Grand Rapid Tri, US national long course championship

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain, never a good sign when you know you'll be racing on the road for hours.  Al and I got ready, sharing part of our misery.  Al's house is 10 min from the transition so this was a treat.  As we got in to transition, it was quite busy as you can imagine with 1800 racers and over 800 for the half iron distance.  My rack was very busy but I was able to set it up.  Now using the bathroom was another issue.  It was extremely busy so I decided to grab my Synergy wetsuit and head to the start where they had some.  Long line meant that I didn't have much time, good thing it's easy to get in my wetsuit.  I was in the second swim wave and I was off at 705.  I thought I was swimming ok but my watch was telling me that either I wasn't swimming straight or the course was longer.  I came out of the water at 39 min, disappointed but my watch was telling me I just swam 2.25 km.  After a good transition I was on the bike.  The rain had stop and I was hoping my knee would hold up as it was feeling much better.  I found myself passing and being pass by the same group of guys but was also gaining on better swimmers.  After the turn around, a vicious head wind was part of the ride for a while, which wasn't fun at all.  As I made my way towards the finish, with  about 12 km to go I heard a breaking sound on my handle bars.  One of my screw on my left elbow pad had broken off, half in the frame half in the pad.  This could have been catastrophic but no crashed ensued, I just had to be very careful.  I closed the bike in 2:27 average of 36.7 km/hr.  After a somewhat slowish transition I was out on the run for the half marathon.  By then the sun was out and I was still feeling good.  The run course was 2 laps and I was please with a 1:44 for the half.  All and all 24 in my age group and 150 overall, not a bad day considering the weather and how deep the field was.  As for Al, he rock his age group and finished 2!  My good friend C2 had a solid performance as well.  Thanks to the Moore's hospitality and cheering me on as well as good friend and Xterra tribe GL for giving some encouragement while running ( GL was on his bike savoring coffee and the fact he wasn't racing). Thanks for Synergy for my awesome wetsuit.  Happy trails!

Carpe Diem

Team V and the grand rapid triathlon

I was fortunate to be invited to ride with my friend Al's riding team for what was supposed to be a light ride with a short team time trial. I was using one of Al's road bikes as no TT bike are allowed.  These guys have been riding together forever and it's quite nice to be riding in with a group of people.  As for the short 30 min warm up, it turned into an hour long ride and then split the team in team of 5 riders for a 8 miles time trial.  My short ride ended up being 60 km in total but it was fun and a good way to get some mileage done before the race.  Sadly I did something to my right knee, which is now bugging me.  But after multiple face time consultation with my physios, seems it will be all right.

I drove the bike course yesterday as they changed it a bit from 2 years ago, adding what the call the thre sisters who are supposed to be some gentle rolling hills.  The jury is still out on how gentle they are but we shall see.  As usual a stack field in my age group with 100 racers and over 800 total for the half iron distance.  Today was a short ride run swim and packet pickup.  5876 in the number assigned to me and you can follow me on live tracking tomorrow on the link below.  7 am start (eastern time zone) and I'm in the second  swim wave. Stay tuned for the race report tomorrow.  Happy trails!

Carpe Diem

http://www.racetecresults.com/MyResults.aspx?CId=16371&RId=42&EId=3&AId=18114

Gear 2.0 Fitbit

Special guest this week on gear 2.0 former Olympian Stephanie Mccann impression on her Fitbit

Well it's been just over a month since I received my Fitbit as a birthday present from my fiancé Chuck and I have definitely become addicted to this new little fashion gadget!

I learned about the Fitbit in school because it's currently being used with various populations such as arthritis and cardio respiratory patients in the medical research field. I discovered, very quickly, how helpful it is to see your activity/ sedentary level considering I'm a full time student right now and tend to sit for half of my day. It allows you to set reminders to get up and move/ walk, an alarm to wake you up in the morning and sends you badges or reward messages that encourage you along the way. I was amuses on my first day when I completed my 10,000 steps and received a message telling me "I nailed it!". It proceeded to let me know I was "an overachiever" when I reached 20,000 steps for the day.

For those trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and also monitor their dietary intake the online/iPhone app allows you to enter you food intake and see calories in vs. calories out. The app provides a good selection of food products in their database to choose from.

Another added bonus is the ability to track your sleep patterns and see how restless you are during the night. Sleep is essential when it comes to our health and with a busy lifestyle it tends to be the first thing we neglect.

Finally I have enjoyed the option of wearing the device in the water now that summer has arrived and I swim a few days a week. There is no fear if you accidentally leave it on in the shower either!

Considering I commute on my bike daily I have found the one disadvantage is the inability to accurately enter this activity. The only option is riding a stationary bike which is a bit different then road riding.

The device is charged through a USB plug into your computer and lasts roughly a week. This may be considered another hassle when compared to other devices on the market.

Overall I have to say its a fantastic device that can be accessories with various coloured straps and will help get you on track or keep you on track with respect to your health and wellness!! For those needing something to help spark a change this device might be it.

Cheers
Steph

As for me I am in Grand Rapidsnthis week for a 70.3 so stay tuned for the scouting report and a Gear 2.0 on a pretty cool bike bag.  Happy trails! 

Carpe Diem