I didn't think I'd be writing a race report 3.5 months after Amy was born, but yesterday I completed my first race in over a year. It wasn't a professional race, and it wasn't a particularly competitive race, but I'm ranking it as one of my top five performances ever.
I am hesitant to call this a Race Report...when I can't really say I raced - or finished. So, let's just call it a race "experience". It was certainly a good experience!
This past month of training has been all about rehab. As much as I'd like to be training like crazy with Laurel, recovering from major abdominal surgery takes time and needs to be done properly. I've been carefully working my way back to fitness under the watchful eye of physical therapist/athletic trainer/all-around guru Carolyn Mazur.
Bike kits, those pro looking spandex shorts and matching shirts, are are totally necessary and functional for cycling. But they are also not the most flattering or comfortable clothes out there. They are the kind of clothes you want to change out of as soon as you finish a ride, but more often than not, we triathletes/cyclists tend to linger in them.
Laurel is en route to this weekend's Wildflower Triathlon and as she makes her way up the California coast from LA to Santa Barbara, I've asked her to send photos of her pre-race road food.
Amy, ready for the gym.The latest news around here is that Amy turned 3 months and I signed up for my first race of the year - Mother's Day Duathlon in Prospect Park on May 12. The race is a sprint distance (2 mile run/10 mile bike/ 2 mile run) and my only goals are to have fun and enjoy the day.
Well, I did it. Crossed the first major milestone off my get-back-to-shape-after-baby plan with my finish at the inaugural Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC on Sunday. And, despite some gnarly toenails and soreness in my quads, I feel pretty darn good about it two days later. By no means was this a FAST half for me. Lacking a strong base and any speed in my legs, I knew I couldn't even attempt to go near my 13.1 PR of 1:34.
Road Trip: NYC to LA.For the past 2 months I have been living and training in Santa Monica, California. After spending a few weeks training in Tucson with my coach Cliff English, I came out here in early March to escape the New York winter and spend some quality time in the pool and in the mountains.
