Hello everyone!! Hope everyone had a great weekend and guess what? I have another race recap for you from the San Diego Triathlon Classic this weekend! This season started off slow with some clumsy accidents, but glad I’m getting into the rhythm of triathlon racing. Can’t believe there are just a couple more months of the 2016 triathlon season. Then time to eat a lot of donuts and get ready for 2017 race season ;) 
Friday morning started off with an hour bike ride before work just to spin out my legs and to make sure my chain was properly lubed (dry chain = THE WORST). Left work early to pick up my race packet because the race was on a Saturday this time around and took Elle on a run. She ran her first mile on Friday!! We are so excited for many more miles to come.
I went into this race with very, very, very low expectations. I started off the week with a sinus infection that still hasn’t fully cleared, and didn’t know how that was going to affect my race performance. Not to mention, the bike course was pretty killer and probably the most climbing I’ve done in a race to date. My expectations were so low to the point where I didn’t even bring a Breakaway Training shirt to change into after because I figured I would go home straight after the race. Because of the low expectations, I started the race super calm, which is extremely out of character for me. 
Woke up Saturday morning coughing up my lungs, clogged sinuses that were keeping me from breathing, changed into my tri kit, packed up some oatmeal to eat in the car, and we were off to Liberty Station for the race! I was racing the sprint and for some reason, they thought it would be a good idea to have all 100+ women starting the swim together. From where Elle and Anthony are watching, you can see all of our hot pink swim caps bobbing together in the water. 
The swim… was brutal. I am definitely not a strong swimmer and those 750 meters felt like a 1000. Plus, having so many women start at the same time did not help- it resulted in a lot of salt water intake, veering off course, and losing a lot of time going back on course and trying to sight. Needless to say, after this race and a good talk with Jason… I will most definitely be needing a swim coach!! 
Once I was out of the water, it was time to start the extremely hilly bike course! The course goes through Cabrillo National Monument as well as the Point Loma Naval base. So many riders were hopping off their bike to push it up some of the hills. Even though the course was tough, that was probably the most fun I’ve had during the bike portion of any duathlon and triathlon. There was constant winding and turning, nice rolling hills, great descents that helped me make up some time, and for once, it was nice passing people on hills instead of them passing me! Not to mention the beautiful views of San Diego at the top of every climb. 
The 5K was through a lot of dirt and trail, but after climbing a small bridge, it was flat the rest of the way! This reminded me that I need to run trail a lot more often- Dirt is a lot harder to run in than pavement. To be perfectly honest, I felt like I was doing this entire race in slow motion. From being sleep deprived, sick, and delirious, I really do not know how I got from start to finish. Finished in an hr and 43 minutes with a whole lot of motivation to ride a lot more. Cycling when you’re not breaking things is kind of fun. 
Shout out to these two for running along side me at some points to take all the great photos above and waking up at an ungodly hour on Saturday to come watch me race. Elle told me I owe her a new toy and like 5 extra hours at the dog park this week. 
Had a lot of fun running into my two teammates above. Brent did the Olympic distance and finished 4th in his age group and Gunnar finished third overall in the Sprint!!! We are so grateful for the constant support from the BT coaches (Felipe, Luke, Adam, and Chris), our sponsors, and our tri community. Being part of the Orange Family is 90% why I am starting to like triathlon a lot more than just running, despite being the worst swimmer and cyclist in the world. Need a coach? Breakaway Training is the way to go! 
Oh, remember how I had zero expectations? I told Anthony before we were about to leave that I wanted to see what my time was. Found out I somehow placed second in my age group and top 20 in females. I guess none of us really knew how to climb that hill that day! Instead of leaving, we stayed for the award ceremony. With 12 girls in my age group this time around, it finally felt like a real podium… but where are number 1 and 3?! C’mon ladies! 
A really big fan of the podium medals. All in all, I felt like this is one of the best races I’ve been to in the multisport world. It was extremely well organized, had a designated parking lot for athletes that was less than a block away from the transition area, and really awesome swag- trucker hats for the win! Despite the tough course, this is definitely a race I’m coming back for.
Biggest takeaways from this race:
– BIKE BIKE BIKE BIKE AND THEN BIKE SOME MORE
– Climb some hills
– Don’t get sick and bring a jacket everywhere you go just in case
– I need a swim coach ASAP 
After the race, I had to head to the airport in two hours to visit my best friends in San Francisco but before we left.. these two really needed to squeeze in a power nap. Spectating is exhausting business ;)
1. I am loving our dog park visits with Elle. She has a blast running around and meeting other dogs, and Anthony and I get a nice mile walk in every time we take her. Fresh air, time together, and extra cardio for all of us! 
2. Reunion with Beta Alumni! Anthony and I were both heavily involved in Greek Life as undergrads. This past weekend, his fraternity had an alumni and active members reunion. It was so great seeing all of his friends again, meeting some of the new chapter members, and being back on campus. Not to mention I was sweetheart for this fraternity, so they have an extra special place in my heart! 
3. Meeting up with Beta’s new chapter sweetheart, Megan! A fraternity sweetheart is a female that goes above and beyond in her friendship and loyalty for a particular fraternity. She is the definition of sweetness, kindness, and I am so happy to have passed the torch onto her. 
4. Poke Bowls! I am glad San Diego has finally caught onto the poke and sushi-burrito craze. In the past two years, four poke food places have opened up. The way the restaurant works is kind of like Chipotle. You pick a base layer of either rice, salad, chips, or a mixture, and then start adding layers of goodness ranging from various types of raw fish, to cucumbers and onions, to seaweed salad to top it off! I grabbed a poke bowl with a friend on Sunday to celebrate my birthday: layers of salad mix, salmon, shrimp, potato salad, radish, seaweed, and ginger sure hit the spot! 
5. I finally got my tri-bike fitted. Since I’ve gotten my new bike, I’ve been told of the importance of getting it fit to your body size. Even though there are general frame sizes for everyone from a certain height range, the fit customizes so you are as comfortable and efficient as you can be on your bike. Especially with triathlon bikes, you will have to be in aero bars and you want to make sure your reach isn’t too far or too short. After my accident, some of the balances issues I had were attributed to how my bike was fitting me, so before getting back on the roads, I wanted to make sure I didn’t have this problem anymore. Gregg from Pro Tour Fittings did an awesome job and made a bunch of adjustments in my seat, aero bars, and suggested for me to get a new crank for my pedals. I can’t wait to put it to work at Turbo tonight and then ride on the roads in a couple of weeks. 
6. Playing fetch with these two. Elle is finally getting the hang of the game! 
7. Uhm I have a big public announcement to everyone on this blog. CPK just brought back their strawberry shortcake dessert for the summer. This is not a drill. Go out and eat one ASAP and report back on how amazing it is!!! I can eat this dessert a million times over. 
8. Anthony and I did a little bit of exploring in North Park this past weekend. I love their hip little coffee shops, restaurants, and this pretty wall of succulents. Can I have this in my apartment please? 
9. Discovered this weekend that Elle likes popsicles! Finding little sweet treats to give to her and poor baby is teething right now, so the cold probably helped a lot in alleviating some of the pain in losing her baby teeth! 
10. Summer sangrias and date night with this man. What more could I ask for?
Let’s rewind to the rest of our Wednesday. Elle has become quite the couch hog. Nothing better than catching a sleepy pup about to wake up. 
During my lunch break yesterday, I took Elle to the dog park again. I’m trying to teach her how to play fetch but so far it’s been a game of “I got the ball and now I’m going to run away with it.” Turned out to be more of a workout for me!
Anthony went to do a couple of errands for his sister yesterday and came back with an acai bowl for me. I am really liking this whole celebrate your birthday for a week thing ;) 
I’ve been working from home the past couple of weeks since my injury since I don’t feel comfortable driving with one arm yet. However, Anthony has been taking me into the office to get caught up every now and then since and I walked into my cubicle to see my desk all decorated for my birthday. Seriously, the sweetest of coworkers. Can’t wait to spend the rest of the day celebrating!
RunMileswithSmiles 