Triathlete 4 Life

  I have no idea how many half marathons I've ran; standalone 13.1 mile run races since 2005 but the Pacers Running DC Half Marathon might go down as the most consistent-ly ran; pace-wise of course. It seems most of my long runs; the long runs I decided to run, were ran in the early am hours during the summer with heat, humidity and all the sunshine. It was the icing on the cake that race day temps were in the 60s with mostly cloudy skies. Before I go into the recap of running around DC which combined many routes with added crowd support, a cute short sleeve race tee, a cute piece of bling, and most important the beach towel; I highly recommend this race to anyone who wants to see history by foot.  Pre-Race Day Made my way to Pacers Running Store at Navy Yard via metro. I did packet pickup in the early afternoon the day before. I had my choice between the Georgetown shop or the Navy Yard shop. Even with the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals fans flooding metro to Nationals Par

I decided to expand a bit more on my experience from the Steelman Racing OWS Classic 3 Miler that I completed back in August. A bit more detail as I wrote more words and some more thoughts from the original Waterlogged recap published in mid-September.  Hoodie Towel and Finisher Medal Pic On Sunday August 18 th I was able to accomplish a goal that I had planted in my head during the summer of 2010. I completed my first ever 5k open water swim race at Steelman Racing Open Water Classic 3 Miler up in Quakertown PA. I had only done open water swimming as part of multi-sport races; with a bike and mostly run after the swim so it was nice to only do an event where I swam. I had come to love swimming in the open water because of triathlon and having completed 4 Ironman distance swim (roughly 2.4 miles) I thought this swim distance would be perfect for me. I had signed up for this open water swim event in April thinking I would have all summer to train properly; but that wasn’t the case. Goi

It's been almost a month since I ran the Pacers Running DC Half Marathon in Washington DC. Life has gotten really busy and hectic as I wanted to find the right words to express the meaning these three gals who have had in such a short time. Theresa, Ann and Ilene have such caring, kind, and warm hearts as well as a good head attached their shoulder. I chose to dedicate the DC Half Marathon to 3 gals who I met through the sport; first virtually then IRL (In Real Life). Each of these gals have much more life experience than me. I've enjoyed finding out more about them and their life stories; in whatever we converse from time to time. I may not know as much about each of these wonderful women as I can as our friendships are still blooming and blossoming and there is so much still to learn. But from the conversations we've had; their experiences help me out from time to time. Theresa, Ann and Ilene have all helped me grow and become a better version of me. These dedications are

That I'm PROUD of myself. I took up triathlon 20 years ago not realizing just how life changing it would become. It's been my choice to stay in the sport even when at times (which there are so many of them) I have felt like there is no place for me and so many times I got very close to walking away. It's been good and bad as well as pretty and ugly but I'm here. It's taken so much courage to go through this journey. It's personal. It's meaningful. It's my journey to own. No one can take away what I've accomplished since 2004; whether the big wins or the little wins as they all matter. I've learned so much and I'll continue to learn as more seasons go by.  That I'm okay with this journey being so lonely at this point. I won't take all the blame for this aspect but I will acknowledge that I could have done things differently. I'm happy that I have a small and very special supportive community surrounding me. A few have been there si

  On Sunday August 18th I accomplished a goal I had set back in the middle of 2010; to swim a 5k in the open water without a bike or run attached. My training was very sub-par as my summer was really busy working round the clock at a few pools. When I wasn't working at the pools; I just wanted to get away from them. I don't like making excuses, but I didn't have the time to do the longer swims I should have done and the longer swims I wanted to do. I had 3 hours to complete this 3-mile open water. I knew I could get it done as completing the swim was the only thing that mattered. I had 3 hours to swim what was well over 3 miles in just over 2 hours. I was just happy to finish. It was honestly the hardest athletic accomplishment I've completed in my life as an athlete. It took me a bit over 2 hours. I had times during the last two laps; it was a 6-lap swim that my legs cramped up from being dehydrated. I was in a dark place thinking I wouldn't be able to finish. I le

On Sunday August 18th I completed my first open water swim race; without a bike and/or run attached to the end of it. There were so many years; 14 years to be exact of getting this dream accomplished. More in the race recap sometime this coming weekend; but this endurance swim was the hardest and most grueling athletic event I've ever completed. There are so many mermaids known as those that have a passion for being in the water; that I could have given the dedications to. Just like the ongoing journey in the sport changes and evolves over time so did the dedications; well in some ways. All three mermaids; I've known for a few years but have each had a special impact on me. No one gets a certain mile dedicated to them but they each get a story shared of how they have each impacted me. I have only known all three of them for a short amount of time but I've enjoyed learning the little bit I know. So when you are ready; take a deep breath before going under water and remember