Giving Thanks

This has been a tremendous year to be thankful for. I started a new journey of dreaming this year and have so much love and support. Thank you to my husband, Rob, first and foremost, for standing by me through the hardships and successes of this year. It has not only been an adventure for me, but for Rob as well, as we embark together to figure out what its like to live as and with a full time triathlete.  Thank you to my parents for believing in me and encouraging me to be the dreamer that I have become. They also made their debut at my last race this year, in Clearwater, to join in on the triathlon experience. They had a great time and learning experience. It really means a lot that they are learning about what I am doing with my life, and that I am able to share with them.

I am thankful for my body. My arms, legs, and mind have carried me a long way. Without them all I would not be who I am today. My mind, especially, has been a key player this year in my life journey. I learned a lot from you, mind. You can be my companion and my enemy, but together we grow and learn and become strong. Along with that, I have to thank one of my mentors, John McMullin, for inviting me to join in the journey of wisdom that is life. The gifts that I have been given are priceless.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Take time to reflect at least one thing that has made your life amazing.

Ironman 70.3 World Championship-Clearwater, FL

   Well, this had to be my least stellar race of the year, unfortunate. I had come off such a great Ironman race in Wisconsin and had high hopes for this race.  I have raced at least once each month this season and this was the biggest two month gap between races. I went in not really knowing where I stood with my fitness. I felt great but my training volume was down from ironman training and it had been a while since I had raced. I just threw myself in the race believing I was where I should be....this however wasn't a reflection of my race experience.
   The swim was just horrid for me. I have not swam in the ocean very often, let alone the open wavy side. The practice swims were an eye-opener for me. I told myself to just remember to relax and just do my best.
Well, the gun goes off and I got off to a great start. However, the farther out I got, the wavier it got, and the less I had control of holding a draft, let alone some swim form. As I made the turn to head back in the sun was directly in my eyes and I just struggled the rest of the way in.
  My transition to the bike was awesome. I had two guys stripping my wetsuit that basically held me up in the air so I never had to touch the ground and kept on going. Grabbing my bike bag was easy and I had set everything up to run smoothy.....and it did. I jumped on the bike and just took off. I am a strong cyclist, but found this course to be a bit different than the rest. Of course everyone has heard of the Clearwater drafting, in a non-drafting race, but I can't even explain the magnitude of the drafting I rode hard, but when packs would come by, I took a cautious back seat, as I did not want to risk a penalty, or crashing. I saw multiple crashes and a penalty tent with more than 10 people in it. In my opinion, the course isn't bad, its just that the roads are all open to cars and the bikers only have one lane of riding and passing. When you have age groupers that are all similar caliber athletes, they most likely are going to be riding close to one an other, so a narrow course just isn't realistic.
   I had another great transition in T2. Gotta love the bike catcher in the 70.3. If only every race had volunteers to take your bike so you could skip the racking, wow that would be amazing.The first two miles of the run for me are a build into a good pace. I am always conscious of going out too fast. I actually had great run. It got hotter as it went on, but never really effected me too much. Humidity isn't my friend. The humidity seemed pretty low on race day. I finished hard the last 5 miles and passed a few of my contenders within the last mile to round out the top 10 in the 30-34 age group.
   Of course top 10 in your age group in the world is pretty good, but its not good enough for me. I always go into a race expecting to win, or at least do my best. This was not my day. There are many lessons to learn from this race. I find a lot of value in this, and will take this race as a building block for the next season. I had a wonderful triathlon season in 2010 and am very happy of all of the growth and successes I experienced.
   Thank you to Kestrel and Speedfill for helping me get set up pre-race. Especially to Steve H. and Frank from the bike shop for helping get my  Kestrel 4000 setup fine tuned. It felt amazing and was much better than I could have done myself.
  Next race report blog will be done as an elite. Lots of work to do until then....lots and lots.

"He who would go a hundred miles should consider ninety-nine as halfway."~Japanese Proverb

    I came across this quote today and it really hit home to what has been going on in my life recently. In February, I quit my full time (full paid) job, to pursue a career in professional triathlon racing. I had found my passion and anchored my dream to this star. For the last nine months, I have set my focus on quality training, racing, and becoming the best athlete I could imagine. (All which I could have never done without the love, support, and frequent flyer miles of my husband, Rob....love you!)

  This season my racing grew leaps and bounds and I finished every race on the podium. In September, at Ironman Wisconsin, I made my dream a reality. By finishing as the first place women amateur spot, I fulfilled the USAT professional license criteria. I made my dream of racing as a professional athlete become a reality and can start in 2011. AWESOME!!!!!WHAT NOW?

    Last week, I traveled to Dallas to do some training with my coach, Ahmed Zaher, and to take a swim clinic with Sheila Taromina, Olympic gold medalist and  the only 3 time, 3 sport Olympic athlete. The knowledge I gained in 3 days from the both of them was priceless. On Thursday, I went to hear Sheila speak to the Dallas area Playtri athletes. She expressed her story of perserverance while trying to make it into the Olympic Trials and onto the U.S. Olympic swimming team. She tried three times. On her final shot, she was turned away from the Olympic Training center program, and had to make some choices about following her dream and if she would have that dedication on her own to make it. She had little resources where she lived and had to put all of her faith into making her dreams a reality by setting and sticking to her goals. She did it, and got onto the Olympic swimming team, but that was just the beginning. That was the end of Sheila's speach, about making your dreams come true, but of course we all know that wasn't the end. She made it to the ninety-nine mile mark, and doors were opening for her, but the work load ahead, I suspect, grew and grew and grew.....as did her commitments and determination.

   So here I am, completing my dreams and goals for the year, listening and relating to a respected athlete that has gone through the journey, which I have only dabbled my toes into. I planned this year on going the one hundred miles it would take to become a professional triathlete. I am now realizing that I have just reached my ninety-nine mile marker. I have had to take a lot of time, and will do so even more before 2011, setting new goals and realizing the workload ahead of me is greater than I have ever imagined. I have had to decide, thinking with my heart, about my commitments to my career in triathlon  this next year, and the years to come. I have set small goals, and I have set large goals, neither being more or less important. I have hitched my new dreams on another star and am setting forth on the next leg of this incredible journey. Here I GO.........

Ironman Wisconsin 2010

    Well, I  have put off writing my blog long enough. I started writing a few months back and really enjoyed posting my race report. Since then, I sort of let it slip my mind because I didn't really know what to write. I have had a wonderful first full season of racing triathlon, thus far. Last weekend I had my best race of the year, and thought it was about time to write about it.
    I went up to Madison, Wisconsin to check out the bike course a few weeks before the race. It was in the 90's and 100% humidity. That was a really rough weekend of training for me. The conditions really brought my performance down, as well as my race confidence. I was pretty unsure about how the race was going to pan out for me, especially the 112 mile bike course.
    We got to Madison on Thursday of race week and it was just beautiful. I was feeling rested and relaxed at this point, and knew that I just had to trust in my training and perform to my best physical and mental ability. We built a bonfire out in the country that night with some friends. I love fires and took some time just to stare into the flames and envision my race and the strengths I would need for my first Ironman.
    Friday and Saturday went quickly. Friday was the welcome dinner where I got to meet some of my Erin Baker Triathlon Team teammates. I enjoyed listening to the many stories of athletes that were shared and drew a lot of inspiration from them. Saturday, Rob and I went to UW vs San Jose St football game. Rob needed as little break from the triathlon scene, as did I. Its not so good for me to spend a lot of time around so much nervous energy. I think that it can be counteractive and create doubts in your own plan by listening to others triathlon training and racing stories. I surprisingly slept like a baby on Saturday night, which was a huge blessing for me.
     SWIM-Lake Monona was super calm as the sun began to rise on Sunday morning. I was unusually calm as well. I had a growing excitement inside but was sure not to waste too much energy before the start. I somehow ran into every one of my friends that I knew were spectating and received amazing positive energy to build on from them. When I got into the water I knew it was going to be just the beginning to a fabulous day. The gun when off and I took off. The mass start wasn't as difficult as I imagined. I just had to keep forward progression and not worry about the fists, kicks, and pulls from others. There were people around me on both laps so I was able to find drafts almost the entire way. I came out just under 50 seconds of my predicted swim and was happy to see I was on the right track. Running up the helix into T1 was quite and event. Hundreds of people screaming and were cheering the athletes on. It was hard not to be pumped up.

     BIKE- I set out on the bike with a rigid plan that I knew I had to stick to. First off, was to keep calm and a slower paced for the first 20 miles. Knowing myself, I would get carried away by all the excitement. I rode the course and was confident about my pacing and choices I would make along the way. My nutritional plan was executed to a "T". I held a smile on my face the entire time and a joy in my heart. I felt so lucky to be able to be out there sharing this day with thousands of athletes owning a common love. The most amazing part on the bike were the spectators. They were everywhere. Most major packs at top of climbs where the knew every athlete could use the most encouragement. Crazy costumes and signs. My favorite sign I saw was, "Are you peeing?". They must have been athletes themselves....Ha!
    I came into T2 feeling amazing. I had no idea where I was placed in the pack, but I knew I had surpassed my expectations for the bike portion. The girls in the change room were cheering and all in a line waiting to jump at the chance to assist me. I told them they were just amazing being there and how cool it was. I started to tear up with all the emotions that came over me. The girls shouted words of encouragement as I sprinted out of the building.
     RUN-I also started the run for the first 20 minutes going easy and not to take off too fast. The last leg  of Ironman was still going to be long, and I wasn't planning on bonking that early! The first loop of the run felt comfortable even though I wasn't going as fast as I thought I would run. I was pacing comfortably and knew I could carry that a long way. As I got to the second loop, I found myself getting fatigued in my quads, but it wasn't anything that couldn't push through. I saw my husband at mile 17 and  knew I was slowing a little, but his encouragement was an uplift for me. We looped around State St. and the crowds were screaming and echoing through the street. Perfect for all the athletes struggling with their run. I got to mile 20 and my hamstring seized up on me and I got panicked. I couldn't stop because then everything would start shutting down. So I slowed a bit, and got the pain under control and then sped up to the fastest pace I was able to handle at this point.
     The last 300 meters is a lap around the capital building....uphill. I had such a rush inside that I just took off for the finish line. People were screaming from all sides as I came through the finish chute hearing Mike Reiley say, "Erin Spitler, You Are An Ironman." I thought for sure I was going to shed some tears hearing that for the first time in my life, but my brain was just in such exhaustion that I fell into the arms of the catchers and let them walk me to Rob, who was standing at the end of the street.
Then I heard the most amazing words I have heard all 2010 triathlon season come out of Rob's mouth.  "Erin, you won, you are 1st Place!" I was first in my age group and first overall amateur. I was just stunned. I had achieved a position I had been gunning for all season, and I did it in the hardest race. What?!?!
    This Ironman Wisconsin 2010 was the best racing experience of my life. Everything from volunteers, to registration and banquets, to course support, and weather, all fell into place with precision. Rob and I went back to the finish after dark to cheer on athletes that were still racing. This is when it all hit me. I realized, not only what I had accomplished, but what 2,500 others had accomplished, and started crying. What an overwhelming feeling. It is unexplainable to those who have never race an Ironman before.
 I will never forget this day. It won't be my last Ironman. I am looking forward to many more.

Rev3 Knoxville Olympic Triathlon

  This race is the 3rd race that I have competed in 2010, and I have decided to start a blog since triathlon is now my career. The Knoxville, TN Rev3 event was amazing this year. This was my first Rev3 event, and I cant wait to do more next year. Unfortunately, I already have plans for the other dates. I suggest anyone that loves triathlon to try out the Rev3 series. They run a really great production for the athletes. We all know that triathlon costs a lot of money, especially to enter races. This race really makes it all worth it. You get a few shirts, hats, and bags, as well as finishers stuff. They even had box lunches for the athletes at the finish line.
  Ok on to the race. It was about 46 degrees at the start of the race. The sun was shining but the athletes were shivering, even in their wetsuits.  However, it was a beautiful morning. The swim was up and down the Tennessee River and there really wasn't much of a current. The start was in the water and that was a first for me. I actually really loved the start and swimming in the river. I had a great swim and improved my time from my last Oly in Miami.
  My TI was a little sloppy as I got my left leg stuck in my wetsuit. Of course, I got it off, but wish it would have been faster. I jumped on my Cervelo P2C and took off.  It was cold riding, but I just blocked it out. I am pretty strong on the bike and since the course was shorter than normal for me, I went all out. The scenery was fabulous. The course was technical. Lots of climbs, lots of speedy downhills, and lots of twists and turns. It was one of my favorite courses that I have ever ridden. My GPS came in at 25.8, so it was a tad long, but everyone had to do it, so that didn't matter much.
   The run was very pretty as well. Once we got onto the town trail there were tons of shaded areas and lots of enthusiastic volunteers at the aid stations. That is something that always gives me a lot of energy, to have the encouragement of volunteers. They really are a special group. I had been treating tendonitis in my ankle and this run was more of a test run for my race next weekend in Florida. I went out easy and just enjoyed the experience. I ran about 7:40/ mile and felt really comfortable, and no feeling of pain or irritation. This was a big confidence builder for me.
   The finish in World's Fair Park was a great place to set up the end. Lots of spectators and music, and even a turkey sandwich waiting for me. I placed 2nd in my Age Group, and considering I went slower on my run, I was ecstatic to have a place on the podium. The Rev3 race was overall a wonderful and fun experience and I will go back next year.