Lavagirl

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/lavatri12/kmasonjccd#My-Fundraising-Page

Please check out my Team in Training page! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I hope to find the time to update it during training.
So about this whole TNT & Lavaman race...
Let me back up awhile.. maybe after my first triathlon, the mini super sprint. I met Jeanie from work, she did the ironman. She began to share with me her passion for triathlons. She patiently took me on my first open water swim & first ride on my bike. She has raced with TNT & been a mentor for a few years. She suggested I look into the group. At the time I had no interest in fundraising for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). She also told me I HAD to do the Lavaman. That it is such an awesome race! (she also wants me to do an ironman someday as well).
All these ideas/suggestions were pushed to the back of my mind as I had which ever upcoming race & you know my life as a single, working, home schooling, training mom forefront.
Then my brother got sick & I did the Rock n Roll marathon. That races raises funds for LLS. it is the biggest TNT race event each year. There were TNT members from all over the continent in the race! I believe somewhere around $300,000 dollars was raised for LLS (don't quote me!)
What was really cool that I saw on the race was the support TNT members had. There were coaches all along the route encouraging & helping their team members. They had their own cheering squads. They barely went half a mile with out someone there for them in some capacity.
I knew I was going to at some point join TNT. my good friend Deana did the Rock n Roll marathon twice with TNT & all along had described to me what I saw first hand.
Then Jeanie told me coach Gurujan the TNT tri coach was retiring after this years Lavaman season & now was the time to do it. Not only that but because Coach is leaving everyone is trying to get on the team & there is limited spots.
It came down to a few days where I needed to decide if I was in or out. & even if I was IN I may not get IN the race!
I woke one of those mornings & didn't wanna go but went to the gym. I trained with my friends Kathy & Nancy. I was going to Kathy's for coffee after but first I had to get a run in. Well I didn't have to...that is the thing with working out & training you never HAVE to do anything. It's a choice to put get out of bed & put one foot in front of the other. So I went on my run & as usual once I got going & pushed through the blahs it was a good run. As I ran I thought about my brother & how it must of been to wake up every morning not wanting to be sick, not wanting to fight for his life. I realized I HAD to get on the TNT team, I had to do everything I could to honor his memory.
I emailed & called TNT. I told my story & desire to get on the team. I was given the details: there was 65 spots for Lavaman team & unlimited spots on the local Superseal race. The team registration opens 10/4 & bibs will be assigned first come first serve. Anyone not on Lavaman team will be wait listed & put on Superseal team. Everyone will train together & if spots open for Lavaman people will be added to team.
I stayed up past midnight on 10/3 & sent in my registration! Within a day or two I found out I got the spot!
What I think i was really worried about is the commitment. I am basically consuming my life for 20 weeks with training & fundraising for this race! It is also the longest triathlon I will ever do! Olympic distance .9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run.
Once on the team we got our websites & join the team yahoo email group. This is where we get all the info for trainings, group meet ups, other team members Fundraisers. We are assigned a mentor to help get us through the whole process!
Our first team meeting was at Rock Bottom Brewery (practicing what they call the 4th event) it was very festive! I got there not knowing anyone & figured out who coach G was. I went up & introduced myself. He was VERY nice & asked how I came to TNT. I told him about my brother & brief race history & my commitment to honor Noel.
The formal part of the evening started with Julie the triathlete manager getting up & giving a few details & then she introduced coach. He got up & started with his thank you's first he thanked his long time girlfriend. Next he thank Katie (yes ME) he said I actually just met Katie & we spoke only a few minutes. But she is here representing all of you. She lost her brother to leukemia in December. This is her first season with TNT. All of us are here because like her our lives have been impacted by blood cancers. It was an emotional moment for me but also how I want this experience to be.
I was able to meet my mentor Kristen & her husband. I can tell this is a fun group & I've been assured I will be more than ready for my race.
I got the training schedules & must admit looking ahead to the final 40 mile bike ride, the 2 mile ocean swim & the practice tri at moonlight beach (where tri-Kate panicked & got out of water) seem impossible! I have the added challenge of not being able to make A LOT of the workouts! They are in the evenings when I work. I will be able to attend every Saturday am workout (I've been told the most crucial). Track workouts are Tues nights I will miss all those :( Swim workouts are Monday & Wednesday nights. I will be able to go twice a month on Wednesdays. Open water swims start in January on Sunday afternoons & I will make a few of those.
I know the 20 weeks is gonna fly by. I'm praying for God to guide me through this & help me keep balanced. The fundraising is daunting but I have some good ideas & events planned. I'm confident in the end everything will come together in God's timing.

Time Out

I got put in time out...I was completely down for the count for a week. Started with a fever and head cold symptoms on Monday, then Tuesday I realized I couldn't work cause my cough and voice wouldn't work 6 hours. Wednesday I went to the Dr and was taken off work through Friday got put on antibiotics for sinus infection and ear infection. By Friday I was still now well so the Dr extended the work leave through Sunday. That is 7 whole days off work!!!
This also meant 7 days of no gym!!!
That is by the longest break I have ever taken off from any excercise of any kind. Add to that I really slacked off the week before, I felt like I was losing my drive!
What bad timing I felt like! I JUST signed up for the biggest race yet! I've blogged about it and talked about it for years now-LAVAMAN 2012. I have thought about joining Team in Training and raising money for the Leukemia Society in memory of my brother.
I was a good girl and rested rested rested AND it turned out that it gave me lots of time to take care of some stuff that I probably would have not been able to do for awhile.
I set up my fundraising website, sent out some emails, got started on my fundraiser planning.
I also used the time to mentally regroup myself. I had totally fallen off the good eating train! I have gained 13 pounds back from what I lost. It is so frustrating and disappointing to allow myself to backslide so far. I decided that I was gonna hit the ground running once I was well.
I thought about my success in the past and the will power and determination I had. I also know what worked to keep me on track was my food journal! I also never missed a work out! Yet just a week ago I skipped a few!
I am not kicking myself for my relapse at all...I understand it happens. BUT I also know I need to get back in "the zone". I want to do this next triathlon lean and fitter then ever.
I got a food journal because the iPhone apps I tried to use just arent time effective for me. I commited to starting Monday. It went well for the whole week (well better then I have been) I made more workouts AND I have donations coming in from my website.
I reflected on my time out and there was so much good that came from it. The first thing was the amount of time I got to be with my kids so much! I definitely enjoyed not having to go to work, too bad I couldn't do much else then lay on couch. I spent a lot of time thinking about my brother and why I am doing all this. I am of course doing it for me to be healthier and happier but also to honor my brother.

Trying something different

This week I took a friends offer & joined her at Crossfit. I guess you could say it's the new thing in fitness. These gyms are popping up all over. I can't exactly explain it all that great. It's a cross between a personal trainer, boot camp, circuit work out place???? I was excited to try it AND see how I measured up! They have 2 levels of work outs and the goal is to improve the time it takes to do specific exercises. They post on the walls the top achievers of each exercise AND even have crossfit competitions (I've been told it is shown on espn).
You arrive at crossfit and the warm up along with the level 1 and level 2 workouts are posted on a white board. After you finish the warm up that consists of cardio, plyometrics and stretching the trainer goes over the work out and starts the timer. I ended up going 3 times this past week. It was the most intense workouts I have ever done. The first day we did rowing machine 500 yards, dead lifts 12 times and 21 box jumps, 3 rounds!!! It took an hour total but the workout which is timed was 25 minutes or so. I could not believe the work out I got in such a small amount of time. I like someone else making the plan and just following it and the ide
of improving each time & competition (top acheivers in each excercise are posted on the wall). I headed back for more the next day. This work out was a 1 mile run, then 10 burpees, 20 sit ups 5 rounds!!! followed by another 1 mile run. We had chose the level 2 work out. I was sweating like mad! So much the owners wife showed concern and told me dont worry about doing it all just do as much as you can. I was fine I told her. I should come with a sweat disclaimer.
Saturday I did my long run and was done with crossfit but that day I had hooked up my friend Becky to go to the free class with my girl. Becky loved it and wanted to go back for the class on Sunday (every Sunday 10am is a free session). It was a partner work out so I agreed to go along. Becky is one of the most fit people from Jason's B Cubed. She and I were both feeling way out of shape in this class. As partners you had to complete one at time together 100 kettle bell swing, 100meter fireman carry, 150 pushups, 100 m fire man carry, 100 push presses, 100 m fire man carry and then 150 split lunge jumps (hate this the most of anything in the whole world). It was BRUTAL. As I type this 2 days later I am still barely able to move.
The crazy thing is I love the way this feels! It is definitely the next level in fitness and something I wish I could get into. There is no way I could afford the fees $150 per month. While the value is there I just dont have the $ and I would be concerned about getting my money's worth when I also have to tri-train.
I am just so busy with my life, work , mommy, homeschool etc. Working out has to fill in to my little bit of free time.
I am so glad that I tried it and will definitely take many more free classes. I just dont plan to pay for it anytime soon.



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Details details

In my haste to get another completed blog on my page I missed some details...
Wave #5
The first wave in the race was military & public service. 2nd was the fundraising team for the colitis foundation (the race charity). Not sure what 3 & 4 were but our wave was the first all female group.
As we were waiting there was so many chicks in my group that were first timers. I found myself telling THEM you will be fine, once you get through the swim it's easy, by the time you get to the run you won't even remember swimming. I suggested getting a swim buddy to them.
Everyone has friends with the or significant others waiting with them until go time & here I was alone & pumping up complete strangers!!! It was very surreal :)
Swim buddy
I also got myself a swim buddy. & since I told everyone to get one I made sure to grab one before they ran out! Turns out the swim buddy I had either wasn't experienced or was not good :( We introduced ourselves & hopped in the water & he was just sort of there. When we started he just swam along not even right next to me but like 6 feet away. He didn't say anything while all the other swim buddies were talking their racers through each stroke. I just kept plugging along realizing he was kinda a lost cause. Then as we got around the last buoy another swim buddy asked him to keep an eye on another racer as he was going to help the laggers. So at that point I was still a ways from the finish but didn't even want that buddy anymore. It was shortly after that I saw my cheering squad & made my final dog paddle to the end of the swim


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I just may be a triathlete!

It is so hard for me to believe I have done 4 triathlons now! (Technically one was a duathlon since swim was cancelled).

I have learned so much through training and participating in races. This time was no different. I wish the there was a huge spiritual revelation like with the race last year or the marathon. BUT it was different this time. I was more going through the motions cause I had to. I planned to do this race with my friend and she was signed up but between having a new baby and wedding things didn't work out the way we planned.

I trained for this race with the same schedule as before but skipped a few work outs (which I never did before). I quit on the swim distances a lot cause I was struggling. So going into it I was sure I had the stamina and endurance to finish but I didn't do the yardage, mileage or time I did before.

The one thing I find most difficult with training and working out is I want to do it ALL!! I want to hit all the boot camps, meet my friends for out strength trainings, spin class, swim laps, bike, running club....between being a mom, homeschooling, working it is hard to get the time. Also childcare is an issue if I can't be at the YMCA. My kids dad is very cool about watching them for my running club but asking to go on long bike rides as well...I just couldn't ask. I fit in only one ride this time on my actual bike. (Same as last time I rely heavily on spin class).

OK so enough about my training or lack there of....let's get on to race day.

There was so much different this time about race day too. This was the first time I was going to the race solo. My friend was supposed to meet me but I had a feeling it was going to be a strain on her to get there (and turns out she didn't make it). Last year she met me bright and early and took me to the race, stuck with me until I hopped in the water.

So in an effort to keep my nerves in check I took a leisurely approach to my race morning. I got up, braided my hair, made some oatmeal, got my gear loaded in the car. I moved about my morning with a light and breezy feeling. Checked my list one last time and headed on my way. I noticed it seemed a bit late to get on the road but remembered last year my nerves just got worse and worse waiting. At this rate I was not going to have a long wait. As I approached downtown and the race I glanced at the clock in my car 6:15am, the race started at 7am...a thought crossed my mind...."ummmm I may have read somewhere transition closes at 6:30a?" So and I understand this is illegal but I pulled up my email as I was driving downtown and yes there it was on the race info TRANSITION AREA CLOSES 6:30am

That is where breezy ended and pure panic set in....Was I really gonna miss setting up transition and miss doing the race?! How would I ever live this down!!!! Was this a subconscious attempt on my part to get out of this?! EEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!!

I got downtown and parked at 6:28ish and saw there was still people walking their bikes and gear to transition...whew I thought I should be ok. I had not done what I was supposed to and marked myself with my # tattoos (temporary), labeled my bike, put on my wristband etc etc (typical Katie stuff). So the gal checking people into transition got frustrated that I was trying to pull all my stuff out of envelope & let me in.

I got to my spot and set up my transition EVERYONE WAS READY BUT ME!! They had their tatts on, wetsuits on, the announcer was telling everyone to exit the area and go to the race start. I got set up QUICKLY! I used my water bottle to get the tatts on and squeezed in to my wetsuit-for the only time since I bought it!!! (another typical Katie move).

I went over to the race start and this is where I realized I was in this all alone. My kids Dad had refused to bring my kids to see me (due to a scheduling conflict with it being football season-He will be available sometime in Feb), my friend was no where to be heard or seen from, later in the race I hoped to see my cousin during the run part. It seemed so surreal watching everyone huddle with their friends, kiss their significant others good luck and there was me. At the marathon there was a sign a spectator had (or someone said it can't remember) "it is what it is" that is how I felt. Nothing was gonna change that I was about to jump in the water, swim 500 yards, get out and bike 10 miles, then run a 5k. In that moment I focused on #1 getting a swim buddy (it seemed a lot of people wanted one and I didn't see a ton of buddies) #2 how far I have come from last year! I was racing in the athena division last year. (which is the last wave so the wait was awful). Now here I was lighter, faster and more fit then ever!

I got my swim buddy and our wave #5 was up fast! We had about 2 minutes in the water before out horn blew. I have not swam in salt water pretty much since last year's race, except for frolicking in the ocean. I did a few warm up strokes just to get my face in the water. When we started I did really good at first (just like last year). I just tuckered out so fast! The difference between this year and last year is I kept pushing. I really was so slow and it seemed like it was taking forever!!! As I rounded the first buoy this one swimmer was freaking out!!! Screaming she couldn't breathe she was gonna die (thanked God real quick that was not me) and swam by her as a paddle boarder got to her. In the race you can hang on to the board and rest if you need to as long as you dont move forward (FYI). I believe they talked her down and she completed the swim. I was side stroking, freestyle A LOT of back stroking. I was having the hardest time catching my breath which made it pretty impossible to breath freestyle. I started to lose my head a few times and totally talked myself calm! HUGE breakthrough from last year. I was pretty much dog paddling the last 50 yards or so when I heard someone shouting my name????

I look up at the crowd and there are my friends Christian and Stacey! Talk about an injection of motivation! I finished that swim (in other words dog paddled faster). They have people to assist you out of the water and boy was I so wobbly!!! Thank God he was there!

I got up the stairs and ran to the lamest wetsuit peelers known to man! I was screaming pull the thing OFF!!!!!!!!!!!! I got it off ran to transition. Sadly my bike was easy to find as it was pretty much the last one in my area. Besides the panic girl I think I was the last one out of the water. (Note to self...SWIM MORE).

I got my bike shoes on sucked up half a gu and a swig of water and headed out on the bike.

The bike course was changed days before the race, sadly we would not be able to ride on the Naval base which was on of the coolest part of last year. Instead we were doing a loop down Harbor Dr twice (it was 3 loops for the Olympic distance), I honestly thought I was flying through the bike course and was thinking I would be done in around 30 min (ok 24 haha). I whizzed by my friends who were all over the place it felt like.

Side note: they had told me they would try to make my race but had other commitments. I really did not expect to see them. Well not only did they lie but they had planned this for weeks. Even had signs to cheer me on. Having them there put the biggest smile on my face the whole time! It feels so good when you know people are behind you and believe in you. AND if it were not for Christian and her camera there would be no photographic evidence that I even did the race!

At the end of the bike portion I dismounted and it was hard to run in my bike shoes so I actually took them off and headed in my socks to transition. Bad thing was a stepped on my wetsuit and got one sock wet before the run. This is where I made a huge mistake I didn't take another gu as planned and I took off on my run with out water. My thought was that there was water stations on the run and it was short. I thought I would run faster with out a water bottle weighing me down. The issue came up quickly that I was depleted and needed water and electolytes UGH!

Almost immediately in the run I got a cramp in my calf that almost took me to the ground! I kept going though, it felt like slow motion. I couldn't get my body to listen to my mind. My mind said GO FASTER!! My body said hey I thought we were breezy?! So I chugged along at a snail pace. It took F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to reach the first water station! I walked through it and drank a couple cups of water. My body thanked me and allowed me to continue on the run with a little bit more pep. This was literally the longest 3.1 miles EVER! I walked through the next water station too and hydrated....never realized how amazing water is for the body (I highly recommend it). Then I was almost out of Seaport Village and headed toward the last 1/2 mile or so. I got a text so I checked my phone/ipod/runkeeper and it was from my friend telling me she was not coming. I checked the time and my goal was to finish in 1hr 30 min. I was actually making great time and well on my way to my goal?! No clue how that happened! I pushed myself that last bit of the race! The last .1 is the LONGEST! My friends were waiting for me at the finish!

Shortly after crossing the finish line my cousin texted me and said she was waiting on the run course for me. She came over to the finish to see me. Truth be told I am glad I am so fast that she didn't make it haha!

My final time was 1:31 24 minutes off last years!

Just before the race God revealed to that He had given me my race verse. Silly me I had shared it twice in the week with other people. And as I was headed down I thought wait I dont have my verse. Then I realized He had used me to share it so that I would recall it in this moment!

Joshua 1:9

This is my command-Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord God is with you whereever you go.

I carried that promise with me the whole time & reminded myself of it over and over!

God is always faithful in the little stuff and the big stuff and the sweaty stuff!!!!

exiting the water


exiting transition

loop 1

transition 2

Finish line!

I AM A TRIATHLETE!!!

my friends Christian & Stacey came out to support me

My medal

celebrating!

I was so fast George and Rebecca missed me & met up at the finish line

my cousin Rebecca has shown up for a lot of my races

this is Perry a friend from running club that I was running with at the Y

Final swim

I put off swimming so much for this race. I learned the hard way that going to swim first thing in the morning is not for me. Unfortunately that made for a lot of skipped swims. The days that I worked out before my swim it always went better. I'm wondering when I do the race how it will go with no warm up. I also have not swam in salt water or my wetsuit in preparation.
I feel like I can't freak out about what I didn't do.
My swim today went good. I feel like 500 yards is so long & exhausting BUT I think I did it in like 12 minutes! Hopefully with the extra buoyancy of the wetsuit & adrenaline along with mental strength I will get out of the water quick & smoothly!


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Countdown to TriRock 2011

I hate that I haven't blogged like before. I'm even wondering if it would of helped me be more consistent with my training.
Now here in the 11th hour I can't turn back time, wonder about what I should have done different or worry about the past. All I can do is prepare best I can to finish the race.
This is my first repeat race. I did the inaugural TriRock 2010. I'm doing the spring distance again (they added an Olympic distance this year).
I have trained a lot, just not as meticulous as last year. I am confident in my endurance (hopefully will be done between 1:15-1:30). Just not confident about much else.
I'm convinced there is very many athletes or triathletes who don't get nervous before a race. Who don't doubt they are ready.
The next few days are about eating right, resting up, minimal training, practicing transition & getting everything ready.
I'm so anxious for the finish line.
I feel like this year will be so much better then last year! Im making a promise to right the blog ASAP!


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