My 2012 Race Plan

After I met up with my Coach and we chatted about the 2012 race possibilities we came to a surprising conclusion.  Now, the big picture is, if timing works out, I want REDEMPTION on Lake Placid in 2013!  I know I have a faster race in me, especially a bike ride without THREE flats.  Therefore my original thinking was that my 2012 plan would include more half ironmans than ever and maybe a fall marathon.  The fall marathon conclusion came from me wanting to smash 4 hours and the mental breakthrough that would come with it.

But after Coach and I talked and talked and talked... we are chicks.... and I gushed about how fun it was to race these shorter races, she asked me if I missed my long bike rides from IM training.  With a very slight hesitation, I said nope!  I mean, I liked riding farther than I ever have before and hitting triple digits in my rides.  But I don't miss the time suck of it and being exhausted afterwards. 

So it was decided that 2012 is the year of SPEED!  I have a year's worth of endurance under my belt so now it's time to get speedy!  This race schedule makes me excited.  Not as excited as when I signed up for Placid but excited where I'm looking forward to see what I can push myself to do, just in a different way!

The overall layout will be...
- an early season half marathon to build up endurance & speed
- my first A race Rev3 Quassy Half Iron in early June
- my A+ race of Age Group Nats (olympic distance) mid-August
- A race of Philly "below four or bust" marathon

So here are my A races as well as the support races:

Early Season Half Marathon – EITHER
NYC Half Marathon March 18th (if I get in, they have a lotto system and not many New Yorkers are picked)

OR Hook Mountain Half Marathon (depending on April date)

OR More Half Marathon (usually 1st weekend in April)

Central Park Du March 25th - I gotta defend my title... or even better... place overall!

Harriman Olympic May 19th - a tune up race in prep for Rev 3


A Race: Rev3 Quassy June 3rd - sub 6 hours is the goal for this sucka!

2 WEEK VACATION IN JUNE - not sure where but Simon and I will be taking a big trip.... either Australia or South America WOOT

NJ State Tri Olympic July 22nd -  OR I may head up to Placid instead to spectate and sign up in person for 2013

Central Park Tri August 5th - very local race I'll do if I’m around

A++ Race: AGE GROUP NATIONALS August 18th - this is my main focus of the season.  I can't wait to work hard at getting faster!!

Central Park Du September 9th - again, another local race where I can let loose in Central Park!

LBI Tri September 16th - just a sprint by my parents house down the Jersey Shore, if I’m around

Mightyman Olympic 1st weekend in October - I had a lot of fun doing this race this past year!

Staten Island Half Marathon - or another half marathon the second weekend to mid-Oct for marathon prep

A Race: Philly Marathon Nov 18th - SMASH 4 hours!!

Chicago Marathon 10-10-10 4:04:44 PR - this will be broken

So there it is folks... my 2012 cards have been revealed!  What do you have in store for 2012?  Your first 5K? half marathon? Ironman? Cupcake eating??

Where Have I Been? Cleaning up at the local Du's!

Wowza's, I have REALLY been slacking off on my little bloggy blog here. Sorry folks!  But here's a little catch-up on what's been happening and I may even reveal my uber-awesome 2012 race plans!!

So... after I won my age group at the Central Park Du and got 2nd in my Age Group at the MightyMan Olympic...

30-34 Age Group Champ

2nd place in Age Group

I decided that the next two (local) races I did, I would just have to live up to my new high standards and win my age group again!

A couple of weeks ago, my Coach and a bunch of Fifth Gear Tri athletes and I trekked it out to Long Island for the Carl Hart Duathlon.  It was a 1.8 mile trail run, 10 mile bike and the same 1.8 mile trail run.  My first run was solid and came in at 13:44 for a 7:33 average.  Not too shabby.  I didn't feel as strong as I did back when I did the Central Park Du, but I'll take it! The 10 mile bike was flat and windy!  I thought I would smash this course since I can now average over 20mph in hilly Central park, but I actually went a bit slower.  My 10 mile bike clocked in at 32:16 for a 19.8 average.  Run 2 I lost any sort of good running form I had.  I was redlining, and redlining hard with my chin up and shoulders tense.  I was a perfect example of what not to do while running!  Anyway, run #2 was about the same with a 13:41.  My 1:01:29 overall time put me in 1st place in the 30-34 age group.

Fifth Gear Domination

So what's an even better way to get on the podium?  Getting on there with one of your besties who took 2nd in our age group!!  Go BLT!  And what's even better than that?? Coach Jenn came in 2nd overall, and two other Fifth gear Athletes also placed in their age groups!  Coach Jenn was very proud!

Then, this past Sunday I raced in another sprint duathlon in Prospect Park.  I found a deal on groupon for 50% off the race entry, so I thought, "hey, why not??" I gathered a few multisport friends, including my pal BLT and we all met up early Sunday morning in BK.  I have to say, I was not impressed by the race organization.  We showed up exactly the time the website said and nothing was set up.  They were literally just unpacking the transition from boxed.  They were being ambitious and were putting on 5 events at the same time!  A 5k, 10k, sprint du, classic du and international du... with all the courses having different runs and loop count on the bike! 

Anyway, back to my race, what I could control.... this course was a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike & the same 2 mile run.  As I started the run I felt good.  Well, to back up this story a bit.  When I woke up at 530 that morning, my throat was swollen and on fire!  I was sick! ugh... but I toughed it out and dragged myself to the race start with a smile.  So... while I was running I sprinted off and got ahead of most of the women besides one chick.  This run was no joke!  It was hilly!!  There was one mean hill about 3/4s the way in and I knew that sucker was not going to feel good the second time around. I clocked my first run in 13:48.  I knew with that time the run course must be short and after checking my garmin, it was about 1.8.  So compared to the flat 1.8 in Long Island, I actually did pretty well here.

Then, it was time to bike.  I really loved the Prospect Park bike course! It's a little hilly and I like it!  The only bad thing was, that since there was such a delay on our race start (about 30 minutes) the park was filled with casual runners and riders so you had to be extra careful and extra vocal when passing people.  My bike split turned out to be 30:50 for about an almost 20 mph average and it was the fastest bike split among women.  I didn't know it at the time, and even if I did I wouldn't believe it, but I was leading my very first race!!

Yeah, I'm chicking you with a PINK bike, sucka.

Run #2 seemed SO. Much. Harder.  I ran and and ran until I got to that super steep hill.  The woman who beat me in the first run came up behind me and said , "come on, relax your shoulders, let's go!" and then she took off.  I tried to respond but I had nothing.  I power walked for about 30 seconds to get my heart rate down then I gunned it.  I never did catch up with her but I finished about a minute later.  Run 2 = 15:05... yikes much slower than the first one!  I blame it on the cold, stuffy head and sore throat! :) 

My total time came in at 1:01:22 and I finished as the 2nd Overall woman and 16th in the entire field!  My racing buddy, BLT came in a couple of minutes after me to round out the overall podium.  We were psyched!

Buddies & Winners

 I was so happy we got to stand on a podium that I jumped off... and it was caught on camera!

We also had super supporter, blogger buddy Jon there to cheer us on!  It was a nice ironman reunion and we had a great time catching up over some brunch!

The creepy guy in black taking my photo is Jon.  Just kidding Jon.  You're not creepy. At all.

I think I may stick to local races, 'cause my results make me look really super, duper fast! heh - but I've actually learned a lot about myself racing this short distances.  I learned that it's ok to redline and feel like crap. It's supposed to hurt, but it's a different kind of hurt than Ironman.  I like it.  And my 2012 schedule reflects that!

The night before the Prospect Duathlon, I had a dream.  I had a dream that I came in as first woman overall in the du.  When I woke up, I thought, "Why not? Why can't I come in first place?"  I may not have the super speedy resume but if I don't believe it, I won't achieve it.  So I started off my race day morning believing I could do something great.  Second place isn't too shabby!

I know the suspense is KILLING you about what I'm doing in 2012... but it'll have to wait for another post.  I can't put all my eggs into one blog since it's taken me 2 races and 5 weeks to write!  So stay tuned!!

Mightyman Olympic Triathlon Race Report

2nd in age group baby!

What a great end to a pretty spectacular season!  I came in 2nd in my age group and set a new Olympic PR in Montauk!

Montauk Beach

Thank goodness we didn't have to do an ocean swim

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.... while I did 'train' for this race... I didn't really train.  **you know what the use of the italicized word really means, right?

I probably completed 85% of my workouts.  I slacked on my biking and swimming, which are normally the ones I enjoy most.  I did complete every single run workout, even with terrible shin pain.

So while I wanted and willed myself to break my PR and place in my age group... I wasn't sure until the last .2 miles I was actually gonna do it.

What was my race strategy??  Survive the swim (ahem, lack of swim training), attack the bike and run as hard as I can without looking at my Garmin and getting freaked out by what I saw.

I think I nailed those simple goals.

BLT & JPow threatening the course pre-race

SWIM: 31:46 **yikes...

Event Power LI puts on a half distance every year but this was the inaugural race for the Mightyman Olympic.  The Half & Olympic actually started at the very same time but on different swim courses.  The hardcore half people swam a nice out an back.  Us olympians?  We had a 6 turn .9 mile course.

It wasn't too confusing to navigate but when you're used to swimming an easy out and back, potentially with a buoy line **Placid it kind of threw me off.  I started swimming with the lead girls but my lack of open water technique & practice left me eating their dust, or waves.  So I told myself to swim on my merry way and not worry about it.  I've swam ** swum? thousands and thousands of yards this year, how hard will .9 miles be?  Now, I wouldn't call my swim hard, but it just wasn't fun.  I felt sooooooo slowwwwwww and my time showed it.  Note to self - do not slack on swim training.  I actually finished the swim in about 30:46 but there was a long transition run the event included in our times.

T1: 3:02

Nothing really to report here except my super fans were right by my transition area taking photos.  I may or may not have threatened them about photographing me while taking off my sausage suit.

Darn those super fans!!

Time to ride the Roooooooo!

BIKE: 1:19:22 19.0 mph

Ahhhh... the bike... my lovely Roo where I feel the most comfortable.  I wanted to attack this course and just ride fast without worrying about my running legs.  I pretty much nailed this leg.  The course was really scenic... riding by the Montauk lighthouse... the ocean.... and it had rolling hills.  Nothing too steep but they kept you honest.  I passed a few chicks right off the bat and some dudes.  I wound up playing leap frog with this really annoying woman in the 50-55 age group.  What is it with 50 year old ladies wanting to race me??  Anyway, every darn time she passed me she would stay on the left hand side hugging the double yellow line!  So if I wanted to pass her, or anyone else for that matter, I would have to either scream on your left, illegally cross the double yellow line or illegally pass on the right hand side.  She also did the annoying thing of passing me then slowing down.  Really lady?  She did make a course error at one turnaround.  Instead of going around the cones like we were supposed to she went further out around a small house.  Sucka.  I sprinted away after she did that. **and I beat her overall by a good 10 minutes  Besides the biking lady drama the ride was pretty fun.  I felt ok, not great, and I willed my way to finishing strong.

T2: 1:53
Nothing new here... helmet off, sneakers on... yada yada

RUN: 51:19

Now this is where my race got interesting. Or at least in my head it did.  My goal was to run a sub 50 but with my recent training runs ending in pain I wasn't sure how I would do.  Well, I came pretty darn close and busted out my fastest 10K ever.  Yes, the italicized ever, people.  I am not the speediest runner but I'm getting better!  The first mile was pretty flat and I clocked in at 7:53.  Whoa!  Can I keep this up?  Then the hills hit... nope!  Easy Agresta, easy.  Second mile had a slight incline but again, nothing major and I clocked that one at 8:19.  Perfect pace for me!  I've done a ton a tempo runs at this pace so I felt good.  Mile 3 is where the hills really started to hit.  This run is famous for "Murder Hill."  You have to run up a super duper steep hill, go down the other side, turn around and run up it again! In the half you have to do that sucker twice!  If that wasn't bad enough, they throw in a few more rollers in the middle section here just to make you hurt that much more. Mile 3 = 8:36 Mile 4 = 8:58 **carnage from Murder Hill repeats

I completed my race with a total time of 2:47:21 which earned me 2nd place in my age group!!

Picking up my award AFTER the ceremony - DOH

Overall I was really happy with my race.

Please ignore the floofy hair

BLT smashed her Half Iron PR & placed 3rd in her age group.
Pls ignore the floofy haired Odwalla monster  to the left!

I accomplished what I wanted, but I couldn't help but ask... how much faster could I have gone if I trained 100% to my ability?? But I also think that every athlete needs a break, physically and mentally.  After training SO hard for SO long for the Ironman, I forgot what it felt like to do a race and not have it consume 100% of my life.  On one hand I felt some sort of relief.  I didn't HAVE to think about it all day, every day, for a year.  I could sign up, train when I wanted and still have a fun race.  On the other hand... I still quite can't decide if this was refreshing or not.

I'm hoping to write a 2011 Tri Season Recap soon.  I recently realized that every single race I entered, I either PR'd or completed a new long distance.  It was a VERY successful season for me!

If you've been living under a shell and haven't heard... the Kona Ironman World Championships is this Saturday.  I plan on hooking the live feed to the big screen, having some tri and non-tri friends over and basically partying for 9 hours!!  Woooooooo!

Me and surrogate Montauk Ollie

Happy Training!

Down & Dirty

It’s been a long time blogging pals and I don’t have any excuse! I just didn’t feel like writing. I could of wrote about how I got slammed at work, how I had some good workouts but then mostly terrible workouts. I could have wrote about going to weddings/baby showers/drinks but really – what would I write that hasn’t been said before??


So here’s a quick update:
I’m racing my FINAL triathlon of 2011… the Mightman Olympic out in Montauk, Long Island.

I’ll be driving out there in a few hours with the bf, BLT and her bf. I honestly can’t wait to smell the sea salted air… I miss the beach! IMLP training took precedence over any Jersey shore fist pumping time so I’m psyched to be near the ocean.

So – what are my goals for this race? I’ve been throwing down some smack talk at my Olympic PR (2:49 @ NYC or 2:54 @ Mighty Hamptons – you chose since the NYC swim is uber fast) but can I back it up??

I guess we’ll find out on Sunday. I finally got my biking mojo back this past week so I’m excited for 1 out of the 3 sports…

Swimming? Well… I’ve been bailing on swim sessions due to long work days. I’ll be happy to stay relaxed through the whole thing.

Running? Ack – I’ve acquired some short course speed after Placid but my body is casually giving me the middle finger for training hard since January. It’s reminiscent of my burn out days of college field hockey and that’s not good. Sharp, shooting pains up my shins are not good. So my race day plan is to start aggressively on the swim, attack the bike and then hold on and run through the pain of a 10K.

We’ll see where that lands me... Hopefully under a 2:49!

Here's what I sent my Coach...

Swim = 27-30 minutes (between 1:40/1:50 pace) **anything 30 or under I'll be happy with. Plus the open water madness seems to slow me down vs. my 1:30-1:35 times in the pool

T1 = 3 min ** saying 3 minutes because if it's cold I plan on wearing my biking gloves & arm warmers which could take an extra minute to get on.

Bike = 1:16 -1:20 (between 19.42-18.45 mph) **I really plan on going hard on the bike. I'm pretty confident I can sustain over 18mph with rolling hills.

T2 = 1:30 **again, could be quicker but I'll be peeling off the additional arm warmers/gloves

Run = 49:49 – 55 (8:02/8:55 pace) **I kinda left a large gap here.... I would love, love, love to get as close to breaking 50 minutes as possible. I'm just not sure what my legs will say on Sunday. My race pace run gave me a confidence boost... but then the run on Saturday brought that down a notch or two.

TOTAL = 2:37 – 2:50

ah, what the hell... it's the last tri of 2011 - why not SMASH myself on the run!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

My First Age Group Win!

I added this little Central Park Duathlon to my race schedule a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't feel like waiting until October 2nd to race again and I knew it gave me enough time to properly recover from Placid.

This race was SO MUCH FUN!  It only took me 1:12 to finish instead of 13 hours like the Ironman.  Winning already in my book.

So the course was a 2 mile run/12 mile bike/2 mile run. The run course was actually longer than 2 miles - I clocked both runs at 2.3 miles.  This course is literally what I train on 5 days a week so I know every hill, bump, tourist trap there is to know about.

The one great thing about this race is my friend Paul was racing his first duathlon.  He's testing the multisport waters and I have a feeling we'll be seeing him at some triathlons next year!

Paul setting up transition for the very first time!

Roo and I are ready!

After setting up we lined up at the casual start line.  Someone yelled go and off we went!

Run 1 - 17:23

First lap of the run

Even though the run is only 2 2.3 miles, it is challenging because you have to run up the second longest hill in Central Park, Cat Hill. I decided that even though I was wearing my Garmin I was not going to look at it.  I wanted to reline this entire race and I was afraid if I saw certain paces I would get nervous and back off.  Let's just say the plan worked.  I ran the fastest I've ever run in a long, long time.  It was awesome
mile 1 = 7:18
mile 2 = 7:25
mile .3 = 2:29 (7:37 pace)

ON the way back to transition.  See bra top lady?  She's part of my story...

T1 = 45 seconds
I recently bought a new pair of my trusty Asics and a pair of those quick laces.  I really wanted to save time in transition for this race and my next Olympic and I have to say I love these laces!  Not only do the pink laces look amazing on my grey & lime green shoes but they stay put and I'm able to pull my sneaks on and off with no problem!

Bike = 36:14  20.2 mph average

Heading out on the first loop of the bike

I know I say it a lot but I LOVE riding my Roo!  My biking has only gotten stronger and stronger and I am so confident riding in Central Park.  While my heart rate was up from the run, my legs felt good to go!

Paul rocking the bike!

The first loop went by pretty fast and I was seriously passing everyone!!  I passed about 4 chicks and even more dudes!

Chicking all the dudes behind me. 

Grrrrr... Go! Go! Go!

The second loop went by just as quickly and before I knew it I was back in transition.

T2 = 42 seconds
Again it was easy breezy! Bike shoes off, sneakers on.  Run Run Run!

Run 2 = 17:55
My heart rate was sky high at this point.  But I knew I had to keep the pressure on myself to see what I had in me and my legs.  The run is an out and back you can see where the other competitors are.  Since I passed a bunch of chicks on the bike I knew I was somewhere in the top 10 of the field but I also know there were much faster runners out there.
mile 1 = 7:53
mile 2 = 7:35
mile .3 = 2:28 (7:02 pace)

So yes, Cat Hill slowed me down quite a bit more than the first time.  I just focused on my heavy gasping for air breathing and tried not to think about how my legs were screaming at me.  As I hit the top of the hill I saw two women coming back down so I knew I was somewhere near the top but any hopes of a top 3 finish left my head.  When I came to the turnaround point I saw the bra top lady again.  She was within striking distance!!

I picked up the pace and I caught up to her about a quarter of a mile away from the finish line.  Then, the inevitable happened.  She heard my disastrous heavy breathing and started to speed up!  Crap!  I pushed as hard as I could down Cat Hill, got to her side and she surged again.  Then she made a tactical move that I don't know I would have done.  She got in front of me in the narrow finishers shoot and stuck her arms out wide so there was no way I could pass unless I barged right through her.  I was happy with how I performed so I ran through right after her.  Here are some great photos Simon took capturing my sprint finish.

racing down Cat Hill

I almost got her!

but I couldn't quite get around

What a fun, sprint finish!

So I ended up finishing one second behind her.  We shook hands, said great race and chatted a bit.  My ego was slightly wounded because she was in the 50-55 age group!!  Major props to her for kicking my 30 year old butt and racing smart!

Duathlon Finishers!

I finished with a time of 1:12:59 which made me 6th woman overall and 1st in my age group!  Also my bike split was the 4th fastest out of all the women.

Picking up my nifty little FIRST PLACE plaque!

Couldn't have done it without my Roo!

This was my first ever age group win!!!  I was super excited!  Even though it was a small race, I really pushed myself and I'm proud of how I did.  You can't control the other competitors times, fitness, etc... you can only control what you do.  I did that.  I liked racing "naked" and not knowing what my run splits were.  I have a feeling if I looked down at my watch and saw a 7:xx I would have freaked and slowed down.  I was hoping to stay in the low 8's so the fact I could hold a mid to lower 7 minute pace was AWESOME!   Thanks to Paul for the racing company - you rocked your race!!

Now, I've got just less than a month to focus on smashing my Olympic Triathlon PR out in Montauk October 2nd!

What I Did('nt) Do This Weekend

1.  I stocked up on Hurricane Irene Suplies which included... a new pink ipod nano, dog food, wine, and a new pair of heels.

2. I did have my first awesome run since Placid in Central Park Saturday morning.  The park was packed.

3. I cooked. I grilled up chicken, made pasta salad and froze water bottles.

4. I cleaned the living room.  If Irene was coming in full force, I seemed to have invited a dozen people to stay in our one bedroom apartment... in case they got flooded.  So I HAD to clean. Notice I only said "living room."  I hate cleaning.  Bedroom is still a natural disaster.  (No one wound up staying over anyway)

5. We sought refuge at the Irish bar across the street at 5pm on Saturday.  It was packed.

6. I cooked a declious ground sirloin, tomato and pasta dish Saturday night.

7.  I may have drunk an entire bottle of wine myself.  Let's not count the beers I had at the bar pre-wine.

8.  I may have had a sore throat on Sunday from howling singing Rock Band tunes late Saturday night. 

9.  I slept through the hurricane until 4am when I heard the wind howling. Sometimes being on the 26th floor has its "perks."

10.  Olliedog and I surveyed the upper east side damage with a nice long walk along the East River Sunday morning.  Not much to report except branches down and a swelling East River.  Ollie did take a huge dump so that was a success in my book.

11. I may have skipped my brick workout to seek refuge in the Irish pub again.  This time it was mimosas and a big burger.

12. I did feel like a Sunday sloth for the second week in a row.  Next Sunday?  No slothness for me... I gotta duathlon to race!

Surviving the Post Placid Funk

IM is one beast of an event.  You spend an entire year of your life thinking about it. 

Dreaming about it. 

Worrying about it. 

Then 7 months out you start to train. 

Training is your life.  You have good training days. You have bad training days. 

You stick to your plan as much as possible. 

You get sick.  More than once. 

You race shorter distances.  You break PR’s. 

You become a cheap date. 

You sleep.  A lot. 

You get cranky.  You get in the best shape of your life. 

Then out of nowhere race day comes... and goes within 17 hours. 

You feel awesome.  You feel relieved that you became an Ironman. 

You celebrate.  You get wasted on 3 beers.

Your body hurts.  Everywhere.

You sleep.  A Lot.  

One month post Ironman…. Where are you? Or the better question is… who are you?

I was Jill “training for an Ironman” Agresta. Now…?

I wanted to be Jill “I’m gonna smash my Olympic tri PR” Agresta. I was gung ho for getting back to training. I was psyched! No one could stop me from wanting to break my own records. But there’s a humongous difference in wanting something and putting in the work to achieve it.

The first two weeks post Placid were really chill. I hiked, walked the dog, ran for 20 minutes, swam, rode my bike for an hour, ran for 30 minutes… and just really started to get active again.

The third week out was my “real” introduction to training again. It was also the week I decided to play field hockey for the first time in over a year. It was also the same week a friend from France was visiting so there were dinners and drinks. I think you can see where this is going.

I nailed all my workouts through Wednesday. I played field hockey Wednesday night and when I woke up Thursday morning, I was in pain. My body seriously hurt worse than the Ironman! It was so sore in so many different places. I guess that’s what happens when you try and sprint for an hour and a half while bending over trying to hit a small, hard ball! Needless to say, I had an awesome time playing and it was great to see my hockey friends. I did complete my “long” weekend workouts though and only missed 1 bike that week. OK, so that’s not so bad.

Last week… my motivation took a big hit. I had 4 BBQ’s planned within 7 days. Yes FOUR within SEVEN days! I had an even bigger week of training. I felt like my body and my mind were just in a fog. I wanted to train, I really did. But I didn’t mentally put forth the effort. The weather was rainy so I did my runs on the treadmill and discovered a nice upper quad pull from my field hockey jaunt. It even hurt when I kicked in the pool. By Thursday, it hurt when I pushed on my bike pedals… yikes… I took an extra rest day.

I skipped my long run on Sunday and I felt really guilty. My reasoning was that if I skip my long run not only will it give my quad one extra day to heal, I’ll also have a start fresh on Monday. Even though I felt like such a Sunday slob, I knew I made the right decision the moment I woke up Monday morning.

I nailed my swim workout Monday am. I nailed my bike workout Monday pm. I nailed my run this morning in the beautiful fall-ish weather. I also got some extra motivation in the mail yesterday…. Chuck Norris anyone??

My amazing Chuck Norris T-shirt!

Or how about a little Punk Rock Racing T matched with a bedazzled Ironman visor?

New duds always cheer a girl up in the early morning hours!

I’m back baby! And I’m ready to ROCK my last tri of the season. Oh and I signed up for a last minute Duathlon in Central Park over Labor Day Weekend. A 2 mile run/12 mile bike/2 mile run. I’m gonna redline that sucker and see how I do!

Happy Training!

Post IM Plans?

Lots of family and friends have asked if I would ever do another Ironman.  My answer?  Yes!  BUT.... and there's always a butt whether it's big or small... I won't be racing one in 2012.   I will be totally green with envy when I hear about everyone else's training and the epic long rides/runs/training camps... but for me, I need a year off from the time suck that is Ironman training. If I am going to do it, I am going to give 100%! 

I don't have any sort of 2012 race plan but I'd love to get faster and more efficient at Olympics and 70.3's.  So that leaves me to the now.  What have I been doing since July 24th?? 

Well, I took two weeks of active recovery.  That involved 1 swim, a couple of bikes and a couple of easy, short runs.  I also proceeded to eat and drink my face off! 

 

This week marked my first week back to "serious" training.  I have one race left on my schedule the MightyMan Olympic Triathlon in Montauk.  I'm looking forward to racing one last time before the season ends and I have a mission for this race.  SMASH my PR!!  Why else have I been training since January?  Yes, to finish an Ironman... but with 7 months of fitness & endurance built up... I have the need for SPEED!! yes, I'm channeling my inner Maverick & Goose here

I know my body is still recovering from the IM, I can still feel the effects of it.  But I am slowly getting back into shape.  My swimming has been decent.  Well, my times are decent but I still have a fatigue type feeling when I'm hitting them.  My running has been decent... even though I haven't ran over 5 miles yet.  I just realized - I kinda don't have to run much more than 5 miles in Olympic training.  Nah nah nah NAH NAH Ironman training! 

What about my biking?  Well, my biking has been glorious!  I had an hour ride Monday morning with 40 minutes in HR zone 3.  I hit up the park for 3 loops and I nailed it!  I averaged 20.1 mph and yes, I was breathing heavy gasping for air at the end but my legs felt awesome.  That was my fastest 3 loops of the park yet.  I'm looking forward to getting faster in all disciplines but especially my bike.  I heart my Roo again!!

So that's what I've been up to.  I'm making a surprise guest appearance tonight at my field hockey club for some pick up... I'm thinking I'm going to be more sore tomorrow after playing hockey for an hour than the IM!  I love the fact I can go play my favorite sport without having to worry about IM consequences.

And here's a little leaving video of my official IMLP finish.  When Mike Rielly says my name look to the right of the screen, you can see my brother in green and mom in pink going nuts next to the finish line!

Ironman Through the Eyes of My Mom

I know I've been dragging this whole "ironman" thing out but I had to share this.  The days after Ironman were filled with lots of eating, drinking, laughing, hiking and taking photos of beautiful Lake Placid.  (I'll write about that soon) When I got home and back to my reality of the concrete jungle my Mom forwarded me literally a dozen emails.  They were from her friends and my extended family congratulating me and her for what I accomplished.  When I scrolled down after their heartfelt words, I saw what my Mom wrote to them.

I thought it was pretty cool to see how my Mom viewed my Ironman day and she said it was fine to share with all of you.

Without further adieu here's my Mom's version of Ironman:

While it's still fresh in my mind, I wanted to share Sunday's experience with all of you who supported and were praying for My Ironman.

PROUD isn't a big enough word for what she accomplished. It was so awesome to see her complete this grueling event.

The swim was at 7 A.M. at which time 3,000 or more (not sure of the exact number) entered the water at the same time. Imagine. I knew it was going to be tough to watch since Jill warned me, but I just started to cry when you saw all those hands & feet going, knowing that she was getting kicked and hit (which she was, but she didn't panic) So the whole time I was just saying to myself, let her be safe that's all I want. So 1 hr & 16 minutes later she emerged smiling at us on the bank of the lake.

Then she started her 112 mile bike event (we went back to the house to eat breakfast). Figured she'd be passing Main St in about 2 1/2 - 3 hrs. Todd kept prodding us to go back down (the house was up a gigantic hill which was challenging for me & Ed) so we went down earlier than we expected and lo & behold 2 minutes later she goes whizzing by with a smile & a wave (she could pick us out because of our Team Jill shirts which she gave us, Pink to match her bike.) At this point we didn't know she had had 1 flat. Simon & the other bikers (some of them missed her because she was so quick on that loop) were so impressed with her time. She was nailing it! We went to a bar to wait for the next time we'd see her. Well there we were on the street waiting & waiting & getting more concerned as the hours passed. Finally she passed, we still didn't know about the other 2 flats.

We then were able to see her twice as she passed running at which time she looked totally exhausted, the sun was out big time (there was a heat wave in Lake Placid last week but the heat broke a bit for Sundays start) it was in the 80's when she was running her 26 miles.

We found a shaded bench so Ed & I stayed there while the others went back to the bar (it's definitely a job watching this thing, but we couldn't complain when we thought about what she was going through) We saw her 1 last time then we headed to the Olympic Oval where the Finish Line was. The energy & enthusiasm & the music & the announcer announcing names when people finished was just indescribable. So Simon stayed on the street to see her pass the final time & ran to tell us she'd be crossing the Finish Line in about 10 minutes. Some of her friends were up in the bleachers where they could see her enter the Oval.

Then there she was with the announcer yelling "From New York City, JILL AGRESTA, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" & with an unbelievable smile & hands raised over her head she came running past us (Todd & I & a couple of her friends were right by the fence at the Finish Line) and over the finish line she went with the timer on 13 hrs. 6 mins.

It was such a moment I'm having trouble describing it, needless to say I was crying. We hustled to where we'd meet her, Simon got to her first then she & I headed for each other, she was crying & said to me "Mommy, it was sooooo hard" So we both cried in each others arms. Are you feeling the chills at this description?

She then told us about the problems with her tire & how the 3rd time she burst into tears at the Aid Station & the guy put a new wheel on. So she was disappointed in her time of 7 hrs for the bike because she feels she would have been able to do 6 1/2 hr or less with no problems.

So, it was just an unbelievable event. If you go on my Facebook you'll see the video of the finish line (unless you already have seen it on hers.

Thanks for the caring & support for her. Love, K

Thank you Mom for being my #1 supporter and letting me share this.  I love you!

 
For my IMLP Run Report click here... Bike click here... and swim click here.
Thanks for reading!

IMLP The Run

RUN 4:36:19

Running with Olympic Ski Jumps as my backdrop.  Pretty cool!

The marathon of an Ironman is an interesting thing.  Did you overcook your legs on the bike?  Did you fuel correctly on the bike so that could physically run a marathon?  As you can see, your marathon performance in the ironman depends on how you handle yourself on the bike.

While I nailed my nutrition on the bike, eating everything as planned, drinking more than planned due to the heat and taking salt tablets, I also decided to punish the bike course for giving me 3 flats.  So yeah... I think you can see where this is going.

Coming into this race, my running has never been stronger.  I knew I could run a 4 hour marathon after swimming and biking.  I just knew it.  I had the fitness to do it.  But my legs had other plans that day.  It may sound like I am disappointed and I'm honestly not.  It was my first Ironman and I overcame and achieved so much on race day.  I am very proud of myself!

Once I ran out of transition I headed out of town on Main Street where there were people cheering everywhere!  I felt a little tired (who could blame me) but I was jazzed to be off the bike and running.  The run course heads downhill out of town so you really have to watch your pacing here and not go too crazy fast.  My first mile came in at 8:44 with an aid station slow down to grab water and ice.  Ok, that's actually perfect for me I thought.  I wanted to hold between 8:55-9:10 minute miles throughout so hitting 8:44 on a downhill was no biggie. 

Honestly, this marathon is kind of a blur!  It's the one part of the race that I'm having a hard time remembering details.  I remember miles 1-8 felt good... miles 9-26.2 not-so-good.   I walked the aid stations and made sure I was taking in nutrition.  The volunteers were awesome and they had everything you wanted out on the course... perform, water, ice, coke, pretzels, bananas.  After mile 9 my stomach started to get a little sloshy.  I grabbed pretzels at the aid stations to soak up some of the liquid and get more salt in me.  The problem was it was too hard to chew them while running so I took longer walk breaks at each aid station as the marathon went on.

Walking is your #1 enemy during this marathon.  Once you let yourself walk, your legs  try to convince your brain that walking just a minute more or 2 minutes more isn't a big deal.  It's a constant battle going on inside and all the while your heart is saying Hurry Up and Finish!!


Legs Vs Mind Vs Heart Battle

I saw Jon, Mandy and Annie looking strong on the run.  I saw my NYC bike training buddy Noel looking great.  It was a such a nice mental break to run over to them, high five and yell out to each other that we were going to be Ironmen very soon. 

The out and back on River Road is breathtakingly beautiful.  You have lush green farmland, a winding river and the mountains as your backdrop.  That was one of the things that took my mind off the pain signals my legs were sending my brain. The only bad thing about River Road is that it feels endless because it is super curvy.  Every curve you think you'll see the turnaround but nope, it's a bit further down the road.  Finally I saw the turnaround and it put a little pep in my step!

On the way back into town there are two hills you have to climb.  My plan was to walk them in addition to the aid stations.  As I'm thinking back, I ran most of the first hill by the bridge and only walked a little bit.  On the plus side, the second hill into town is actually fun in a sick, cruel way.  While I was slugging my way up the hill, the crowd is roaring, cheering my name.  There was a person with a microphone telling us runners to get running and playing great music. Once I made the left turn up the next slight incline the cheers from my super duper fan club immediately brought a smile on my face!!  They were cheering so loud and I was so happy to see them!

So excited to see my cheering squad!

I ran out on Mirror Road, past the lake where I swam 2.4 miles many hours prior.  The swim felt like it happened days ago at this point.  I hit the turnaround and headed back towards the Olympic Oval.  Lots of Placid racers talk about how cruel it is that you have to run past the Olympic Oval where Mike Reilly is declaring people as Ironman but honestly, I didn't focus on that.  I focused on knowing I would see my fan club again on the way out of town.  Yes, I would have loved to have turned into the Oval, but it wasn't my turn yet. 

Running down the hills again were a little bit harder. And River Road really seemed endless this time around.  I kept on thinking I would see the turnaround at the end but it would never come.  Until finally it did.   Yes!  At this point, I was walking each aid station and I stopped once to pee in the porta potty.  The only thing that was really uncomfortable for me during the run was my legs.  They would not move.  My HR was super low for me, lower than my normal long training runs but my legs, oh my legs.  I left them on the bike course like a real IM rookie. Oh well... maybe I wouldn't break 13 hours but I am still gonna be an Ironman for the first time!!

I teared up a bit when I had to stop and walk up the second steep hill.  I was so close to finishing, but it felt so far.  I smiled and fist pumped when I saw Simon on Main Street.  The rest of my fan club was already perched at the finish line and he was in charge of letting them know when I was gonna be heading into the Oval.  I had two more miles to run.  Two miles!  I can run 2 miles in my sleep! I tried to quicken my pace but the slight incline of Mirror Road felt like Mt. Everest at this point. I got to the Mirror Road turnaround and decided I was not going to walk the last aid station.  I was going to finish and finish strong.  As I was running I zipped up my tri top, abandoned the nutrition I shoved in my pockets and got "camera ready" for my photo finish!  hah - us triathletes are so vain, aren't we? 

I ran into the Olympic Oval and I could not wipe the silly grin off my face!! I saw Brie and Brendan at the oval turn and I realized that this was actually happening.  I was actually running down the finisher's chute and I was going to be an Ironman!! 

I picked up my pace and noticed I had the chute all to myself.  I raised my arms in a cross between fist pumping, waving and bullhorns and focused on listening for my name.  And then... I heard it.  I heard his magical voice saying those magical words.....

JILL AGRESTA FROM NEW YORK CITY.... YOU ARE AN IRONMAN JILL FOR THE FIRST TIME!

My favorite photo... it has my Mom and Brother cheering to the right!



I heard my fan club cheering but I didn't see them.  All I saw was a tunnel that ended at the finisher's arch.  I did it!  I was an Ironman!!!

A volunteer caught me at the finish and helped me get my medal, t-shirt, hat and finisher's photo. 

#1 for 1st Ironman.... except it kinda looks like I'm giving the middle finger!

I grabbed a slice of pizza and banana and started to cry.  I was so overwhelmed with what I had just done.  Volunteers kept asking me if I was ok and I gave the girliest answer ever.  I'm just emotional!  I saw my family and friends and immediately started crying even harder.  My Mom started crying too and while we were hugging I said, Mommy, that was the hardest thing ever!  Yes, I am a full blown adult at 30 years old.  And, no, I'm not afraid to cry or call my Mom, Mommy, when needed!

My family and Simon rocking Team Jill T's

It was such an amazing day.... I am so lucky I was able to share it with my family and friends.  That made the difference in the world... it made me feel even more special knowing that I had people cheering me on and believing in me for over 13 hours. 

Surrounded by my Fan Club!

So what happens AFTER an Ironman??  Stay tuned for that.... here's a hint: It might include lots of food, wine, beer and laughs!