Happy Birthday to me!

Turning 41 isn't so bad, especially with an extended disco-mix week of celebrations. Monday, lunch with my peeps Fave and Lynn. Tuesday, lots of sweet messages from friends on Facebook then dinner with my family at my favorite restaurant, Edo's Squid. Wednesday, the dinner of champions (cupcakes and beer) post spinning at Maramarc. Thursday, off to TriCamp to meet new friends, and get my butt whomped by Heather Gollnick, Elizabeth Waterstraat, and Jennifer Harrison.

Day 1 started early: a 4am wake up call to make a 6am flight. Loooong story short, a stupid Delta ticket agent made me miss that early flight, and so I ended up getting into Sarasota two hours later than planned. Heather's wonderful husband Todd found me and my bike at the airport and shuttled me back to the hotel. Just as I was checking in, fellow blogger Jennifer and her friend Holly pulled in. Yey! I had no huge problems putting my bike back together (but a big thanks to the guys at Village Bikes for double checking its road-worthiness), grabbed some lunch, and it was time to meet everyone. We had an amazing mix of women, all very accomplished and dedicated athletes. That evening over dinner, we talked about nutrition and mental fitness--it was interesting to hear how pros like Heather and Elizabeth focus during races. Lots to learn!

Day 2 of camp started early with a quick 3 mile run followed by a gait analysis at Fit2Run. I had never had my gait videotaped. First, they put me in a neutral shoe and taped me for a couple of minutes on the treadmill. Ugly. High arches = pronation! Then we looked at my gait in my own shoes. Better, but still not pretty. That's probably why I kept having ITB issues last year. Finally, they put new orthotic liners in my shoe and popped me back on the treadmill. What a difference! After lunch it was time to hop on our bikes for a 27 mile loop. Trainer riding makes me feel like I should be in great shape for outdoor riding. Apparently not. We worked on pace line riding and Heather and Elizabeth were dears for pulling my sorry ass. Lesson learned: I need to start working to keep up more with faster riders otherwise I'll be stuck at my 15mph pace.

After a well-deserved lunch (and 1/2 hour nap for me!) it was time to hop in the pool. I think the coaches could tell we were a little tired from the ride, and I'm not sure anyone did the entire workout on the board, but I used the time to work on my flip turns. I must say I was surprised that after about 6 or 7 of them, I stopped having issues of water up my nose which is why I hate them. I didn't get to a point where they were flawless by any stretch, most times I didn't judge the distance to the wall well enough and had nothing to push off from. I'm planning to have it all down by March though! Todd and Monica also video taped our swimming. I haven't looked at the video yet, but Jen commented that I need to work on "attacking" the water and being more aggressive with my pull. I forsee alot of pulling only workouts in my future. We did have some fun goofing off in the water--oh to have an 80 degree outdoor pool for swimming year round!



Time flies when you're having fun. Day 3 dawned too early (thanks Jennifer for the wake up call!) and after a quick breakfast it was off to a state park for some trail running. Heather is such a rock star, she started even earlier than the rest of us and banged out a 5k race (in which she won her age group) before meeting up with us and running some more. Pace buddy Molly and I had a pleasant 4 mi run together. Soon it was off to the beach for some fun in the 56 degree water. All the snow birds on the beach were looking at us like we were crazy for donning our "rubber suits" and getting in the water. There were a couple other wackos in the water, one old lady in a bikini got in up to her shoulders! My hands and feet were ok after the first few minutes, but putting my face in was hard since it took my breath away. We did two loops around the bouy and called the workout done!


I'm starting to think I'm lazy, but I'm not used to 3 workouts a day or biking after running. After lunch it was time to head out for our 54 mile bike. Time to HTFU and push it. The first loop was paceline riding, with Heather encouraging, pulling, and pushing me to keep up with the fast chicks for the second half of the loop. I lost them at a light 4 miles from the bike shop but was able to hook up with Melissa and Molly and we cruised on into the bike shop. The second lap loomed, and my legs aready were fried. Molly was gutting it out too so she and I rode together and worked hard to keep a good 17-18mph pace while trading off the lead. That post-ride hot tub and beer never felt/tasted so good!


Our last day in Florida included a long run (8 miles) on very tired legs and strength training. I had to do a quick shower and change before leaving at noon to catch my flights home and was sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to everyone. Husband, kids and dog were so glad to see me. I learned some things about myself this weekend. Balance is important to me--I might not be the fastest out there, but that's ok. I can work harder and not blow up. Now it's back to reality and it'll be a tough week. Bring it--I'm strong.