Final Report About Steelhead 2011

Hey all!

First off, apologies for not being a better blogger!  When all the training started to take so much time, and the weather warmed up, I found lots of excuses to be outside instead of blogging.  :)

But what a great season it was!  Thanks to all of your help, I met my fundraising goals and had a wonderful time training for Steelhead 2011.  It was very hard but I always felt that the mission behind all the miles were worth it!  I was on an amazing team with so many great people.  Many were first time triathletes and it was great to see them accomplish their goals and overcome their fears!

It was very exciting to arrive in Michigan and check into the race:

Here is the Steelhead TNT team after our practice swim the day before the race:

Only glitch?  Those nice gentle waves and beautiful calm water were soon overtaken by this (5 minutes after we finished our swim):

Which turned into this:

And the part that made us start running?

Because swimming is one of my strongest events, I was hopeful we would be able to swim.  They had cancelled the swim in 2008, I was a little worried.  So, we went to our pre-race pasta dinner with fingers crossed the winds would calm down.  But when we got there at 4 in the morning here is what the water looked like (7' waves, 25 mph winds):

So, no swim for Steelhead 2011.  :(  They changed it to a duathlon (bike then run) and we waited about 90 minutes to start the waves 2 people at a time.  Pretty weird!  It was nice to chat with all the fun people I was racked with but a huge bummer as I usually get a big boost from the swim.  The rest of the race went awesome and I was very happy with my bike and run!  Here's a pic of my buddy Ron and I (we ran most of the 13.1 together):

After the swim was cancelled, I sure was glad I had done the full 70.3 earlier in the year at Muncie IM and at Steelhead in 2009.

But there is always next year!  I'm already signed up for the Elkhart Lake TNT 2012 team and Muncie 70.3 Ironman 2012 a month later.  It was too disappointing to train for Steelhead and have the swim cancelled, especially as it has been cancelled 2/4 years, so I'm not going back next year.

Hopefully next season I'll be a better blogger!  But until then, here's the 2011 recap:

1) Two 70.3 Ironmans (Muncie and Steelhead)
2) One Olympic triathlon (Elkhart Lake)
3) Six sprint triathlons (Carmel, Eagle Creek 1/2/3, Morse, Go Girl)
4) MY FIRST MARATHON! (Fox Valley)
5) Four 1/2 marathons (Mini, Geist, Monumental, Miami Beach [coming up in December])
6) Plus other road races (Back on My Feet marathon relay, Run Like Hell 5K, Living History Farms Trail Race...)

For a grand total of....~355 miles raced in 2011!  By far my biggest year ever!

Oh, plus adopting a new dog, going to the dog agility nationals, tons of travel for work and lots of career milestones....  But I'm not planning on slowing down in 2012, especially when it comes to continue fundraising to support the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Here's to Elkhart Lake TNT Team 2012!  GO TEAM!!!

THANK YOU for all your support and kind words.  I could never do this without my friends and family (especially my awesome husband, Allen!).

Hugs,
Sam

Steelhead training update from the friendly skies

Hey all!

It has been a busy month with training, dogs, family and work. All is going really well and training is really starting to get going. I'm really enjoying getting to know all my TNT tri teammates and (really) the challenge of the workouts as I start to get serious about the tri season.

We had our first team workout February 6th during the Indy ice/snowpacalypse 2011. The morning of our run we got 5" of unexpected snow. It took me 30 minutes to get my 4x4 FJ Cruiser the 2.5 miles from our house to the Eagle Creek 56th street entrance (normally about 5 minutes). Here are a few pics (including a shot of my yaktrax):






I'm shivering in the ultra reflective purple:



And our fun breakfast later (Allen got out of bed to join us):



The big challenge to training lately has been my busy work travel. Depending on where I go, this can mean excruciating miles on the dreadmill in a Memphis hotel gym (why is 4 miles on a treadmill like 15 miles outside???) or gorgeous runs on Santa Monica Pier in California:



Right now I'm flying to Orlando for a 1 day work trip (on flight wifi=awesome). I'm looking forward to 80 degree weather but no workout in the heat; I rode on my boring bike trainer today and tomorrow's my rest day. :)

I better enjoy the rest day as Saturday is our first training ride and the forecast is for 43 and pouring rain. Lovely. I'll be on my sturdy Trek road bike as my 2009 Felt tri bike is in the shop due to a recall. It's described as risk of "catastrophic fork failure" (how could fork failure be NON catastrophic???). Hopefully it will be fixed soon.....

In other news, thanks to all of your generous support, my fundraising is going well!!! I'm nearly 90% of my way to my goal and the top fundraiser on my team! I am very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family. It makes all this training and cramming workouts in worth it. The LLS does so much for research and patients, and I am so proud to help out this wonderful organization.

Well, that's it for now. Panga sends her hello's as well!

All the best. Please consider supporting my mission to fight blood cancers!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/Steelhd11/samelemed

Farewell pic from the plane....



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Somewhere in the air between Indy and Orlando

Ice/Snow Days (The Storm of the Century & Garden Catalogs/Ironmans...)

For those of you not aware, we are suffering from the 'storm of the century' hitting most of the country.  Our share of this misery is 6" of a nasty ice/snow/sleet mix that has sealed over all of our roads and yard.  The poor dogs are skating as they go out of the bathroom and I don't have any illusions of running outside in the next few days.  We haven't even been out of the house since we got home on Monday.

My one adventure outside went poorly this morning.  I have been going out on the screened in porch to yell at the bored, ramped up dogs to be careful (likely earning the moniker of crazy dog lady at 7626), so we avoid broken legs and other injuries.  Poor little Perri (my 14 year old lady, who is fit as a fiddle) couldn't make it up the two tiny steps to the deck.  She looked at me to come help her, so out I went.  Sure, it was slippery.  Maybe I should have worried when my spry old lady who can clear the entire couch without out a touch of arthritis declined to walk up 4" of step?  Perhaps.  But I was on a mission.  Perri wagged her tail and looked pleased I would save her.  I drew closer, leaned down to pick her up, and WOOSH there I went!  As my 135 lbs descended towards her 17 lbs, I shoved her out of the way.  She flew like an angry hocky puck and ended up about 5' from where she started.  As I tried to get up, unsuccessfully, she used my prone body as sufficient traction and trotted in the house without me. Awesome.

Here's our yard this morning (it is not as dramatic as the 19" in chicago, but everywhere you see white is a solid block of ice):

So, onto the foolish thinking part of the past few days.  What is the best thing to do when you are stuck inside for days and sore from your fall on the ice?  SIGN UP FOR MORE RACES.  This is the athlete's equivalent of the garden catalog.  Dreaming of spring training and summer races to help overcome the monotony of another night in the basement with the bike trainer.....

I may have gotten a little carried away.  Ice Storm + Recent Good Training Runs + Kick Off Team in Training Meeting + Boredom = welllllll..... ANOTHER IRONMAN.  I mean, I'll be in shape.  Right? And it will be good training for Steelhead.  Absolutely.  Crazy???  That too.  So, yes, Muncie 70.3 Ironman July 9th HERE I COME. 

Well, off to a date with the bike trainer.  Hopefully I'll stay away from Active.com.  Louisville IM in August and marathons in September are starting to sound tempting..... :)

Stay safe, stay warm!
Sam

Remember: Don't Hope For A Miracle.  Make One.  My goal is a world without cancer.  Learn more about my mission: http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/Steelhd11/samelemed

A Tale of Two Sports (and Panga's)

I have two distinct competitive activities; one is road racing/triathlons and the other is dog agility.  These are VERY DIFFERENT sports in nearly all ways.  I have a similar approach to both: train quite a bit, and am relatively good at both, but no one is exactly lining up to sponsor me anytime soon. 

This past weekend, I competed in dog agility with Panga and one of my other dogs, Calypso.  We headed up to the freezing tundra of Chicago-land and had a fabulous time.  Panga was especially fabulous and achieved one of my big goals- qualifying for nationals super early in the year, so I can spend the summer focusing on getting her and I in great shape and training for the Ironman!

Case study in a happy Panga (picture from this weekend):

And how did I reward my fabulous cattle dog when we returned home from the trip to Chicago at 9 pm Sunday night?  I was a wretched person and dared to exercise on my bike.  The 15 degree temperature and the dark?  EXCUSES!  ANGRY PANGA!  I was quite pleased I had the self-discipline to exercise after a long weekend...but this did not abate the rage rising from my dog.

See, the issue with Panga is she spends her entire life WAITING TO DO SOMETHING! and DOING SOMETHING! HOORAY!  Panga's standard for things to do is low.  Things she enjoys include following me around the house, standing next to me 'helping' while I bathe the other dogs, and biting her nub of a tail.  WAITING TO DO SOMETHING! is not a comfortable thing for her.  She hates it.  Panga is extremely smart and puts an enormous amount of her energy during WAITING TO DO SOMETHING looking for tailsmen signifying the potential of DOING SOMETHING.  Running shoes? Putting stuff in the car? Pick up her leash? Touching the basket where her running harness is located? VERY EXCITING. SQUEAL SQUEAL!

Panga sees going for a run as THE BEST THING EVER and me riding the bike as an excrucinating version of WAITING TO DO SOMETHING! as I do it while wearing clothing tailsmen similar to the outfit worn when THE BEST THING EVER (running) is possible. 

While I was committing this torture of my poor, loyal dog, she clearly decided to communicate her extreme displeasure at the current WAITING TO DO SOMETHING agony:

The Panga Suicide Demonstration

(Disclaimer: no dogs were harmed in the making of this photo.  She literally did this herself behind Allen's bike in the basement.  I am riding and took this with my iPhone)

Taking her level of desperation in mind, yesterday I decided on a long run outside despite the cold temps and snow on the ground.  Panga's boots were strapped on, I remembered my YakTrax, and off we went.  We were DOING SOMETHING! HOORAY! and Panga was very pleased.  I have to admit, it was a wonderful, Panga was right.  We covered 6 miles at a good clip on a beautiful bright, clear night, with a pretty blanket of snow.  An excellent example of the wisdom in listening to your wise training partner's desperate attempt to communicate her need to DO SOMETHING.

All in all, both sports are going well and Panga is pleased I learned my lesson.

Please consider supporting my fund-raising efforts to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! GO TEAM!  http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/Steelhd11/samelemed



 

Training continues: adventures with my bike trainer

Did my first ride on my birthday present: a Kinetic bike trainer & power meter from Allen! Rode for an hour and I learned to keenly appreciate why they sell sweat shields for bikes. I am not that sweaty of a person but basement lack many of the glories of the outdoors...including wind. It is an interesting experience to blow sweat off the tip of your nose. YUCK.

To do: understand power meter. Mystery I need to understand.

Bottom line: riding in basement doable, especially watching a distracting, particularly creepy Criminal Minds. Good way to avoid running outside on a cold, wet winter night. Panga disagrees:




I HAVE NEW BOOTS. I WANT TO USE THEM. BIKES ARE DUMB! -PANGA!

Please consider supporting my Ironman training & the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/Steelhd11/samelemed

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 1 of training for Steelhead 2011

OK, so I am all about gear.  I am much better at acquiring gear then I am about making my run faster, which would actually improve my overall times.

It is still very cold here in Indiana and, therefore, a challenging start to my Steelhead 70.3 Ironman training.  However, I decided new gear for my best training partner (my dog Panga) would inspire me.  I then convinced myself that rugged boots to protect her feet from the snow, ice, and salt would definitely jump start my training.  Boots were ordered from RuffWear and dog-humiliation-to-kick-start-winter-training was on.  Panga is game for almost anything but this was a bit much, even for her.  She galloped around the house like a clydesdale.  Tee hee.  Here she is in her new boots (current funny score: Sam 1, Panga 0):

Finally it was time to really go run.  Starting to run for someone who loves gear takes awhile.  Shoes: check, Jacket: check, iPhone: check, This American Life downloaded for running to (I'm a nerd, I know it): check, amphipod pouch for iPhone: check, special nike running headphones: check, gloves/ear band: check, RoadID (shoe and wrist versions): check, Garmin GPS watch: check, Panga: check, Panga's special boots (and socks): check, everything possible reflective: check.  READY TO GO.

Off we go.  I am very concerned Panga will lose her special boots (and socks) on the road, so it takes about a 1/2 mile before I realized that I forgot something very important.  Our neighborhood takes a frugal approach to snow removal.  Therefore, the side roads I run on are covered with an inch of packed ice/snow, which on this sunny day of 25 degrees, the result is a slippery surface with nearly zero traction.  I realize with a growing sense of horror I forgot my YakTrax, which give traction to my running shoes that, in these conditions, have nearly zero grip on this sheet of snow/ice.  I also fully understand I am tied to 35 pounds of VERY MOTIVATED CATTLE DOG who is now essentially towing me behind her enabled by the excellent traction afforded to her by the new boots.  I can only imagine the scene the neighbors were treated to, which involved me skidding along, battling gravity behind an unsympathetic canine running companion.

Funny Score: Sam 1, Panga 10.

After a pretty harrowing 4 miles, the dog boots are billed a success and I have not forgotten my YakTrax once since....

Result?  Panga wins this one.  I begin training for my second 70.3 Ironman!

Please consider supporting my fundraising efforts! http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/Steelhd11/samelemed

MY FIRST BLOG! Training for Steelhead 70.3 Ironman with Team in Training!

Racing to Save Lives!

Welcome to my Team In Training home page!

I'm training to participate in the Steelhead 70.3 Ironman as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. Patients and their families are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Like many of you, my life has been touched by cancer. My career is focused on developing new drugs for the treatment of cancer but I have always wanted to do more, so I chose to join Team in Training. Over 75% of your donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society go to research and patients services! Please help me to help even more patients and their families through your donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

I was a member of the 2009 Steelhead 70.3 Ironman Team in Training and it was an amazing experience! It was extremely hard work but after losing a friend to AML (leukemia) a few months before, I felt honored to do something meaningful to help others' with blood cancers and their families. One of my close friends lives every day with multiple myeloma. He always has a positive outlook and has more courage then I can imagine. The hardest day of training is nothing compared to cancer treatment!

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Please also visit my Team in Training Steelhead 2011 Fundraising Website and support my goal of raising at least $4000 to support the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Thanks for your support!

Hugs,
Sam