Hi friends! How was everyone’s weekends?? I hope you spent a lot of it swimming, biking, and running! Remember how I told you last week I was really nervous for the Solana Beach Duathlon? Well turns out it wasn’t so bad and I’m so happy cause it’s been forever since I’ve done a race, let alone a race recap!
Let’s rewind to Saturday night and the foods that attributed to Sunday’s race day success. Anthony and I went out for Italian food with a couple of our friends. Decided to play it safe and stick with pizza with sausage and bell peppers. Not pictured: the three loaves of complementary bread they brought to our table. I definitely accomplished all of my carbo-loading goals. 
Normally I wouldn’t eat dessert the night before a race but a trip to Hammond’s for ice cream flights was too good to pass up. Plus, everyone knows ice cream and donuts are my biggest weaknesses so it’s really everyone else’s fault for suggesting it. Not my lack of self control or anything… Four flight flavors were: birthday cake, blueberry cheesecake, cinnamon swirl, and butter pecan. Two of my friends got PB Oreo and I’m still kicking myself for not adding that flavor to my ice cream flight. 
Boom. Race day. I was kind of freaking out about the bike portion of the race since I’m still not very good at shifting on my TT bike and don’t even get me started on how much I struggle with making right hand turns. A bunch of my friends and teammates have done this race before so as I was racking up my bike, they gave me a course overview and told me what to expect for the turns and where to pick up speed on the run. I headed to the start for the duathlon and for the first time in my 4 years of racing, the race did not start on time! We were set to start at 6:50am but because the street patrols were late, we started almost at 7am. There is a first time for everything. 
One of my girlfriends who lives in Solana Beach texted me the night before telling me she was going to come watch me race! She is the reason I am on Breakaway Training (her bf is one of the coaches and a pro triathlete), my advisor at UCSD, and since I’ve graduated, one of my sweetest and most supportive friends. I didn’t expect to see her until the finish line but there she was, waiting at the start of the duathlon before I even got to the start. Now that is friendship! 
After catching up with Kristen for sometime at the start, we were off! Since we started the race late, I felt like I lost some of my warm-up and the first quarter of a mile of the duathlon mile run did not feel so great. My hat was falling off, my quads were tight, and oh yeah, did you know San Diego gets humid nowadays?! Then somehow, half way through, my body decided to wake up, remembered it was in a race, and I finished the first mile with a 6:24 min/mile. 
Note to self: take out your sunglasses before the transition, not during. Spent a little more time in struggle city than I would like getting my bike, helmet, shoes, and sunglasses on before heading out to the mounting area to start the bike leg! The goal of the bike part was just to build confidence. My coach and I talked about pushing the run beyond my comfort zone but staying safe when it came to the bike. That meant getting passed A LOT but also building my confidence in racing on a bike again! After two scenic loops from Solana to Encinitas along the 101 highway, I finished the 9 mile bike leg in 33 minutes and it was time to bring it home with the final 5K!
The second transition to the run was a lot smoother than the first. By the time I started the 5K, the humidity had really started to set in but the overcast made a world of difference. For all of you that know me (or follow my blog), heat and I are mortal enemies (this is going to make my triathlon in 2 weeks super fun). I would take humidity and overcast over humidity and heat any day. I know, I’m the worst Floridian ever. One thing I started to do more during hard runs and races is looking at my pace on my Garmin. I don’t know why I didn’t do it before but it has helped me make huge improvements in my training when I know there are certain numbers I want to hit. I told myself I was not allowed to go over 7:30 minute miles during the 5K and finished the last duathlon leg in 22:18. 
My cheering squad at races just got even better with a puppy to greet me at the end! Elle’s first race and I think she’s going to like this sport considering every triathlete brought their dog to the race. Finished in 1:05:08, which is a 5 minute PR from my last (and first) duathlon in October. Once I start making improvements in my cycling, I think duathlons and I can become great friends! 
Just some of the coolest coworkers ever at the race. Both Carlos and Jason did the triathlon and braved the open water ocean swim that I had zero interest in. 
Finished 8th female overall and 1st in my age group. I promise there was another girl in my age group but I guess she didn’t want to stick around for the awards? 
I have some of the best friends and support systems in this sport! Ever since I joined Breakaway Training, I constantly have friends who challenge me and make me a better athlete everyday. Not to mention friends like Jason and Kristen who give the best pre and post-race pep talks. Can’t imagine what I would do without this community.
Thank you Breakaway Training, Coach Felipe, and all of my orange family teammates! It was awesome to hear people cheering and yelling your name, high-fiving people on the 2 loop run course, and wishing each other luck once you saw them on the course. Special thanks to Jon for his thumbs up when I felt like my legs were going to fall off in the last loop of the run. 
I think it’s safe to say the dogs had a great time at this race too. 
And of course, the perfect recovery involves a huge chocolate donut.
1. Anthony came to SF with me since I was the only one from work going and would definitely need some help working a triathlon with a healing collarbone. The moment we got there, I hit up the three gals above. Us 4 plus another friend of mine, Demi, lived together all four years of college and they are hands down my best friends. We watched the Warriors game downtown, then talked until midnight catching up. I need a thousand more nights like this. 
2. The view of a clear day in San Francisco from the top of Fort Mason. There were so many runners and cyclists out and about. Made my soul so happy. 
3. Another reason why we are all best friends. We ate a huge ice cream sundae from Ghiradelli Square at 10AM. No regrets. Anthony thought we were crazy. 
4. A four mile run with Anthony exploring the city and loving the view of the bridge from Crissy Field. 
5. 10 out of 10 would recommend a Mint Mojito Iced Coffee from Philz Coffee. Philz, please please come and open up a coffee shop in San Diego. I promise to be your number one customer! 
6. Ending up in a really scary part of San Francisco for dinner turned into a great adventure to find a less scary place to eat. Plus, chicken and waffles is always a good idea with a reunion like this. 
7. Oh yeah. That work trip I had to take? It was to work the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon ;) Best seat in the house to watch the pros come out of the water after a tough 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz! 
8.How was I this close to Olympian triathlete, Zaferes?! This girl was on fire from start to finish and held a strong second place finish! Had a blast working the expo, cheering on all the athletes, and convincing Anthony some more that Triathlon is the best sport ever. 
9. Not technically from our trip in San Francisco but this was the first time we left Elle for a weekend. I was 100% not comfortable with boarding her at such a young age, and was beyond grateful when Anthony’s mom was able to watch for the weekend. She sent us a bunch of cute photos, like this one of her making herself at home. Yesterday’s reunion with her = made my heart sing with happiness. 
And as promised, one x-ray photo of my healing collarbone! I went to the doctor’s before I flew out to SF last week and it looks like everything is where it needs to be for a strong recovery :) Pretty excited to get full range of motion in my shoulders again. After working Alcatraz this weekend, I am starting to get more and more ready to get back on the bike. Plus, I actually really miss swimming in the pool. Ready to be back on that routine!!
Well ladies and gents. That “one day” is here. In 24 days to be exact, but whose counting? I graduated from college, bought my first bike, joined the best triathlon team there is in San Diego (Breakaway Training woohoo!), and finished countless numbers of running races, including a Ragnar Relay. All the while, I had the goal of racing a triathlon in the back of my mind and one of my biggest post graduation plans. While I had little to no running background, I had even less swimming and cycling experience. Unless you count pretending to be a mermaid in the pool every summer growing up in Florida and crashing a beach cruiser my freshman year of college… But what’s the fun of training for something without the challenge?
It’s been quite the adventure, to say the least. One- cycling is really hard. Two- swimming is really hard. And cold. Three- it has been the best decision I’ve made between January to now. I’ve made some incredible friends on the Breakaway Training team who lift me up when training gets hard, who make me laugh after long days at work, and who continue to make me love this sport more and more everyday. I love weekly girl talks during Turbo Tuesday sweatfests, Thursday Track Heart Attacks, Sunday morning long runs, and hopefully sometime in the next year, I’ll be able to keep up with Saturday morning rides. 
Not to mention an awesome coach, Felipe!! I don’t know many people who would put up with me constantly texting them my irrational fears of cycling downhills, who is the first person I can cry to after a tough ride (seriously bike, why do you hate me so much?!), and who is our fearless leader on our team. Thank you coach! Not only has he been preparing me to be the best athlete I can be for this sport going forward, but now I even have a sick new tri bike thanks to him:) 
No matter what happens on May 1st for my first triathlon, I can say that I am stronger, happier, and really addicted to this sport. Like to the point where all my podcasts are triathlon and running related… And I’ve watched all versions of Ironman Konas on Youtube… and my Instagram feed is just of cycling, running, and swimming. Oh, and I’m trying to convince Mirinda Carfrae and Gwen Jorgensen to be my best friends. I’ll keep you posted on how that’s going ;) 
And to close out this long love letter to starting triathlon, I figured I would show the entire internet world the photo below. The first time I tried on a wetsuit, I put it on inside out. Thank goodness for Jackie for taking me to get fitted for a wetsuit that fits me and made sure I put it on the correct side in. The Spring Sprint on May 1st, 2016 will definitely be an interesting race. 
RunMileswithSmiles 