinto – I would pass her
through the aid stations and she would pass me in between. She said to me as she passed me, “come on
girl” I said, “today’s not my day. You go, have a great run” She said, “don’t be afraid to walk through
the aid stations:” DING DING DING Not sure why I needed someone to tell me
that, but it was brilliant. I guess I
needed someone to tell me because I have
never walked in a race or even slowed down through an aid station. She saved me though, walking through the rest
of the aid stations allowed me to take in more fluids and replenish more from
the dehydration. In between aid stations
I was running surprisingly well.
Despite the race not going how I had hoped, what really surprised me,
was how I handled it. I learned a lot
about myself out there. I am a very
competitive person and had you asked me pre race how I would feel if the race
went this way, I would have said upset, angry etc. And most of all I wouldn’t have predicted
that when my day was s*cking, I’d want to support my competitors. I know that sounds bad, but I told you
earlier I’m going to keep it real here. Maybe
it was the support from Jennifer that helped me or maybe I just have more good
in me than I thought (haha), but there is no doubt, the more I cheered and
supported other people, the better I felt.
I highly recommend this to everyone whether your day is going well or
not :)</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">. I learned the
other side of Ironman that day. I have
never struggled in a race like that before and it was very humbling. There is a camaraderie out there despite the
competitive nature that we all have that is truly remarkable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Somewhere along the way, I found my running legs again
and the competitor in me came alive.
Even though I knew that I wasn’t having the day I hoped for, to me this
is still a race, and I wanted to get to the finish line ahead of as many girls
as I could. It no longer mattered if I
was racing for 20<sup>th</sup> place or 30<sup>th</sup>., I wanted to finish
strong. I ended up running a 3:21
marathon, 3<sup>rd</sup> fastest in my AG and I ran my way from 50<sup>th</sup>
off the bike to finish 18<sup>th</sup> in my AG. This is definitely a reminder to me to never
give up in an Ironman, it’s a long day and you never know how things will end
up!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No matter what happened out there all day, the finish
line of an Ironman (especially Kona) is AMAZING. What I did find interesting, I almost always
cry at the end of a race. Yep, I’m an
emotional person…can you tell? But I
didn’t cry in Kona this year. I think I
processed so much out on the course that by the time I got to the finish line I
really had nothing left. I pushed
through when so much of me wanted to stop.
But I never would and for that I am proud.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">6. I’m tired…</span></b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I realized these past few months and what I
realized also led to my decisions to skip training for the beach all summer was..
I am tired. Not tired of training, but
tired from trying to fit it in around my work hours. I do love Triathlon, but my job s*cks for
Ironman training and it leaves me mentally exhausted. I’m tired of sleeping 4
hours a night to fit in a 90 min training session at most. The stress I put on myself to fit it in has
officially worn on me. Admitting this is
really REALLY hard for me. I feel like I
am admitting defeat. Maybe I am, but I
know that my race in Kona was directly affected by this on many levels. All of which are mentioned above. The skipping training, the doubts and my race
results. What I would love is to be able
to train, sleep, spend time with family/friends (and of course P&R) and
work a lot less. Until I figure out how
to do that I am just not sure I can compete at the level I want to. And to be clear, I am not trying to cut back
hours on a 40 hour work week, I want to cut back on the 60-70 hour work
weeks! Does this mean I am officially
burnt out? Is this what burn out feels
like? The off season will hopefully
answer this for me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime I am off to Arizona this
Thursday. It’s Sissy’s first (and only,
so she says!) Ironman!! SO SO excited
for her. I am supposed to be racing as
well. Final decision on this to be made
Friday. Bike is on its way and I’ll be
there either way, so why not race? Well…
Since Kona I have swam once, biked once (yesterday) and run a handful of
times. I did just tell you about my burn
out, so I guess this isn’t much of a surprise.
Recent NY weather has not exactly helped the training, but I cannot
blame it just on that. I am sure I can
still do an Ironman right now, but will I do it well? Or am I setting myself up for more disappointment? A good friend of mine told me – participate only if you check your
ego at the flight gate and can go do it for fun. And that is what I need to figure out these
next few days. Can I really do
that? (PS – I do not have an ego!) If I
am racing, it will be great to be out on the course to see Sissy lots (3 loop
bike and run course). If I decide not to
race, I’ll be cheering for her allllll over that course. Everyone send lots of cheers to my Sissy next
weekend!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sorry for the really long post. I probably lost you all at #2! I think writing this may have helped me
process all my feelings and thoughts, so thanks for listening to my therapy
session ;-)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">And a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that has supported me
all year long, especially my family and sponsors! It means sooo much to me to
have people that believe in me and support me in this Journey! A special shout out to the following: My MOM – my rock, my
biggest supporter who travelled with me to every race this season. I really could not do this without her. My Sissy – my biggest cheerleader and my
voice of reason. My Sponsors – Tribike
Transport – thank you for your AMAZING bike service. I was honored to be a part
of the 2012 Ambassador team and you made my race travel so much less stressful!
And to Health Warrior – your chia bars help keep me fueled and healthy. And an
extra thanks for outfitting my Mom, Sissy and I for the Underpants run! And my Coach for all the guidance and being
flexible with my crazy job and understanding of my many missed workouts :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ill be back with an update on AZ…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Xoxox<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">C<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-68700995113349035882012-09-06T11:55:00.001-07:002012-09-06T11:55:52.799-07:00Rev 3 Maine and Back to Reality<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
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Wow...I can't believe August is over, Kona is less than 6 weeks away! I am sad to say goodbye to summer but the only positive is that my weekend schedule will be a little less hectic now that I am not trying to fit in a full beach day on top of trying to train for an Ironman :) Add the extra running around on the weekend to my already ridiculous work schedule during the week and trying to fit in training when I can makes for an extremely exhausted "Me"! I had been sooo looking forward to August -two weeks of a much needed vacation, Sissy was coming home from San Diego for almost 4 weeks (yay!!) and I was racing my first Rev 3 race in Maine.</div>
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Sissy arrived home on Aug. 15 and my last day of work was Aug. 17. We spent the first few days catching up over some vino, getting in some light training, and of course lounging on the beach! I also had to take care of the usual pre race stuff which always causes a little bit of added stress. Sissy and I (and the pups, P&R) headed up to Maine on Thurs., Aug. 23 (Mom arrived on Friday) and the race was on Sunday, Aug. 26. The race was held in Old Orchard Beach, but since I was on vacation and have never been to Maine, I decided to make a mini trip out of it and we stayed in Kennebunkport for the week. I absolutely loved it, Kennebunkport is such a cute little town and the R&R with my mom, sis & pups pre-race was just what I needed.</div>
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I typically don't race in August. In previous years, I would race a lot early in the season and after a July race, I would take a little break, then in August re-focus for my fall Ironman. However, with my early season injury I didn't get in much racing, so I really wanted to get in one more race before Kona. I wasn't racing Vegas this year since Coach and I had decided at the beginning of the season I would skip it this year so I had turned down my slot at Racine. And it is also my sister in laws baby shower - I can't wait to be an aunt!! I had never done a Rev 3 race, and with the addition of the race in Maine this year, I thought this would be a great August race, just a 5 hour drive from home, and it didn't disappoint.</div>
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Ok...onto the deets of the race. On Friday morning before the race I woke up feeling like I was getting sick (Ugh). It wasn't one of those things where I couldn't get myself out of bed, but I just didn't feel right, everything I did seemed to just take a little more effort than normal and I got very winded and wasn't feeling great during my pre-race shakeout workouts. But I tried to just ignore it and hope that on race day it would miraculously go away. Well, not so much. I woke up on Sunday feeling exactly the same way. Again, not so bad that I would skip the race, but I definitely wasn't feeling 100%. I tried to put it out of my head and focus on the race. I stuck to my normal pre race routine and everything went smoothly and before I knew it I was in the water and off we went.</div>
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The swim was an ocean swim and I typically don't have great swims in the ocean. I guess not being a very strong swimmer (and one who doesn't train for the swim much) I have a tougher time than in a nice calm lake, so I knew regardless of how I felt I wasn't going to be setting any records on this swim. A few hundred meters in I was already realizing this little "sickness" was going to cause me some issues -I was having a really tough time breathing and at one point had to turn over and float on my back to catch my breath. I did contemplate if I should call it a day, but I turned back over and continued on with my swim. I came out of the water in 37:26, not a great swim for me but was to be expected. I saw Mom, Sis & the pups as I ran into T1 and there was no smile or wave for them like I usually do. I knew this was going to be a tough day for me.</div>
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The Bike...I honestly can't even tell you much about the bike course. I was just focused on getting through the 56 miles..it felt like one of the longest rides of my life. I didn't feel great and I couldn't wait for it to be over. My heart rate was very high for the effort and watts I was putting out, and I was still having trouble breathing. Going into the race, I was really excited to see what kind of bike time I could put up. I am loving my new Trek SC (Teddy), my bike training has been going well and was hoping for a solid bike time. I know my bike time was totally not reflective of my current bike fitness and I was bummed not to have the ride I am capable of. But I'm hopeful that I'll have a good ride sooner rather than later :) Kona, would be a good time for my bike fitness to make an appearance!</div>
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Entering T2, I saw my fam and again I couldn't muster a smile for them. I knew when I set out on this run, it was all going to come down to a mental battle for me. I was clearly not having the race I was hoping for with a crappy swim and bike (according to my own expectations for myself on this day) and as the day progressed, the worse I felt. My body was screaming at me to get back to bed! I slipped on my pink Newtons, ran out of T2 and was hoping for some magic on this run. At about 1/4 mile, I saw my great support team again cheering for me, at this point I yelled to them that I wasn't feeling well and for about the first mile I can't lie I was battling the negative thoughts of just calling it a day. But then I realized that a DNF in my last race before Kona would not be the mental confidence builder I wanted going into that race. I had no idea how where I was in relation to the other girls in the race or what place I was in. I just had to focus my energy on trying to pass as many girls as I could and within the first few miles I passed a bunch of girls which helped motivate me to continue plugging along. As I approached the finish line I noticed one more girl ahead of me who seemed within reach. I told myself 'you will pass her, you will pass her or you will pass out trying.' Turns out, it was a matter of 4th place overall vs. 5th place overall. I had no idea if it was for 10th overall or 3rd overall, but I was really happy that after such a tough day mentally (and physically of course) I still had it in me to make that last push.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">If you look close at finish line photos, Riley made the jumbo tron pic with me :)</span><br />
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Once I crossed the finish line, I completely let go of any negative thoughts about this race. No, I didn't have the race I wanted or knew I was capable of, but not every race can be our perfect race. With Kona 6 weeks away, I chose to focus only on the positives:</div>
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1. On a day where I felt like total crap and wanted to quit during the swim and bike, I dug deep and didn't fall apart on the run, I managed to finish stronger than I started.</div>
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2. I ran my way from about 15th off the bike to 4th overall with the fastest female run split of the day.</div>
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3. Even on a bad day, I was able to eek out a sub 5 hour finish and finish in the top 5 overall and top 3 in AG.</div>
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4. I am incredibly proud of my ability to stay mentally strong and run my way through the field on a day when I was feeling less than 100%. I know this mental strength will serve me well in Ironman.</div>
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As soon as I crossed the finish, I went over to the Normatec booth to try out the recovery boots..and OH...MY...GOD....best things ever - I totally felt a difference in my recovery after this race. I. MUST. GET. A. PAIR. </div>
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I can't say enough great things about this race...Rev 3 puts on a fantastic race and I can't wait for next year...I'll be back. The volunteers were amazing and Old Orchard Beach really seemed to welcome us with open arms! I'm also excited that I won a free entry to a Rev 3 race of my choice next year for my 1st in AG finish (yes, technically was 2nd, but Rev 3 has top 3 overall awards, so a girl in my AG was top 3 which moved me to 1st in AG for awards). </div>
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Now, I'm back to work and the next 6 weeks will be super busy, work gets chaotic (think loooong days in the office) again between now and the holidays. I need to get focused for Kona, so its time to put my head down and do my very best to fit in good solid training (quality over quantity!) around work. Its back to getting to bed at midnight and up at 4:30 am. There are no 20+ hour training weeks for this girl. Literally, I am lucky if I get in 15 hours, and a typical week is more like 12 hours of training and I rarely am able to fit in everything my coach has on my schedule. Yup, its those swims that most often get missed, and many many workouts getting rearranged to fit in whenever I can. Feeling stressed already and I'm just back from 2 weeks vaca!! In 2 weeks I'm heading to San Diego to visit sissy and get in some training in sunny SoCal. Followed by a local sprint race where I'll attempt to defend my title from last year, and then its off to Kona.</div>
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Thanks everyone for your support, especially the super fast girls at Rev 3 Maine that motivated me to push my limits and keep fighting on a tough day, my Mom, Sissy and P&R for being the best cheerleaders, and my Coach and Sponsors for their continued support on this journey.</div>
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xo<br />
C<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">The Candy lover in me couldn't wait for post race to visit "The Sugar Shack"</span>Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-55367855183560316372012-07-20T10:18:00.001-07:002012-07-20T10:28:00.319-07:00Racing in Racine<br />
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Sooo, it appears I haven't blogged in almost 2 months, no
surprise there though. To be honest, this whole blogging thing is really tough
for me for a number of reasons, but mostly its just not my thing to talk about
myself, my training and racing. So, I'll try to keep this short and sweet and
just give you the highlights of what's been going on the last couple months and
a quick update on my recent race.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The season got a little thrown out of whack after the hip
injury forced me to drop out of the Boston marathon and I didn't run for 8
weeks. I was forced to skip a bunch of races and rearrange my schedule a bit.
Its never fun to be injured, but I tried to just keep it in perspective and
focus on getting healthy so I would be good to go in time for Kona training. I
have been injured many times before and I guess you could say I'm getting a
little more used to it, and I also realize it could always be worse! I believe
everything happens for a reason, as cliché as that is. And the reason why I
think this injury helped me was bc I needed the break and now I'm feeling much
more fresh to take on the ironman training for Kona and IMAZ!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course, I didn't do as much swim training as I thought I
would do, since this would have been a good time for me to focus on my
weakness.. Argh! Why do I find it so hard to get to the pool??!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I did have some fun things going on the last few months,
despite being injured! I went on an amazing trip to Turks & Caicos with my
Mom, Grandmother, Aunts/uncles & cousins for five days, I attended (drank a
lot of vino) a bachelorette party at the Vineyards on Eastern Long Island for
one of my oldest and best friends from middle school/high school and also had a
blast at her weekend wedding festivities. There were a few missed workouts as a
result :(</div>
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I finally started running again sometime in the middle of
June and realized I needed to start putting some other races on my schedule
since I had nothing until Kona in October. This is a difficult task since most
of these races sell out so far in advance. Sissy was racing Vineman 70.3 on
July 15 and it would have been great to do that, but unfortunately it was sold
out. Racine 70.3 was on the same day and it was still open...so Racine it was!
I wasn't sure if I'd be ready to race by then so I asked Coach "will I be
ready to race in 3 weeks?" and he told me yes.. So I signed up and had 3
weeks to get some of my run fitness back!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This race report will be brief because I'm also not one to
spend too much time analyzing my race once its over, and now that I'm 5 days
post race my memory of it all is fading :)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I did have a little bike stress leading into the race. When
I dropped "Teddy" at the bike shop to be shipped to Racine, they
discovered a crack in the frame. Teddy is my brand new Trek SC that I have only
been riding a couple of months. When I arrived in Milwaukee for the race, I
realized the bike tech guys for the race were from Trek - PERFECT! I brought
Teddy over and had them take a look to be certain the frame wasn't cracked -
the Good News- they confirmed it was just the paint. (still annoying to have
the paint chipped on my brand new bike, but at least it was rideable). The bad
news - they discovered that something on the aero bars broke off during
shipping. Again, still rideable, so as annoying as it is having to deal with
bike issues on a brand new bike, I was actually pretty surprised how calm I was
about it all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ok back to the race!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Usually when I go to 70.3s I leave after work on Friday,
which gets us to our hotel really late Friday night. I always feel so rushed
and tired on Saturday, not the best way to feel the day before a race! For
Racine we decided to leave during the day on Friday, we arrived at our hotel at
5:30pm...it was still daylight! It was so nice to relax, get organized, go to
dinner and get a good night sleep. Since I felt so organized already, Saturday
AM was very relaxing. Mom, pups and I had our tea, I did my nails (in of course
the race color of the year - Tour de Finance) and then I did Moms nails in the
same color! I went for a quick 2 mile run, while mom went to the gym, then I
took the pups for a long walk. Of course we made our way to the Lululemon store
in Milwaukee and I did some more damage on the CC! I love that store!! Good
thing the morning was so pleasant, the rest of the afternoon felt a bit hectic,
not really sure why though?!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Race morning went pretty smooth. I was definitely feeling
nervous as I always do pre race, but it seemed worse because I hadn't raced in so
long. But as always, having my mom there to keep me calm is the best. Oh and my
pups P&R flew to Milwaukee with us too, so its always fun to have them
there race morning :) My wave wasn’t until 7:59am (UGH - so late!), so I had
plenty of time to get to transition, get everything set up and make my way to
the swim start. I actually don’t like being around the swim start too early, I
prefer to keep to myself until its time to line up. So mom and I found a gas
station with a little store and I used that as my pre race bathroom! I put my
wetsuit on there and just relaxed until about 7:30. We were allowed to get in
the water before the swim, so I took advantage of that for a few minutes. Then
it was time to line up!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Swim:<o:p></o:p></div>
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I actually surprised myself with a Swim PR of 32 min. I did
some "cramming" before the race. And of course on Friday morning
before the race I swam 1.2 miles straight to remind myself that I can actually
swim the distance. I do the same thing before Ironmans too (but 2.4 miles obvs
;) ) I honestly swam 10 times since April, so I was pretty happy about this
swim. Lake Michigan was awesome, I really enjoyed the swim. But that T1 was
tough! One of the hardest transitions I have ever experienced. It’s a pretty
long run from the water to T1 and it was through sand...the type of sand that
when it gets wet feels like quick sand! To make things worse, the bike mount
was on an uphill, I HATE clipping in on an uphill...actually I'm really bad at
it. Ha - you would think I could do it no problem by now ! And I don’t start
races with my shoes already clipped in...maybe I should finally work on that?!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bike:<o:p></o:p></div>
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I debuted Teddy at his first race and I am in LOVE. We had a
great day together! My bike time was a little disappointing, but I also made
some stupid mistakes that cost me a few minutes. I didn’t stick to my routine
the day before the race and that cost me. I race with the Garmin 910xt and
Teddy is 'Bike 3' on the watch. But bc I didn’t get everything set up and
tested out the day before - when I got out on to the bike I had no power,
cadence etc...i debated just riding without it, but I like seeing all that info
when I race, so I decided to figure out what was wrong. Watch was still set to 'Bike
1' which is Oscar (Orbea). There were a few other mistakes I made by not
sticking to my own routine the day before the race, but I wont bore you with
that!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Teddy is fast and super comfy! And he got sooo many
compliments...gotta love pink ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Run: I ran a 1:32 on a hot day with just 4 weeks of running,
so I was really happy with this time. I have not done any speed/tempo work
since before the Boston Marathon so I really had no idea what to expect out
there. Three weeks ago when I first started running again, I felt soooo out of
shape and slow, and I didn't' think it was possible to get back to where I was.
Now after pulling that off, I know I can get back to where I was in March with
a few more weeks of training under my belt.<o:p></o:p></div>
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During the race I was just so happy to be back out there and
racing again. It was probably one of only races where I didn't focus on who was
in front of me, trying to run people down or what place I was in. I just wanted
to focus on my own race and putting together a solid effort after a
disappointing race in Texas and being sidelined with an injury for months. When
I crossed the finish line I said to my Mom that I didn't think I had placed in
my AG, but that it was ok, I was happy with my race and happy to have been able
to run well so soon after being injured and in the Heat! Did I mention it was
hot? But, at Mom's urging we went to take a look at the results, and I realized
I had finished 1st in 30-34 AG, and I was sooo excited!! This was my first 70.3
AG win after many 2nd place finishes and to have it happen after a crappy few
months, made me appreciate the win that much more!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZ2VcywvDRI1B2UxZkw3dVGt8IX1WyZtednUtLHNj_msCnGdj0u2PwKC1ziyykrWFDwSl_ys72xTf_w3wE-mm9Lkot4DRhsKmprYoHqsP_LScHjPPCRQpqJYOnWAriCMjvZSX1bIlm-4/s1600/IMG_0728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZ2VcywvDRI1B2UxZkw3dVGt8IX1WyZtednUtLHNj_msCnGdj0u2PwKC1ziyykrWFDwSl_ys72xTf_w3wE-mm9Lkot4DRhsKmprYoHqsP_LScHjPPCRQpqJYOnWAriCMjvZSX1bIlm-4/s320/IMG_0728.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I still have a lot of work to do before Kona, but this race
gave me the confidence that I'm on the right track and I'm even more focused,
hungry and ready to begin the Ironman training. Next up is Rev 3 Maine on Aug.
26. No Vegas for me this year, though I would like to redeem myself after last
years terrible race, but Coach and I decided earlier in the season that I
wouldn't take a slot if I did qualify. As tempted as I was to take my slot on
Sunday, I passed..its also the same weekend that I already have Madonna tickets
(cant wait, haha!) and my sister in laws baby shower,<o:p></o:p></div>
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I really liked Racine 70.3 and I would recommend this race!
I guess this blog and race report ended up longer than I thought it would --
good thing I don’t blog often ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
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And here are some more pics from the weekend :)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xfcfRR-538tLWiPDvrw_fz9AH0AySqKCQNm8dSvVtI-u7sx2rq2NNm2I4jskr9U9c4oix8EICC3taqJeRMcBmlEHpNtANmFED3fg1jrLVtxXWsjHHVleD2QrYZ_qPQBFgHViuR_u-0M/s1600/IMG_0715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xfcfRR-538tLWiPDvrw_fz9AH0AySqKCQNm8dSvVtI-u7sx2rq2NNm2I4jskr9U9c4oix8EICC3taqJeRMcBmlEHpNtANmFED3fg1jrLVtxXWsjHHVleD2QrYZ_qPQBFgHViuR_u-0M/s320/IMG_0715.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Peanut loves spectating!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">And so does Riley..or rather probably eating sand!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwO_4g-EL-Ia8zVrLDY27r153zPgUKxwMPC1Y-UYo6NtG1XsNdj9j9APixcjTRvVAmhEyKa7TaDsAFol-j6r-xAdVTAEoF9yTmRPl4lE65JgideggBRkfXyfoYVcJoL1-Cncn3qO64JQM/s1600/IMG_0723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwO_4g-EL-Ia8zVrLDY27r153zPgUKxwMPC1Y-UYo6NtG1XsNdj9j9APixcjTRvVAmhEyKa7TaDsAFol-j6r-xAdVTAEoF9yTmRPl4lE65JgideggBRkfXyfoYVcJoL1-Cncn3qO64JQM/s320/IMG_0723.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Peanut Loves Newtons too :)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Loving our rental car!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Cutest and BEST Mom ever :)</span></div>
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Thanks for reading!<o:p></o:p></div>
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xo<o:p></o:p></div>
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C<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-82025538311086145642012-06-04T11:20:00.000-07:002012-06-04T17:30:57.499-07:00Walking is Good Training..Seriously!!Admittedly I am not very good at keeping up on triathlon news, blogs, etc and I am always behind in Social Media updates, but luckily I have Sissy who is very on top of this and she gives me summaries on anything she thinks I'd be interested in. Thanks Sis! Recently she forwarded me the attached written by the famous Brett Sutton. If you haven't read the article, you really should, good stuff here! He basically discusses the merit of "walking"as a substitute for athletes that are injured and unable to run. And I'll tell you from personal experience why I believe he is spot on with this advice and why I found the article so interesting!<br />
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http://www.teamtbb.com/?option=com_content&task=view&id=1387<br />
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In July 2010 as I was training for my first ever IM WC's in Kona I had a bike crash and suffered a distal clavicle fracture and torn coracoid ligaments which required surgery 10 weeks out from Kona. I was going to be in a sling for the next 8 weeks - not the ideal situation leading up to an Ironman. And I wasn't given much hope from the surgeons that I would be able to compete. But I was determined. This wasn't going to be the race I hoped for in Kona but I would do everything possible to be on the start line in October. I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by. What if this was my only chance to race in the lava fields. I was going to be in a sling for the next 8 weeks but I thought to myself, "Ok, I will just do whatever I can while in a sling. I still had functioning legs, so lets' put them to use!" I walked, I walked a lot, and I walked some more. My goal was to remain as active as I possibly could and to try to maintain as much fitness as I could and not gain weight.<br />
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Just to give you an idea of the type of training I did over the next 8 weeks...I walked..and I walked...ALOT. One day I walked 9 miles, I walked on the treadmill, I walked around Central Park, I went to the track with a friend/Kona training partner and walked while he did speed work. I did "doubles" of walking! I was actually becoming quite a "speedy" walker. I was also asking my doctor if I could do more. I finally convinced him I could do the elliptical, ride my trainer/spin bike while in my sling if I promised to keep my arm/shoulder totally still. After seven weeks he gave me the ok for the Alter G treadmill. But mind you...all of this was done with my arm in a sling. So none of this training was even close to full effort.<br />
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Clearly, there were many moments of doubt (among many other emotions) within these 10 weeks of whether or not I should race. The closer it got to race day the more nervous and doubtful I became. I had no idea whether I would be able to swim 2.4 miles after surgery and having no use of my arm for the last 8 weeks. I still didn't have full range of motion in the shoulder and its not like swimming was ever a strength of mine. And then I didn't know how I would make it through a 112 mile bike and run a marathon after that. It seemed like all I had done for 8 weeks was WALK! What kind of Ironman prep training is that? I also became increasingly frustrated knowing that there was no way I could compete to the best of my potential and the realization of how fit and well trained all my competitors would be started to set in. <br />
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I"m competitive by nature and the idea of showing up to a race 'just to finish' wasn't my ideal. My coach at the time, Jimmy Riccitello, was really great and supportive during this period and he finally convinced me to give it a go. He assured me that no matter the outcome I would be happier knowing I toed the line and gave it my best rather than not even trying at all. He convinced me that it was ok to start and just see how I felt, take it one leg at a time and if I needed to drop out that was ok. But, Jimmy knew me too well, he knew if he got me to start the race, get through the swim, then there was no way I wouldn't finish the race. He also emphasized the value of gaining Kona experience and the benefits it would have in case I ever made it back to the Big Island. Boy, was he right!! Thanks Jimmy!! <br />
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The week of the race, I had a conversation with a good friend who was also racing about goal times for the race. I admitted to him that my first goal was to make it to the finish but my second goal was to do it in under 11:30 hours. I knew he thought I was crazy and he told me to not set my expectations too high. But I had to have a goal and this is what it was. I finished IMCOZ in 10:24 and I honestly thought if my body would hold up, I would have a shot at a sub 11:30 finish. But I didn't share this goal with anyone else. I knew everyone would think I was out of my mind.<br />
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I won't go into the details of the race but the outcome was better than I could have ever imagined and I exceeded my own expectations and I"m sure I surprised everyone else who knew my circumstances. I ended up finishing in 10:47, far surpassing my sub 11:30 goal. I swam a 1:17, biked a 5:59 and ran a 3:22. The highlight for me was really the 3:22 run split (and after all that Walk "training" I never even had to stop and walk once!!). I ran a 3:30 at IMCOZ...and here I PR'd by almost 10 minutes without any proper run or ironman training for 10 full weeks leading up to the race. Walking was my training for the 2010 Ironman World Championships. So there you have it, the moral of the story is I couldn't' agree more with Brett Suttons' article on the benefits of walking. I had no idea I was onto anything when I decided to walk, I just figured it was the best way for me to stay as active as possible in lieu of running! I honestly believe that the walking and other "training" I did for these 8 weeks enabled me to still be able to race as well as I did. The body is amazingly resilient and muscle memory is pretty powerful! Had I become down on myself and just sat on my couch eating candy, I probably would not have had this same result. Ok, ok - I still ate a lot of candy, but at least I wasn't sitting home on my couch!!<br />
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I highly recommend the next time you are injured and are not able to run, that you take up walking (as long as ok'd by your doc). I believe it really helped me and if you don't believe me, take Brett Sutton's word for it :)<br />
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Its also a reminder to me and hopefully to you as well, that when you get injured and your preparation and training isn't what you were hoping for, its not the end of the world, you can still have a good race....just modify your expectations and try to remain as active as possible and with determination and mental fortitude you can still get to the finish line!!<br />
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xo<br />
C<br />
<br />Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-55060592887549904052012-05-21T09:23:00.000-07:002012-05-21T09:39:14.911-07:00My "Bike" Family<blockquote type="cite">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sooo excited to introduce Theodore (aka "Teddy") to my "Bike Family". Teddy is a 2012 Trek Speed Concept 9.8. I have been anxiously awaiting his arrival for months! I ordered my new bike at the end of February on my trip out to San Diego to visit Sissy and it has been sitting at the Trek store since March. This was such torture for me. I was finally able to get back out to San Diego a few weeks ago to get fitted and take it for a test ride before it was packaged back up to be shipped to NY. I can't thank the guys at Trek (Jason, Angel and the rest of the team) for all their help. These guys are seriously Awesome and were sooo incredibly helpful to me during the whole process. Teddy FINALLY arrived in NY on Thursday, and I picked him up on Friday night at Bicycle Planet in Syosset. Thanks BP for putting it all back together and having it all ready for me to take out on the roads this past weekend!</span></div>
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I am sooo excited to spend a lot of quality time with Teddy. My first ever road bike that I purchased before my first triathlon in 2004 was a Trek and I'm happy to be riding one again. When I was deciding on a new bike for the 2012 season, I obviously wanted something FAST (we all know I need all the help I can get on the bike) and truth be told… when I discovered I could custom paint the Speed Concept in RADIOACTIVE PINK, I could hardly contain my excitement and I was sold...I NEEDED this bike and I knew it was the perfect bike for me. Now if only I could start riding like Julie Dibens and Chris Lieto (haha).<br /><br />Since I tend to get very attached to my bikes, I will not be selling Oscar (2009 Orbea Ordu). Oscar holds a very special place in my heart. Oscar was my first Tri bike. Well technically this is Oscar II, I also own a 2007 Orange Orbea, Oscar I. However, my relationship with Oscar I was short-lived as I was riding Oscar I when I was hit by the car in Aug. 2007 and I haven't ridden it since ( I still do own the frame though, and may eventually turn it into a fixed gear bike...again see my attachment to bikes :) Back to Oscar II….Oscar has been with me through my triathlon journey and we have raced many triathlons together, but most importantly he was with me when I did my first Ironman (Cozumel 2009) and qualified for Kona, he was with me when I raced Kona 2010 just 8 weeks after shoulder surgery, and he helped me to finish Ironman Cozumel 2011 as First Female Amateur. I absolutely loved this bike and was so comfortable on it, I couldn't possibly ever give him up! Oscar will still be involved in my training occasionally, I just won't be racing Oscar anymore :(</span></span></div>
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Oscar II<br />
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Oscar I<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I'd also like to introduce Onda, my Pinarello road bike. Onda was love at first site for me and my first Pink Bike...she is a Beauty!! I purchased Onda in 2008 after my bike accident and she was instrumental in getting me back out on the roads and comfortable riding again. I knew I wouldn't be racing very much as I was recovering from the accident and injuries so I decided to purchase a road bike first and then replace Oscar I in 2009 once I started racing again. You probably have noticed a theme here…yes all the bikes have Pink in some capacity. I LOVE PINK!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Since I love all of these bikes,I couldn't imagine giving any of them up! The tricky part…fitting them all into my 1 bedroom Manhattan apt..haha!<br /><br />Ok, enough about the bikes. A little update on the injuries, race<br /> schedule, etc. I was finally able to get a diagnosis on the hip injury. I partially tore my IT band off the anterior superior iliac spine. Doc was quite surprised by this injury and said its not very common at all. Leave it to me to have some weird diagnosis! Given how difficult the decision was to drop out of the Boston marathon, this news made me feel validated. I was relieved that it was an injury that could be diagnosed and I could just focus on getting better. Nothing worse then being injured and not knowing what it is. I am pretty much pain free now, have been able to get some runs in on the Alter G (thanks Finishline PT!) and hope to be back out on the road running in a week or two. I am being conservative, I do NOT want any setbacks. Oh, I did run outside this past Tuesday...I could not pass up the opportunity to run with Macca!<br /><br />I was bummed not to be racing Fla 70.3 this weekend as planned. I think it’s the right decision, it didn’t seem worth it to push it and potentially re-injure my hip. I had also decided to skip Eagleman for a trip to Turks & Caicos and had planned to do the now cancelled National Harbor 70.3. But now my race schedule seems oddly light...until the fall. So I need to figure out what's next. Tupper Lake? Syracuse? Racine? Calgary? What to do, what to do?! I'll likely have this planned out by the time I write again...so stay tuned :)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> Other exciting news, this past Thursday I only worked a 9.5 hour day and WOW..truly amazing what I can accomplish when I'm not strapped to my desk for 14+ hours a day. I walked P&R (adorable pups) before work and got in a Swim/Bike & a Run. I felt like a REAL triathlete for a day!! Now if only that could happen a little more frequently I may a</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ctually have a shot at achieving some of my goals :)</span></span></span></div>
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</blockquote>Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-62898098994837976752012-04-24T13:09:00.001-07:002012-04-26T16:48:18.820-07:00Tardy Texas Race Report<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: separate; color: black; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I raced my first triathlon of the season, IM Texas 70.3 on 4/1. I ended up signing up for Texas because I somehow forgot to signup for Oceanside 70.3 in time (no surprise). Although I love to race with Sissy (she was signed up for Oceanside), I was secretly happy to be in Texas and not Oceanside that weekend as Oceanside was unseasonably cold, and Texas was HOT..and I Love Heat! Sorry Sis!! </span></span><br />
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I arrived in Texas <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">very </span>late Friday night with my mom and my Pups (Peanut & Riley). I love having my Mom and pups at races with me!! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am lucky enough to be on the Tribike Transport team this year. I can't say enough how great the<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> TBT</span> guys are, and how much less stressful it makes travelling to races, not having to pack/unpack the bike and lug that bike box around! Thanks TBT! <br />
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I woke on race morning excited to race, <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">though always a little more nervous for the first Tri of the season! </span>I wasn't sure what to expect of myself on <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">race</span> day. Since IMCOZ, I have to admit, I hadn't spent much time in the pool or on the bike, just enough to maintain some fitness. But, I was confident in my run, I have been running stronger and faster than ever. I figured this would be a good test to see where my fitness <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">was </span>and how much work I have ahead of me for the remainder of the season<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (I have a lot of work to do!)</span>. A few weeks before the race, I started having some hip pain<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. </span>I <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">went to the doc </span>and was resting and <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">had cut </span>down on my mileage leading into the race. I don't typically talk about my injuries because I don't like to make excuses or use it as a crutch in case I have a bad race. <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Since</span> I don't believe <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">my </span>hip <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">injury had an impact on </span>my race results<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, it seems ok to bring it up!</span> I<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">m fact, my hip</span> felt fine going into the race, a little sore to the touch, but nothing that bothered me when running. With my eye on Kona, I was really trying to listen to my body and had I felt racing Texas would have in any way further injured the hip, I wouldn't have raced. <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But it felt fine and the doc gave me the ok to race with the agreement to back off the running in between TX and the Boston marathon and after Boston. Soo</span>o bring on a race! I finished in 4:56 and 7th in my AG. <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In my opinion</span>, my results were <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><b>OK</b></i></span>, not bad, not great, <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><b>JUST </b></i></span><i><b>OK</b></i>. But if I'm honest with myself, they are reflective of my training leading up to this race. <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span>I was <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">quite </span>disappointed in my run. I ran a 1:29 and I know I am capable of a much faster run at this point. I felt flat pretty much the whole race, my legs felt flat on the bike and I just couldn't really get going, I attributed this to my lack of bike training, but I thought once I got onto the run<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> my legs would finally decide to join me for the rest of the race. Unfortunately, that didn't happen - </span>again the legs just felt flat. For some reason on this day I had no <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"</span>pep <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span>in my step<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"</span>. I knew I wasn't having my best day out there, but I kept on fighting and didn't give up. I did the best I could on the day. No excuses, just one of those days! I love to race and I'm always thankful to have the opportunity to be out there doing what I love to do!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After the race I was pretty upset with my race, thankfully my mom was there to remind me that everyone has off days. And that I am not Superwoman - she reminded me that I had barely slept in weeks and that I just need to recognize that the other stresses in my life will have an impact sometimes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Thank goodness for Moms!!</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_2_0_1_1335297043317121" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But I would like to be Superwoman ;-)</span></div>
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Some pics of the weekend:</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> My adorable pups P&R!!</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6MI8zJsHiXED3ez_PEudYxn_28kEoApdCpiy_x6IZlfMDEOL1rS29qg8T0Hb28P1zEnB3SEXOUO_9qcEq8qP6hnO1fMjeyRq1aYh1NcAwlgrRbvNth94ApfliwOvb1VlbxKX_VS0438/s1600/lancebike.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6MI8zJsHiXED3ez_PEudYxn_28kEoApdCpiy_x6IZlfMDEOL1rS29qg8T0Hb28P1zEnB3SEXOUO_9qcEq8qP6hnO1fMjeyRq1aYh1NcAwlgrRbvNth94ApfliwOvb1VlbxKX_VS0438/s320/lancebike.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lance's Ride</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQiWkF3g1wrGjC7l8VJzYhQwd5QEDZIed7-sP18HQG00d4G6wbIng0Cjl_oRoWoftYDz3j2SLSNBTnIJBLI-LQ6XnDiQmwQWYeq5F99y6IM1U0mCeeqO03ENDh04EtgqYu9db2wR2QfLw/s1600/mompups.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQiWkF3g1wrGjC7l8VJzYhQwd5QEDZIed7-sP18HQG00d4G6wbIng0Cjl_oRoWoftYDz3j2SLSNBTnIJBLI-LQ6XnDiQmwQWYeq5F99y6IM1U0mCeeqO03ENDh04EtgqYu9db2wR2QfLw/s320/mompups.jpeg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhziAPcI5Mg02qEzoOv6IAp972NGJxc_f-4XSb3ODvQugDi8byajJPhi3u1-0NQFFp5eXRVe4aZR4VryPjjpw7zT3ew4N4vdbnxOCWb12r2yMuiuXPOFJtQhcgdpToXqnZJTg7eZhZFJMU/s1600/ckpups.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhziAPcI5Mg02qEzoOv6IAp972NGJxc_f-4XSb3ODvQugDi8byajJPhi3u1-0NQFFp5eXRVe4aZR4VryPjjpw7zT3ew4N4vdbnxOCWb12r2yMuiuXPOFJtQhcgdpToXqnZJTg7eZhZFJMU/s320/ckpups.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Me, Mom & Pups Pre Race<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Had to stop at the POOP Deck for a pic. My maturity level is clearly low, but REALLY...Poop Deck??</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Thank goodness for my Chia bars! yummy!!</span></div>
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As you all know, I had to drop out of Boston because of the hip injury mentioned above. After Texas, the hip didn't seem to be any worse and I still wasn't experiencing <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">much</span> pain<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. </span>With Boston coming up shortly after Texas, we were extremely cautious and I only ran <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">twice in between races</span>. Going into the marathon, I really wasn't concerned, it never even entered my mind that it would be an issue. So it completely took me by surprise that at <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">mile</span> 3 something just snapped and was causing me pain. <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The pain was much more severe than the pain I had felt in my hip before Texas. </span>Since this pain happened so early in the race, I really thought it was best not<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> to</span> fight through the pain to finish<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. The decision to drop out was extremely difficult </span>and involved many many tears. <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Given the amount of pain I was in after the "8.5 mile race" I did on the day of the Boston marathon </span>I know I did the right thing.</div>
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I finally have a doctor appointment today and hopefully will have some answers soon so I can get back out there running as soon as possible. I suppose the bright side is that I will now be forced to focus on my weaknesses...the Swim & Bike...time to get in the pool A<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span>LOT!!</div>
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Thanks to everyone for their support, especially my Sponsors, <a href="http://www.tribiketransport.com/">TriBike Transport</a> for their amazing bike service,<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span>and<a href="http://healthwarrior.com/"> Health Warrior </a>for fueling me with their delicious Chia products, my <a href="http://www.tripower.org/">Coach</a> for believing in my potential and giving me a schedule that is manageable with my crazy work schedule that doesn't overwhelm me! And <span id="yui_3_2_0_1_1335297043317128" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">most importantly, </span>to my family for taking this journey with me - it wouldn't be possible without your support and encouragement!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">xoxox</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span> CK</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></div>Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-75880254825645199622012-04-16T20:23:00.000-07:002012-04-16T20:23:08.139-07:00Quicky update...Just checking in with a quick update since once again I'm behind in my blogging (surprise surprise!!) I know I know...this is an obvious trend...I swear I have good intentions:)<br />
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I raced my first triathlon of the season - IM Texas 70.3 on 4/1 and will post a race report and pictures soon. Since I returned from Texas, work took on a whole new level of crazy and Sissy arrived from San Diego (yay!!)<br />
Therefore, no free time for blogging :)<br />
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As for the Boston marathon, unfortunately the day didn't go as planned. I had been dealing with a hip injury for the past few weeks but I had been managing it, lots of rest and cutting back on my running mileage. I honestly thought it was ok and I wouldn't be further injuring myself by running the 26.2 miles. However, about 3 miles into the race, I felt something "snap" in my hip area and after that I was in pain and it was progressively getting worse with each mile. I made it to mile 8 and the pain was not subsiding so I finally decided to call it a day. This was a difficult and emotional decision but my ultimate goal and focus for this season is Kona and I didnt want to risk further injury that would affect my training and goals for this race. After racing Kona in 2010 just 10 weeks post shoulder surgery, I have dreamed about getting back to Kona healthy and I am going to do all I can to make this happen!<br />
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Thanks for checking in - I will post more details and hopefully have some good news soon!!<br />
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Have a great week!!<br />
CKChristine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-13519538147841261292012-03-25T19:30:00.001-07:002012-03-25T19:39:13.286-07:00Soooo Fitting....<div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_1_13327283593331923">The title of this weeks blog is really for the last two weeks and its b/c my mantra – work hard, play hard, race hard was put to the test last week. Work was work, long stressful hours. Besides that I will probably never tell you much about work. Its long hours that do nothing good for my swim/bike/run. Other than that I won’t bore you with that topic. But last weekend being a double race weekend meant race hard…2x in one weekend! More on that later. And then in true Irish form (I did after all miss the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in NYC b/c of the races) I made up for it on Sunday. Love me a good Sunday funday. Very much miss post race drinks with Sissy, but Cuz was a good fill in :) Sooo the ‘play hard’ kept me from blogging last Sunday and made for a very painful Monday. Two glasses of wine turned into 6 hours of wine and two pizzas. Ill be better next week.. </div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal">I guess you’re all wondering about the double race weekend?! Did I hit the times coachie told me I could?! Well no I didn’t. But I am still happy with the outcome of both races. The 4 miler on Saturday was fun! I was ahead of pace until the last mile…all uphill. Ohhh why am I so slow on hills??! I was supposed to do 23:30, but ended up at 23:50. Still good enough for first place female. Sunday was the NYC half marathon. Ran 1:21:33., not quite a 1:20. Still a 4 minute PR and 9th in my AG(very competitive field of super skinny runner girls) so I was happy about that. I also know I have a sub 1:20 in me right now. I'm not one for excuses, so my time is my time and I'll do better next time, but I should tell you that I signed up saying I ran a 2:53 HALF marathon in Carlsbad in January instead of a marathon. On Friday when I went to pick up my bib I was in the very last corral. I asked them to move me up, but they would only give me a bib # in the 2000’s. First 5 miles of the run in Central Park were spent trying to get around people. I ran the outer most part of the loop which meant I ran longer, used more energy dodging and was off pace. Lesson learned…be more careful with info when I sign up for races!! I know my family are laughing at this as this is sooo typical of something I would do!! Overall I was pleased with the weekend. Both days were PRs and I love racing…hard!</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal">Other exciting news – I was selected to be a part of the Tribike Transport Ambassador team! So honored and excited to represent them. They are awesome and convenient. No flying with your bike, taking it apart/putting it back together. Makes racing much less stressful!!</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal">This past week was tough – I struggled on all my workouts and felt sluggish. When I found myself on my trainer Wednesday and Thursday night at midnight I was not happy!! (yep, more of the same at work). I am intimidated by hard bike workouts. Always have been and feels like I always will be! They seem so overwhelming to me. Give me a hard run workout and I think - bring it. Give me a hard bike workout and I think – are you sure?!! So at midnight starting a hard bike workout was a real test of mind over matter! Hit the power #s coachie gave me, so I need to remember not to think so much, just trust I can do it!</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal">Well I am guessing I bored you enough for today. And I have NO PICTURES from the past two weeks. I know, I know…I am not a good blogger! I am going to have LOTS of pictures for you next week to make of for this. I promise <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_1_13327283593331944">Next weekend is the first triathlon of the season - Texas 70.3. Headed to Galveston late Friday night with my mom, Peanut and Riley. I LOVE having my pups at races, so excited they are coming <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> Sissy we will miss you…are you sure you don’t want to come to TX?! </div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal">Off to do my nails. This weeks color – Exotic Liras. Since I didn’t blog last week you should know I have had 3 colors on since I last blogged – Koala Berry, No More Film and Sure Shot.</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal">And again this week wasn't all good:<br />
Candy- 2 , Me - 0</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal">Pizza -1, Me - 0</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal">I must be better this week - its Race Week!!</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv139840366MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_1_13327283593331935">Have a great week!!<span id="yui_3_2_0_1_13327283593331936"> </span></div><div class="list-view-footer" id="yui_3_2_0_1_13327283593331752" role="toolbar" style="visibility: visible;"><div class="commontasks shaded"><div id="pagetoolbar"><span class="btn left right"><a data-action="delete" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="Delete selected emails [Delete]">Delete</a></span> <span class="btn left"><a data-action="reply_sender" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="Reply to sender [R]">Reply</a></span><span class="btn right menu" data-action="menu" id="btn-reply"><a aria-haspopup="true" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="Choose from different ways to reply"><b>Reply</b></a></span> <span class="btn left"><a data-action="forward" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="Forward this email [F]">Forward</a></span><span class="btn"><a data-action="spam" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="Move selected emails to Spam folder">Spam</a></span><span class="btn menu" data-action="menu" id="btn-move"><a aria-haspopup="true" class="icon" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="Move selected emails to a folder [D]"><i role="presentation">Move</i><b></b></a></span><span class="btn right"><a data-action="print" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="Print this message [P]">Print</a></span> <span class="btn left right menu" data-action="menu" id="btn-msg-actions"><a aria-haspopup="true" class="icon" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="More actions for selected emails"><i role="presentation">Actions</i><b></b></a></span> <span class="btn left"><a class="icon prev" data-action="prev" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="View next email up [Ctrl+,]"><i role="presentation">Next</i></a></span><span class="btn right"><a class="icon next" data-action="next" href="http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.rand=a0jnj1fnrrrvo#" role="button" title="View next email down [Ctrl+.]"><i role="presentation">Previous</i></a></span></div></div></div>Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-64128938351981557332012-03-12T17:09:00.001-07:002012-03-12T17:12:25.022-07:00Just Roll With It...<div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_1_133151219211544818">Well its 10:30pm on Sunday and I just finished my hard 16 mile run. Not exactly when I like to do my training on a Sunday with another tough week of work ahead, but this is what the weekend dealt me. So just have to roll with it. That’s really the theme of this whole week. I wont go into the boring details, but it was one of those weeks at work where I had to get really creative on ways to fit in training. For instance, splitting up the already missed run tempo workout on Wednesday, I then only had time to split it up on Thursday – 2 intervals done at 5am before a very early start at work, then the other 2 intervals later that night after work. Not ideal, but just had to roll with it..</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_1_133151219211544721"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">Despite a crazy week there were some highlights!</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">~New Newtons arrived! Loving their new kicks and colors they just came out with. I tested out the new Gravity’s this week. Love them as usual for my training runs. And Ill be testing out the new MV2 and Distance U’s this weekend when I race a 4 mile on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday! Double race weekend…cant wait!! I have not run a stand alone half marathon in so long and I am really excited to see if I have improved. Coach thinks I have and he sent me my goal time for the race…woahhh! I am not sure I can do it, but he has been spot on so far on my estimated race run times, so I’m going to believe <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvaNnnGp9beA6RlaKKcEAyl7e6WbhOruwJ25R5qZu5Z7thIrQcyhWUqU6OXfC5Tw3-MHrd1wNB8oaP-1sdf4L9lJmMoTEkUJl93IkcAxYXv-lxrqhCcUkfVlY5VTr47SDrLRr44OFAbgI/s1600/newtons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvaNnnGp9beA6RlaKKcEAyl7e6WbhOruwJ25R5qZu5Z7thIrQcyhWUqU6OXfC5Tw3-MHrd1wNB8oaP-1sdf4L9lJmMoTEkUJl93IkcAxYXv-lxrqhCcUkfVlY5VTr47SDrLRr44OFAbgI/s320/newtons.jpg" width="240" yda="true" /></a></div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">~New Garmin 910xt arrived too! So excited for this watch. I love data because it allows me to see improvement which is what pushes me to work harder. And now in the pool I can see the data too. This could be the answer to my lack of swimming problem!! Let’s see…starting with my swim tomorrow morning. Will I actually get up and do it?!!</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">~The Multisport expo in NY on Saturday was a success. Lots of great speakers, saw so many fellow triathetes, spent some time at the Terrier Tri booth and Health Warrior booth. HW booth was hoppin’!! They sold out of all the bags of Chia they brought and everyone was LOVING the new Acai Berry and Coconut Chia bars (also sold out)!! Have you tried the bars yet? If not…get on it. They are awesome!</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjExvpUAWSedwtT5QfXZBSndTtM0WPgt3zd7Joat_Te5XKyIQVxaB3bR13cyC0tIFlhCVqi12CS8SVWaAb9OU3E7SudLVO6TB5sHGWmCRh-4h7N9EmR34Vju8_rxjhfcmR6VPFTcXz9A/s1600/HW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjExvpUAWSedwtT5QfXZBSndTtM0WPgt3zd7Joat_Te5XKyIQVxaB3bR13cyC0tIFlhCVqi12CS8SVWaAb9OU3E7SudLVO6TB5sHGWmCRh-4h7N9EmR34Vju8_rxjhfcmR6VPFTcXz9A/s320/HW.jpg" width="240" yda="true" /></a></div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">~I only skipped one workout this week!! </div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">Wasn’t all good though..</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">~Easter candy 1 – Me 0</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">~Girl scout cookies 1 – Me 0</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">~MUST FOCUS ON EATING BETTER THIS WEEK. </div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">~And get more sleep.</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal">With that said – I am off to bed after I paint my nails. This weeks color is Wife Goes On <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal" id="yui_3_2_0_1_133151219211544790">Have a great week!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="yiv955630047MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513371611230940350.post-35108902271882419542012-03-02T11:51:00.010-08:002012-03-06T11:57:51.295-08:00Success is a Journey, not a Destination...<span style="font-family: inherit;">I thought this quote was a fitting subject for my first blog. My triathlon journey has been full of bumps in the road along the way, so this quote resonates well for me. After playing team sports growing up, Field Hockey, Basketball, and Lacrosse in HS and then Division I Lacrosse at Penn State, I began running after college as a way to stay in shape and keep my competitive spirit alive. In 2004 I did my first olympic triathlon, I bought a bike 2 weeks before the race, swam for the first time since high school and finished 6th. I was hooked. I spent the next couple years competing in sprint and olympic races on a very recreational basis. I didn't train too seriously, often just running, no swim or bike training, but still was finishing top in my Age Group. In 2006 I joined a triathlon team, Terrier Tri and I competed in my first 70.3 (IM Florida 70.3) where I qualified for the Inaugural Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. In August 2007, I was hit by a car while training for the 70.3 World Championships in November. I had 200 stitches in my arm, hand and face. I was out of work and living with my parents for 6 weeks as I was unable to use my left arm or right hand. I also suffered stress fractures in my femur as a result of the impact and spent the majority of 2008 unable to race. Late 2008, when I was finally healthy, I signed up for my first Ironman in 2009, the inaugural Ironman Cozumel. I decided it was time to stop putting my dreams on hold and to focus on racing again. In 2009, training and racing were finally getting back on track, I won the Long Island Half Marathon, was the overall female winner at the Mighty Montauk Triathlon, finished 2nd in my AG and 3rd Female Amateur at Ironman Cozumel (10:25) and I qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, a dream come true. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I had some good early season races in 2010, setting PR's in many of the 70.3 races, then in August during my Kona build, I had </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">another bike crash and suffered a distal clavicle fracture and torn coracoid ligaments which required surgery 10 weeks out from Kona. I was devastated as I was given little hope from several surgeons that I would be able to compete in Kona. But I was determined. I spent the next 8 weeks in a sling, trying to remain as active as I could (a lot of walking and elliptical). The sling came off 2 weeks before race day. I arrived in Kona unsure whether or not I would race, after not having swam, biked or run for 8 weeks. But I decided to give it a go and make the most of the experience. I ended up having an unbelievable day given the lack of training and finished in 10:47:07 with a 3:22 marathon time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I began 2011 with a PR at the Carlsbad Marathon in January, I finished in 2:59 and 5th female overall. Throughout last season I had a few decent races and a few subpar race performances. I showed up to Oceanside 70.3 in April with very little training. Shortly after the race I suffered a foot injury and was unable to run again until the end of May. I was signed up for Florida 70.3 but could only do the swim/bike. Going into the race I had planned to drop out of the race in T2. Little did I know it was going to be one of the hardest things I ever had to do, the run is my favorite part! I walked out of T2 in tears. I struggled with training last summer and let's just say I spent more time in my beach chair then I did on my bike. I seemed to have lost a little of the fire in my belly and just couldn't get in any solid blocks of training. I was in a rut! I did end up having a decent race at RI 70.3 in July and finished 2nd in my AG and qualified for the 70.3 World Championships. My training leading up to Vegas was suboptimal and I had little confidence going into the race. Since I was not well trained for this race, my only goal was to have the fastest run time in my AG, and I accomplished this goal with a 1:29 on a tough course and on a very hot day! After Vegas, I decided to turn my season around and hire a new coach, signed up for Ironman Cozumel, got my focus back, really enjoyed the Ironman training and most importantly was excited to race again!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">IMCOZ was another amazing day and I finished in 9:57, first female amateur and qualified for Kona. I am excited for 2012 and my 2nd chance at Kona. I hope that I can continue to remain healthy and train consistently thoughout the season! I kicked off the 2012 season with a Win and a PR at the Carlsbad Marathon in 2:53. I have alot of races coming up and I'll do my best to keep this blog up to date so you can follow along this journey with me :)</span><br />
Happy Racing!!Christine Kenneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14400284586257003446noreply@blogger.com4