The best things in life are for free

Alas! I made a statement to the world in my last blog post that one door was closing and another was opening. It is almost eerie how a mindset can totally change things. Yes- the Brain and the body interact very closely! I was excited to get back to racing and so I signed up for two olympic distances to kick off September. The Olympic distance will always be my favorite distance and its how I started my Professional career. Also, the ability to walk, celebrate, and enjoy the day post race is highly enjoyable for all who participate. A 2 hr effort is still a solid day in the books and athletes should really start think about using these efforts to race more often, experience the mental fortitude it takes to go hard and hang tough, and reap the fitness benefits from it.

First up was the Nations Triathlon. It was literally in my back yard and thanks to the Escape from Alcatraz Series, it was actually bringing back the Pro race for this year. I couldnt miss out. After the swim getting cancelled the last couple of years, I was pumped to see days before, that the Potomac was actually clean and ready for our little swim-bike-run action.

Womens Pro Start

The weekend called for unseasonably cool weather temperatures which makes for chilly standing around but GREAT racing. USAT rules differ from WTC in that Pros can only wear wetsuits in 68 degree water or less. Race morning air temperature was a cool 55 degrees and the water was read at 69, making this a Non-wetsuit swim. We dove off the pontoon and I fully expected to be cold but it actually felt great. For about 200 meters the ladies were neck and neck until Haskins took the lead and started pulling away. The rest of us kind of teammed up and swam together, coming into transition neck and neck. This was the first swim in YEARS that I have had contact and actually got dunked. My head got forced so far down in the water I actually came up choking. I mentioned to a few athletes I coach that this is a perfect situation of turning "bad things into good". Instead of freaking out, I told myself "OK, slow down, catch your breath, one stroke at a time". After about 10 strokes I completely caught my breath again and jumped back on the feet of the ladies. I reminded myself it was OK to not be leading the swim but to stay put with everyone else. Stay the course....

We hoisted onto our bikes and were off for a 40K very turny and round about kind of bike. Not a very fast course but I threw down some watts and hung on for dear life. I was reminded how bad an olympic hurts in those first 10 mins on the bike. I thought I would not be able to finish! Finally after about 10 mins my herat rate started to calm and I got comfortable with the effort. Proof that you overcome that feeling....

Back into T2 and I was prepping to run. My toes were a little numb so I struggled to get my shoes on, but 1-2-3, ok go! I came into this race with the mental mindset that I was not allowed to settle, slow, or wimper. Running strong off the bike has been hard this year and so I wanted to "not be afraid" of the pain, accept it, and push through it. Years ago I met with a Sports Psychologist and we discussed how to get over things like this. I used some running tactics and took each mile as it came. Any negative feelings were thrown out the door and I kept the positive juices coming. It was not my fastest 10k by any means but it was HUGE in the fact that I never let up. I actually got faster throughout the run , and leading into the race since I was post concussion I had not had any speed work, so it was really great to see the legs move.

I crossed the finish line in 6th, one out of the money, but a huge win in my mental and physical abilities.

A few days later I jumped into the Savageman 30 in beautiful Deep Creek, MD. If you remember, I did this race last year but it was the full distance I completed. The race is known to be epic and even if your not doing the whole thing, its still pretty dang hard. I was feeling the confidence of the week before but also quiet relaxed. I traveled with a few friends and we rented a house. Most of them were competing in the full distance on sunday but I was racing the Olympic on Saturday. It was really the weekend I needed to be away with friends who are GREAT athletes, but not so serious like we are all the time in the pro fields. It was refreshing and I think it played a part into why I raced so well....

Saturday morning we woke up to some EXTREME fog. Here it is folks. Yep Can you spot the buoy?

Where the heck?

I am a good open water swimmer but even I was scared of this. Someone in transition told me that one year the fog was so bad they had to basically play marco-polo in the swim and yell out to the kayakers and then follow the sound. I mean hell this was SAVAGEman afterall.... Alright well damn. Well, luckily the race directors have a little heart and they delayed the start. The day ended up being beautiful and looked like this:  ha!

Anyway, I got to go off in the first wave with "elite and open" male and female. From the gun I lead the way. Around the buoy and back to T1, I was minutes ahead and I was feeling great! One of the harder parts of this race is literally just getting to transition because its up and up and up a hill. Then you have to mount your bike on another hill and climb immediately. Talk about a heart attack.

Mounting the bike

Luckily, I settled in....

Remember that first 10 mins of pain from the last race? Yeah well it was there again, but then it went away (well not all away, those climbs hurt and I was def working hard). It was just me and the lead Moto Guy. He was listening to some music so it was actually kind of fun just jamming down the road and pushing the watts. I made my way onto Bumblee Bee Hill and thought it would never end. I swear there was a Bumble Bee 2 and a a Bumblee Bee 3 that proceeded. Where was that on the map!? Anyways, I cruised into T2 and wondered where the heck the guys were. I would have thought they would have caught me by now....

Smiling back into T2!

Off to run! Luckily I remember the course from last year and I knew it was a combo of trails, weeds, rocks, and HILLS! What I did not remember was just how damn far that hill in the state park was. I ran hard and strong. I knew my quads were gonna take a beating on the downhill, but OH WELL, thats racing. I came around for the start of lap 2 and told myself to just run hard up the hill one more time and then it was "mostly" downhill. That was just the little bit of focus I needed to stay put and sure enough I did not even slow on the second loop. I saw the second place girl and it actually fired me up. She was minutes behind but instead of saying "oh I got this", I was like "Liz we gotta go faster!". The mind and body connection is crazy, but you can push through that pain if you really want it.

Running Hard through the State Park

I crossed the finish line in 1st. Not first female, but first OVERALL. #girlsrule #yougotchicked

Top of the Podium

So "Savage"

So it was...a Solid two weeks of racing and I have one more September race before burrying myself into some Ironman Training. See yall at Watermans Half in 2 weeks!

Huge thanks to all my sponsors for believe in me and sticking with me through the hard times. Bonzai Tri, Quintana Roo, SBR, Klean Athlete, District Taco, DC Tri Elite, Blueseventy, Kiwami.
Thanks to my Coach David for instilling patience in me and my family and friends for helping me to push on and carry on.

Having Fun post race at the Brewery

Had fun spectating "The Wall" on Sunday. 30% incline Craziness!

Leaf Peeping in the Jeep Life!