Pallas Athena

It's been a long year. This year was HARD! Lots of injuries kept me from training to my full potential. Nearly 6 months without speed work; and what a jinx that is on performance! Some of you know I had a major back surgery in the spring of 07. My L4-S1 are now for ever fused with titanium rods. Sadly, they are not carbon fiber, as any triathlete would prefer. This has resulted in the loss of mobility/flexibility in the lower back, making my hamstrings prone to tightness and all the fun that goes with that weak link. I've tried to address this on my own. I purchased a set of Powercranks in 08 and used them faithfully. If you don't know what that is, you should. They force you to pedal each leg independent and pull the crank up/around with your hamstrings. They are beastly! They improved my run times tremendously and made my pedal stroke very smooth on the bike. In 09, I went to Mercy Sports Rehab. Brent Wesolek did an assessment of my riding and said he h...

This past Sunday was the morning of my fourth Ironman race. The day started out at 4:30 with Mike's cell phone going off somewhere in the room. He didn't even seem to notice, and I couldn't find the damn thing in the dark. My ITouch was set to go off next to me, but it ended up providing the light needed to search for the ringing phone. Unfortunately, by the complaints next door, this started the neighbor's day early too. You don't want to camp next to the Brady's. After an entire race season of not tolerating speed work but doing a ton of endurance; the pressure was off. There were no real moments of nerves at all. Just going through the moves and wishing things could just get started. There were plenty of moments wondering what was wrong with me that I felt so chill about it all. Sometimes you just find that happy zone where you know exactly where you are at physically and go with it. It sure is a good place to be! I try to keep my race routine ...

Thursday was a late start for the Brady's. Surprise, surprise. I wanted to see Cheyenne's cross country meet; vetoing a request to get going right after finishing the three hour workout scheduled. Angie (sister) met us at the high school track and visited until the start. She was bumming because she wanted to go to Louisville, but we have a cousin that was married the same weekend. We arrived in Louisville about 2 AM Eastern. It was a short night, but in a very nice hotel. If you ever need to book a room somewhere and it doesn't have to be a specific hotel; use hotwire.com. Sounds like plugging a name, but they do rock. $79 bucks a night for the Gault Hotel. It was the Ironman Event headquarters (convenient)and the place is beautiful. Friday was packet pick-up. Hilary Biscay was shaking hands and signing autographs for a ZIPP Wheel rental place. That had my youngest daughter and husband all excited. Ironman volunteers weigh you and do your body fat/hydratio...

Today was the check in for IM Racine 70.3. This is the stomping grounds for my old favorite race; you guessed it, Spirit of Racine. Last year, they sold out to IM. My first reaction was one of uncertainty. This event has always been great, with the swim in Lake Michigan (not hidden in a bay somewhere, but out in the open). The run is along the lake on the road that overlooks the whole thing. It is just beautiful. You cannot help but notice, even when it is 99 degrees and 98 % humidity. Didn't seem they needed the help of the corporate giant event organizer. So from the moment of our arrival, my husband and I were scouting the whole thing out. The check in was easy enough. Festival Park Expo Center. Just like before, only that was less chaotic than it has been in years past. The whole building where the expo used to be is now simply check in. Really overkill, in my opinion. You could run laps inside that building; with check in going on. Outside was the expo under t...

Ironman Perform Last week, Ironman sent athletes signed up for certain events a case of new Powerbar product called Ironman Perform.  They are intending to serve it at several events and wanted athletes to have the opportunity to train with it ahead of time.  I really appreciated their foresight with this.  After years of struggling with stomach issues, new product is a source of fear that I would rather not deal with. Because my stomach has been so finicky, my attitude has been less than great about this.  Passive-aggressive misspelling of the product to just complete irritation is pretty much where I was at.  But really, I do appreciate having the product ahead of time. So, what about the product?  Well, it brags to be their proprietary C2MAX.  C2MAX is a combo of maltodextrin, fructose and dextrose.  Biochemistry was never my thing, but a multi-path energy source is obviously a valuable thing.  Remember good old Krebs?  Your bo...

87 days until IM Louisville....tick, tick, tick! Foot has been bum for several months now. It is some sort of metatarsalalgia caused by one of the bones being too long. After two months of nearly not running, I relented and got the cortisone shot. No gory details, just the fact that it friggin HURT! So, back to IM Louisville. Always hot and wetsuits have never been legal there because it is always above the 78 degree marker. My husband said it was crazy to swim in just tri gear, and he is right. There is too much advantage to be gained with a speed suit. The Velocity 0.02 is not a neoprene wetsuit, but a slick, non-permeable, extremely durable suit comprised of the fastest material and coating available on the market. The NANO-SCS coating, with a drag coefficient of 0.02 (the lowest available), is used continuously throughout the speedsuit. The Velocity 0.02 has a seamless front, contains no Lycra and is meant to fit snugly - especially at the chest, waist and hips - over ...