Mums Weekend Away

My BRF's and I just got back from Asheville, NC where we ran the Asheville 1/2 marathon on the Biltmore Estate. We signed up back in November when things were going ok but man did it all go downhill a month, perhaps more out from the race. Injuries, injuries and more injuries!

We left Saturday-can I get a woot woot up in here!?! I know Trooper and I were most excited to get away from our toddlers for a few days and have some time with just adults. Despite rain the road trip was fun as we listened to old school rap and acted like thugs. Thugs driving a Volvo station wagon. The only thing that would have made us more legit is if we had some gold and diamond grills that read "Mom Life".

Anyway, we were staying at the Doubletree right outside of the Biltmore Estate and luckily for us where the race expo was being held. We all know we really stayed there for the warm, delicious, chocolate chip cookies-priorities! The race expo was ok but not the best. I was super excited that Balega socks were there but sadly they didn't have much of anything. I was hoping to add some new colorful socks to my overflowing collection. I will say this race gave the best swag especially since it was a small race. We got gloves, a neck warmer thingy that could be worn a million different ways(if you are short enough I an convinced you could wear it as a tube dress), a nice race shirt (oh we also got a training shirt when we signed up), and some other little things. There was even more stuff at the finish but I will get to it later.

The night before we roamed round the city and did some shopping and some freak...I mean people watching. Holy shit there are some interesting looking people living in this city. It was fun to play the game "Hillybilly or Hipster". I am not sure which won out because there is a lot of both.

So race morning came all to early. We hopped on the shuttle and rode onto Biltmore Estate. For a moment there was a slight fear that we were going to be dropped off in the woods and shot but then the bus made a turn and the race start was in sight-thank you sweet, baby Jesus! It was chilly but the restaurant and the creamery had sections open for racers to come in and sit by their heaters. These types of niceties you would never find at a large race.  My foot was also glad that I got to sit down and take the pressure off of it for a bit since my plantar fasciitis was no better.

 Right about the time the sun was coming up over the mountains the race started. into the second mile we hit our first long hill and boy was it a lovely. I think it was close to a mile long and just climbed and climbed. Now, I was very under trained and the few runs I had done in the last month were on flats or the treadmill with no incline. I proudly made it up that damn hill. The race traveled the roads up to the Biltmore house where we got another long uphill and then the house came into view. We ran through the gardens and around a pond into a back field where some of the grounds horses were grazing. There was also a deer who decided to race. I think it safe to say he won! We then followed the French Broad River around the back of the Estate. Around mile 10 you could see the finish and about mile 11 you were like where the fuck are we going. The only ugly part of this race came between miles 11 and 12. It was not developed and on uneven dirt roads plus I just felt like I was never going to get to the turnaround point. That's where I mentally lost it and my foot was getting angry. I took a bit of a walk break and then got my shit back together and crossed the finish line in one piece. Not only were we given a beautiful wooden medal but also a fleece blanket with the race logo stitched on it. Not many races give you fleece blankets so this was a nice perk. The race had really good post food including doughnuts and hot chocolate. This was not any of our fastest races because we all were sporting some kind of injury and thus had not put in the training. I did not care because it was the first time in a year that I just ran for the fun of it and enjoyed the race.

Another perk of the race was the entry pass back onto the Estate which we partook. Biltmore was having a Dressing Downton exhibit through out the house so we did that tour and saw some of the most gorgeous dresses. Why we can't go back to dressing like that I do not know. We also went to the winery. My foot hurt so I went and sat outside while Red and Trooper did a wine tasting. We had dinner reservations at Tupelo Honey but we cancelled that and hung out on the Estate a bit longer. We were all tired and just wanted to relax. We ended up ordering some damn good pizza from a local pizza place and watched TV back at the hotel. We are such riveting people!

 Overall, I would highly recommend this race. It was beautiful, had great support/amenities, and a great medal and swag. I plan to do it next year injury free so I can push myself a little harder. Hopefully, I can get a few more friends to join me and make it an even bigger weekend.

PS, there is also a full distance. Next year they are doing the full and half on separate days or you can do both for the challenge!

Traincation

I had the privilege to attend the Swim Bike Mom Traincation at the end of February with about 30 other lovely ladies. The event hosted by Swim Bike Mom herself, Meredith Atwood (http://www.swimbikemom.com/) and Coach Brett Daniels from PTS Sports (http://www.ptssports.com/) was held in Panama City, Florida. Here is my blow by almost blow of the weekend.

My lovely and funny as Hell teammate Colleen (http://crabcakesandironman.blogspot.com/) from Maryland made the five hour trip to Raleigh so we could make the remaining ten hour trip together. The trip almost did not happen as Raleigh got several inches of snow dumped on it Wednesday night into Thursday morning. We lost electricity during this time. Thank goodness for gas logs and a generator.

Colleen and I had never meet but I was not concerned because I liked her humor so I knew we would get along. Her mother was concerned I was an axe murderer and that this whole thing was a shame but I am happy to report Colleen is still alive and kicking. As I had predicted we got along like peanut butter and jelly. It was like I had known her all my life. I just wish she lived closer. I already miss her very much-I love you Colleen!

Colleen and I being silly

Anyway, we stopped overnight in Georgia so we didn't have to do the whole ten hours at once. We arrived in warm sunny Florida the next day, got checked in and like all good triathletes went for a run on the beach. Did I mention how warm and sunny it was? Scratch that shit, it was cold and cloudy. The moto for the weekend became "Fuck Florida"!

Running on the beach

Activities didn't start till that evening. We had a meet and greet followed by a keynote speech by Meredith, training/race day nutrition by Brett, and injury prevention by Jack Jones also of PTS Sports. One of my favorite parts was meeting some of my other witty and lovely teammates Therese, Sarah, Margaret, and of course the ring leader Meredith. Meredith is so down to earth and very funny. She is definitely not too big for her britches which I love about her. She is actually very humble and doesn't realize what a big deal she is in the tri world.  Really, everyone there was just as nice as can be including the two token men folk Brett and Jack.

Me and Meredith aka Swim Bike Mom

The nutrition portion was really great as I need to work on fine tuning mine. I tend to do ok in practice but then race day I get hurried and don't follow my plain like I did in training. This sometimes does not work out too well for me especially if it is hot. It's something I am going to try and get better at this year especially since I have a 70.3 on the calendar. I also enjoyed the injury prevention segment as it taught me some new exercises to add to my repertoire. Can you say hip hikes!?!

The next morning we meet up for a swim. Now if you remember from earlier I said it was cold and that morning was no different. As we drove up we noticed that there was no indoor pool. What the hell? Now since Florida is typically a warm state this is fairly common. The pool itself was heated but the outdoors was not. Lets just say it was a wee bit nippy out when stripping down to your bathing suit in the wind and cold. The pool was much warmer. I stuck with the B group and worked on drills and such which is always a good thing for me. I wouldn't have minded being with the experts as they got to do more of a workout but that's ok as they probably would have mowed me down.

Biker Chicks

Sportin' my new windbreaker

Out of the pool and onto the bike. It was really windy out so I put myself with the B group because they were not going as far and sometimes wind pisses me off. The course was totally flat besides a few douche grade hills and a bridge. When we got to the turn around I ended up joining group A for a longer, faster ride. I am so happy I did that as I got to ride with Brett and some other great riding ladies. I stayed up with Brett most of the ride and at one point he turned to me and asked if I wanted to go faster. Well, hell yes I do. Despite the strong headwinds we were hitting between 18-20 mph. I was so proud of myself for keeping up. Brett also had kind words about my skills so that made me feel good too.

Group ride

After our ride we had a brief break and then had a short clinic on improving our transitions. The wind really started kicking up and the temperature was dropping so we didn't spend too much time which I think everyone was ok with. We returned to the resort and showered then met up for a seminar on crushing our 70.3 by Brett. It was really informative and I cannot wait to put some of his tips to work this season. We had a group dinner and then off to bed because lets face it we were all tired. So much for drinks on the deck.

The next day started off with a run clinic. We learned some good drills and warm up exercises do do before we started running. I headed out with group A because they were running more my pace. I turned around at the 3 mile mark because my foot was still bothering me so no need to aggravate it more. I did manage a negative split and ran the last mile at a 9:27 pace. Foot be damned. Some people put their wetsuits on and swam in the Gulf after the closing remarks. With temperatures in he 50s I decided to skip out on that fun. I had enough of being cold.

It was a fun weekend and I loved meeting so many fun ladies but mostly getting to met a few of my teammates. Colleen, Therese, Margaret, Sarah, and Meredith I miss you all already! Love you ladies to the moon and back!

SBMAT 2015: Margaret, Me, Therese, Colleen, Sarah, and Meredith