What would you do if...

Let's say that you are like me- you have a hobby that you are passionate about that you plan most of your daily life around. For instance- triathlon for me is a hobby like that. I would put off doing most things, like grocery shopping, washing clothes, going out to dinner, or even give up going to a party simply because I am in training for a race. It is that important to me. However, I get bugged when I run into a friend and the first thing they ask me is, "how is biking?" or "did you go for a run?" or..."when is your next race?".I am not saying that it is not completely annoying to be asked these things- however, I like to be known for something more than just my sport. Get to know Erika and who she is when she is not in training- even though, it means so much in my life.

So, this brings me to the whole reason I am blogging today. (and sorry it has been so long...this one is a good one). My sister is in town from Oregon this weekend and last night, we went to see A Chorus Line down in Los Angeles. It is a musical about a group of dancers and their audition to be on this Chorus Line in Broadway. Getting to be on this Line is EVERYTHING to them. It is their livelihood in most cases. It is their entire reason for living. It is THEM. Toward the end of the musical, one of the dancers gets hurt- and is 'OUT' of the audition. All the other dancers are crushed as they can just imagine how he feels. He is now nothing. His life is over. His dancing is gone...

How dare he have to find something else to do in this world? What else could he possibly be good at? He has danced for his entire life, what else does he know? What else will he do? These are all the questions that these dancers now ask...each other and themselves.

It was at this moment where I thought- wow, I love triathlon, and it is in my plans for this entire rest of the year (last IM is the end of November), but what if, just what if, I was to get hurt tomorrow and not compete or train. What else would I do?? What if that happened to you- what would you do?? Just an interesting thought.

I know our bodies are not perfect and things happen that might make you perform less than your best or not at all. Just ran into a friend of mine yesterday who is a fireman. He was 2 mos. just outside of passing his probationary period when he was working in a fire and tore his miniscus. Now, he is out and can't take his last test. Not sure how long he will be out for, but right now, he is not able to firefight. That is his livelihood- the health of his body means everything. He needs to be fit in order to survive. What else does he do?

It is an interesting thought. I have my own ideas as to what I am good at and if I couldn't train anymore, I would become a pro bowler or something else. I would find other things I am good at and practice that. Triathlon is special- but not my life. Training and health are definitely ranked a bit higher than being able to compete, but I don't take that for granted. Each day is a gift of health and well being. Don't take yourself for granted. Enjoy who YOU are- no matter how you SEE yourself and what you bring to the world.

Wildflower 2008 Olympic

Yesterday, I competed in the Avia Wildflower Olympic Distance triathlon in my quest to prepare for the USAT World Championships in 1 month. I need all the practice I can get racing FAST, as I will be getting into Ironman shape come mid June, preparing for IM UK, which will be here before we know it.

Both my coach (Rachel) and I are doing Worlds, so we both decided to do WF. My goal for WF was to finish higher than 4th place. I knew better to not set a "time" to beat (2:36:52) of last year, but to beat my place. I knew that the course was probably very similar, so I would need a solid strategy prior to my start in order to race strong and positive.

Swim start was interesting this time. I had all the proper nutrition prior to the race, and everything started pretty normal. I went off really quickly, and I think I might have gone out too fast. I literally had a bit of a freak out in the water, which is not like me at all. Swimming is very "easy" for me, so I was shocked that this was happening. But, after 4 mins or so, I settled in and relaxed a bit, but for the first min or so, I was thinking "this is not fun, I want to stop." I found some feet to draft off of at the turn around, so I hitched a ride in and finished my swim 2 mins faster than last year- in about 22 mins.

The bike felt really good this year. I took it a bit easy on the hills and really focused on steady spinning and not grinding too much. Not 1 chick passed me on the bike, and I could only hope that I was 3rd or 4th out of the water. But, still not sure where I was. Didn't see many women ahead of me..

The run was awesome again this year. Each event kept getting stronger and I was now just warming up. I knew I had as strong run last year- but, this year- not sure if I was going to beat it. But, I ended up running 1 and a half minutes faster this year. (I compared my splits below). I ended up running just under 7-min miles for the 10K, which I am very excited about. I had some slower transitions this year, so I can get better at that for sure. I was also excited about my sprint finish, that put me ahead of the 4th place woman in my AG by only 20 secs or so. It was an exciting finish for me, and I finished with a lot of confidence in those regards. Great race overall- congrats to Rachel and Jason for also meeting their goals, and Kim for a great half-ironman race on Saturday!

2007 Splits
0:24:40 0:02:05 1:23:15 0:01:45 0:45:07 2:36:52

2008 Splits
0:22:09 0:02:26 1:21:57 0:02:13 0:43:35 2:32:22

Training for USAT Worlds...

So, after finishing Oceanside, I had to put the rest of my season into perspective and start planning for some shorter distance racing prior to starting the training for my IMs this summer and fall. I have Wildflower Olympic as a prep for the USAT World Championships in Vancouver, which is in the first week of June. Training for an Olympic distance is a bit different than a half-distance: mainly, because you are increasing the intensity of all of your workouts to increase your speed. I am still doing about 2 hours of total workouts a day- taking one day off- but swimming a lot more than I was prior to oceanside. And, sprinting more- that is, doing more interval work on my runs. I am also working on some quick transitions- and doing sets of 7 miles ride x 1 mile run repeats on the trainer/treadmill (or run outside).



I am feeling really good right now and my energy is good. Hope your training is going well, too. One of my good friends, Peter Mendes, is here this week getting in some training with me, so that is always fun and exciting. We ended up riding yesterday with Rachel on the 25-mile Newhall-to-Saugus-to-Canyon loop. And, today calls for a long swim and a gym workout- with 20 mins of sprints.

Have a great training week. Remember that all of your workouts, summed up, equals how you will do in your next race. So, don't put in junk distance :)

Kona or Bust!

That is exactly what Rachel wrote at the top of my last year's training programs and I had to stare at it everyday before my workouts, whether I believed it or not. And, on Saturday at Oceanside, that dream came true. I qualified for Kona by taking 2nd in my AG at the California Half Ironman in Oceanside. (Final time: 5:11:17)



I had a strong race and finished without a smile on my face- just like Rachel encouraged me to. I didn't want to save anything the way I usually do on the bike, and thought I would be a bit more aggressive than usual, and then if I had to pay for it on the run, I had to pay for it on the run. But, that didn't happen. I ended up running a very strong, 1:41 Half-Marathon (7:47 min/miles) and I felt great. (Sunday I was really sore, but that is besides the point). I had an easy spin today and a swam about 2000 tonight to stretch things out. I feel pretty good, but heading to bed. I will do a full race report soon, but just wanted to get out the official news that I indeed qualified- now, to kick butt in Kona...

Back to the drawing board...

HAVE THE BEST WEEK AND, WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT WITH PURPOSE AND TRAIN HARD!

The Saugoydian Rides Again

I got an original Felt road frame with all of Gonzales's old components and now I am ready to ride. After all, it is not about the bike, right? I am even lighter now than I was on the Kuota, believe it or not. If anything, the Aluminum frame is just a tad rougher on the ride, but nothing THAT significant. After all, it is about the rider- about my legs cranking harder, faster. Not the damn bike.

One thing about taper week is that it is hard- hard to not work out. Did nothing today. Just relaxed. Well, I worked on my feet all day, and gave a volleyball lesson, but besides that, didn't do too much else. I am visualizing for the race, getting ready for breaking 5:09. I want to at least go faster than I did last year- that is my 1st goal. 2nd goal: to break 5:00. 3rd goal: to get the qualifying Kona slot in my AG. Hey, I can have the race of my life- you never know. Hence the 3rd goal. If the water is anything like the temp was at Laguna last weekend...my swim will be very very fast.

Well, Alwyn Cosgrove gave me some good advice for this week- with the taper. He said...
"Be careful...there's nothing you can do to get better, but there is a whole lot that you can do to fuck it up." And, so I believe his advice and I will do well in the race...

Thanks AC. Have a great training week!