cold+wind+rain=100 miles in VT

There's always a first time for everything right? Well on Saturday August 29, 2009 I completed my 3rd century bike ride with JDRF's Ride to Cure in Killington, VT. I've been riding and raising money for them for the last four years - so what you may be asking was a first? Well it was a little thing called hurricane Danny and his after effects hit the east coast on ride day. I think in the history of the ride it was the first time it has ever rained. So it was a first time for both me and JDRF to ride in the rain.

I had planned on going to bed early Friday night because I knew I had to wake up around 4:30/5am. Well things don't always work out as planned. There I was sitting on the floor of my condo room watching TV and stretching when I feel something crawling on me. I look down and see a small silverfish!!! I scream, jump up and grab a tissue and head to the bathroom to flush it down the toilet where it can't get me. On my extremely short walk over there in my paranoia I feel something else on my arm - my burnt bubbled up arm. So what do I do? I swipe my arm to rid it of the imaginary creepy crawley and in doing so swipe off two patches of bubbled up skin. Leaving myself nice and raw a few hours before my long ride day. I call up Brock (our medical coordinator for all JDRF Rides - he's awesome) and he swings by wraps my very raw arm up and we have a beer to relax - then it's off to bed.

I wake up around 4:45 dress and head off to breakfast - it's freezing outside and drizzling. The whole team is eating and we're all ready to go back to bed kinda hoping they delay the start or cancel it all together. Throughout the whole season I said I would be doing the 100 but once morning was there I was leaving it open to how I felt. I mean I'd never ridden more than 10 miles in the rain and that was only once! I wasn't going to pressure myself it was enough to deal with the weather. The National coach gives us an update on the weather and tells us the ride will start at 8am. Perfect for me - I can relax :).

BG is fine before I start the ride a nice 95 but I had a couple of units still on board so I ate a banana and didn't bolus (I'd regret this later). We went out in waves of 100, the first 12 miles were downhill with the first 1 1 /2 miles being paced by coaches due to the rain, snakes in the road and poor road conditions overall. I LOVE a downhill but I was on my brakes the whole time! It was really scary in the rain especially when I'm riding my brakes and still going 15+mph. I was not taking any chances. When the ride started it wasn't raining, but the joke was on us because as soon as we started going downhill it started to come down. So you know what I did? hehe I got some other riders to start "singing in the rain" lol it was great.

It was suggested the night before to prepare for the cold and rain by wearing a shower cap over your helmet (I did mine was yellow), slipping your feet into some baggies (check), and putting some newspaper in your chest to keep your core warm (I had the sports section haha). I'd never done any of this before but it all worked great except for the baggies. The genius who thought of that...I'm not sure what he was smoking cuz by the time I got to ck pt 1 I had a fishbowl in my shoes!!! The newspaper was fantastic, it worked so well I actually wished I would have put it on under my leg warmers.

We all feel really good once we get passed the first ck pt and I am highly optimistic about the ride despite the conditions. I would also like to mention here that snakes in the road are not moving snakes. They are cracks in the road the perfect size for our road bikes and they were big and very dangerous. I'd never seen it before (we had it throughout the whole course)! We were also in a valley for a good portion of the ride now and it all seemed relatively flat and I thought of my rides with Denise (although that was actually flat). My BG once I got to ck pt 1 was not so good though - it was 296! I was pissed but I gave some insulin and had some coffee because by the time we got through riding those first 12 miles it was really cold. The medical team was concerned about people getting hypothermia.

Throughout the ride I was usually by myself or playing cat and mouse with a few of my teammates. I am not afraid of going fast on a downhill, so that along with the flats is where I excel and can make up ground since most of them are much better climbers than me. I checked my BG at each ck pt and it was going up and down like the rolling hills I was climbing. I wasn't going to let it affect me though I jut needed to ride and for the most part I felt good. I just had to squeeze my gloves and socks out at each stop because they were soaked. I was honestly concerned about getting frozen toes from the cold wet feet. My whole body was soaked through (except my head thanks to the shower cap) by the time I was at the halfway point.

When we got to mile 46 there was a 14 mile loop we had to do and then we would be on our way home. One of my teammates gave me the heads up about a really tough long climb. I kept that in the back of my mind...right before the hardest part of the climb there was a downhill and I could see it coming so I geared up and prepared to fly but it was like a rollercoaster downhill - I HATE rollercoasters. It felt like I was going to fly off the road into the unknown because I couldn't SEE anything! I mean it was such a drop down I was scared but going so fast down got me 3/4 of the way up that hill. :) Then we get to the really hard part and let me tell you you it was H-A-R-D. I wish I knew the grade of it, it really felt like it wasn't going to end. It was a joke because you had a killer climb to get through and you've got this cute little innocent barn at the top of it.

Riding along now I know I'm doing the 100 since I made the time for the cutoffs. I felt really good too. I didn't feel so tired and on the flats I was leading my team. However, by the time we get to the last ck pt I was starting to feel tired, I was going a little slower and the rollers seemed harder. We all took some pics and refueled to prepare for the last 10 miles because it was all uphill. I knew this the whole ride so mentally I was thinking of it like our Bear Mtn ride since the last 7 miles of that is all uphill.

Let me tell you those last 10 miles were hard. I mean WHY do we have to work so hard after all those miles to get back home? It's like a mean joke. I was pedaling 4-5 mph in my granny gear the whole way up the hardest parts of the hills. I know this is gonna sound bad but there were people walking up those hills and I was smiling inside (on the outside all I could focus on was breath in breath out) because I was able to keep going and NOT walk. I know sometimes it shouldn't matter if you have to walk a little. I know this but I tend to feel like I failed if I have to. But I didn't have to and that made me so happy!! Were in the last 1 mile of the ride and one of my coaches, my friend Les and myself are riding in together. Of course my chain decides to pop off just to prolong my finish-we fix that and ride in together. My coach is cheering along side us, I'm hip hip hooraying cuz we did it. The three of us ride into a cheering crowd. It was awesome and I was so proud of myself and my teammates for riding so great despite the conditions.

Motivation...or lack thereof

I've been zapped by the lazy bug. The humidity saturates the air making it unbearable just to walk to the corner. I haven't done any exercise since my Bear Mtn ride and it's making me feel like crap. This is not conducive to good training.

BUT guess what I did? I just got a little inspiration from my teammate Kevin from Triabetes. He's training for IMAZ (Ironman Arizona) and he's made the decision to not miss any more of his workouts to ensure that he is as prepared as he can be for the race. He's also going to try his best to take better care of his diabetes control.

While I've been lazy this week in terms of exercise I have also not been eating as well as I could be. I mean I have these goals of wanting to shave some time off of my 2nd sprint race, I want to continue in loosing weight (cuz guess what?? I have!!), I want to be better. Yeah I'm doing real good at being better with doing nothing! I tell you when I'm training I complain about it but I do always feel really good about it after wards. I've been in a spell of laziness lately but that's ending tonight. If Kevin can make that promise to train every night til IMAZ then I can make the promise to do SOMETHING everyday until my race. Whether it's working on my strength training I learned in PT, tracking my BG's and caloric intake for 1 week per month, running, swimming or biking I'll make the same promise. And I mean now that I've said it I kinda got to do it.

Thanks Kevin for the inspiration. Thanks for making me realize I'm not alone.

I'll keep you kids posted on progress...

Bear Mtn.

So this is how Saturday and the great Big Bear Mtn and I fared (my apologies as it's a bit long):

Turns out I had to change my distance :(. I really did WANT to do the 75 but as I started I was the turtle as usual and I didn't have my legs. I wasn't feeling all that great/strong. It never helps when you start out going up and kinda continue that way for about 5-10 miles. lol So as I'm riding I'm talking to myself saying "what was I THINKING?" No way am I gonna do 75. Maybe I can add a little extra at the end (one of my coaches suggested this for anyone who wanted to do more than 54)."

You see the thing was I really did feel stronger this year and I thought the best way to show that would be in doing the longer distance. However, I can change course/goals if I think I won't be able to do it. I mean the point is we always want to finish strong right? So my new goal was to do the 54 and feel better and hopefully do it in less time than I did the year before (last year was 57 miles).

I didn't feel like I had my bike legs til I was at mile 20. My BG was between 250 and 280 the whole time. It was sooo frustrating. I think my mistake was that I wasn't correcting enough and I never gave myself enough coverage for the food I was eating. I'm realizing when my numbers start off good the rest of the ride is ok and the when they're climbing well it's not just not just my legs doing the climbing. The heat/humidity I'm realizing is also a huge factor (not sure why I never thought that before) so that was icing on the cake.

One of my coaches was also trying to teach me about shifting my gears properly. I was struggling with that. I mean I've been riding for 4 years now and only LAST WEEK did I find the perfect gear to ride in when on a flat. As the day is moving on I'm feeling much better on the bike and I fkeep going. I found my groove! It was awesome. The hardest part of the ride (despite all the climbs throughout) is the last 4.5 miles. I found a description of it: "about 650 vertical feet in 2 miles, for an average grade around 6%, with one short section around 10%. Or if you start from Route 9W (we did) down by the Hudson River, the total is about 1250 vertical feet in 4.5 miles, average grade around 5%."

So it was hard. lol but you know what? I've realized the longer the distance the better I get cuz I was the turtle throughout and guess who got to the top of Perkins first? I did!!! lol I know it was just with my teammates and not a race but I was slow, strong and steady so I was happy. Best thing was that I found the right gear on the climb too! So I made my goal and I beat my time from the year before by roughly 30 min and I definitely felt like I could keep going. Challenging but great day. Next year I will do the 75...til then I'll do what my coach says and "ride more".

Weekend of firsts...

So I left work early on Friday and took the bus from Port Authority to Tom's River NJ to go spend my first training weekend with Denise Ricci. I've never taken the bus with my bike before so there I was with my big duffel bag on one shoulder and carrying my bike on the other. You should have seen the looks I was getting from people. I think they might not realize how light the bike is (and it's not as light as other bikes).

Before I tell you about a weekend full of training I want to let you know that Denise is one great lady. So much fun, easy to train with, great at pushing you. And she is HIGHLY organized. She has a bag or bin for EVERYTHING. It's great.On to the training...

I'd like for you to keep in mind that I have not really been training in the 3 sports. I've only been cycling in preparation for my century. The last time I swam was about 3 weeks ago and I only swam maybe a 1/2 mile. The last time I ran was about a month ago and I only ran maybe 2 miles. So here I am going to train for the weekend. I warned Denise that I'd be slow and I wasn't as fast as her on the bike. I was also concerned with hills while we were cycling but she told me it was a flat course. I did not believe her. I thought what she would consider flat would be considered a small hill to me or more. Everyones perception of a hill is different.

Friday comes we eat dinner then head out to swim with 2 of her training buddies. We swam for 50 minutes in a bay (never swam in one before), I'm not sure what the distance was all I know was time. The good thing is that every time we were going towards a marker I was always on course so I was sighting well. The water wasn't too deep so when we got to buoys we were able to stand on tiptoe (much easier to catch your breath). At the end of the swim we did 3 drills. I've never done a drill before. The first one was where you have your hand fisted and swim. Let me tell you I felt totally off balance like I was falling sideways with each stroke! I guess you never realize how much your straight hand makes a difference especially with balance. The next set was kindof like playing catch up with your hands. You had to swim til your hand almost touched on the stroke (helps with gliding), the 3rd was called an OK and it just makes sure your elbows are in the right position. After we finished swimming we went for a run. 26 min. they told me we ran 3 miles but I thought they were pulling my leg, trying to make me feel good. cuz I was slow. I got tips on making sure I keep my chest out so I give my poor lungs some more air. I managed to get through it - the whole time I was thinking "oh lord what did I get myself into this weekend?" It was only friday night! I still had 2 whole days to go. I'd also like you to know that I've never done more than one sport in a day. We end the night by getting some gooooood ice cream as a treat. Deeelicious. :)

Saturday comes around and we wake up bright and early for a ride of 70 miles. I've never ridden my bike more than 55 miles other than the annual century. We start out (Denise, Mark Woolf & me) and the two of them are much faster than me. I tried for like a second to keep up and realized if I wanted to finish on a good note I needed to just stick to my own pace. I was cruising at 16, 17 miles an hour so they had to have been going 19 or 20. But no matter they waited for me at every turn. At one point maybe at mile 25 I asked Denise if their were going to be any big hills coming up. I mean it's nice to go 16 miles an hour but I didn't know how I was going to maintain that if we had the hills. Her answer? "nope what you just did is the whole way of the ride." You should have seen my smile! Oh my god the ride was like a treat! I've NEVER ridden a flat continuous course before. So I changed my focus of the ride to keeping my cadence consistent and my speed above 15. We stopped off at a sandwich place at mile 33 ate and were on our way again. I'd just like to note during lunch Denise told me about doing a combo bolus for my food over a duration of at least an hour so I wouldn't rise. I never thought to do that during exercise and it totally worked! I felt really really good. Weather was great and I felt like I was going strong. On our way back maybe at mile 55 or 60 Denise got a flat. It sucked we were there for a while. but she fixed it and we kept going. I was in a good rhythm. Mark wasn't feeling so hot but he pushed through like a trooper. We're now 5 miles from home and Denise gets another flat she had to call Fred (her hubby) to come get her, since she used everything up the 1st time around (we had changed the tubes 2x and tire). Denise was talking about doing a run after the ride and I was saying in my head "after 70 miles??!!" I thought no way. We pull in after riding 73 miles and guess what we did? We ran. She convinced me to only go for 20 min. I've never done a Brick before (other than my triathlon). So we ran. Again I was far behind but I didn't really care. After 7 minutes I had to walk for 2 and they were on their way back. SO I started running again and felt myself wanting to walk again. So I did for a min. and Denise circled around me telling me her IM crack walk story in order to hear it I had to start running. So I started and I didn't stop til we got home. The crack story helped. Now I'll think of that whenever I want to walk. After all that I was seriously tired and couldn't WAIT for a cold shower. Oh yeah and my average pace throughtout the ride had been 15.1 - I was happy all around.

The next day guess what we had? Another ride! I've never ridden 2 days in a row with that much distance. We rode 43 miles and despite having my chain pop completely off it was a great ride. But my quads were killing me! 2 miles from home I told Denise there was no way I was doing a Brick - she had mercy lol. The surprising thing was after I checked my mileage and speed I was actually faster the next day with an average speed of 15.8. I was shocked and a little impressed with myself. The other thing was after each day of exercise my average heart rate went down. I was also impressed by that bit of info. Again I've never worked out that many days in a row.

Throughout the weekend we talked about Ironman, volunteering for next years Lake Placid IM, and racing/training in general. It was AWESOME. I had a great time at her beautiful house for the weekend. We'll be doing it again for sure. On our way to the bus station we stopped for some ice cream mmm mmm goood and she also gave me a bag of stuff in case my BG dropped on the bus all ziplocked and everything lol. Such a mom.

It was a weekend of firsts and I'm so glad I went and pushed myself.

THANK YOU DENISE!!!! Looking forward to next time...

-J

JDRF Ride to Cure

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward"-Amelia Earhart

When I was diagnosed with diabetes 14 years ago I rebelled as most teenagers and new diabetics do. I was constantly in and out of the hospital - Who needed insulin? Who needed their blood sugar checked? I did obviously. I hated having diabetes but after one too many stints in the ER, I decided to take care of myself. I did a decent job, but four years ago I decided I had room for improvement. So, I made the decision to act, that act was joining the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundations (JDRF) Ride to Cure Diabetes. The monies raised go towards research in finding a cure for the disease. Being part of the organization was the best decision I've ever made. I've been able to better manage and understand both my body and the disease. I've been able to meet such inspiring wonderful people & make lifelong friends along the way. I was never an athlete. I've become an athlete. A diabetic athlete.

Last fall my friend completed her first Ironman race. She's an athlete. She's an Ironwoman. She's a diabetic. She's inspiring and she inspired me to act yet again. So I trained for 2 ½ months and I did it! On my birthday I competed in my first sprint triathlon. I'm hooked and plan to one day compete in an Ironman. I also joined a team called Triabetes. It consists of triathlete diabetics; some are new to the sport while others are seasoned triathletes. All are diabetic & all are inspiring.

So, do I hate having diabetes the way I did? No. Is it annoying? Sure. But I've come full circle. I'm grateful for all the opportunity. A friend asked me how I define myself. Am I a triathlete, diabetic or student? I told him I was a diabetic athlete; that diabetes has opened up so many doors for me; it's shaping my future. The Ride to Cure is what helped start it.

As you've done so very generously in the past, I am asking you to make a decision to act. I'm asking for a donation that will help me in achieving my goal of $3,500.00 for this years Ride to Cure taking place in Killington, VT on August 29, 2009. All donations are tax deductible! I have attached the link for you to make donations by credit card. My Ride to Cure donation page.

If you have any questions you can email me shadow.00jj@yahoo.com or call my cell phone 718-930-9673. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Each year I look forward to the ride. Not just for the wonderful experience it offers, but because I know how much I've changed because of it. I made the decision to act. Even though your not there, your part in this ride is just as big as mine. I could NEVER do this without YOUR support.

All my love and deepest gratitude,
Jen



P

It's official...I'm a triathlete!!!! :)

Yeah!!! I did it! I'm so sorry I haven't written sooner, be prepared this is a long blog...

Here's how it went, I had planned on getting a good 7 0r 8 hours of sleep but that didn't happen. I wound up going to bed at 11:15 and woke up at 4:15 so you can see that does not equate. I had my bags ready the night before so all I had to do was throw my clothes on when I woke up.

I picked up my new triathlete friend Arlene (I got her to sign up & join me in the race) around 5, we got to the race parking lot around 5:45/6am. As we were taking our bikes out of the car there was a coach instructing his students about do's and dont's, precautions etc. etc. of course you know the two of us were soaking it all in lol.

You sign in at the transition area and just pick a spot where you want to put your bike and gear. For those of you that don't know transition area is the area where you go after each stage of the race to check in, change etc. When we were done setting up our stuff we looked around and realized everyone had their bike facing in the opposite direction from what we had and their stuff was set up parallel rather than horizontal (like we had); so we switched it all around. Next we were off to get body marked, followed by a mandatory meeting, then off to the beach for a warm-up swim.

I was very happy we got to warm up because I was nervous about my swim. I haven't really trained in my swimming and I knew I was going to be slow. I mean I couldn't really expect anything but that because I really only swam 2 times in the month of June, nothing in May and maybe a handful of times in March and April. So I definitely expected to be slow. I was in the 2nd wave so I started at 8:05. I wished I had a camera for the beautiful sight I saw when the first wave started. It was a vision, 100 - 150 swimmers in the ocean moving forward with the morning sun reflecting off the swim caps and water. I hope I never get tired of seeing that sight. Ok back to me about to swim, I'm in the water waiting for the bell to go off and I'm in the back of the group because I was slow and just didn't want to get kicked in the face - that would be bad.

The horn blasts and we're off! I started swimming and all I had to remember was just keep breathing. Don't hold my breath because that's what makes me more tired. Just keep the buoy in my sights and go straight. There was this girl that was to my left and she was slightly ahead so I tried to make sure I stayed near her. I didn't want her to get away from me. Next thing I know I was coming to shore and everyone was running to the transition. Let me tell you I was tired, I started running too and said "hell no I can't run this whole way I'll never have anything left!" But guess what? In that short walk break I surprised myself because when I got out of the water I looked at my HR monitor and I did it in half the time I thought it would take!! yeah! 1/4 mile swim check. I get to transition and strip out of my wetsuit and put on my gear for biking which I'll also stay in for my run.

You have to walk your bike from T1 to the mounting area...that's where I saw my new running buddy Julie, she had her camera and was snapping pics and cheering me on. I'll confess that right before I saw her I had been hoping my friends would make it cuz I really wanted an action pic of me haha and I got one! Biking is my strongest of the three sports. So I didn't really train for this either because I knew I could do it. However I had a few fears...one major one being that I'd get a flat!! Thankfully I didn't, but I saw at least 3-4 people with flats. While it was a flat course and I know I do well on flats I felt like I was going sooo slow. I actually thought my cyclometer was broken because it kept on saying 15 and 16mph for my speed. Finish on the bike get to T2 and switch my shoes for the really hard part...(sound of doom here) the run. As soon as I start running I get a stitch in my side and my legs feel kinda heavy. I feel tired and start thinking "damn those bricks why didn't I train doing them?" I have to walk because I was tired and I knew I had a whole 3.1 to run. So I started walking and trying to control my breathing then I'd start up again and run. I did this the first 1.5 miles especially the first 1/2 mile I felt like I had to walk every other minute. I get to the turnaround and I'm like yeah almost done! :) I see my friend Arlene just starting on her run and I keep going. All I'm telling myself throughout the run: "this is all I have to do. Get through the run. Run/walk run/walk. Today is my birthday. I couldn't even run 3 minutes 2 months ago now I'm running 3.1 miles. keep moving. You better make it in under 2 hours" this was my mantra. Next thing I see is my friend Arlene in front of me, I call to her and she stops. I told her to keep going she said she could take a break lol. It was awesome. Then she left me and I was thinking DAMN she's fast. But then I was approaching the finish line..I could hear the music. And all I could do was smile on my way in. Cuz I finished strong and with a smile on my face. I made it in under 2 hours!!!!! It was AMAZING. Guess what my offical time was? 1:47:24. How sweet is that? Below I posted my times for everything, best surprise of all was that I finished my swim in 1/2 the time I thought it would take, AND my cyclometer wasn't broken I really was going 15 or 16 mph. haha

Swim: 12:50 pace 51:20
Bike: 43:40 rate (or avg.?) 16.5
Run: 44:58 pace 14:31
Div/Tot: 36/37
Gen/Tot: 213/234

Final: 1:47:24

If you're wondering how my blood sugars were...well they weren't so good. I woke up ok, ate food and probably didn't bolus enough for it because an hour later I was close to 300. I gave a correction and got ready for the race. Right before I went out to do the warm up swim I checked and it had gone down only slightly, I think it was like 288. I changed my basal to 50% because I didn't want to have to worry about doing it during the course of the race. When I finished with my race swim I checked and I was 308! damn. I didn't do anything because I knew I still had like 3 units on board. So I kept it moving. I had planned on checking during the run portion but it didn't happen. I wound up checking when I finished the race and guess what I was? Like 180 I was like "sweet!" haha. Of course after the race I ate and my BG jumped back to 300 but then I did a correction and the rest of the day and night I was staying near 80-90 beautiful beautiful numbers.

I'll end this really long blog by saying I had an amazing 28th birthday. I did something I thought I'd never do especially in terms of running, I was able to share the day with great friends over food, I treated myself to a recovery massage. I thought of Val the whole day because the weather was so great and I really wanted to go to the pier with her and I know I'll never get to do it again. I miss her but I know she was with me that day. I also found another passion. Training for triathlons so I'm upping my Ironman schedule. I'll do Olympics and a 1/2 Ironman next year and the year I turn 30 I'll compete in my 1st Ironman. lol Having diabetes has brought me to all of this. A-Mazing :)

Til next time,
-J

Triabetes

So it's 2 days before my race, I'm gonna pack my bag tomorrow rather than tonight. I'm excited and still nervous. But it's here and I am ready to be in the moment. I did my first BRICK today and realized that I will for sure be having to do more of those this summer before my next race.

I'm going to confess a secret...I would love to finish my race in 2 hours. That is my hope but no matter what the ultimate goal is to just finish. And that I will do. The thing I keep thinking about is that despite how very slow I am in my running, 2 1/2 months ago I could only run 3 min and now I'm going to run 3.1 miles. So I've made some progress and the whole race itself will be a great learning experience. I'm pretty sure I'll cry when I cross the finish line...it'll be tears with a smile :).

On to my header...I was able to meet 7 of my fellow triabetic teammates including the founder last night. All of these people are amazing. I feel so happy to be a part of this group and just like I knew after riding for JDRF that I would continue each year to raise funds and ride 100 miles; I know that I will forever be involved with Triabetes. I'm so inspired by all of them. I wish my job could be to train or go around meeting people and getting them involved in exercising, or thinking positive on their diabetes. Because really, diabetes is what has transformed my life for the better. I feel so happy about all the things I am doing, the friendships I am creating, the places I am visiting and best of all the wonderful memories I will be able to have and share.

Denise is one of the captains who I met last night. I just finished reading her blog and all I want to do is give her a big hug. She's a little nervous that once she completes her Ironman in AZ this November (I think this might be her 4th) all the captains will disperse and not stay in touch. I don't agree with this and I haven't even met them! lol I just feel like anyone who is active, wants to be active and learn more will continue to stay with Triabetes. Unconsciously or not, people are drawn to positive energy. People are drawn to feeling like they are part of a team or group - we are pack animals. This is now one of my packs. Don't worry Denise, Triabetes will stick around and you and I can get this east coast region talking about Triabetes and meeting up for training or races.

Well kids, I'm gonna hit the sack (I wonder where that line comes from), have an awesome night and I'll check back in with you tomorrow night before my race.

xo-
J

Countdown begins...

Ok so it's 4 days til my race!!! I'm starting to feel a little nervous and the next 2 days will be jam packed with things to do since I plan on doing nothing on Friday but work and sleep.

I went for an open water swim on Sunday to just time myself and see how long it takes me to complete the 1/4 mile and it should take me 20 minutes to do...so I'm thinking longer and will just say 30 min. (thinking on the safe side). On Monday I ran 3.5 miles in 50 min. so I was very happy that I did it. I had to wind up walking more but I was ok with that because I knew that's what would happen to me during the race. I'm not going to get another swim in but that's ok because I already know I can get throught the swim. Slowly but I'll do it ;).

Anywhoo...I'm super excited and at the same time really scared. I think I am so scared because it's something I have never done before and I'm not sure what to expect. I'm feeling the same way I felt the first time I did the JDRF Ride to Cure. Scared shitless lol.

I am about to embark on a new chapter of my life as an athlete. It's exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time :). I'll chat with you later...goal for tomorrow - run 1.7 miles with my triabetic teammates.

-J

Swim like a fish...uh not quite

Hey hey!

So I had my second open water swim today with a new found friend from my open water swim class. Let me tell you I honestly felt sooo much better this time around. I swam 2 sets of a 1/4 mile. On the second set I surprisingly was able to shave almost a minute off my time. I don't want to mislead you though my time isn't fast...it took me 21 min. and change the first set and 20 min. and change the second set. I definitely feel more optimistic about my race next weekend, that is I don't think it'll take me an hour to get through the 1/4 mile hehe. :)

Swimming I am coming to realize is much much harder than you could think. You are definitely going against what your body wants to naturally do and that is to keep your head above water and GET OUT. Swimming is scary especially when you've never fully grasped how to breath properly in the water. I used to swim my freshman year of HS on the swim team, but I wasn't fast and I didn't do distance. I did the races that were 50's and 100's, that's NOTHING compared to what I'm doing now and what I will do in my future races. I could never quite get the flip turn, and my teammates and coaches used to call my stroke the minute stroke because I took such a long time to get a breath in during the stroke. I didn't really care then but I definitely care now. I want to start taking swim classes so I can be a more efficient swimmer. It really makes a difference.

I used to think I was a good swimmer....now not so much. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that when I put my wetsuit on for the first time and started swimming I felt like I was suffocating. Gasping for air during each stroke, slow as a turtle and trying desperately not to freak out with anything I saw in the ocean :). Regardless, I love the water. I always have and always will. When I was a kid and we lived in FL during the summers I was in the pool from morning to night. My mom would bring us lunch by the pool cuz I didn't even want to get out to eat; and when I did get out my hands and feet were all crinkly like a prune. haha the other thing I used to always do was pretend I was Ariel from The Little Mermaid...I wanted to swim like her. I think I can get there with some classes ;).

So the goal....take some classes and learn to swim like Ariel.

Til next time,
-J

Great Weekend

So I'm really tired and really want to sleep. I have been going to bed really late and not getting at least a full 7 hours of zzz's and am coming to realize that is a big error. Especially since I am in training. BUT I wanted to share with you my weekend, so I'll write then hit the sack :).

Friday night I took a final math test to exit the remedial program I have been in. I knew I had already passed the class but you kinda need to pass this test to move forward. It's very individualized so no two people will have the same test because it's based on what you got wrong the first time you took it. Long story short...I PASSED IT!!!!! I was so prepared to fail it that I thought the girl was joking when she gave me my score. You need a 30 to pass and I got a 34 - I was stoked. I came out the doors to some of my classmates and I actually cried. I felt so relieved, relieved beyond words. Math has always been throughout my school years a huge challenge for me. I just don't get it. Give me English any day of the week and I know I'll pass. Math? Not so much. I had really lost almost all hope, because this was the 3rd time I had registered for the class the 2 prior times I dropped it because I wasn't understanding anything. But this time I made it the whole semester and I passed the class with a 75...meanwhile my goal was just to get a 60 which is a D and the lowest passing grade you can get. I'm telling you, I wasn't aiming high but I did it! I surpassed my expectations and that is always a nice thing. That white piece of paper with that simple score is getting framed as a constant reminder of what can be done.

Saturday I went for a 30 mile bike ride with two of my teammates/friends. It was cloudy and cool with sprinkles here and there. The whole time I was riding I felt really really good. This is a route I have done before - we went from the GW Bridge to Piermont and back. My two favorite moments during the ride were when we were on our way back home on 9W and I got to the part I always dread...riding on the highway on a slow climb. I think the reason I fear/dread it so much is that I had such a difficult time with it last year the first time I rode my "arch nemesis". That is now what I have dubbed that particular stretch of the ride. But I have improved because I can just keep going and not feel like it takes me so long to reach the top. I mean last year I was so tired that my coach was pushing me while he was riding his bike! My 2nd favorite part were the last 5 miles. It always seems like it's flat and that's where I really can catch up to everyone else but this time I was in the lead. I dropped into the big ring and just started pedaling. I was in a groove and it felt soooo nice. I left my cyclometer at home so unfortunately, I couldn't see how fast I was going but I think I was doing at least 17-18mph steady. The icing on the cake was that I had gotten my average heart rate down to 154bpm, and my max hear rate went down to 186bpm. While I know that sounds really high to you that is much better for me. I tend to lean towards a higher HR.

I hate to cut this short but I need to hit the sack. When I write next I'll tell you all about my 1st open water swim which I did on Sunday...oh my lordy lord was that a revelation. But before I go I wanted to leave you with a few key terms:

1. cyclometer = a device that tells you how man y miles travelled, max & avg. speed, cadence (kind of like a cars odometer)
2. cadence = # of revolutions of the pedals a cyclists makes each minute. Elite cyclists typically have a cadence of between 80–120 rpm while recreational cyclists might pedal at about 60–80 rpm. Lance Armstrong was known for his very high cadences of around 120 rpm for hours on end.*http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/glossary/g/rpms.htm
   
3. HR = heat rate
4. BPM = beats per minute

Talk soon,
J