Yep, I beat Coach Diablo yet again.

Every year Coach and I bet on the Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. I take Georgia, my beloved alma mater and perennial national championship contender. Diablo gets Stanford, a solid program who won their last swimming national championship when he was coaching there, and I was in middle school.

Loser wears the winner’s team’s apparel, and this morning Diablo sported Georgia Bulldog Red & Black at the Dynamo indoor cycling class. And secretly, he loved it.

Better mascot? Better colors? Better alumni with blogs of the triathlon variety? The list goes on and on.

And while the Dawgs fell just short of their fifth national title (they were second to Cal Berkely), I know they fought hard and I am very proud to call myself an alum! And to the Cardinal: No, you cannot have your old coach back!

This weekend I also returned to the starting line at the Publix Georgia Half Marathon. This is always one of my favorite races because the course winds through some of the coolest parts of Atlanta. For months afterwards I’ll drive through parts of the city and memories of the race will pop into my head. It’s definitely a must-do for anyone living in the Southeast.

Unfortunately, this year I found out what it’s like to hit the wall. In a half marathon. At mile 1.5. Endurance athlete? HAH! My legs had other plans.

But I struggled on, my legs came around a bit, and I finished in a respectable 1:27. Not my best, but better than hitching a ride home on the Civic Center Marta train (I seriously considered it).

One thing that kept me going was the Pease brothers. Kyle and Brent are one of my favorite blog topics because they seriously inspire me. Together they ran a personal record 1:40 half marathon last weekend - on a tough course in 80 degree weather! And just the day before they crushed the 5k race along with two children they sponsored through the Kyle Pease Foundation. Their story just keeps getting better.

And I quickly figured out that if I hung out around them post-race I could get in some famous John David Johnson paparazzi shots! Check it out – I look so candid!

There’s nothing I love more than being famous by association. But why was I wearing a sweatshirt when it was 85 degrees out? Maybe it was my brain that hit the wall! Congrats to the Pease brothers and everyone else who ran!

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Warning: The following blog post may contain spoilers. It may also contain extreme creative liberties. I apologize for nothing. But if you haven’t read the Hunger Games trilogy, I highly recommend checking it out!

Last weekend I traveled to the North Georgia mountains for some bike riding with friends. It wasn’t my best showing, exercise-wise, so I had to make up for it with some good old fashioned imagination.

I decided to become Katniss Everdeen - heroine of the Hunger Games. If I wasn’t going to be fast, at least I could entertain myself by shooting things with my bow and arrow.

My teammates (at least the ones who sometimes admit to loving the Hunger Games) also took on new identities:

Just like the books, Finnick, complete with his trident and good looks, kept things classy:

And it was Haymitch to the rescue when things got really bad:

President Snow was the oppressive dictator of my triathlon life. And I blamed him for everything, even though my struggles weren’t really his fault.

But  in the end, just like Katniss, I survived. It wasn’t pretty, but miles are miles. And fingers crossed the odds will be more in my favor on race day!

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IMPORTANT AND VERY SERIOUS SIDE NOTE:

The Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships start tomorrow!!! The meet is in Auburn, Alabama, and my alma mater, the University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs, are set to have a great meet! I’m predicting National Championship #5. GO DAWGS!!!!

If you like to follow really fast swimming check out the meet results here.

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This past weekend I took a break from racing and spent some quality time watching other people race! My friends Bryan and Ernie were racing in a local 10k so I rode my bike down to the finish line to cheer them on.

Drew, Ernie, and I at the finish line

Bryan is running 40 races this year to celebrate turning 40 years old! How cool is that?!

Race day also happened to be Ernie’s Birthday!  Being another year older meant Ernie was racing in a new age group for the first time, and he killed it! Ernie won not only his  age group, but also the overall masters crown as well! What great way to start a new year!

While I didn’t actually get to see my friend Kelly race the Double Top 100k, I was definitely rooting her on in spirit! Kelly swam for the University of Georgia a couple years before me. We both swam the 400IM and our coach actually used to tell me stories about the badass workouts she did while she was on the team! I was inspired then and I still am today!

It turns out Kelly’s rockstar endurance antics didn’t stop when she got out of the pool. She kicked butt and WON the 62 mile trail run! And I’m thinking Kelly’s well on her way to becoming the first former UGA swimmer to run a 100 miler! Coach Jack will be bragging about her for years to come!

And speaking of trail ultra running, I highly recommend the movie “Unbreakable” about the 2010 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. I stumbled across the video while looking for something to watch while I was riding the trainer (I like to watch other people working out while I work out, hah) and now I’m obsessed! I have no idea how those people run so fast for so long! The race is exciting, the scenery is breathtaking, and if you look close you’ll see my friend Alyssa on the sideline about 2 minutes in! Definitely worth checking out!

Have a great weekend folks! I’m headed to the Gaps! Woo hoo!

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I’d signed up to race the Charles Harris 10k, but every fiber in my being was screaming at me to just stay in bed.

But since I’d spent the past week listening to Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” on repeat, it did not seem like an appropriate time to become a quitter. Plus, everyone is always talking about how flat and fast the course is, so I figured worst case I could just cartwheel my way to the finish line.

Once I got to the start at Tucker High School I immediately felt better. At least a dozen of my Dynamo Multisport teammates were racing too! I’d been working out of town for the past few weeks so it was really great to catch up with everyone.

I went hard from the gun – I knew there was no such thing as “easing into” a 6.2 mile race. I needed to get MOVING!

I got a little extra boost when I passed Kyle “K-Peasey” Pease cruising along with the help of his big brother Brent. Kyle has cerebal palsy, but with his brothers, Brent and Evan, pushing him in his racing chair, he’s tackled 10ks, triathlons, and even an ultramarathon. And K-Peasey doesn’t mess around – he and Brent hit the first mile marker in 6:30. Smokin’ fast!

This was my first time running Charles Harris, and even though I’d heard the course was mostly flat, I still secretly believed the road would make a right turn and I’d be face-to-face with a Hogpen-esq hill.

Thankfully, that did not happen. The course was as flat as a gluten-free pancake. But that doesn’t mean it was easy. It just meant I had to run faster!

Aided by my super sweet Mizuno racing flats, some friendly cheers on the course, and a good push from my triathlon buddy Tim on the final downhill, I managed to finish in a personal best 37:43. Good enough for second place female.

Ten kilometers may be a lot shorter than my typical races, but I learned a lot out on the Charles Harris race course. For years, I’ve heard coaches say it doesn’t matter how you feel on race day – if you’ve done the work you can still pull off a good race. This race was a nice reminder of that. It was also a good reminder of what it feels like to go fast. But one reminder I did not need was how delicious post-race coffee tastes! That’s a joy I could never forget!

Shanks, Me, Spk - Well deserved Starbucks!

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