Tuesday, March 29, 2016

#Operation Top 5 Weeks 11 & 12: Playing Catch Up + Training Camp

Hellooooooooo!

I'm BA-ACK!

I had every intention of blogging while we were away last week but it never happened.  I needed to take some time away from my computer.  The week leading up to our trip was one of the most stressful weeks I've had in a very long time.  I was mentally exhausted by the time I walked out the door on Friday night.  I didn't "catch up" on my rest until Monday.  Our flight out on Saturday was at 6:15 am which meant that I only got about 5 hours sleep.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The week leading up to our trip was a pretty easy week for me workout wise.  My coach wanted me to go into training camp rested.  Which I wasn't really, given the week of work I had.  I only had 4 hours and 20 minutes of workouts.  Had I done the Olympic race I signed up for, I would have been closer to 7 hours but I opted not to race.  I was feeling so worn out and my head wasn't even remotely in the game.  I just wanted to sleep.  I don't like to go into races feeling stressed or tired so as much I think that would have been a good benchmark race for me, I also didn't want to stress my body even further by pushing myself.  If it was a sprint race I probably would have done it as it would have been less than 1h 45 minutes but an Olympic distance race probably would have put me at 2h 40 minutes or so of going hard.  Given that I had a full week of training ahead of me that I wanted to feel good for, I opted to skip it and watch G instead.

When I got up race morning to pouring rain, I was REALLY happy with my decision.  The sun ended up coming out on the run, which made it smoking hot on the run course.  I certainly wasn't ready for that heat!  It was nice to spectate in though, ha ha.

After the race, the camp kicked off with an easy ride out to a town called Winter Garden.  It was beautiful and it had a local brewery so of course G and I made a mental note to go back there later on in the week and check it out.   The ride was pancake flat and we rode to this great little coffee shop to chat and get to know everyone.  We rode back nice and easy with a few sprints thrown in for those of us that were feeling energetic and then we regrouped for dinner at Sheri's house (the other coach who runs the camp).  G and I were staying at the Marriott nearby but ended up moving to a beautiful townhouse owned by one of Sheri's friends that was just around the corner from Sheri.  We had more room than we needed and a full kitchen.  It was perfect.

G and I taking a break in Winter Garden
 Monday was our first big day.   It started with stroke analysis in a lovely outdoor pool.  Unfortunately the temperature had dropped the night before due to the rain so it was quite chilly.  Still warmer than Toronto but chilly none the less.  We were in the water for a couple of hours and then it was on to the bike.  We were going to be riding on the Van Fleet Trail.  It was totally flat.  We had some rollers at the start but once we got on the trail it was pancake flat.  Paolina took myself, G and Dierdre (another one of her athletes) ahead of the group and told us we were going to be doing a tempo set.  So we essentially pace lined like you see in the team time trial at the Tour de France.  We'd take turns going super hard at the front for a couple of minutes each and then pull off and go to the back of the Pain Train.  We got up to 46 kph!  It was insane.

Deirdre and Paolina before the Pain Train started
I worked really hard for that section of the ride.  Thankfully the ride back was easy.  We even stopped to check out some gators.  Total mileage for the day was just over 100km on the bike.  Not a bad way to start off my week!


Tuesday was a 12km trail run in the morning followed by an easy ride to a bakery in the afternoon.  The temperature had started to rise and I was overdressed for the run.   It was pretty awesome and I was surprised at how good my legs felt after the previous days ride.

Wednesday we went out to the National Training Centre for more swim stroke work and an actual workout.  It was a 25 yard pool set up but I didn't care.  It was amazing to be outside in the sunshine.  I wore my Garmin but kept forgetting to turn it on so I think we ended up doing almost 4000m vs. the 2450m that it actually counted.  We were in the water for a very long time.  And of course I had to test out the underwater capabilities of my new toy.  After the swim, we did a quick upper body workout at the gym with Paolina.


Yup.  It's waterproof!
After the swim we headed out to the Clermont Hills.  By this point it was scorching hot.  We did loops of Buckhorn Road, which is a road filled with rollers and a couple of good steep climbs.  Then we circled around and climbed Sugarloaf Mountain Road.  By that point my legs were toast.  I squeaked up that hill.   We took the easy way back and I was very happy to be off my bike.  63km done that day. 


The next day (Thursday) was our long run of the week.  We were headed to the Orange Grove clay trail.  It was also a really early start (7:00 am).  The plan was to run 16km.  That would be my longest run this year.  I wasn't sure how my legs would feel given the beating they had been subjected to the day before but that's what my Zoot recovery tights + Vega recovery accelerator were for!  I slept in my recovery tights until about 3 am and then got up to take them off.  I swear they made a huge difference.
16km of this.  Plus some rollers for good measure.

Nothing beats running with the sunrise

Spectators
I ran that 16km at a very comfortable pace.  I had no knee pain except for a few tweaks in the latter km's when I was running down hill.  My legs never felt tired or sore.  I was over the moon happy when I finished. I was even able to pick it up over the last km.   That was the best run I've had in ages.  I was expecting to be sore and tired but as the week progressed I started to feel better and stronger.  I'm chalking it up to not sitting all day.  I'm convinced the more you stand and move, the better you feel.

After the run we headed back home for a second breakfast and then made our way over to Lake Minneola to practice our open water swimming.  Both Sheri and Paolina gave me some instruction on what they wanted to see me change.  My body position is good as is my kick but my upper body isn't rolling and I'm very "delicate" when I enter the water.  I worked on my stroke when we were at the NTC and practiced the things they wanted me to practice when we were in open water.  This new technique has me using my shoulders way more.  I was so tired after swimming 50m like that, that I had to stop and take a break.  It's going to take me a while to get used to swimming this way and I'm definitely going to have to work on my shoulder strength.  I was actually a bit sore the next day.

Friday was our hardest day yet.  It was our brick day.  I thought it would be a long ride followed by a long run but boy was I mistaken.  We went to Lake Louisa State Park and practiced our transitions.  We set up our bikes and everything else we'd need to go from swim to bike to run.  We weren't going to actually swim, but we did practice running in bare feet to our bikes.  The park had a 13.5km beautifully paved loop and the plan was to ride that 3-4 times, with a 2km run after each loop.  Paolina had told me to build into it and that my 3rd lap should be the hardest.  We did a warm up lap to check out the course and then we were off.   I rode the first lap pretty hard.  Probably a bit too hard.  I came back in "racked" my bike, threw on my shoes and started running.  My knees were killing me, which was not good.  I ran on the trail which seemed to aggravate them a bit more so I quickly made my way out to the pavement where they seemed to settle down.  


Then I had a couple of minutes rest and it was back onto the bike.  I told Paolina that I had gone too hard on that first lap so I cruised the second lap.  I pushed on the flats and downhills but spun easy up the climbs.  I came back in and then went out on my second run.  I ran with Paolina and we were cranking out a pretty good pace.  I actually ran 2.6km for that brick.  We ran back, and I took another 2 minute break and then Paolina said it was go time.  This was going to be my hardest lap.  I hopped on my bike, and started chasing her.  Holy crap.  I was able to hang on to her until we got to any sort of incline and then I slowed down.  My legs and lungs were screaming at me.  I just don't have the leg strength to power up hills like she does.  I got into "transition" and almost barfed.  I racked my bike and pulled on my shoes.  I tried to pick up the pace but my legs were toast.  My Garmin will beep and tell me what my recovery is like and part way through my 2km run it beeped to tell me my recovery had gone from "Good" to "Fair".  Ha.  No kidding.  I was toast.  That last 2km run was the slowest of the day for me.  But I didn't care.  I had just done a triple brick.  I've never done anything like that before in my life.  It was hard.  It hurt.  But it was also AWESOME.  I've been told I'll be getting a few more workouts like that over the coming months.  Bring it on I say!

After that we went back to Sheri's and did about 40 minutes of yoga.  I really needed that.  We then went back home, showered refueled and chilled out before heading out to dinner with the group.  Some people were heading home early the next day so we thought it would be nice to have dinner together before people left.

Saturday was the last day of official camp activities and it started with a free 5km Park Run race.  They hold this free race every Saturday morning in Waterfront Park.  Paolina and I talked game plan the night before.  I wasn't sure what I'd be capable of since I've done ZERO speed work this year and I had just put quite the beatdown on my legs.  I figured somewhere between 21-22 minutes would be ideal.  She told me not to start out too fast but to build into it.

G and I ran to the park, it was roughly 2km from the condo so I had a nice little warm up run.  My knees were very sore when I started running.  They felt like they weren't tracking properly.  But once I got going, they were totally fine.  It was hot and muggy even at 7:30 am.  Thankfully it was also overcast.  There was a decent crowd of people ranging in age.  We all lined up and listened to announcements, had a round of applause for the volunteers and waited for the MC to yell GO.  Then we were off.  Of course I took off like a shot and had to dodge people because I didn't seed myself correctly.   My legs didn't fresh but they didn't feel awful either.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I pushed it through that first km and when my Garmin beeped I saw 4:09/km.  Oops.  That was too fast.  I tried to settle into a more sustainable pace.   I chugged along trying to keep the leaders in my sight.  One guy was pulling away from the group really quickly.  At the 2km mark the race had strung out.  I was the lead female and had no clue how close the second place woman was.  My 2nd km was 4:10.  Still too fast.  I figured I'd pay for that towards the end of the race.  We turned around and the first thing I noticed was the wind.  It was in my face.  That slowed me down a fair bit.  I really struggled running into it.  We were also running slightly uphill and I felt that.  My 3rd and 4th km were 4:17 and 4:19.  Ouch.  We ran out to another turn around so I knew I'd have the wind at my back on the way back in.  My goal was to pick it up over the last km.  I started reeling the guy in front of me in.  Had we had another 500m, I may have caught him but he rolled across the line about 5 seconds in front of me.  I ran down the chute and heard them call out 21:16.   After everything I put my body through that week and my lack of speed work, I was really happy with that time.

We walked back to our condo and got ourselves ready for our "recovery ride".  We were heading back to Winter Garden for a nice easy ride to spin out our legs and stop for a coffee and brunch.  The sun had started to come out and it was nice and warm.  It was the perfect morning for a ride.  We cruised along the bike path at a nice clip.  G and I had brunch and a cappuccino while the rest of the crew went out and checked out the local market.  We sat outside for an hour or so and then got on our bikes and rode back.  An easy 40km.  It was perfect.  


When we got back, G and I packed up our bikes, did some laundry and then packed up most of our stuff.  We were going to Sheri's for dinner so we grabbed all the leftovers from the fridge and brought them to her place.  The last supper was a mish mash of everyone's left overs.  It was pretty darn delicious.

Sunday was our day to explore so we slept in (finally!) then packed up the truck and hit the road.  We drove around the area, checking out small towns, we went to Daytona Beach and then by Cape Canaveral before heading to the airport.  It was a lovely way to end our "holiday".


I am amazed that my body withstood the volume that it did.  I felt better as the days went on.  This trip was exactly what I needed, mentally & physically.    I logged almost 20 hours of training.  This is how it broke out:

Swim:  5800m
Bike:  342km
Run:  41.6km

Lots of benchmarks for me in terms of mileage.  Longest run this year as well as longest ride (so far) this year.  I was on the fence about racing the Around the Bay Relay I had signed up for but now, I'm 100% in.  Bring it on.

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter! 





Wednesday, March 16, 2016

And We Have A Winner(s)

Happy Hump Day Gang!  Only 3 more days till I'm off to Clermont, Florida for my first race of the year and a training camp.  I'm really looking forward to the camp.  The race, well, I don't know.  I always have a bit of pre-race anxiety, especially for the first race of the season.  It's also an Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10k run) and while I know my swimming and cycling are pretty good right now, my running is not.   This will be my first run off the bike.   Ideally you've done at least ONE brick leading up to a race but given the state of affairs with my glut, I didn't get a chance to do any brick work.  So, this should be interesting to say the least. 

I am really looking forward to the time away from work.  I haven't been sleeping well due to stress so once I"m away, I should be able to forget about work and recharge my batteries.  Training and not sleeping don't go hand in hand so I think I'll probably be dragging my butt for the first few days of training camp.  But that's ok.  At least I won't be working!  WOOOHOOO!

I'm really excited to bust out all the cute Zoot gear I just bought.  Not to mention these shoes.  I christened them yesterday on a rainy 9km run.  They are amazing.  They are Zoots latest triathlon shoe and they're pretty sweet.  I'll probably post a full review on them after I've logged some more miles in them. 

In the meantime, let's get down to business!  I've got 3 winners for my Endurance Tap giveaway and here they are!  Congrats Aileen, Prasert and Lily!


If you could send me a note (phaedrakennedy at sympatico dot ca)  with your details, I'll pass it along to the guys at Endurance Tap so they can ship you your product!  Thanks to everyone that entered!

Hope everyone has a fabulous day!






Sunday, March 13, 2016

#OperationTop5: Week 10: FTP Test and A Week from Hell

I'm dreading tomorrow.  Absolutely dreading it.  Why?  Because I know what this coming week is going to be like.  This past week was B-R-U-T-A-L it was so busy.   I haven't been this busy at work in a very long time.  I had two shoots happening on the same day, plus 3 others that are happening over the next 2 weeks.  To top it all off, we're heading to Florida on the 19th.  This always happens whenever I go away.  Especially if I'm going away for a race.  It's like the Universe wants to wear me down.  The older I get the more stress really takes a toll on me.   Suffice to say by the time Friday hit, I was done.  Mentally and physically exhausted.  I had my delayed FTP test on Saturday morning.   I slept fairly well until about 4 am when I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep due to G's snoring.  I got up and went to the spare bedroom and fell back asleep for a couple of hours.  I had set my alarm for 6:15 as the plan was to get on the bike for 7:00 am so I could get my ride done and we could go outside for a recovery ride since it was supposed to be really nice.

I made my way to the Pain Cave, got on the bike and did my warm up.  My legs didn't feel great.  I had a feeling that was going to be the case.  I made sure I did a really good warm up.  I hit all my high cadence work but I just felt kinda "meh".  I only had 1 hour total with 20 of it being my FTP so at 40 minutes in, it was go time.  I didn't go too hard at the start.  I've done that before and faded so I built into the pace.  Within 5 minutes I was sweating buckets.  This was hard.  I kept glancing at my power meter.  I wasn't seeing numbers that I liked.  I seemed to be barely able to hold 200w.  10 minutes in and my legs were screaming at me.  I put my head down and pedalled as hard as I could manage.  I had sweat pouring down my face and dripping off my arms.  I was gasping for air.  I finally made it to the end and hit lap so I could start my cool down.  I had no idea how that went other than it really hurt.

When I uploaded my workout after, I saw that I was 3 watts less than I was when I did my first test in January (221 vs 218).  I was pretty bummed out.  You don't want to lose power, you want to gain it.   But, as G pointed out, I did my first test on a different bike and I took 10 days off riding the week before and I've been really stressed out so it stands to reason that things will be different.   And, it's only 3 watts.  I'm sure my next test will be different.   Especially after a week of training camp.

This morning our swim was cancelled due to high chlorine levels in the pool.  So, I lounged around for a bit and then headed out for my run.   I had 1 hour on the schedule, which would be my longest run this year.  It wasn't pretty but I got it done.  I covered 12km in an hour and it was a bit harder than I would have liked but it was SO windy I had to fight to keep moving forward!  I took my new toy out for a spin as well.  I got a GoPro Hero 4.  It's pretty awesome and fairly easy to use.  It's going to get a lot of use when we're in Florida!

Without further ado,  I'm going to jump right into my week of training.  I'm linking up with Holly (HohoRuns) and Tricia (Mississippi Piddlin) for their Weekly Wrap.  Join in the fun or check out what all the other active ladies have gotten up to this past week!



Looking back at my week, I have to say I'm pretty pleased with how it all rolled out.  I actually got almost all of my workouts done.  If the pool hadn't been closed this morning I would have had a nice series of green boxes.  Oh minus my workout with my trainer, which I rescheduled due to my FTP test.



Monday:  OFF

Tuesday:  50 minutes of strength work in the a.m. and 75 minutes of cycling in the p.m.  All hill climbing.


Wednesday:  2600m swim

Thursday:  9.2km run at stupid o'clock in the morning due to work.



Friday:  2800m swim.  And I finally hit the 1,000,000 meter mark!



Saturday:  Double bike ride day:  1 hour on the trainer in the morning 37km outside in the sunshine in the afternoon.  March 12 in Canada and I'm riding outside in shorts.  I call that WINNING!



Sunday:  12.2km + a nap.



Total time:  8h 11 minutes.  Happy to be back at it!

This time next week, I will be recovering in the Florida sun!  Woohoo!

How was your week of training?  Have you entered my Endurance Tap giveaway yet?  There will be 3 lucky winners!!!







Wednesday, March 9, 2016

What I've Tried: Endurance Tap + Another Giveaway + A Winner

Happy Hump Day Gang!

The first order of business is to announce the winner of the Momentum Jewelry discount code...

Drumroll please.....



Congrats Holly! Watch your inbox for your discount code.

Just as one giveaway ends, another one begins!  C-R-A-Z-Y!

I've been waiting to share this review and contest for a while but wanted to wait until Endurance Tap was available in the US.  Good news!  The awesome folks at Endurance Tap are now distributing in the US so this contest will be open to residents of Canada and the US.  Woohoo!

I'm sure some of you are wondering just what is Endurance Tap?  It's a fuel source (like a gel) that is made from maple syrup, ginger and sea salt all packed up into a handy, easy to use package.  Oh and did I mention it's delicious?  Of course it is, it's maple syrup!  I'm almost tempted to try it on pre-run oatmeal or pancakes it's that good.

As a coach I often get asked about fueling and products I'd recommend so I make a point of trying new things.   I have a stomach of steel when it comes to sports nutrition.  Not much upsets my stomach, so I'm never hesitant to try something new.   Fueling is such a personal thing.  What may work for me, may not work for you.  I was excited to get the opportunity to try Endurance Tap.  I had heard about them through various Social Media channels and I thought the product sounded like a great alternative for people looking for a more natural fuel source.

Endurance Tap was started by two friends, Matt & Pat who are both endurance athletes.  They became frustrated with many of the "natural" fueling products on the market and decided to take matters into their own hands.  Being Canadian, they tapped into one of our country's greatest resources - maple syrup.  And Endurance Tap was born.

Endurance Tap is different from the usual gel products on the market in that it is a pure, whole food product.  It is not derived from anything.  Most energy gels are made with maltodextrin which is technically an additive and is usually derived from corn.   Maltodextrin can cause energy spikes, which isn't a bad thing if you feel like you want that jolt of energy at the end of a race.  If you're doing a long distance race it makes more sense to have an even energy release so you avoid the spikes and crashes in energy.  Maple syrup delivers an even energy release.  The addition of ginger aids in digestion.  Ginger also calms the stomach.   Endurance Tap has high levels of potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium and maganese.  All good things in aiding the prevention of cramps as well.

I used it on a 2 hour indoor trainer ride in conjunction with my normal hydration products and I never felt my energy levels flag.  I also no stomach bloat afterwards (I tend to have a bit of bloating using other products).   As I mentioned before, the taste is great, you really can't go wrong with maple syrup.  I never noticed the ginger at all, and I think the addition of the salt tempers the sweetness of the maple syrup perfectly.

Texture wise, it differs from most gels in that it is much less viscous.  We all know how easily maple syrup pours out of a bottle. This is no different, which would be beneficial to those folks out there that don't like the texture of gels.  It's easy to swallow and you don't necessarily need to chase it with fluid.

The packaging is so much easier to open and use versus normal gel packaging.  If you don't take the entire gel all at once, you can screw the cap back on and avoid getting covered in a sticky mess.  I can't tell you how many times my hands, gloves and pockets have been covered in gel goo because I haven't taken a whole gel all at once.   Definitely a well thought out design! 

Thanks to the guys at Endurance Tap, THREE lucky readers are going to get the chance to win a 6 pack of this tasty gel!

Contest is open to residents of the US and Canada.  Contest closes at midnight on Tuesday March 15th.  Entry is as simple and clicking the Rafflecopter giveaway below.

Have you ever tried fueling with a natural product?  If so, what was it? 


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer:  I was provided with product in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own. 

Sunday, March 6, 2016

#OperationTop5 Week 9: Back in Business

What a difference a week makes!  Last week I was moaning and groaning about my glut.  This week, I've done a complete 360.  My glut is better and I'm back in business.  Not without a lot of A.R.T and rest though.  I think swimming really helped stretch me out so I'm grateful I was able to do that at least.  I decided to test things out on Thursday morning (which was also my birthday - you can read my birthday post here).  I tentatively hopped on the bike and started pedalling.  Nothing, no pain.  I pushed a bit harder.  Still no pain, just a little tightness.  45 minute sweaty minutes later I got off the bike with a huge grin on my face.  Best.  Birthday.  Present.  Ever.



This week at work was a busy one but we always take the time to celebrate birthdays so on Wednesday, it was one of the photographer's birthdays and we had these amazing donuts.  Thursday it was my birthday as well as another one of the photographers that I work with so of course there was cake.   And yes, that says what you think it says.  I keep things pretty clean here but I have a bit of a potty mouth.   Suffice to say I've eaten my weight in sugar this week.  I think I've had cake or something sweet every day since Wednesday.  Your birthday comes once a year - I say live it up.


We went out with a couple of good friends for dinner last night to celebrate and of course we pretty much closed the place down.  I had two glasses of wine and was ready to fall asleep at the table, ha ha.  I'm such a light weight.  It was a lot of fun and it was great to catch up with everyone.  I didn't get to bed until midnight which is super late for me so I skipped my morning swim.   Once in a while, you need a sleep in.  Today was that day.  Which brings me to the BIG news this week.  I finally hit double digits with my running!  Yup.  I ran 10.5km today before my legs said ok that's enough.  WOOHOOOOO!

I'm linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap.  This is how my week went downnnn....


Monday:  OFF

Tuesday:  OFF

Wednesday:  2300m swim

Thursday:  45 minute ride

Friday:  2500m swim

Saturday:  2h 15 minute ride on the trainer and my longest ride this year.  I'm BAAAACK BABY!!!  Lots of zone 3 work.  Holy smokes was I ever drenched after that ride.



Sunday:  10.5km pain free run.  I definitely felt the bike ride in my legs but other than that, it was pretty freaking awesome.  It was so nice to be outside running in the sunshine!  I was clearly pretty happy about it.  I suspect my legs will probably be sore tomorrow but I don't care.


Total time:  5h 37 minutes.  It should have been 10 hours.  But whatever, I've got a training camp in 2 weeks that I want to be 100% healthy for so I'm not fretting about what I've missed.

How was your week? 

Don't forget to enter my Momentum Jewelry discount code giveaway!




Thursday, March 3, 2016

45 Lessons I've Learned from Running & Triathlon

Today's the day.  The day I officially change age groups.  WOOHOO!  You know you're a triathlete when this is a good thing, ha ha.  It's going to be nice to be the young one in the age group again.  Not that it's going to make things any easier but it's helpful, ha ha.



Mentally I still feel like I'm 25 but lately my body has been telling me otherwise.  There are a lot more aches and pains and it doesn't seem to take much to tweak something.  Every week there seems to be a bit more grey in my hair.  Sleep is becoming a precious commodity at certain times of the month.  Things are definitely a-changing.  That's life.


via GIPHY

In honor of my "aging up' to 45 years young, I'm going to share 45 things I've learned over my many years of running and triathlon.

1.  Miles go by faster with friends.

2.  Really long bike rides always lead to really interesting conversations.

3.  I'm stronger than I give myself credit for.

4.  There's nothing like a race to truly test one's limits

5.  You CAN teach an old dog new tricks

6.  Boob chafing is a real and painful thing.

7.  Forget diamonds, body glide and chamois cream are a woman's best friend.  See #6

8.  Shame is a word that has ceased to exist in my vocabulary and in my behaviour. This becomes more apparent with every passing year.

9.  I've become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

10.  Never trust a fart in an Ironman.

11.  Don't forget to breathe.

12.  Some workouts are going to be awesome, some workouts are going to suck.  Sometimes you just don't know what you're going to get until you start moving.

13.  Never be afraid to try.

14.  Getting to the start line is half the battle.

15.  Sleep is NOT overrated.

16.  Neither is crying.  Sometimes it's necessary.

17.  Nothing worth doing is going to be easy.

18.  The smallest things can make the biggest difference.

19.  Your mind can be your best asset or your worst enemy.  Train it well.

20.  Bad workouts happen, it's not the end of the world.

21.  Tomorrow is another day to try again.

22. Comparison is the thief of joy.  Do your own thing!

23.  Sometimes you need to think less and just do it.

24.  It's ok to fail.

25.  You can't control everything, especially the weather.  Learn to go with the flow.

26.  No one looks good in race photos.

27.  Smile when you're hurting.  You'll feel better!

28.  Always have a back up plan.

29.  Don't be afraid to dream big.

30.  Things could always be worse.

31.  Always wear sunscreen.

32.  Shit happens.  Literally and figuratively.

33.  ABYOTP - always bring your own toilet paper - see #32

34.  A good run will solve almost any problem.

35.  Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.

36.  Pain is temporary but the pride of your accomplishment lasts forever.

37.  There's no such thing as a worthwhile short cut.  Except maybe one that gets you to a bathroom faster.

38.  Never underestimate the power of a good warm up.  Especially as you get older.

39.  When you pass another runner or cyclist, wave hello.  It's the nice thing to do.

40.  Peeing in your wetsuit is a right of passage.  Everybody does it.

41.  Pay attention.  You may miss something wonderful.

42.  Rest is part of the program.

43.  Treat your body with respect.  It's the only one you've got.

44.  Don't dwell on your failures.  Learn from them and move on.

45.  Age really is just a number written on the back of my calf.


What lessons have you learned through running or triathlon?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for 40% off at Momentum Jewelry!