Rev3 Weekend of Mayhem

(Me and Phil at White Pond)

I arrived at HFWT on Friday and Phil and I immediately headed to White Pond for a beautiful swim. Then I got in a fight with a dog. The doggie was super cute so I wanted kisses. We were playing and it mouthed at me (in a playful way) but it was a puppy and my lip got cut open. I thought it wasn't a big deal until I talked or smiled and saw that I clearly needed to be stitched up. I got 5 stitches, though the needle to numb it was the worst part. Doctor's orders were "No swimming". But honestly, this weekend for me was about being with my friends and having a great time. That's what triathlon is for me. It's Phil and Kate and the rest of the CREW. I love training and racing, but I love it because of them.

(My pretty lip. Now I'm like Sally from Nightmare Before Xmas)

Then I did the math... a 70.3 minus the swim is a 69.1. I could totally do that! So at race reg I cleared it with the director and was allowed to jump in after the swim for a "catered training day". I actually had a great time! I LOVE spectating and I got to see my friends finish their swim, then I hopped on my bike and went for it. I was already DQ'd so I decided to play with some of my racing strategy. I would normally have a somewhat conservative bike for a good run but I decided to test myself on my bike this time. Who cares if I walk on the run?! It's just a training day. So I employed "The Strategy", which I can't talk about because its top secret. I CAN tell you that the first step to the strategy was to go to Strong Like Bull. I cut 35 minutes off my previous time for that bike course. I felt awesome.

My run started out great. I ran the first 4 miles at an 8 min pace and was holding back. Then I started to get sick from the antibiotic I had to take for my dog fight incident. I had to stop, walk, try to run, walk, dry heave, then run again. I decided to tough it out because I'm sure I'll feel terrible during IM at some point and this would toughen me up. I made it through with the slowest half-marathon time I've ever had... but I'm very happy with it!

(The new CREW kits and gear look super hot on Miss Murder... contact me to order some)

I can't say enough about Rev3. The bike course was gorgeous and the run course was the perfect run for me. I really wish I felt better because its the kind of course where I can fly past people the entire time with the rolling hills. I'm a strong "hill shuffler" and a FAST downhill runner. I can't wait to do the whole race next year! The post race food was impressive too. There were plenty of healthy choices for an almost vegetarian, wheat free athlete like me.

I also want to say congrats to my buddy, Bill Risch. This was his first HIM and also his longest swim (by far) without dying. He killed it! I'm psyched that he's hooked and he'll be joining us for more racing asap.

And lastly, I'd like to thank my sponsors. I couldn't have done this without you... HFWT, CrazyBitchWater and JohnHirsch.org. Love you guys!

***

I asked for guesses as to why I didn't swim. You guys think I'm such a badass :)

" @ceco911

@holisticguru I heard u had swimmies and got caught with one of those hidden motors on the bike. U got away with the robot legs though"

" @tallgirlky

@holisticguru hmmm, two guesses: You wore a superfast, yet illegal, wetsuit? Your swimsuit was so cute, it was declared illegal!"

" @Ironmanjay

@holisticguru DQ'd for doping on whole foods and gaining a energy advantage on the compatition. Oh yea, then kicking the head ref u kno where"

" @TexasDevin

@holisticguru I heard you were DQ'ed because you lost your cool and punched an official in T2. Is this true? :)"

"@ dylmcnic

@holisticguru my guess is that you have no respect for the courage wolf."

" @romsfou

@holisticguru That sucks. They did not like your pocahontas look? ;-)"

" @bryanhammer

@holisticguru some kind of HTFU game gone wrong? wanted to take it easy on the competition and give someone else a chance to win the AG?"

"@DollarBillRS

@holisticguru you kicked a race official while doing a pas de chat"

"@austinslide

@holisticguru I'm gonna go with three guesses a) you forgot your wetsuit b) the organizers decided you were too awesome to swim c) you forgot how to swim :)"