tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235076989273804702024-03-13T10:14:52.211-07:00Just Keep Going... JUST KEEP GOING!
The day in the life of a Pro Triathlete and Mom...Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-32473798055946782282016-06-02T07:22:00.002-07:002016-06-02T07:23:34.228-07:00A Couple of Concessions and Successes in Texas<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2749" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; padding: 0px;">
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2748" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">I've been down to Texas twice this year to race. I kicked my racing off at the Texas 70.3 in Galveston. The short version was my swim was off--way off--like "what-was-I-doing-out-there?" off. All I can come up with is was the first race of the year, I really don't excel at swimming in a wetsuit, and I don't think I was prepared to hurt in the water that day. The bike was a solid day for me, although a tad lonely, picking off a few girls. The highlight of the day was I felt great running and pulled off a pretty good run and managed to pick off a few more girls, landing in 8th. It was kind of a bummer to not have my "normal" swim as I just wasn't in the race all day. Personally, I just find it hard to focus in those circumstance but the good news from the day is I knew my fitness was tracking for my priority race, Ironman Texas. The bad news of the day was Mark was hit by a car (he's fine now) and that's really all I'll think about when I think of the race.</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2755" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">I was able to get in some really solid swim and bike training between Galveston and IMTX. Unfortunately about 2 weeks before Galveston I got a little niggle in my knee from the pesky ITBS. Unfortunately this knocked me out for half of 2013 so I walked a tight rope of not making it worse but still trying to run enough to maintain enough fitness that I could just make the marathon in IMTX. I had a major panic about 10 days before the race. Basically it was the "I have not been running nearly enough to be competitive, I'm not ready, what if it starts to hurt, etc etc." While my run preparation was not ideal, it was incredibly solid up until 2 weeks before Galveston. I knew all I could do was go give it my best shot. As I was coming to terms with that, I got knocked out with a stomach bug from Gwyn the week before the race. Honestly it was a blessing and a curse. While getting sick is never great, I think the extra rest to my knee allowed me to go into the race completely pain free, something I hadn't been for over 8 weeks.<span style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2780" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">My swim in Texas was good (for me.) I came out with solid women around me or just in front of me. Again, I find I don't seem to get so "lost" and unfocused in the back of the race. The bike was solid and I actually didn't find the course to bother me too much. If I had one complaint it would be that the age group men should have been more than 10 minutes behind us. While I know they don't mean to be, I find them to be a bit disruptive to the women's race and everyone I was around seemed to want to stay out of their way but this course can get contested, especially with all the turns.<span style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"> </span>Regardless I think a cleaner race is achievable with a bigger gap between both the pro men and the age group men behind us.</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2841" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">The run was the great unknown. I told myself that if I ever had knee pain for more than 15 minutes I would stop. I honestly didn't know if that would come at 30 minutes 90 or at 245. I began the run very conservatively and just hoped that women up ahead were over extending themselves. I'm a Texas girl, born and raised in Houston. I know this heat and humidity enough to realize it can chew up and spit out the fittest and fastest of athletes and my goal for the day was to just not be one of them. Surprisingly my knee only ached for a few minutes the whole run, but it was overshadowed that my whole body hurt really feeling the lack of running. I had so many friends and family on the course I would just try to stay focused on the next time I would see them. Each time I would get an update I was surprised I was moving up because I only passed a few women. Luckily my conservative plan was working out and while I certainly wasn't moving as fast as I would have liked, I was still moving forward. When I got to the finish line I heard them announce 7th and I was shocked, somehow I moved up 2 places the last 10k without ever seeing that I was making a pass.<span style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"> </span></span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2822" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">Ironman Texas wasn't my fastest Ironman. It wasn't even my fastest Ironman Texas. But it's certainly my proudest because I never gave up on myself, it was the scariest as far as not knowing how that run would pan out, it was executed in a way that would most maximize what I could do that day, and I honestly didn't care about anyone else...I focused on me and trusted that if I played it smart I would be in the top 10. I'm recovering faster and better than I ever have after an Ironman. That's probably also because I'm still not running, trying to truly rest my knee. So as far as my next race...wish I could tell you. I know to be on a podium at these races I need to be 100% and that's my focus now.</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2817" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">Thank you to all of my sponsors, my family and friends and coach. The people in my corner that witness my hard work and remind me to stay in the battle are often the unsung heroes going into my races. Those are the people that remind me to believe because they do...and their support and sacrifices I thought of every step of the way.<span style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2814" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">@jaybirdsport @envecomposites @argon18bike @rotorbike @CobbCycling @theinfinitloop @blueseventy @sugoiapparel @ceramicspeed @bolle_eyewear @altrarunning @swiftwicksocks @vittoriatires @bsxathletics @vo2multisport @primalsportmud @tribiketransport @rideshimano @tensegrity_chiropractic @teamrwb<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1464879568705_2904" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
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Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-73013839609866513192015-08-26T17:26:00.000-07:002015-08-26T17:26:10.924-07:00Full Circle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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How many full circle moments do you get in life? Or how many do you get that make such a profound impact it changes your entire perception on life? I can't imagine that we get that many, so when one comes I try to hold on to it for as long as I can, truly relishing its impact.<br />
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A few weeks ago I finally had my first race guiding Patricia, and it was everything it was cracked up to be, and then some. I have to pinch myself that this amazing opportunity just sort of fell in my lap (to read more check out coeursports.com). I expected this weekend to be an incredible experience, but it turned into so much more for reasons I could have never anticipated. In order for me to really explain, I am going to have to go back a bit.</div>
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I deployed to Baghdad, Iraq on 1 Jan 2004 (Happy New Year!). As the first reinforcement unit in for Operation Iraqi Freedom 2, we had to get used to the idea that we would be a sustaining force in Iraq. What this meant was that this would not be a quick deployment, looking to be over a year long, and sure enough, I came back home a (long) 14 months later.</div>
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During my time in Iraq we had to get used to the idea of being there longer, but at the same time, so did our opposition. Each month the insurgency grew stronger and more organized. When we first got to Camp Victory Base South, we relieved V Corps out of Germany. I remember the exiting Battalion Commander joking around that the "indirect" fire from the opposition was just that...not direct. He laughed about how their antiquated mortars and rockets never landed anywhere in the base camp because it never made it over the walls that separated us from "out there." Sadly, by the end of that deployment this was no longer a joking matter. Not only did they learn to fire over the wall, they had our Life Support Areas dialed in and we had several KIAs by the time my unit left.</div>
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Also during that time the rate of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devise...or as the media call it "road side bombs") also increased dramatically. My job didn't require me to leave the base camp often, but when I did I can't describe the anxiety involved being on the roads. The lack of control, the not knowing and being such an easy target just ate at you. There were a few routes we deemed as "safer," particularly Route Irish around the Green Zone and Baghdad International Airport. Both of these places were not far and we often drove these roads for various missions. </div>
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Every morning my Battalion would have a meeting to go over updates of any pertinent information around base camp. We were later called the "Special Troops Battalion," which basically meant we kept the place running. Water in, power, water out were our biggest missions. We also made sure every soldier, sailor, airman, and civilian had a place to eat, sleep, and work. It was a big mission that never left you bored or without work to do. </div>
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One particular morning the Executive Officer from the medical detachment that attended our meeting came in. I wish I could remember his name- he was usually one of the most upbeat people and those are the kind of people you want to be around. In the civilian world he worked as a trauma nurse. He always had a smile and would tell us stories that would have us laughing at the absurdity. </div>
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This particular morning he wasn't himself. It was early in the deployment, early April. When it was his turn to give his unit's update, he looked on the edge of tears and was visibly shaken. He explained that the loud explosion we heard during the night turned out to be an IED. A convoy had hit it. The convoy had hit the IED on the "safer" road by BIAP, right down the street from us. At that point he explained that the casualty was a female, a young Lieutenant. They brought her to our base camp for immediate medical aid and that they were able to stabilize her, but they couldn't save her leg. His face when he said, “We couldn’t save her leg,” was the face of someone overcome with grief and guilt, his eyes glazed over in total defeat. They then were able to move her to the Green Zone to the bigger medical facility. </div>
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The whole room was silent. The room was in shock. This was right out our front door. This was by the airport. Nothing is safe. No one is safe. The threat is real and it’s all around us. IEDs don't care if you are young or old. They don't care if you're an officer or enlisted. They don't care if you're a man or a woman. They don’t care if you are a good person. They don’t care if you have a family or that one day you want to have kids. They don’t care that you have hopes and dreams; that when you get home you want to race as a professional triathlete. </div>
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A young female junior officer- that could be me. </div>
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My earliest memories are running in the backyard, racing my brothers. Literally running to school late, running in track meets beginning at the ripe age of 4. I ran myself to and through college where I qualified for NCAA's and was the cross country team captain. This body got me an appointment to West Point and later graduated and took a commission as an officer in the United States Army. It has jumped out of airplanes (Airborne!) and ran alongside countless unit runs with countless soldiers. This body took up triathlon. It had already raced in Slovenia, Estonia, The Netherlands, Mexico, and I was just at the tip of my triathlon career. This body, these legs…they have given me so much, so many opportunities, so much joy. My whole life I've been an athlete. What if it took my leg away? What would I do? Who would I be? I wouldn't want to live. I told my NCO if that happens to me I just want to die. Just let me die. How could I continue on with life? How could I live the life without that joy, the freedom that comes with running and all that this body does for me? I felt for this girl. I didn't know her, but my heart broke for her. To one day have everything intact, and the next day have your leg missing. I couldn't imagine and I didn't want to. It was simply unimaginable. </div>
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I thought of that girl from time to time over the last 11 years...just a fleeting thought. She was the first female amputee in combat. On occasion I wondered how her life turned out. After being more involved with amputees I knew that prosthetics had come a long way in recent years. I hoped this afforded her to have some normalcy in her life. </div>
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So here I am in Detroit with Patricia, 11 years later. We had a mix up with hotels and we were waiting for our bags when Patricia wanted to introduce me to someone. She's with a girl who stands up and shakes my hand and I immediately notice it's a "firm" handshake, and I knew she had to be an Army gal. We know those handshakes. She's wearing aviators and she's a very pretty girl with her hair pulled back. She has a baby, and Patricia is holding him as he smiles and laughs. She says, "Hi, I'm Melissa," as she stands up. She's wearing shorts and only then do I notice she's wearing a prosthetic, a very patriotic red, white and blue leg. I also notice that she's an above the knee amputee, which in my limited knowledge I realize creates quite a few more obstacles than below the knee amputees. We chat a few minutes until she and her husband leave for dinner. </div>
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Patricia immediately tells me that Melissa was in fact in the Army. My first question was, "Was she an officer?" For some reason I just felt like I knew...I knew this was the young female officer that had such an impact on all of us that day and for the remainder of our deployment. Her experience haunted me every day as the threat level grew each day in Iraq. Patricia was unsure, so I looked her up. And sure enough it was. Melissa Stockwell. All this time, and I never knew her name. It feels like you should know the name of someone like this, the first female amputee in combat. It feels like everyone should know the name Melissa Stockwell.</div>
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And let me tell you, her life didn't stop. What makes Melissa remarkable was not that fateful day. She isn't alive and well, she is alive and well and <i>thriving</i>. It turns out our lives had just missed each other on several occasions. Not only were we neighbors in Iraq, she came to the Olympic Training Center to train for the paralympics just as I was leaving due to my pregnancy. She was actually the first Iraq veteran chosen for the Paralympics and was even the U.S. team’s flag bearer in the 2008 closing ceremonies. She then focused on becoming a Paralympic triathlete, competing in the 2010 World Champs and is well on her way to the Rio 2016 Paralympics. She also co-founded Dare2Tri, a triathlon club specifically for athletes with disabilities. On top of it she’s served on the board of directors of the Wounded Warrior Project from 2005-2014.</div>
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I got to sit and chat with Melissa. It was surreal for me. Here I was, more than a decade after the incident, talking with the person that actually had to face my biggest nightmare. A fear that constantly consumed me in Iraq. She was interested to hear from my point of view. She explained that family and friends have told her about when they found out the news she lost her leg. But she rarely has heard from another soldier's point of view of a few hours after the IED. Our lives were so very close it seems odd that we were only just now meeting. Regardless, I'm so very glad that we finally did.</div>
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I looked at Melissa and realized how young and immature I was to think that I would want to die if I were in her shoes. Calling Melissa an inspiration doesn't do her justice. War takes so much from us, some more than others. If you really get down to it, everyone in this life faces adversity. It's going to be hard. There are times you really consider giving up. But there is one thing that you can look at Melissa and remember: it can't take away hope. It can't take away courage. It can't take away the willingness to become a better version of yourself. Those are always inside of you. Do you want to be the person that rolls over and plays dead, calling defeat? Or do you want to be the person that chooses to keep on living. It's okay to be knocked down, but you don't have to stay down. Melissa puts on her patriotic prosthetic each morning and proceeds to kick ass. That is in all of us...that ability to stand back up and say today we don't give up. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you choose not to limit yourself. What a gift to see Melissa running out on the course to remind of this, with her husband and son cheering. Yeah, that girl I thought of every now and then for a little over a decade...I think it's safe to say she's doing just fine.</div>
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Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-66334162436318432192015-05-22T13:41:00.000-07:002015-05-22T13:41:22.287-07:00Memorial Day
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My incredible sponsor Coeur Sports (check out <a href="http://coeursports.com/">coeursports.com</a>) wrote me and asked to
write a blog on Memorial Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Of course the motto of Coeur is heart and courage. At first </span>I wasn’t
sure which way to run with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Memorial
Day conjures up so many meanings to me it can be difficult to nail down just
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Memorial Day is <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">for remembering the people who died while serving in
our Armed Forces, which is the ultimate use of heart and courage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was younger, it
meant eating hamburgers and hotdogs and to celebrate the kick off of
summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously as a veteran, and one
that is getting older at that, it holds a much greater meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started thinking about where I started my
career, as a fresh out of high school showing up for R-Day at West Point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it would be fitting to memorialize
my classmates no longer with us.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s hard to
describe the feeling when you actually start to personally know the people you
are honoring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first of my classmates
to die was Dustin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were in the same
squad together at Camp Buckner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you
think of a West Point cadet, you think of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was good at everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
kind and funny with a good sense of humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was classically handsome but probably oblivious to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a way about him that just put you at
ease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He left us far too soon in a
helicopter crash in 2002 in Korea.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then I thought of
Leif.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leif and I were in the same
company the first two years at West Point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was prior service so a little older than me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you are 18, a 20 year old seems so
mature and worldly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was always able
to keep a straight face while I was always told to “smirk off” as I tend to
smile when I get nervous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both ended
up in German during our sophomore year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His father was career Army and he spent several years in Germany growing
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He helped me study for our German
tests and was patient with my thick Texan accent at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leif was our first classmate to die in combat
at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Becky was in my
Beast Company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was smart and
quirky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During Cadet Basic Training she
always looked stressed out, but she never cracked and did quite well at West
Point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically her twin sister
started West Point a few years after Becky and ended up in my company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Becky went on to be a helicopter pilot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Becky was an especially hard one to
lose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Becky lost the fight after
returning home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is one of the 22
veterans we lose a day to suicide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
owe it these veterans and families to put a stop to this.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had a crazy
Croatian classmate named Jasen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone
knew Jasen because he had served in combat in the Croatian Army before even
coming to West Point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was also in my
Beast Company and in my sister squad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
first time I met him he was smoking out of his window in his room, which of course
was not allowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had the foulest
mouth I’d ever heard, but somehow with his accent it seemed to fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He played soccer and was naturally a great
runner and we often ran the 2 mile run test together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a 22 year old guy, an infantry combat
vet, and he’s running with me pushing me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Upper-class respected him, so even though he never seemed to know any
knowledge, no one ever messed with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I just was in awe of what a bad ass he was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died in a bizarre accident in Canada not
related to military service.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">TK was a hockey
player and we lived on the same floor in Eisenhower Barracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being that we were both in varsity sports, we
often got back late and left scrambling to get our academic assignments done. We
often ended up studying together due to these circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, TK always had good snacks in his
room!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s funny because as varsity
athletes, you can be labeled as a “get over” or “ghost” because we often miss
class duties being at practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TK is a
prime example of how athletes often become some of the best leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was so charismatic and when he died in
combat in Afghanistan, it shook our class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was loved by so many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He left
behind a wife and twins, also boy and girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I contacted a classmate
because I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew Dustin, Leif, Becky, Jasen, and TK
personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I looked at our class
eulogy link, I was surprised we have lost 9 total.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greg, Joe, Scott, and Ben…I didn’t know you
but I know you will be deeply missed by so many of our classmates.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And when our work is done, <br />
Our course on Earth is run, <br />
May it be said, "Well done: <br />
Be thou at peace."<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Each day I get to train, I get to race, I
get to be an athlete, I get to be a mom, I think of these guys and gals and I’m
reminded what a gift that is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Memorial Day
is a good day to put things in perspective. They remind me to never give up, to keep fighting. And when you're out racing and training and you're in pain, pain is just a reminder that you're alive. It was an honor to serve with each
of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">George G. Plitt, Jr. "Greg"<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">MAJ Joseph L. Warner USA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">MAJ Thomas E. Kennedy USA (KIA)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Scott D. Hughes<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Jasen
Drnasin<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">CPT Rebecca Ann Jarabek USA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">CPT
Leif E. Nott USA (KIA)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">1LT
Dustin Shannon USA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Thank you <a href="http://coeursports.com/">coeursports.com</a> for giving me a voice to thank these veterans.Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-92127938494812380962014-10-27T04:43:00.000-07:002014-10-27T04:43:27.084-07:00The Great Debate: 50 Women to Kona<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I sat on the pier waiting for the Ironman World
Championships to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The professional
men took off and then the professional women lined up waiting for their cannon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A woman that came to Kona to watch a mutual
friend race turned to me and asked, “Why are there less women than men out
there?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her because the men’s
field has 50 participants while the women have 35.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mind you, this woman is not involved with
triathlon at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a spectator this is
the first and probably last she’ll watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She looked at me completely perplexed and asked, “Why?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I explained the rationale behind it; there
are less professional women than men, thus a smaller championship field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She continued to stare at me perplexed and
said, “That makes absolutely no sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What year do we live in?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So of course I had already thought about the equal slots to
Kona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I come from a background where
you don’t make a lot of fuss, you respect decisions made and you do what you’re
told without complaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bottom-line,
you respect authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so I became
complacent and really didn’t do much more than read a few tweets and retweet
every now and then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While in Kona
something changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hearing a complete
bystander question <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">me</i> for a decision
on unequal sized fields started the wheels turning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this something I really believe in?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this something to just sit back and idly watch
happen?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While my background is to
respect authority, it’s also to have the courage to speak up when you don’t
believe in a decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you can do
that while still respecting authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is not an attack; it’s an obligation to ask the tough questions on
an obviously very sensitive subject.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I like numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
like math and engineering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like being
able to show people “evidence” with cold hard numerical data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I majored in Operations Research focusing in
the math department.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took my
commission from West Point and chose the Engineer Corps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially the justification that the women’s
field was smaller than the men’s based on the percentage of women and men was
enough for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, this is based on
numbers and facts so it was good enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I also know that you can make any argument using numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is something to think about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The distribution of points awarded at Kona
are the same for men and women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s
just say for argument’s sake that finishing in the top 15 are the only “worthwhile”
points to give you the jumpstart needed to qualify for the following year in
Kona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those racing at Kona and finishing
in the top 15 already have an advantage over those who are not racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the distribution of points exactly the
same between men and women, that means 15 out of 35 women, or 43% of the field
have the opportunity to take advantage of that jumpstart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile 15 out of 50 men, or 30% of the
men’s field have the same opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Immediately I have to wonder if that doesn’t limit “new blood” to race
Kona when off the bat nearly half the women’s field is already a step ahead
because they are on the previous year’s start line?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does this promote opportunity and
growth?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, larger field sizes
change race dynamics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does this
effect placing and how do we quantify this number?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
Are the scenarios that arise from making </span>a unilateral decision for a smaller women’s field based on populace
being completely thought out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few years ago I didn’t even try to qualify for Kona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw that there were only 35 slots and with the current qualification guidelines, specifically with the race at Kona itself, I
wrote myself off immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are
determining our championship field size based on population of men vs. women, again,
can we quantify how many women aren’t even trying from the beginning due to a
smaller size field?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, this is a
confusing question!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think of it this
way—which came first, the chicken or the egg?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t think we do know and this would be incredibly difficult to
quantify.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do know if you want
growth, if you want to see more women racing in Ironman, particularly in the
women’s Professional field then you have to provide opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As cliché as it sounds, if you build it, they
will come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I mentioned that I like numbers, I like data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought back on my own history in sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to college at West Point and while I
was there our school was less than 15% women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I ran track and cross country for 4 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was the cross country team captain and
qualified for Division 1 NCAA in the 10,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I look back and our men’s and women’s team were completely equitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I might be the only woman in my platoon
back in my company, but when it came to sports across the board it was
equal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never even dawned on me until
now that had our teams been operating under the same guidelines as Ironman, I
wouldn’t have these opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
the first time I realized that our leaders were progressive in their
thinking and I applaud them and thank them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These leaders ensured equality for women, the clear minority, and I feel
such gratitude for their decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
recognize these decisions were made because they were the right thing to
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can throw around numbers and data to
prove our case. But at the end of the day is this a math equation? It's about equality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
the message you send. That starts from the top and trickles down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not a men
versus women issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an obligation
to stand up and say the current system limits growth and opportunity for women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And is that fair? </span>I
am so thankful I had advocates for equality in my younger years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now I will pay it back and continue to
advocate for equality…almost 20 years later.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">With my squad after infantry week during Camp Buckner, affectionately known to cadets as "BuckNam." There were 2 women in my squad. I'm top row, 3rd from left...or the girl with the bright blonde hair :)</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Firstie (Senior) year, our women's varsity cross country team. The gal on the far right is an Olympian and the gal next to her qualified twice for the Olympic Trials in the marathon.</em></span></div>
Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-52510370814268022982014-10-17T14:38:00.001-07:002014-10-17T14:38:13.732-07:00The Last Six MonthsSo I'm sitting on a plane on my way to Kona and I fully intended to zone out and watch The Mindy Project and be completely unproductive for the next 10 hours. But somehow the DVD isn't registering and now I'm looking to pass the time, and my travel companions are asleep so I can't annoy them. Then I remembered a friend pointed out that I haven't blogged since APRIL so perhaps it's time to give an update since it's been half a year! <br />
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So since I last wrote I have raced not one but TWO Ironmans! I wish I could tell you I was on my way to race Kona, but alas spectating and training will have to do for this visit to the big island. A friend will be racing and also celebrating the big 5-0 so several Tulsans are making the trip for our friend John-Kelly Warren and we couldn't be more thrilled for him. What an amazing opportunity to bring our Tulsa tri community together thousands of miles away. I'm looking forward to a week of working and playing hard with some pretty special people, even if they fall asleep on me in flight.
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So let me back up a bit. My goal this year, along with just about every other pro, was to race Kona. I fell a bit short and it's frustrating to look back and see what races would have been better to qualify for the big dance. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20 and I'm thankful for the journey and memories 2014 brought me nonetheless.
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After Galveston I immediately went to Team RWB camp in Austin. As long as they will have me, I will always go to this camp--no questions asked. While it's nice for the campers to tell me thank you and what not, the truth is I get far more out of this camp than I could possibly give. The veterans, the stories, the civilians supporting--it's an incredible organization and nothing short of inspiring. I always leave camp hungry for more, hungry to race for something far bigger than myself. I could probably write a book on each participant with their unique stories yet all tied together with the familiar theme of service and the dedication to not only country, but each other. This is what RWB is all about; building relationships and more importantly building community. As long as I have a voice, it will be advocating for Team RWB.
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Great group of guys right there...</div>
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From there it was prep time for Ironman Texas. I was super fortunate to have two of my good buddies come and help me train in preparation for Texas. Molly escaped the frozen tundra of New Hampshire and Logan (along with super Ubu) were waiting to start his job as a wildfire fighter. It was a nice month of laughs, guitar playing and most importantly training our butts off. Before I knew it I was loading up to make the short trip to Ironman Texas in my hometown of Houston on my birthday.
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We pretty much lived on my front porch during this time...And Ro pretending he doesn't like ice cream!</div>
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Kayaking!</div>
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Last hard run, Logan paced me out...on a bike. Sorry Logan, maybe one day you can keep up :)</div>
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Lucky for these 2 as friends...and Ubu of course. </div>
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Texas was my first race back that I truly felt prepared for. After injuries took out half of 2013, this was the first race I felt everything was clicking physically, and more importantly mentally and emotionally. The race itself went well. My swim was a big lack luster and I was definitely a tad irritated when I realized the pro men and women would start together. We make such a big deal out of the age group men catching the pro women thus creating an unclean race. The same goes for starting pro men & women together. <br />
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I passed a few ladies but rode solo for pretty much the entire day until a pack of age group men swallowed me up at mile 100. For the last 12 miles I tried to dangle off the back legally and I feel I did this pretty well, riding a fair and clean race. I came in just over 5 hours and took off running feeling great. My garmin didn't register the first 4 miles and when it finally did I realized I felt a little too great, running those miles in around 6:45 pace. I dialed it back and the second loop settled into my 7:05-7:15 race pace. The last loop the temps and winds continued to rise and those early miles came back to haunt me! This is why patience and pacing is so important in Ironman! I had closed the gap to less than 3 minutes to 3rd, but my final miles were a death march. I finished in 7th--but I was encouraged with my fitness level and realized I just executed my run poorly. So I definitely walked away from Texas happy yet not quite satisfied.
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From there I had a little recovery time and immediately went into Ironman Lake Placid prep. My training into Placid is probably the best it's ever been for an Ironman. I was swimming and riding as well as I ever had. My run took a little longer to catch on, but that often is more to the summer heat of Tulsa. I went into Placid feeling the most confident I ever have for a race. I raced a little local duathlon a few weeks before and even though I was a bit tired since I hadn't started my taper, I pulled off my best race here ever, taking the overall men & women's race.
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I flew in early and met with Molly in New Hampshire. We spent a few days at her amazing lake house then drove into Placid. I have to also point out that I absolutely love this part of the country. I am a Texas girl, but I was lucky enough to go to college in New York.
The views are spectacular and the history at Lake Placid is so rich, which is a big part of why I chose this race.<br />
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"Molly, how much will you pay me to wear this hat to the pro race meeting?" "Jess, if you really want to stand out just wear normal human being clothes."</div>
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Seeing this never gets old...</div>
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Yes, I sported this sweat shirt after forgetting cold weather clothes in 100 degree Tulsa.</div>
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During this time it's hard to put my finger on it but I just felt off the entire week. My digestive track was way off (feel free to read between the lines) and I just felt sluggish the entire time. I don't think this had to do with training or tapering, but more likely I picked up something during my travels. On race morning I was excited, but again just felt off. My swim was better than Texas but no where near what I had been hitting in training. On the bike I quickly realized I didn't have the legs and worse I was trying to hold my nutrition down the entire race. This was the first race in my entire life that I've actually up-chucked while riding. I spent the ride trying to manage my power efforts with my nutrition because I knew I wouldn't be able to make the marathon without keeping fuel down. I came off the bike in 6th and felt surprisingly okay. While I didn't feel spunky, I was worried it would be a long 26 mile death march. I was able to hold around 7:30-7:45 the entire day, minus a few miles in there when I contemplated letting 7th catch me for The Real Starky. Dark Mark, Pay 10 Deep paycheck but she was too far behind and I saw I was closing quickly on 5th. **Sidenote this was the most exciting race for 7th I've ever been able to participate in. Thanks guys for bringing awareness to Pro prize purses!! I don't care what anyone else says, you guys are all good in my book! ;)** I make the pass around mile 20 and actually felt the best the entire race these miles. Ironman--it's a crazy sport! I was happy to finish this day with a smile in by far my slowest Ironman but on also on the hardest course I've ever been served.<br />
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Crowds were amazing at Lake Placid!</div>
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TRS, DM, P10D--can you throw this puppy in for 7th next year??</div>
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I knew I didn't make the Kona cut off and looking back I wish I had gone for Monte Tremblant...but then again shortly after the race WTC announced Lake Placid would no longer have a pro field and I'm thankful I experienced this legendary race. I'm told outside of Kona this race has the most history and magic, and it certainly lived up to it. <br />
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My goal was to race either Ironman Arizona, Florida, or Cozumel at the end of the year. I had a bit of a setback with a pretty significant ankle injury. While I will make a full recovery, after racing 3 Ironmans in 8 months Kevin and I decided this would be a good time to let the body take a little break. While I enjoy the break, I never enjoy not running. I've been playing around with the cross bike a bit just for something different and while I completely suck, I'm enjoying it nonetheless.
Besides that life has settled down quite a bit and I'm enjoying an early off season. While raising kids is always stressful, seeing my kids continue to improve in school and extracurricular activities is equally exciting. <br />
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First day of school...G sporting Ironman pack pack and brought "Tour De France" pop up book. Raising them right!!</div>
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5K at age 7: Ro 26:18 Gwyn 27:38...how long until they can beat me??</div>
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We are figuring out the 2015 schedule. Of course making it to Kona is the big goal, the most important is to stay happy and healthy and enjoy the ride. What better way to kick that off than spending a week in Hawaii with friends?<br />
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I want to thank my family (especially mom & dad, Rowan & Gwyn) and friends for this 2014 season. Each of you are special and motivating in your own way--and each of you know who you are! Thank you!! Coach Kevin, I can't quite do justice to how important you are to me. You're more than a coach. You're a friend, mentor, confidant. Your belief in me means more than I can adequately express. And I want to thank my sponsors and supporters. We all know you don't make it to the start line alone. So Tensegrity Chiropractic (Chris and Ali, you guys rock!), Powerbar, Rudy Project, BlueSeventy, Zoot, Kiwiami, PowerPlay, RaceQuest, Runners World, Elite Cycling, John Cobb Cycling, Bama Pies, John R. Jones PC. Thank you for all your help! Ryan and Bryan--a good mechanic is essential. Thank you two for keeping me rolling! Team RWB--simply gratitude.Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-47106689572671054152014-04-21T09:31:00.000-07:002014-04-21T09:32:09.034-07:00Oceanside to Galveston...What a Difference a Week Makes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm sitting on a plane again so I figured it would be a good time to write my race report from Galveston or Ironman Texas 70.3. I wrote a report for Oceanside 70.3 but in typical Jessica fashion I never seemed to get around to publishing it! Rather than bore you I'll give you a brief synopsis: I sucked. Well, in my defense I did have mechanical. My wheel rubbed my brake the entire time. I got off the bike twice to fix it, the wheel would spin no problem, only to get back on and hear that dreaded sound of carbon rubbing (and you know exactly that cringe worthy sound). But beyond that, I was completely flat for the race. The swim was off, the bike my legs just felt like bricks, and the first loop of the run I was clipping off a great pace, but once the gravity of how far I was behind I just shut it down. My mind got the best of me, I felt sorry for myself, my ego was bruised...it definitely was not my finest nor proudest moment.
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photo courtesy slowtwitch.com</div>
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Coach Kevin and I immediately went into "what went wrong" mode. We looked at the race itself, but the bigger picture. What was going on physically, mentally, and emotionally? We definitely took away some key points. But the problem was this was just yet another bad race after an entire year of either bad or lack luster results. I headed back to Tulsa and the seed of doubt was planted. I texted Kevin things like, "Maybe I'm just too old." "I guess I'm not as fit as I thought." "Maybe my life just really isn't conducive to putting up good results." "I think I have too much on my plate." I told Kevin I didn't want to race Galveston. I told him I was tired, emotionally drained, and just plain old sick of it. But the truth is I was just scared--scared of yet another crappy result. Kevin reminded me that 2 weeks before I ran a 17:24 5k, my fastest since college, which hardly supports the hypothesis that I'm unfit or too old. He reminded me that bad races just happen. He encouraged me to go race without any expectation--I still wasn't sold on it. I was disheartened and frustrated and basically throwing a pity party.
Then the shootings at Fort Hood happen. This was my home for 5 years. Life is short. And I'm lucky to even be doing this. And if I come in dead last, who cares??? The people that matter still love me. And I still love me if I come in last, so why not get over my own ego and just get out there and try. I once read somewhere that you have to fail in order to practice being brave. It was time to put my money where my mouth is.
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photo courtesy slowtwitch.com<br />
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The kids and I flew to Houston on Friday evening. I got to sleep in my own bed that I slept in for 18 years. My kids played with Grandma and Grandpa and their new dog. I still had some issues with my wheel and luckily my Team RWB friend Jeremy Brown was at the race supporting. He came to the house and he ended up shaving down the brake and I had no issues. Confidence in equipment is huge! Thank you Jeremy!
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Finally race morning came. The wind was the strongest I've ever encountered in a race. By the time we got in the water I couldn't believe how rough the chop was. When the cannon went off I just felt like I was flailing and going absolutely no where. I would try to sight to the first turn buoy and the waves were so high I couldn't see a thing. Finally there were a few girls around me and I caught up and just sat on their feet. I pulled for a bit once we turned, and then settled back on their feet because my swim just wasn't there (which is pretty normal for me when I race back to back weekends). When I got to the bikes I thought "Oh no, there are a lot of bikes gone!" My crew yelled I was 4.5 minutes behind the leader. Yikes, my swim was waaayyyy off. Oh well, go enjoy the day. The bike was simply out and back. Immediately I knew my legs were ready to play. We had a straight tailwind going out. I was putting up good power numbers, yet I didn't pass a single person. Again, oh well, enjoy the day. Once turned around we had a straight headwind. Perfect, just any other day in Oklahoma. I upped the wattage and thought "Shoot, just go for it." Slowly one by one I started to pick girls off. And this fueled me further to keep pushing.
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I got to transition and was a little worried since I rode closer to threshold for 28 miles. My garmin literally broke the day before, so I was running with just my trusty timed watch. Immediately I knew my run legs were ready to play as well. I held around 6:15s the entire race and while I hurt, I was never in death mode like my last few races. I was fired up the whole run thanks to a million cheers for Team RWB, my kids, my parents, and friends. Hometown support is amazing!!
I ran myself into 4th (in the money, yeah!!) The winner crushed us all, and second and third had some cushion over me, but I didn't care. For all purposes I won that race. And what I mean is that I won the battle within myself. I was quite emotional. To think that a few days before I just wanted to quit, give up, roll over and play dead. Nonsense. Life is meant for living, not sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. Winston Churchill said it perfectly, "Never ever ever ever give up." </div>
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So let me thank some very important people and sponsors. First off, to my mom. I COULD NOT do this without her. Bottomline! She is my rock. And for my other rock, my dad. I am beyond lucky to have these amazing people as my parents. Next off to my coach, Kevin Purcell, for never giving up on me even when I've wanted to give up on myself. To Ryan Gabriel for helping me endlessly with my bike. I know I'm a huge pain in the ass Ryan, thank you for your patience with me!
To my sponsors--PowerPlay, Powerbar, RaceQuest, BlueSeventy, Runners World, Elite Cycling, Rudy Project, John Cobb, John R. Jones PC. Thank you for all your help!
To those who I carry with me always--my kiddos, family, friends, and Team RWB. Your support does not go unnoticed nor unappreciated. Thank you thank you thank you!!
Next up, Ironman Texas!</div>
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Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-25269598677435015952014-03-10T07:55:00.000-07:002014-03-10T08:00:59.384-07:00Latest and GreatestI wanted to give an update before race season kicks off shortly in Oceanside in a few weeks. And with my writing habits, once I start racing who knows when I'll actually blog again?! Indeed one of my goals this year is to not neglect my blog as I have in years past. And I'm actually finding writing fun and cathartic and a better way to communicate with other athletes and people in general. Thank you for all the feedback, I really enjoy it!<br />
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<em>Training with some lovely ladies in the rain in Cali...</em></div>
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So, what's been going on in my world? A lot of the same, and a lot a whole lot different. Let's start with the triathlon front. A year ago I was ready to throw in the towel and retire. I had an injury that I just couldn't shake and months went by without the training I needed to be doing to be competitive. This took a lot out of me physically and probably more out of me emotionally. But somehow I turned it around and got some decent training in the back half of the year, but still not enough to be competitive in 2013. The good news is that work is still in the bank, and I'm enjoying the deposits now. I'm happy to say I'm healthy, fit, and eager to race in 2014. I just got back from San Diego last week. I spent a week there with my coach to really get in some good bike mileage, as the weather here in Tulsa has not been conducive to Ironman base mileage. In years past I would have never left the kids and gone to do something like this. I think the biggest reason why is because I felt guilty doing it. In 2014 I'm trying to change my attitude on how I approach being a pro triathlete. #1. Stop apologizing to everyone about it. This is my job. Some people go and sit at a desk. I get to ride my bike. Yes, it's not traditional. Yes, I love it. So why do I constantly feel the need to say sorry to everyone about it? I have had a lot of soul searching the last year. I'm 35 years old. I'm not going to do this forever. My coach and my mom brought something to light that I never even thought of. They both (separately) told me that I'm not scared of failure--that is quite evident because I'm always willing to put myself out there and knowingly get a good ass kicking. But the problem is I seem to be scared of success. At first hearing this I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, don't get all philosophical on me! Plus, I've had some success, so I'm obviously not scared of it." No, no, no, no..... I began to really think about what they were saying. What is it that holds me back? I think the biggest is guilt--guilt of leaving my kids for a week to train. Guilt that this sport is selfish. Guilt of going to races and the kids are back home. Guilt that sometimes I'm so tired I don't want to push them on the swing, I just want to sit there and watch at the playground. Am I scared of success because I fear that means I'm not a good mother or a good partner? Would I judge another pro triathlete mom or dad for going to race or train in order to put food on the table for their kids? Absolutely not. And then I take another step back and wonder why am I so hard on myself? When did I adopt these attitudes and why? I have some ideas and I'm just starting to scratch the surface. It's required me to ask some tough questions and face some hard issues. But in doing so I'm getting more clarity and connecting the dots in a lot of ways. I'm learning to be kinder to myself. I finally feel like I'm getting "it" and as that happens everything seems to be coming together as far as training and finding peace. That's a good feeling to have.<br />
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<em> Yes, we are a little weird...but a lot of fun!</em><br />
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This leads me to the next major change in my life. Recently a classmate from West Point wrote me. He's running for Congress and asked for a financial contribution for his campaign. I told him as a single mother and an ex-husband in medical school I wasn't in a position to contribute financially, but I would certainly help in a different way if he needed it. He responded with something like, "You're divorced??? I'm really surprised and sorry!!!" It kind of took my off guard. I feel like I'm very open, or at least I am in person so I just assumed everyone knew. Perhaps I'm not as open as I thought via my blog or Facebook or Twitter. Yes, I am not married. And despite all the recommendations of not jumping into a new relationship, I did and I jumped head first. And now I understand why this is not recommended! So, my major change is that for the first time in many many years I am completely single. And you might be wondering how that is going. Or you might not, but I'm going to tell you anyway :) Okay, get ready for it because I'm going to do that thing where I tie it into triathlon...When I did Ironman Arizona last year, I told my crew that the hardest and scariest part was the unknown. Standing in the starting area, in the dark, alone, hoping that you're prepared but also knowing things can go wrong or south quickly. But on the other hand, you can have the race of your life and get it right and how amazing is that?! But for me, this is the hardest part. Just not knowing. But pretty soon the cannon goes off and your race starts to unfold. And you focus on controlling the controllables...and you let go of the things out of your control. As triathletes we are so OCD, it's hard to let things be that are out of our control--both in races in life. But doing so is necessary in order for things to unfold, because they are going unfold no matter what, so what does worrying or beating yourself up solve? Absolutely nothing. When I race, I'm very good at focusing on me, and me alone. How do I set myself up to have the best race possible? I don't care what x, y, and z are doing. They don't effect my outcome. And this is certainly true in life as well. My focus is on me, making myself whole, making myself the best version of myself I can be. I'm finding happiness outside of a <em>person. </em>Because the fact is if you are looking at one another to make the other happy, you're already playing a loser's hand. And so far, as my "race" unfolds I'm just really proud of myself. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and tell you life is just hunky dory all the time, or that I don't have sad and lonely moments. But those moments seem to be with less frequency, and it does get easier. And I have so much more time and energy to "control the controllables." The biggest? Being the best mom I can be. Being present and happy with them. Making sure they know they are loved and my inspiration for just about everything I do. The next is focusing on the process of being a pro triathlete. This isn't just training. It's also sleeping, eating, recovery, and the biggest is changing the inner-dialogue in my head. I don't have room for negativity of any kind, and I will not let it invade my head space. Am I 100% perfect at this? No. But I'm sure a heck of a lot better than I was! I control what goes on between my ears. I control my attitude and my outlook. Next, becoming more involved with Team Red, White and Blue (RWB) has given me so much joy and inspiration. I am so incredibly proud to say that I (along with good friend Christi) got the Tulsa chapter started and I'm simply humbled by the response. This is a cause I believe in with such passion and sincerity. I can't begin to thank my community for continuing to get the word out and support by rocking the eagle. "Its Our Turn!!" Lastly, strengthening my relationships with family and friends has been some of the most gratifying experiences of all this. It's amazing the support that comes out during tough times. They remind me that I'm stronger than I think, more resilient than ever, and when I come out of the other side I'll be a better person for having experienced it. <br />
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<em> From a photo shoot with my amazing sponsor PowerPlay. I call this one "letting go." :)</em><br />
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When you finish a race and it's not the outcome you were hoping for, it's easy to beat yourself up and be disappointed and even angry. It's easy to take it personally and to label yourself a "failure." But if you've ever read a race report of mine, you'll know that's just not my style. I always look for the things I did right, I acknowledge what I can and will do better next time. These are the lessons learned for a better race next time. I always hold my chin up because at least I had the courage to get out there and try, no matter what the outcome is. I choose to take away the good, learn from the not so good, and let the rest go and carry on. And I have a deep faith life will turn out as it should.<br />
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<em> One more from photo shoot. Ready for 2014....</em><br />
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<br />Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-35560252310445033162014-02-17T15:01:00.002-08:002014-02-18T06:58:17.960-08:00Making Enemy Contact with a Little BedazzleLately I've had a lot of time to think. Yes, it's true I actually think. I generally like my eyes focused on the present, and the best way to set myself up for a successful future. And like any human, I can lose sight or falter or just kick myself in the butt and wonder, "What the heck was I thinking?" But such is life, learning and growing, and all that jazz. I sometimes do have to remind myself to take a look back, not only to see how far I've come, but also some of the incredible experiences I've been through. And some of those experiences are not ones that I would repeat, but definitely made me a better and stronger person for doing them. My mind of late drifts back to 10 years ago. I often feel like my life is ruled by 2 six year olds, who are naturally demanding just based on their age. I laugh to myself thinking about what I used to be in charge of; the responsibility that I was given. My kids will never know that girl, and I can't help but smile and think, "They have no idea who they are dealing with." But then I have to remind myself that when I feel down or defeated, I'm still that girl and don't believe for a second otherwise. And instantly my shoulders go back, I raise my chin a little higher. Looking to the past isn't always such a bad thing.
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So ten years ago I was in Camp Victory Base South, Baghdad, Iraq. We were the first unit in for Operation Iraqi Freedom 2. Initially we all thought OIF would be like Desert Storm...go in, bomb the place and get out. It wasn't until my unit got deployment orders did it hit us that we would be a sustaining force in Iraq. I remember going to sleep at night in denial that I would actually deploy. And in the morning I would wake and feel nothing but dread. This lasted for months until the day I woke up on New Years Day 2004 and met up with 3 other guys from my unit to be the first ones to take off. We were the advanced party and tasked to set up on the receiving end for the rest of the 300+ soldiers that would arrive in the next 2-3 weeks. I'm not going to lie to you. It sucked. We flew commercial without our unit through London and then to Kuwait. In the Army everything is structured and a lot of times you just feel like you show up and execute. Suddenly I realized when we showed up in this foreign country how truly chaotic it was. We were literally the first unit to reinforce after the initial invasion. We were starting from the ground up, something pretty incredible when you think about it. We immediately got to work in Kuwait to set up training for the road march into Baghdad. And let me tell you, it was a total cluster. We had vehicles that looked like they came straight out of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Just getting to Camp Udari, Kuwait our convoy got lost and we ended up at the Iraq/Kuwait border. We spent the next few weeks practicing convoys, firing out of our vehicles, drilling our soldiers how to react to contact, what to do when there is a casualty. We also spent a great deal of time recognizing Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs) or road side bombs. It is very surreal going to each chalk of the convoy and making sure they have a body bag. My initial job title was S2, but I worked closely with the S3 (operations). Since I had just come from Company Executive Officer (XO), I knew every vehicle and every soldier. As the S2, I had to gather intel each day and give reports. This included everything from most common time of enemy attacks, best avenues of approach into Baghdad, weather, when the moon rises and shines, etc. We were in the wet season in Kuwait (yes it does rain quite a bit in the desert) and it was so miserable we were all anxious to get to Baghdad. The actual road march is deserving of a post of itself, but it will go down as probably the most intense situation I've ever been in. <br />
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I've completely digressed from what I originally created this post for. I think the key to getting through these situations is a sense of humor. I can choose to remember the anxiety, dread, uncertainty...but I choose to remember the laughter we shared at the whole absurdity of it all. My roommate Liz and I had been one year apart at West Point. She and I had been in the same unit for several years. She had just returned from Afghanistan and went ahead and redeployed with our unit shortly after. We immediately clicked from the first time we started working together. She was witty, a great officer, smart. We both came from big families and had older siblings that went to West Point. After a long hard day, we would come back to our room and just laugh. I thank God Liz was my roommate for a short time. Her fiancé Jim was Special Forces and in the Green Zone. Occasionally he would make it to our base camp and spend the night in our room. Jim and Liz were not little people, and I remember them snuggled on that tiny twin bed and thinking, "Wow that must be true love because it sure looks really uncomfortable." One night we took fire on our Life Support Area (LSA) which is where we slept at night. There is nothing like waking up to bullets being fired at you. We had no idea what was going on. We immediately hit the ground and waited for the fire to stop. Initially we thought some insurgents had breached our base camp and attacked us, but that also seemed to be nearly impossible. It was total confusion, we just knew we were taking fire. In any event, after we hit the ground and the bullets stopped, Jim asked us if we were okay. Then he whispered, "You guys stay here, I'm going to go check things out." Like I mentioned, Jim was a big Special Forces guy. He stood up, put on his gear, grabbed his rifle, and then said, "Liz, give me your slippers." Instead of putting his combat boots on, he decided to put on Liz' sparkly shower flip flops to go check out what we thought was enemy infiltration. He slipped out of the room into the dark of night without making a sound. Meanwhile Liz and I lay silently on the ground, reaching for our 9mm pistols and throwing our body armor on over our bodies. We both had adrenaline pumping and we were both thinking, "Are we really about to get in a fire fight?" And we were both ready. Several minutes go by and I break the silence. <br />
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Me "Liz?"<br />
Liz "Yeah."
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Me "What the fuck?"<br />
Liz "I know."
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Me "Did we really go to West Point for this?"
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Liz "No kidding.
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silence
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Me "Liz?"
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Liz "Yeah."
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Me "Did Jim just really put on your sparkly shower flip flops to go make enemy contact?"
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Liz "Yeah.".......laughter, more laughter all while trying to be completely silent.
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<em>Liz and Jim were to be married in May of 2004. Instead they were deployed, but went ahead and got married in Baghdad....</em><br />
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We later found out a solider from another unit got a Dear John letter, stole a vehicle and decided to open fire on us. Nothing like almost being taken out by friendly fire...
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If given the choice to cry or laugh, I choose to laugh. And let me tell you, it's a choice. I'm not saying it's not okay to be sad or mad or just plain angry. Recognize it, don't wallow in it, look for the good parts, smile and laugh at those parts, and move forward.<br />
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Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-8251278848359949912014-01-16T11:47:00.000-08:002014-01-16T11:50:48.965-08:00Life Lessons From Little PeopleDays go by and I can’t seem to find the inspiration to write about anything remotely interesting. My days tend to blend together and while I personally thrive on routine, I realize that it can seem mundane, especially to the average reader. But then there are times that as soon as an idea pops in my head I literally have to race to a computer to make sure I document it before it’s lost. I am having one of those moments right this very second.
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I just returned from my kid’s talent show audition. This was a last minute decision to try-out, and I was a tad skeptical that they would actually follow through. It all started yesterday while Gwyn was on a play date with one of her best pals Lucy. They decided to choreograph a dance routine to Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” They practiced on their own last night, but I just figured when it came time to actually try out, one or both would flake out. I met them for lunch beforehand and they were chomping at the bit to go. And I was even more surprised when Gwyn’s twin brother Rowan told me is now part of the act as a backup dancer (ummm hopefully not the next Kevin Federline) and part of the “big move” at the end. I smiled and thought this would be cute, and of course interesting.
We got to the gym and I played the song on my phone while they rehearsed. It was a little rough around the edges, but what else can you expect from a bunch of 6 year olds? They finally were called on stage. All three were blushing, and incredibly embarrassed. I still thought one might decide to take off, which would probably give the others an excuse to bail. But they kept looking at me for reassurance and I gave them my signature “thumbs up” and wink, which they always respond with a wink back and I knew they were going to follow through.
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The song started and they began their routine. And the next thing I realize is that I’m getting choked up. And let me tell you, it’s not because of their incredible moves! One word came to mind. <b>Vulnerable</b>. Right about then I realized I was learning a life lesson from these little ones. Vulnerability. It’s a scary thing, let’s get real. Kids are a clean slate. They probably haven't gone through heartache or extreme disappointment. And because of this they are so open to new experiences, and chances are they dive right in, without fear or trepidation. As adults, it seems like often we are willing to pass through life and not make ourselves completely vulnerable—to goals, jobs, relationships, friends, family, etc. We protect ourselves for various reasons, usually for fear of failure or fear of getting hurt, because we've been hurt or failed in the past. These kids put their fears to the side and did it anyways. And at the end, when they were accepted into the show, you could see them beaming with pride and excitement. Let’s be honest, it’s not always going to work out the way we want. Often we will fail and we will hurt. But there is something remarkable in knowing this and still making yourself completely vulnerable, to know you still put it all on the line and able to go <i>there</i>. <i>That in itself is something to beam with pride</i>. And when you finally do hit it right...it's nothing short of magical. If everything was a guarantee in life, where would be the fulfillment in that?
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So in the end, thank you to Rowan, Gwynnie and Lucy for reminding me that there is never any shame in making yourself completely vulnerable, because in the end that’s how we get to the good stuff in life. And I can’t wait to see the final performance next week!
Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-11238779998755398832013-12-30T18:28:00.001-08:002013-12-30T18:41:02.967-08:00The Greatest Sports Moment EverI am admittedly a sports fanatic. True, I tend to lean towards the sports geared towards my world—swim, bike, and run. But I can’t help but love a good sporting event. Who can ever forget during the 1999 World Cup Final when Brandi Chastain ripped off her shirt after scoring the winning goal against China? And even more what impact that had on women’s soccer and women’s athletics in general after that moment? Or how about when the very amateur United States hockey team defeated the heavily favorite Soviet Union to claim the gold in the 1980 Olympics? Sports have the ability to move us, inspire us, to change us, to take hold and make us realize that anything is possible. They give us hope, not just in sports but to what we can apply to everyday life. I grew up idolizing Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, and Babe Didrikson. I was convinced that my parents named me after Jesse Owens. I would run to and from Condit Elementary, hurdling over bushes pretending I was Babe as a child getting ready for the Olympics. I was drawn to them not because of what they did in sports, but of the obstacles they overcame to excel. Sometimes I wonder if I was just a really weird kid. While everyone seemed to be in love with Corey Haim, I was researching my latest sports hero.
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When I swim my mind wonders. Well, when I’m not killing myself in my main set where all I’m focused on is making the interval, my mind wonders. The other day I was thinking about what was the greatest sports moment I ever witnessed. I thought about all the Olympic swimming events…seeing Michael Phelps win despite his goggles filling up with water. Or in middle school when our 4 x 400 ended up coming from behind and winning the big grand finale City Meet. Or watching Macca win his Ironman World Championship against Andres Raelert. There are so many I can’t even begin to list them. And then I thought about how I would define what the greatest moment was. Was it the biggest in impact on triathlon? Or was it in sports or better yet society in general? My mind kept wondering back to this one moment, this one moment back in 2003. You see, this sports moment was not witnessed by many. In fact, I don’t think many saw it at all. But yet in all of my years of fanatic sports watching this one moment just keeps coming back to me. And every time I think of it--it moves me. My goggles fill up with tears and I just can’t get it out of my head…and I swim harder and banish any negative thoughts in my mind. It was the greatest sports moment I ever witnessed, and I might be one of a few people that even witnessed it.
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In 2003 I was a First Lieutenant stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The war in Iraq had just kicked off, and I knew it was just a matter of time before my unit would be called to reinforce. I wanted to make my triathlon count, because I didn’t know the next time it would…if ever. Back then there were no 70.3s. You either did Olympic Distance or Ironman. Having a heavy work schedule I chose the Olympic route. Back then the big races were Age Group Nationals, Age Group Worlds, and a few long standing races that had been around for years. One in particular was St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida. This race was and still is held in April, and at the time it was also a stop For the Elite World Cup race. What I am getting at is that this race was kind of a big deal at the time. It was an early tester of who is fit and who to look out for throughout the year. I did the race every year since 2001, and with deployment just around the corner I knew I wanted to nail it in 2003 because I didn’t know when I would be back.
The race included an “Elite Amateur” wave. This meant that no matter your age, you could race in the first wave so that it was a true race for the top amateur. I thought we were going to be the first wave but that morning I realized that they would send off the disabled athletes first. I remember thinking something along the lines of, “I hope I don’t run over them in the swim,” and really that’s about as much thought that went into it. As I was doing my pre-race warm-up and rituals, I began to head down to the start line, a beach start in which we would run into the water. I saw a girl, around my age (24 at the time), also heading to the start. She was preparing to start right before me in the disabled wave. As she walked, her body almost seemed to resemble a “Z” shape. Her shoulders pointed one way, her hips another, and her legs buckled underneath her. She used no crutches or stabilizer and I remember thinking, “Oh, she must have cerebral palsy,” and again that was about it. Yes, I was pretty much focused on my race and my race alone.
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My race took off and I had a great swim and came out of the water a few places back on the lead. Once on the bike I put the hammer down and took over the lead. This was quite exhilarating and equally scary. I was leading St. Anthony’s Triathlon, a race of over 3000 participants. I was winning, what was I doing, is this really happening…yaddy yaddy yaddy. I got to Transition 2 and my Dad yelled something and I think we were all in a mixture of shock and excitement. I took off running…and I was passed in the last few miles and ended up 2nd at this prestigious event. I was happy, but also disappointed because I realized the reason I didn’t win is because I didn’t believe that I could or should win. We went back to the hotel and I showered. I was able to retrieve my bike, break it down and pack it for the flight later that evening. I went back to the race site and visited with fellow competitors. I remember they had a good spread of food and we at lunch and just sat around waiting for the awards ceremony. I sat there, kind of feeling sorry for myself that the victory was just within my reach and I just gave it up. I went through “the pass” over and over in my head. Behind me volunteers began to strip down the race site and the bleachers for the thousands of spectators that come to watch. It was pretty much dead compared to the early hustle and bustle as awards were done and people were just sitting around.
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Suddenly a movement caught my eye. At first I thought it was someone running across the course. Then I realized that it was actually someone still on the course, moving very slowly and what seemed to be a very disjointed running gait. And then it hit me—it was the girl I saw at the race start literally hours before, the girl from the first wave. Her knees buckled together and to the right side of her body, while her hips clearly pointed the other way. I remember thinking, “How can this girl even run?” it seemed so off center and painful. I don’t know why but she just drew me in. I stood up and rushed to the finish shoot, which was nearly all the way torn down at this point. I could see her coming towards the finish. Her body askew, but she was still moving, with a confidence on her face that looked like “yeah, I got this” even if it is slower than everyone else there. Something came over me and I just started cheering, and loudly, going crazy for this girl as she made her way to the finish. A few other people took notice, mainly because of my loud commotion, and stopped and clapped and cheered. Her face, there was something about her face…fierce determination, a spirit that I cannot capture in words. It was the face of someone unwilling to quit, of someone unwilling to take pity, of someone that believed in herself despite many people probably not believing in her. At that moment I witnessed the heart and courage of a lion. At that moment I witnessed the greatest sporting moment.
Life has a way of throwing you curve balls. Sometimes I can be guilty of feeling sorry for myself. And then I think about Jesse Owens and Wilma Rudolph…or the girl at the St. Anthony’s triathlon in 2003. They didn’t make excuses for themselves and neither will I. I have an unrelenting will to make this life count. And while triathlon is such a big part of my life, it’s more than the actual competitions that mold me into who I want to be. Yes, it truly is the journey not the destination. Sports teach us to not make excuses, have faith and courage, and to never ever give up. And where that lands us who really cares, just as long as we believe in ourselves to make the first step.
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Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-84327308528029713752013-11-24T08:36:00.000-08:002013-11-24T08:36:46.259-08:00Ironman Arizona!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaz8nXO2FJs4qW3nqNQ_WBN2FYYMGaqF_UhqpRrsrZxEdEBzab_Xf8wuqpTL9OX4JvbYfi2kVqK_WBxX779W6r9M0v6eZsn3PuDsbnqHB3XXqHoibIGUQaxe-jWm_yP-uC6Ax_tIzSPz3w/s1600/jess+&+kevin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaz8nXO2FJs4qW3nqNQ_WBN2FYYMGaqF_UhqpRrsrZxEdEBzab_Xf8wuqpTL9OX4JvbYfi2kVqK_WBxX779W6r9M0v6eZsn3PuDsbnqHB3XXqHoibIGUQaxe-jWm_yP-uC6Ax_tIzSPz3w/s320/jess+&+kevin.png" /></a></div>
A week has passed from Ironman Arizona and while I would like to say I've been very busy thus delaying my race report, the truth is I just haven't seemed to find the motivation to write about my experience. First off, I'm not disappointed in my race. I am so green to this distance and I learned so much, and I truly believe information is power. With that said, I am not remotely satisfied or content with my performance. I can do better and I will do better. I've been around this sport long enough to realize it takes time and patience and most of all consistency. Unfortunately I lacked all 3 of these disciplines this year. At the end of 2012 I developed severe knee pain, which ended up being a wicked case of IT Band syndrome. I began running very lightly at Team RWB camp in April, and rolled into Rev3 Knoxville concerned if I could complete a 10k. Once I was finally up and running healthy, it's been a race against the clock to get the training in necessary to be competitive at these races. By looking at my results this year, I fell a bit short sided in this regard. I guess this is why I'm not terribly disappointed with my result in Arizona, or Austin or Branson or Williamsburg for that matter. As my Dad says, "You pulled this season out of your ear." And I know better than anyone to be grateful just to be out there--even if it's a little longer than I'm used to or I would like :)
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With that said I rolled into Arizona completely healthy and ready to race. In my mind I wanted to go faster than my Cedar Point time and hit the low 9s. I was quite naive in this regard. Let me explain...Cedar Point, dare I say, felt easy. I swam and rode by myself and proceeded to get off the bike and run my first marathon in a 3:08, and I felt amazing the whole day doing it. Wow, little did I know this is definitely not the norm! Also, it completely reinforces how important consistency is! While I didn't have any workouts that were just killer before Cedar Point, I had so much hay in the barn that even I didn't realize it...until that hay was gone and I spent the last 5 months trying to jam this hay back in!
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Race morning went off without a hitch. I wasn't overly nervous, but more dreading the unknown. I hugged my pit crew goodbye and made my way to the start shoot, all before the sun was up. We jumped in the water and I ended up next to Amanda Stevens. I knew I'd have clean water next to me because she would drop me within 10 meters! And I thought since she is an Okie it would be good luck. The canon went off and we took off, I actually had an amazing start and could see three girls to my left swimming my speed. I merged with them and swam on their feet, and realized that the pace was actually a bit hard. I lost them for a bit but kept focused on my pace and a few minute later one came back to me. The problem was that we both had been popped off and completely spent. At the turn around I realized we were pulling a long train of girls. At this point I let off the gas and forced some others to come to the front. Of course this picked up the pace and a few more gals pushed to the front. In the end this can only help everyone--if we share the load. Sadly, I don't think the other 8+ girls share the same sentiments as me! Oh well, such is life.
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I had a great transition and came out around 7th. Then something strange happen. You see, I consider myself a bike/run specialist. Usually once out of the water I don't "drop" down. Hmmm, not true here. While my Garmin somehow stopped working, I felt in control the first loop and tried to just go on perceived exertion. I passed a few girls and a few passed me. Then on the second loop on the "climb" to the turn around, I began to get passed by what felt like handfuls of pro women (including several I passed the first loop), and unfortunately stuck to the wheels of the faster age group men. I was so frustrated! I would back off and stay out of the zone, but then forced to pass them all back in a huge burst of power. Looking back, this was my pitfall. These spikes in my effort just weren't smart. They zapped my energy and zapped my legs. I finally just lost them all, probably because I wasn't glued to their wheel, and I just saw the distance grow each turn around.
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I was absolutely thrilled to get off my bike. I knew I biked low 5hours. I also knew I was way down in place despite a solid ride. I started running and could see the damage from the bike was not good. I was looking at some insurmountable deficits. To top it off, while at Cedar Point I had to really hold back at 7min miles the first half of the marathon, in Arizona I struggled from mile 1 just to hold 8 minutes. I really thought there was absolutely no way I would finish. The last time I felt this terrible running was my very first half ironman when the twins were 18 months and my longest run was 75 min pushing a baby jogger!
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So, this is where I was. Not competitive, dishearten, and feeling like my legs were glued to the sideway. I felt like I was disappointing my coach, my family, my friends...my kids. Then I thought what would be more disappointing...finishing in a mediocre place or not finishing at all because essentially my ego is bruised. At that point I had a little talk with myself and it went something like this, “Get over yourself. Put one foot in front of the other, smile and join with the other thousand participants in what is the spirit of Ironman.” It's not always about winning or a best time or finishing in the money. Sometimes it's the satisfaction of completing something you thought was impossible. That's how my marathon went. Get to the finish line and exalt in that. Each mile hurt. I got to the finish and some poor guy was leaning over sideways and falling over himself. The crowd was going crazy because for a few moments it looked like he would be in jeopardy of finishing. And I had the best seat in the house witnessing this feat of will. I passed him with about 10 meters to go, pausing for a second to see if he needed help. He was back on his feet, smiling realizing he was going to make it. I patted him on the back and went on through, and my immediate thoughts were not "Oh my goodness I did it!!" but rather "Oh no!! I hoped when I patted him I didn't knock him down!!" I looked back and he made it, and finally I allowed the emotions to settle that I had made-in what was the hardest physical event I ever endeavored in my 35 years.
This has been a long and difficult year. While I think I have a pretty good amount of humility and humbleness, apparently I need some more! That’s fine with me because I truly believe in the end it makes you a better athlete and most of all a better person. I know my readers and friends probably get tired of me quoting this, but it is so fitting for this year.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
And lastly it’s all about perspective…
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill
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I have a long list of sponsors, family, and friends to thank. In the spirit of Thanksgiving I have to warn you, this will be long… I want to especially thank my parents and my coach, Kevin Purcell. They continue to mentor me through good and bad times, giving me far more than just sports. I am beyond lucky to have the support of the Tulsa community. This year would not be possible without Paula Marshall and Bama Companies. She is an amazing woman and has kept my dream of racing professionally alive. Also PowerPlay, also here in Tulsa, for support on and off the course. Kathy Hoover at Runner’s World Tulsa, I can’t thank you enough for getting and keeping me in the right shoes. Jim Richardson, my massage guru, for keeping my legs happy. Ryan Gabriel, my mechanic and friend, has spent countless hours on my bike, which is pretty disgusting most of the time! Robert Peace, Chuck Zoellner and Bill Clark spent their precious time giving me their medical wisdom to get me up and running again. Michelle Johnson, the trainer that kicks my butt weekly and has me cursing her in pain. First Endurance, Rudy Project, Race Quest Travel and Louis Garneau have the best products out there, thank you! Charlie and Rev3 for helping me get to Rev3 races this year. You guys are like family! Team RWB—I was proud to race in their kit. I can’t believe how this organization has grown! You’ve given me something bigger than myself to race for! Thank you! My training partners are more than that, I’m lucky to call them friends, especially Suzie and Kim. George V. at Jenks Aquatics continues to crack the whip on my swim. Denise, thank you for taking the trip to Arizona and helping with sherpa duties. My friends who have absolutely nothing to do with triathlon-thank you for giving me balance and continuing to help me out with the kids when I’m off to race! And despite no longer being married, I could not do this without Lucas. We both have difficult schedules and it wouldn’t be possible to train without his help and support. My family for always making me feel loved and supported. To the kiddos, Rowan, Gwyn and Jaxon, for always keeping me grounded and keeping it real. Lastly…to Ray for giving me a new outlook on life, dealing with me when I’m a complete pain stressing about training and racing and being my confidant about ALL things—you are amazing!
Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-43567208782651841132013-10-20T09:45:00.001-07:002013-10-20T12:14:47.328-07:00What A Pro Looks LikeWhen I first turned professional in triathlon in 2006, I had been accepted to the National Resident Team at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. I was also still in the Army, but as a new member of a small unit called the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), which was for soldiers who had Olympic potential. Prior to my admittance in these programs, I was a “full time” soldier stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. I held positions as Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, and Battalion Assistant S-3 (Operations). This included a 14 month deployment to Baghdad, Iraq from Jan 2004 to Feb 2005. From the time I graduated West Point in 2000, to when I actually turned pro; I had qualified for my pro card every year in-between. But I always held back from taking the leap because in my mind that wasn’t what a pro looked like—having a real job living in the middle of nowhere, Texas. My Army time didn’t afford a lot extra time to train, and most of my jobs required me to be on my feet long hours, often in the heat. But when you get right down to it, all of these reasons for not going pro are excuses. The truth is the real reason I never took the plunge was I was afraid to. Professional triathletes weren’t Army Officers working long hours at Fort Hood, Texas. They lived in Colorado Springs or Boulder or San Diego and had the best facilities at their fingertips and oodles of time at their disposal. How was I going to compete with that?
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So it seemed like destiny when I was finally in Colorado Springs. This was the life as a pro triathlete I had always dreamed about. There were very little distractions there. Food was prepared every meal at the training center cafeteria. I was surrounded by Olympians, often in a zombie-like state from the intense training at 6000 feet, and the best facilities in the world. While I was still in the Army, my official job for the Army was to train. It was surreal. And also…mundane.
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Towards the end of 2006 I discovered I was pregnant, with twins. Needless to say this was a shocker. With a lot of thought we decided to exit the Army and raise the twins as civilians. This also meant giving up our spots at the Training Center and WCAP. I wasn’t sure if I would race professionally again. My number one priority was raising the twins, but again in the back of my mind I thought pro triathletes weren’t moms, and certainly not to twins. Also, we found out we were moving to Tulsa, OK. What pro lives and trains in Tulsa? Again, it went against everything I thought a pro should look like. How would I ever make it? How could I compete since I know what the “real pros” do? Further, it didn’t help that I definitely had some naysayers when I learned about pregnancy. The hard truth is these programs let me go when I realized I was pregnant. And I took this to heart. I could never be any good because they didn’t believe in me enough to keep me around. It was a huge blow to my confidence and I struggled with it for years.
Luckily I also had my supporters, my biggest being my family. And sometimes this came in the form of tough love. I remembered back when I was in Iraq and complaining about how terrible it was, and how if I made it back I’d be too out of shape to ever be a pro, my brother Jeremy wrote me something that slapped me in the face and I have carried ever since. He said, “Jessica, it’s too early to throw a pity party.” He was right. And he still is. Yes, I don’t have 6000 feet of altitude, or the world’s best facilities, or someone cooking me every meal, or the latest USA gear. But you know what I do have? Hard work, resilience, humility, tenacity and good old fashioned hard headedness. Yes, in 2007 I was 30lbs heavier, had little sleep and was pretty much in the worst shape I had ever been in in my life. But I had the biggest tool any athlete has in their arsenal of weapons, belief in myself. No pity party here!
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This past week I just returned from Kona to watch the Ironman World Champs. I have come so far since 2007. I would have been intimidated by the other pro women, or more so by their situation versus mine. Perhaps with my age comes a little (oh so little) wisdom. It doesn’t matter where you are, it matters who you are. That’s what a pro looks like. The ability to take a good or bad situation and to grow. Today I believe I have the best training partners in the world…for me. And I believe I have the best roads to ride on…for me. I probably measure success completely differently than most pros. I have been injured this year, and I returned to a 4th place finish in a tough field last month in Rev3 (half iron distance) Branson. I’ve won on this course. And I believe I can again one day. But the best part of that trip was having my son, who is struggling with reading, make a huge breakthrough in his progression. My life as a pro does look completely different than what I thought it would. But what I have found is this is what works…for me! At whatever level you are in triathlon, or any sport for that matter, don’t put yourself in a box. Seek other opportunities when it feels like doors have been shut in your face. The fact is with the right attitude and a little faith, you’ll land right where you are supposed to be.
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Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-31432095879769738902013-04-01T08:16:00.002-07:002013-04-01T08:18:37.861-07:00Jones, You Look Like Butt.In an effort to keep this blog more interesting and to keep a record of some of my past experiences, I've decided to share some of my stories. After all, it’s not all swim, bike, run in life, right? Growing up my family, mainly my mother, coined me "Sensational Jessica." However, I've come to realize some of this stuff you just can't make up and need little embellishment. This is the good, the bad, and the often ugly of Jessica. I don't know why, but this story came to mind this morning....
"Jones, you look like butt."
1996, first semester plebe year. I made it through Beast Barracks, the West Point equivalent of basic training. Back then (wow, that makes me feel old, I'm an "old grad" reminiscing about how tough the Corps used to be) the women still cut their hair to two inches above the collar. We were not allowed to use any sort of hair ties or clips, nor could we "make an adjustment" without the permission of an upperclassman. In other words, if your hair got in your face, which it inevitably did, you couldn't just use your hand to brush it behind your ear. We also still wore our socks up to our knees, and of course our shirts tucked in tightly, also called a dress off, into our shorts or pants. West Point is located about an hour from New York City and none of the barracks had air conditioning. As you can imagine, it got pretty warm, especially with the bodies constantly hustling and bustling about. Later as an upperclassman I would realize just how badly plebes smelt. They are constantly sweaty, and I swear the sweat coupled with their anxiety and general unhappiness produced the worst musk known to man. Any cadet knows what I'm talking about--probably it’s at its worst after the march back from Lake Frederick. However, that day is truly deserving of its own post. Back to the story at hand....so I'm 18 years old. I'm of similar height and weight as I am now, despite most claiming how much weight you would lose during Beast. I'd been assigned to company I-1, The Fighting Irish, with the motto, "Get Lucky!!!" During beast I had lived on the 5th floor of Eisenhower Barracks. There are 6 floors total, and I pitied the new cadets that lived on the top floor. It was bad enough constantly racing up & down 5 flights, not only because of the physical demand, but also because of the chances of encountering more upperclassmen. The faster you could get to your room and out of the critical eye of these disapproving upperclassmen the better. Imagine my surprise when I was assigned to my new academic company that I would move up to the 6th floor for the next two years. Great. How about them odds?
I, along with every plebe or cadet for that matter, had a rigorous academic schedule. One of the many things that make West Point tough is that there is just not enough time in the day. Time management is essential. This semester I had classes most of the morning, formation and lunch with the rest of the Corps, a class after lunch. I would rush back from my last class, change into my cross country uniform, and rush to Arvin Gym for practice. Being late was simply not an option. There was no, "Sorry, I was a little behind." There is strict accountability and tardiness was met with demerits, walking hours on the area, and enough of these could mean expulsion. Bottom-line, you just don't show up late.
So I've been trying to set the stage for this particular day. The month was August and it was still quite warm. I finished my last class of the day and I was racing back to my room to change for practice. Our first football game of the year was against Miami of Ohio. We would greet upperclassmen not in our company with, "Beat Miami of Ohio, Sir!!" or "Beast Miami of Ohio, Ma'am!!" Yeah, trying saying that a few times! I raced up the 6 flight of stairs. I'm sweaty and frazzled, my hair is in my face, and I have to pee like a race horse. I dropped my books in my room and took off pinging down the hallway (pinging is how plebes walk, imagine a race walker but with elbows locked out--pretty much like an idiot) to the "latrine." Ahhh yes, on the toilet now, upperclass can't get me here. I use this opportunity to push my hair behind my ears and wipe the sweat from my brow. I finish my business and go to tuck my shirt back in, making sure I dress it off correctly--which means a straight line with my buttons and belt, flat in the front and folded back. Here's the thing about West Point--you adapt quickly. You learn to move quickly and think on your feet while in constant chaos. It seems so ridiculous at the time, but you learn attention to detail and how to rise above stress. And if you don't learn to do this, along with many other rigors, then you don't make it. It's that simple. I think quickly if I have done everything to make it the 50 feet back to my room without being hazed. I have. I take off down the hallway and see one upperclassman. Cadet Rodriguez. Ugh. He's a cow, or a junior, and probably the meanest in the company. And I really get the feeling he doesn't like me much. But no worries, I'm squared away. I'll greet him with and a loud and thunderous, "Go Fighting Irish!!" and we will both go about our merry ways. I do just that and make it 4 steps past him just short of my room when I hear, "Cadet Jones, halt!!!" Crap. Crap!!! What did I do? I keep going over in my head and I know I'm squared away. I quickly about face, and he's walking towards me with a look of general disgust on his face. Maybe he's going to quiz me on knowledge. Boy I hope he doesn't ask me “The Days”...maybe it will be to recite the newspaper. Or it could be tomorrow’s lunch. Plebes must know the next three meals on board at all times. Just go with pizza pockets and congo bar, Jess. Or perhaps he will ask Schofield's Definition of Discipline. Oh, I hope it's that. I'm actually good at that one. He gets closer, his lipped curled up as if my general presence was offensive.
"Jones, what is that in your pocket." My mind starts racing. We only have back pockets. I wasn't sure if I sat on something, rendering my uniform anything less than impeccable, thus unacceptable. I stuck to one of my four responses, "Sir, I do not understand." Rodriquez moves closer, now we are face to face, probably 6 inches separating his nose from mine while I stand at attention.
"No really, Jones. What the hell is in your pocket?!" So I tell him the truth. "Sir, I do not know." Rodriguez is officially annoyed, "So use your hand and feel!!!" Keep in mind, he has to give me permission to move out of attention. I reach back and realize it's a pen. As I pinged (or is it pung?) from the bathroom it must have shimmied out of my pocket and about a half inch of the white top peeked out, of course at the precise moment I would encounter the meanest upperclassman in my company.
"Sir, it is a pen."
"Well, Jones, then fix it!!!"
"Yes, sir."
He moves in closer, head cocked and lip snarled even further. He raises his eyebrow and he looks even more disgusted with me. He's about an inch from my face and I'm bracing myself for him to lay into me. He opens his mouth and I'm surprised by flat and calm tone, as if he's letting me in on a secret that the entire Corps knows and he’s annoyed that he has to take the 3 seconds of his precious to let me in on the punch line.
"Jones, you look like butt. Now get out of here."
That's it? He's not going to yell at me for awhile? Or rip me a new one? Or ask how I even got into this place? Or how I’ll never make it? Or that I better get my “sh!t” together? Or that’ll he be waiting for me after practice so get ready?
"Yes, sir!" I quickly acknowledge him.
I about face and move out as fast as I can to my room. I get inside and can't help but smile. My hair is everywhere. I'm pimply. I'm sweaty. Yep, I look like butt. That would have hurt my feelings a few months ago. Now I'll go on to tell my teammates and we will laugh about it all afternoon. I still look in the mirror in the morning and when I look rough, like this morning and smile. "Jones, you look like butt."
Thank you, Cadet Rodriquez.
Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-43477971970007573722012-09-15T07:07:00.000-07:002012-09-15T08:45:10.640-07:00Did That Really Just Happen?? Rev3 Cedar PointMy apologizes for a tardy race report. I had heard that the soreness after your first 140.6 can be pretty rough so I assumed it was just something I had to suffer through. It wasn't until I sat at the Dr.'s office with Gwyn on Wednesday that I realized I was feeling especially bad, which I explained felt like getting hit by a truck. It finally dawned on me that maybe this wasn't post-race soreness, but something else. Sure enough, I picked up a nasty case of strep throat on the journey back to Tulsa!! Well, at least I have good timing? In any event, I wouldn't have done my race report justice as I was barely forming complete sentences. So here I sit before the kids wake to bring you up to date. Apologizes again as this could be a long one!
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Thank you Eric Wynn for the beautiful photo!
Two weeks before Cedar Point, I raced the Rev3 Maine Olympic. No, you didn't see a race report. I wrote one, but made the decision not to post it. And no, the report wasn't ranting about my penalty--incidentally, the head referee Charlie sought me out at Cedar Point and personally apologized. Wow! Seriously, I was so touched! Just a brief explanation; at Maine we started behind age groupers. As we were biking away, I was just behind Nicole and we were passing age groupers. I staggered off of Nicole, which forced me to ride to the left of the lane. I got pulled over by the official, my penalty being "riding in the middle of the road." I tried to explain to him that I'm a pro; if I wasn't riding there I would be in violation of Pro rules. No dice. The guy just didn't get it. And to make matters worse I didn't realize you have to have both feet on the ground. I stood there well beyond the actual time to serve, and my mental state was completely deflated. I was able to run back to 5th, but in the end I needed those valuable points for the series and I have a suspicion this penalty has the potential to bite me in the ass all the way to the very end. So I decided not to post my report not because of the penalty. Maine seemed to be the culmination of the highs and lows, leaving me completely emotionally spent. We've all heard, "God doesn't give you anything you can't handle." Which my response is, "I wish He didn't trust me so much." In all seriousness, I will give you an excerpt from my Maine report:
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My best friend Jenn keeping my spirits up all weekend.
<i>Those closest to me know I've been having a tough year. There are days when Coach Kevin and I have completely hit the reset button. We even discussed that the entire year might be a reset button. Something deep inside me keeps me going. Call it hard headiness, stupidity...or maybe gumption or resilience. I don't know. I've made it no secret that triathlon saved me from going down a very dark road. After returning from Iraq I struggled. But each morning I had something waiting for me, something to think about, something to give me hope. Perhaps this year I continue with triathlon because I have to prove to myself that I'm still strong, I'm still here, I'm still fighting.</i>
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Getting ready for lobster post Maine with Jenn and Courtenay.
So once the Maine dust settled, I spoke with Kevin on Friday. We were talking about the points, the season, my fitness. My original race schedule had Cedar Point as my first full distance. But we got to July, life was crazy, and realized it was too much to ask out of my life. I said to Kevin something along the lines that I wish I had a little more faith in myself back in July because I was so close to being able to do a race this long. My swims and bikes were training as if I was doing a full. What wasn't prepared was my run--my longest being 90 minutes. So the more we talked about it, checked out the start list, went over the points for the series and what doing this race would mean strategically, the more excited we both got. Finally, 8 days out before Cedar Point, I called Charlie to tell him I was in!
The following days were spent getting ready. It was actually pretty easy as I had barely unpacked from Maine. I made the decision to fly in on Friday, which Kevin was a little nervous about since it was pretty late for a race this distance. But the reality is I wanted to be home with the kiddos and cause as little disruption to their life as possible. I did my interviews right when I got there, looking nice and greasy for the cameras! They asked me several times about winning. I told them my goal was to move up in the series. And really I was more interested in making that marathon, a distance I've never covered either!
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Pro Panel with Erin Spitler, a real sweetheart!
Saturday the weather was crazy and it threw a little wrench in my usual pre-race swim, bike, run. But I was amazingly calm, trying not to expend any more energy worrying. I hit up the pre-race meeting and pro panel. I was back to my room and resting by 1:30. I went to bed at 9, only to wake up at 10 in a complete panic! Was I really about to do this tomorrow? What did I get myself into? What was I thinking? Why did I think this was a good idea? I'm not prepared for this!! People train the whole year!!! Ahh man, this is not good. I got up, banished the thoughts, got some Melatonin and went back to bed. I slept like a baby until 3:45 when it was time to get up and eat. I remained calm, watching Friends and drinking coffee, until it was time to get down to transition. Right before I left I said, "Do I really have to do this?" I also knew the answer to it. Just go get it done. Smile while you're doing it. Think of Trevor, my little brother, in route to Afghanistan. This is nothing. This is fun...<i>you get to do this!</i>
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Nice and early sporting some bed head.
I set up my transition and before I knew it I was headed down to the swim start with the most beautiful sunrise. Before I knew it the horn was sending us off and I immediately fell in behind Carrie Lester. We were making good time, but things got confusing and with about 1000m to go somehow we got gapped. I just kept a hard tempo going not sure where she went, continuing to pass pro men until the end. Once out on the course I was waiting for Carrie to come by me, which would definitely help with visual on the bike. However, I got word about 30 miles in she was ahead of me. I'm still not quite sure what happen and looking at the results she ended up beating me out of the water by 2 minutes! What was I doing? I was swimming hard, I didn't die out there, was my sighting that terrible? Needless to say, I was a little aggravated, especially since now she was biking with Malaika and my steady gap now was opening up! Darn it!! The upswing, is it forced me to ride my race, my watts--which probably were much more conservative compared to the more seasoned Malaika and Carrie. And by looking at the time I knew I was close to Malaika’s winning split a year ago, so while my legs didn't feel especially spunky I knew I was still in this race. And thank goodness for my Quarq as I would have been in no-man's land that entire bike!
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Photos thanks to Nils Nilsen. Finally made one of his shots!
I arrived at T2 and took the time to lace up my shoes, the PI Streak 2, and took off. I heard that I was 8.5 minutes behind, which I thought wasn't too bad. We made the decision to wear a Garmin. Yep, I'm a believer now. I was given strict instruction to run at 7:45-7:50 pace the first 30 minutes. Our whole strategy was to get to the last 13.1 miles as fresh as possible. I followed the instructions and it felt like I was walking. I made sure my stomach was settled, which it was, and thought of it as a "warm up." At 4 miles in, I had word I was 12.5 minutes behind. I wasn't discouraged at all! Truth is, I felt great! And I knew to lose 4 minutes in 4 miles means they were taking it out hot and hopefully that would be to my benefit later on. The next miles I steadily increased the tempo. Half way through I got would I was roughly 8 minutes behind. I felt great and told myself, "this is where your race starts." From there I was making big gains and I just let my body do what it's been taught to do my entire life: run! There were several out and backs and I just smiled the whole time at my friends, at how lucky I was to be doing this, and that I can't believe I feel this good! Kevin, he really is a genius! I passed Malaika around mile 22 and started to wonder if I could get Carrie. At mile 23 I got word she was 3 minutes up, and I knew that would be a tall order. I think mentally at this point I put it in cruise control, soaked up the crowds, and really enjoyed the moment. Wow, did I really just do this? 2nd place, fastest run of the day, but more importantly I executed a smart race where I was in control the whole day, finishing in a time of 9:19:39! And most importantly, I got to share the moment with some very special people, near and far! Truly, there is no way I could do it without them!
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Thank you Daniel Smith for snapping a pic!
So here I sit, barely doing anything the entire week! Ha! We are trying to figure out the rest of the season. The sickness definitely is a hurdle, but I wouldn't change a thing. The whole experience was amazing, and I can't thank Rev3 enough for being my biggest supporter of this journey! I'm lucky enough to call their crew friends. And of course to my sponsors: Rev3, Recovery Pump, Powerbar, Pearl Izumi, John R. Jones, PC, Kestrel, Challenge Tires, Rudy Project, Blue Seventy, and to Team Red White and Blue...each make this dream possible, thank you! To Coach Kevin Purcell for believing in me, being patient and understanding, and always knowing what's best for me. My awesome family for always being on "Team Jessica" and never being embarrassed that their daughter, sister, mom is still an athlete :) To my amazing friends here in Tulsa that train with me through thick and thin. I couldn't do it without you--not just being the best training partners, but the best friends! Suzie, Kim, Ray and Duncan, thanks for sticking with me!! Your support means more than you know! Lastly, to Rowan and Gwyneth. You two always keep my grounded, keep me smiling, and force me to find my strong! I'm one lucky lady!!
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Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-57687791707459382872012-08-18T14:41:00.002-07:002012-08-18T14:47:26.574-07:00Rev 3 Wisconsin It's obscenely early as I sit and wait for my plane home Tulsa, so I figured I'd be productive and knock out my race report. This weekend I had the opportunity to race another Rev 3 event, this time in The Dells, Wisconsin. Without boring you with logistical nuancies of the race, let's just say that after my Quassy fiasco I was unusually anal about my travel arrangements. I arrived to the hotel around 8pm on Thursday after encountering only a few hick-ups. I built my bike while I waited for my food to be delivered and tuned into some Olympics. Overall it was fairly uneventful, which is just great in my book!
The following morning I linked up with the Rev3 crew as I really wanted to meet everyone behind the scene. I have to tell you that it was quite humbling. I feel like that saying, "they work so hard" is an understatement. By the time their boots hit the ground, it's non stop to put on not just a race, but a weekend of events for athletes and family to enjoy. And what impressed the most is the interaction within the staff; they seem more like family. I can't say enough to sing their praise. If you haven't done a Rev3 race, you are missing out plain and simple!
I linked up with The Mary Miller to check out the bike course. How many blondes does it take to read a map?? Ironically we both pride ourselves on being good at directions. Turns out two blondes don't make a right. Unless that's a right turn when you should be turning left! Once we figured out the course, I was pleased that this was going to be a hard, fair course. There were two substancial climbs, with the rest being undulating hills. Also, the wind was going to pick up as the day went out, which was another element to factor in. The run course was also quite hilly, overall the course was deceptively difficult. Afterwards I had a quick pre-race interview which got me thinking even more about my race strategy. When asked about predictions, I stated that it would be foolish of me to make any. The truth is we all train hard and you just don't know what each person is coming into the race with. Some might be in a build for an iron distance, others tapered and ready to go. Some might be recovering from injury...the point is you never know, so never count anyone out because anything can happen, especially on a course like this!
Once I got back I chilled back in the room with my trusty Recovery Boots until dinner. I got to catch up with my teammate Richie and his wife Melissa. I've said it before and the same applies to Richie--it's great to see nice people do well. He didn't get to this point overnight and he is a great example of years of hard work paying off!
Saturday morning I met up with my other teammate Malika for my usual swim/bike/run. I had a little bike drama with my wheel rubbing, which I was stressing about. However, I looked over at Malika who calmly told me she broke her seat clamp, and would have to borrow a bike to race on Sunday. Suddenly my bike drama didn't seem so dramatic! After the pro meeting it was back to chilling, a little dinner, then an early night to get ready for an early morning.
Race morning finally arrived. The hotel was walking distance to transition, so I took my time to head over there. The weather was quite cool and once I got my bike set up and warm up complete, I headed down to the swim start.
I got a little worried because I felt a little too calm. So times those nerves are good to get you going yet I seemed to have none! Once the race started I immediately felt strong and was in a good draft. However, they distinctly told us to keep the buoys on our left and this draft was heading down the center of the swim course. I sited a gal to my right who was keeping the buoys on the correct line, I jumped behind her but the realized the other gals were aiming towards the very last turn around buoy, and we were on a longer course. Turns out later I was following Malika, as we were both confused at the other line. I tried to hop back with the pack but now I was gapped. Doh!!! Dumb dumb!! I stayed strong and a couple times thought I could catch back up. No bueno! I felt great and strong and kicked myself for my tactical error, but focused on minimizing the gap I created. Once out I heard 1:52 down on the leader wasn't too bad. Once I got to the bikes I focused on staying patient, trusting my training, and be confident that the girls would come back to me. I'll admit, a few times I started to worry. But finally at mild 40 I saw a speck ahead, then another at 47, then finally Malika in the final few miles. Wow, I guess it worked because a few times I worried I was out of it and now I was headed into T2 in 2nd.
I ran out with Malika and got an update that Nicole was 3 min up the road. What an outstanding ride she had! My run legs felt strong, not necessarily "fast", but good enough to hold on to 2nd. Overall I was pleased with my effort. This year I've walked away from each race with one (or two) discipline that was absolutely off. I felt strong the entire day and proved myself that the work eventually pays off.
Once again I have to thank my incredible sponsors and supporters! Rev3, Recovery Pump, Powerbar, Pearl Izumi, John R. Jones, PC, Kestrel, Challenge Tires, Rudy Project, Blue Seventy, and to Team Red White and Blue! Coach Kevin for his always level head and encouragement. And to my family and friends for your constant love, help, and sometimes a swift kick to my arse!!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-13997150754769982512012-06-26T08:02:00.000-07:002012-06-26T11:58:21.801-07:00BSLT 70.3 2012!Buffalo Springs looked like it was not going to make it on my schedule this year. I'm focusing mainly on Rev3 events with Portland coming up after Quassy. However, I have a family reunion the week of Portland in Knoxville and logistically getting to the race and back home to Tulsa looked to be a little tougher than I first anticipated. Plus, I would have to cut my family time short and it's not very often I get to see my siblings(been 2 years since I've seen 2 of my bros) and while I love racing, I stand firm with...family first!
So a week after Quassy I got to do my first century ride of the year with Tulsa Tough. I talked it over with Kevin and threw out the idea of taking a short trip to Buffalo Springs instead a few weeks later. It would be perfect because it's logistically an easy trip, plus we had a few Tulsans making the trip. I decided to throw my hat in the ring, and suddenly our Tulsa roster grew and before we knew it we were loading up the bikes on Friday to make the nearly 8 hour drive to Lubbock. This trip was also in conjunction with "girl’s weekend" with Gywnnie. This would the first time she had ever spent any extended time apart from her twin brother. To say she loved all the attention is a bit of an understatement. I have to throw a huge "THANK YOU" to my friends. I know you guys aren't completely used to 5 year old antics, so thanks for your patience the whole weekend!
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This race had a completely different objective for me. Yes, I always want to show up to the start line and give my very best effort. But sometimes as Professionals we can forget to enjoy the experience around us. This race I wanted to savor the experience; savor having fun with my family and friends and take a step back and remember why we get into the crazy sport to begin with. Buffalo Springs is the perfect place to do that. It just has the low key feel to it and Mike and Marti put on an outstanding race that presents little fuss going into it. Saturday rolled around and our crew made its way to the race site to check it out. We did the usually swim/bike/run and we were joined by my Mom, who drove in from Houston on Friday. We also brought the trailer bike so Gwynnie was able to go out on our pre-race spin and run with the whole gang. Huge thank you to Ray. Obviously for taking care of all of us the entire weekend, but for hauling Gwyn up and down those hills. She had a blast and looking over at her on our spin, I felt like I had to pinch myself on how lucky I am. She makes you look at the whole experience differently. When I was standing up going up a hill on the bike, she looks over at me and says, "How do you do that Mommy?" The next day during the race she hopped on the bike and started shaking the bars left and right, explaining, "This is how my Mom does it!" It's the little things that make up the good stuff in life!
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Joanna (a new pro in OK) and I hit up the pro meeting that afternoon. It was short and sweet, but best of all entertaining. Immediately following the meeting Gwynnie and Kasey Jacobs (Jessica's daughter) got a quick hair-do from Amanda Lovato. I joke that you can't be around Amanda without something coming out pink. The girls loved the pampering!!
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That evening Joanna cooked up a storm in our hotel. We were joined by Jess Jacobs and her family, along with my Dad's high school football coach, Coach Ragus and his wife Maragret. I'm sure most people know what a big deal football is in Texas. My Dad's high school team was a two time State Champion under Coach Ragus. My Dad went on to play and start for the University of Houston and was also the Captain of the team. To hear stories about my Dad's work ethic made me really proud. Also, talking with Coach Ragus and Margaret made me realize why they played such a pivotal role in my Dad's life. To say he was progressive during my Dad's high school years would be an understatement. It's amazing how in tune he is with all of athletics. In fact, they even named a Natatorium after him in Lubbock!
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Finally race morning came bright and early. Before I knew it we were lining up to race. The water was deemed wet suit legal and unfortunately I only have a full sleeve Blue Seventy. The wetsuit is very comfortable, but once we started swimming I realized I was just too warm. On the flip side, I finally had a great swim, catching a ride from new pro Christine Anderson who I know is a great swimmer. Unfortunately we went off course for a bit. I realized what we were doing so I yelled out to her, but she couldn't hear me. I got back on course and the paddle boarder rounded her up. By the final turn buoy she had caught back up to me and we made our way back. When we ran out of the water I realized my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest and I was completely out of breath. Yes, I had swum a bit harder than usual, but I realize now this was the first sign of me getting dehydrated despite massive amounts of fluid intake prior to the race. I was out on the bike after a quick transition. I chose a different wheel set up, opting for front and rear Zipp Firecrest 808 outfitted in Challenge Tires. Last year I used a disc, but lately I've been having a real problem with the disc rubbing my frame when I stand to climb. We are still trying to get the disc right in the "sweet spot." With all the climbs here I just wanted to put my mind at ease. I will say that the 808s felt a lot more agile cornering and climbing. However, on the flat, windy sections I was kind of wishing for my disc! Ahhh, the grass is always greener, right?
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I got water at every station. I diligently took my nutrition and salt. I rode in no man's land nearly the entire ride, except for the few age group men that passed me. The winds kicked up and I was ready to get off my bike in 2nd and ready to crack out a good run. I ran out of T2 and knew immediately I was in trouble. I have never felt like this. I went between wanting to throw up to pass out. I felt short of breath and had no sweat coming off my body. I focused on getting to each aid station and wanted to stop the entire run. Gwynnie was out on the course on the trailer bike cheering me out and I'd flash a smile to her each time I'd see her. Jess passed me pretty early on. I also knew there was no way I'd be running down anyone. This race became one goal...survival!! At the turn around I saw I had a nice cushion on the rest of the field, so I just tried to put one foot in front of the other. By the final 2.5 miles I thought, "I don't think there is any way I can finish this." I will say the power of the mind is incredible because I made it, and immediately went to get my first ever IV bag in a race. But let me tell you, that IV is worth its weight in gold! I felt like a million bucks shortly after! Gwyn was a little freaked out by the whole thing, but I assured her in didn't hurt. Pretty soon she was all over my while I was getting the fluids in, so she obviously got over it!
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We collected Duncan, Suzie, and Joanna after a brutal day. We went back to the hotel and had a birthday celebration for Suzie. We loaded up and checked out of the hotel, but had 4 hours to kill before awards. We hit up Target to shop where Gwyn exclaimed, "Where's Duncan? We lost the old man!!" Luckily we found him and headed to Starbucks where we ran into the champ, fellow Oklahoman Amanda Stevens and her awesome hubby Randy. Gwyn got a new tattoo hit and tried her hand. Thank you Amanda for letting my daughter practice on you. This is what you get for beating me!!! hahaha!!
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We hit up awards and then hit the road for our drive home that night. Gwyn was out within the first half hour. I was jealous!!
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We finally got home around 3am. A huge "thank you" again to Ray for driving the grumpy triathletes home after a really long day! This trip was one of the best I've ever had. As for the race, I'm taking home some real positives. Things are going in the right direction. I had a great swim and bike, both faster than the year before. I finally took a look at my run time and will admit that I shuddered a bit at first, but I have to be proud that I stuck it out because God knows I didn't want to! Thank you to my incredible sponsors: Rev3, Powerbar, Kestrel, Pear Izumi, Recovery Pump, Rudy Project, BlueSeventy, Challenge Tires, John R. Jones, PC and Team Red White and Blue. To Kathy at Runner's World for being one the most generous, kind hearted people I've ever met! To Coach Kevin for sticking with me, to my amazing friends for taking this trip, and to my Mom for always being such a support! Love you all! Until next time!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-61792810175803435192012-06-11T13:56:00.001-07:002012-06-11T13:56:12.271-07:00Quassy 2012 Race ReportI'm on my trip back home to Tulsa. My adventures began on Thursday afternoon. I was due to arrive in Hartford, CT at 11pm, where I was to meet up with some more Rev3 folks for the drive to Southbury an hour and a half away. However, my connection in Dallas was delayed for 3.5 hrs because the flight had no crew. I let my travels buddies know to go ahead without me since I would be getting in so late. I called a cab service while waiting in Dallas since I figured I didn't want to be sorting that out at 2:30 am. Once I finally got in, my driver met me but he was standing with another guy. This kid was going to visit his girlfriend in Hartford, couldn't get a cab and was hoping to share my vehicle. By this point I was tired and stressed about how late I would be arriving to the hotel--the last thing I wanted to do was extend the trip another half hour. But then I felt bad (darn conscious!) and agreed while gritting my teeth wondering why the kid couldn't a. Have the sense to line up his own travel while we waited over 3 hrs in Dallas or b. Get his girlfriend's butt out of bed to come get him. What can I say, I'm a little less tolerant when tired!
I finally arrive to the lovely Heritage Hotel. I get to my room and fall into bed, glancing at the clock and wincing at the sight of 4:02. Ugh. I try to sleep in and make it to around 10. I remind myself that this is more hours of consecutive sleep than I got for the entire first year of my twins' lives. I ended up doing absolutely nothing Friday besides building my bike and dinner with friends.
Saturday was the usual pre race swim, bike, run and pro meeting but with the challenge of pouring rain. That evening my best friend from college drove in from NYC to watch the race. Of course we chatted a bit, then lights out at 930 in preparation for an early wake up race morning. Unfortunately the drunken wedding guests below my room decided to replace my alarm and woke me up at midnight. Looking back I should have objected right then, but kept thinking "they will leave soon." Finally a little after 2 I called the front desk, where they profusely apologized and told me that security was on their way. Apparently I wasn't the only one complaining!
After getting back to sleep my alarm went off 1 hr later and I woke without my usual excitement. After reflecting on the whole weekend I realized I was just plain tired and grumpy. These feelings were temporarily masked with pre -race excitement. I knew I was coming into this race a lot fitter than a year ago, which made me really excited to see my progression. I had a great swim & bike last year & exited t2 in 5th, where I basically ran gingerly due to my soleus tear 6 weeks early. This year I was ready to run fast, and to mix up with a world championship field.
It's funny how things can work out. You can have sub-par preparation (like last year) and really surprise yourself. On the flip side you can have great preparation and really surprise yourself--in not such a good way!! I started the swim and just lacked any opening speed. I felt very strong through the whole swim but missed my pack and swam a pretty lonely race. I started the bike and heard time checks throughout and was not giving any time back and closed to within 30sec of the girls I had hoped to come out of the water with. But somehow from mile 40-56 I gave up 2.5 minutes to everyone. I didn't feel bad. I actually felt quite strong. This particular part of the course is quite technical with a lot of turns making it difficult to see anyone, even if they are only 30 sec in front. I realize now how vital these visual ques are because really I was just in la-la land. Yet again why racing as a pro makes your swim position imperative! I started the run feeling strong and knew I had the run fitness to be competitive. Each mile I got closer and closer but ran out of real estate to change my position, landing in 10th. Of course I'm disappointed--not with my place but that I know I didn't have the race I'm capable of. But what I can take away from this is that I'm very strong, I just lacked that upper intensity needed to be competitive in this field. And also to be smarter with my traveling. Expect delays--don't plan on coming in late because that can quickly become tooooo late! With these women you can't give up 1%!! They truly are something else!
Again, a huge thanks to my sponsors and supporters! Rev3, Powerbar, Kestrel, Pearl Izumi, Recovery Pump, Rudy Project, Challenge Tires, BlueSeventy, Team RWB, HammerHead (formerly 918xc) Bike Shop. To my coach Kevin P for helping me see the big picture. And to Jenn Delaney for making the trip and not letting me wallow. We've literally been through the best of times and worst of times--from WestPoint
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fGzkpBsuDHZ722q0DO47bbnnz7WELwoPWtI5dNGr7xu098So6Q-wsdiXnVaEmXlkXGZvwfJ1qto7lBAOpJ31XsWEi4eZUFjdB24-CiCqIl4bwGvU9bT4fXb8OgNQfLqtqaBB5L-b4O2p/s1600/824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fGzkpBsuDHZ722q0DO47bbnnz7WELwoPWtI5dNGr7xu098So6Q-wsdiXnVaEmXlkXGZvwfJ1qto7lBAOpJ31XsWEi4eZUFjdB24-CiCqIl4bwGvU9bT4fXb8OgNQfLqtqaBB5L-b4O2p/s320/824.JPG" /></a>
to Officer Basic
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4Am3sWOfGkS8001md8C-ZnCwLkxwB2CDDVZ-tNyRiSufOFzb6GW9yiLgl9DlGCQYIDrN0MmU5lPeW6cd4GMkfO-RuLPvUAq7KIOoiiu70U8cBKsxpD6iAYUHhiTaCYY7O3L3vNHk8COO/s1600/829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4Am3sWOfGkS8001md8C-ZnCwLkxwB2CDDVZ-tNyRiSufOFzb6GW9yiLgl9DlGCQYIDrN0MmU5lPeW6cd4GMkfO-RuLPvUAq7KIOoiiu70U8cBKsxpD6iAYUHhiTaCYY7O3L3vNHk8COO/s320/829.JPG" /></a>
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to Fort Hood
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZz4qcHMS1QglylBHCHGfxkJzMSkIHWZNWFQt0_PFwwMVd7eJyCsUH2gVmpxGrzcv7qGfhWLYi_44iPbfTcGylz_AdoZEuehnEZe2oX_o8h4X47zkYijuyTkNjCCiYbomjiEshjSH-z5gS/s1600/827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZz4qcHMS1QglylBHCHGfxkJzMSkIHWZNWFQt0_PFwwMVd7eJyCsUH2gVmpxGrzcv7qGfhWLYi_44iPbfTcGylz_AdoZEuehnEZe2oX_o8h4X47zkYijuyTkNjCCiYbomjiEshjSH-z5gS/s320/827.JPG" /></a>
to Iraq and back.
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What a reminder of how lucky I am to have people like her in my life!
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVFMhtNPY0TwTlfTSSPJKArMxljrDkgVfd3SjlntywVCocHbnrDwvwW0mIsBhRoFGVnoHmKvl4itBR8iBxWY1sv2i0z9v_4iQ9Z_0XmkZNBP19_wuEakdoGgA-uQEDx3tlzy1xYataSUA/s1600/jenn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVFMhtNPY0TwTlfTSSPJKArMxljrDkgVfd3SjlntywVCocHbnrDwvwW0mIsBhRoFGVnoHmKvl4itBR8iBxWY1sv2i0z9v_4iQ9Z_0XmkZNBP19_wuEakdoGgA-uQEDx3tlzy1xYataSUA/s320/jenn.jpg" /></a>Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-23998396335907840652012-05-13T09:27:00.001-07:002012-05-13T09:27:50.468-07:00Rev3 Knoxville!Here I sit finally getting around to my race report for Rev3 Knoxville. First off, Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there! May your day be drama free!!
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Since I last wrote from Galveston I had a few things going on before Knoxville. I got to catch up with the Rev3 crew in there run across America. They were just north of Tulsa so I rounded up a few locals and we tried to give the runners a day off. A huge thanks to Kathy and Bill--Kathy covered 28 miles and Bill covered 48! Duncan, Lisa and I, all recovering from Galveston and Leadville, covered about 40 between the 3 of us. It was fun and for a great cause! Also, who knew I would see my first space capsule in the middle of Oklahoma? Hopefully next year we can round up a few more runners.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I also headed to Austin to particpate in the first tri camp for Team Red White and Blue. This truly deserves its own post, but simply put the camp was amazing. A huge, huge thanks goes to Derick Williamson for making the camp happen. It's awesome to see Team RWB living up to its mission and touch veteran's life. I left the camp inspired knowing that we are actually doing something here. Thank you for allowing Jess Jacobs and me to be a part of this!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Now, to the good stuff! Rev3 Knoxville! This would be my first Olympic race in nearly 2 years. Needless to say, I felt a little out of element, but was psyched for my race to be done in a little over 2 hours! Of course, Rev3 never disappoints. The race was looking to be quite competitive, but beyond that Rev3 puts thought into every detail of the race. If you haven't participated in one of their races, you are missing out! Race day rolled around nice and early on Sunday. Going into the race I knew my swim was not going to be up to snuff. I was hoping my body might surprise me. But alas, if you don't get the work in, it ain't going to happen! In my defense, I did what I could and hope to rectify this by Quassy! My point? My swim was ugly. As I swam along, knowing I was giving up more and more time while leading a small pack, I started to get pretty irritated with myself. An Olympic distance race is too short to give up this sort of time. Further, it's important to position yourself in the race for the beginning of the bike which ultimately has a large part to do with the outcome of your race! Once on the bike I felt strong and slowly started to pick girls off. About a half mile out from the turn around I saw a pack of about 5 women riding together (legally, but there is no doubt there is a huge benefit of riding with women vs by yourself!) I caught Nicole around mile 18 and Laurel shortly after that. We ended up riding into T2 together. I heard we were 3 minutes down and I was hoping that was to Sara and not the pack of women. Laurel and I ran together awhile, which was good because it forced me out of my half-ironman clip and reminded my legs it was supposed to be running a 10k! Finally around mile 4 I started to pick some of the women off. There were a few more up ahead, but the last mile is on a windy path and I just couldn't get the momentum going to catch them. Looking back I should have gone with Laurel and made the passes before I entered this section. Oh well, you live and learn. In the end I was 6th, with about 35 seconds seperating 3rd through 6th. Once that sunk in I was pretty mad at myself for my crud swim. But now I know what I need to work on in these races and you better believe I won't let that happen again!
As always, I have to thank my incredible sponsors! Rev3, Pearl Izumi, Powerbar, Recovery Pump, Kestrel, Rudy Project, Blue Seventy. Also, I have to thank a new sponsor: Challenge Tires! The tires are super smooth, thank you!! Next up is Quassy, getting pumped!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-71748387318318857262012-04-08T05:31:00.005-07:002012-04-08T07:35:48.984-07:00Houston, we have a problem...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYijlkJMC1g_kBWFOnkH3VMbAdA4Y7cwS0NADOKPaSO4T16fn8NC1-Kf-oHVkutAPFHprZJKqR-AGSU3ayhahS2-Bo9EWn4PkIaBlbbLstyY9wyRqmwEQ_UiWxZlHIns0Q5a5McOoZoZlw/s1600/flat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYijlkJMC1g_kBWFOnkH3VMbAdA4Y7cwS0NADOKPaSO4T16fn8NC1-Kf-oHVkutAPFHprZJKqR-AGSU3ayhahS2-Bo9EWn4PkIaBlbbLstyY9wyRqmwEQ_UiWxZlHIns0Q5a5McOoZoZlw/s320/flat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729038550597601794" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIaWsSB9l_n6Xkk5Gqh68cERTz7Fcc71KuaRSBHyM6aOlC6U0DsDnf1lLs-2-ZYvhRxVbcNpEgmgV2BX0Yidg5SSU5p5fd6OV5BPofZxtdi-Yv3hJli3oyev1dF1dO8kGcpaiPjOJQ_e5/s1600/damnrazor.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIaWsSB9l_n6Xkk5Gqh68cERTz7Fcc71KuaRSBHyM6aOlC6U0DsDnf1lLs-2-ZYvhRxVbcNpEgmgV2BX0Yidg5SSU5p5fd6OV5BPofZxtdi-Yv3hJli3oyev1dF1dO8kGcpaiPjOJQ_e5/s320/damnrazor.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729038545706485442" /></a><br />Wow, can't believe the day unfolded the way it did. Unfortunately I mean this is in not quite the positive way that I hoped, although I took a lot of positive memories from the race. <br />The week leading into the race I was putting together some last minute things to include my new Kestrel 4000 and zipp wheels. While I usually would be apprehensive about trying anything "new" for the race, I was lucky enough to have the exact replica of my bike last year, only the 2012 model. Also, being the first race of the year you tend to forget the little things, so I was a tad more stressed than usual getting together my 2012 gear, which includes different sponsors.<br />I flew with the kids into Houston on Thursday evening. I was born and raised in Houston and we decided to stay at home, which is a 45-60 min drive to Galveston. For me it was worth it to sleep in my "own" beds and feel completely comfortable. Plus the kids had a blast playing with our old toys---and I don't mean grandma and grandpa, although they had a blast with them! Friday was a short run in the neighborhood and a swim at the community pool. Saturday we went to Memorial Park for a short ride and run. Everything was working well and I felt at ease with my equipment. Further, this is the first time in several years I haven't been battling some sort of illness or injury associated with illness (you can read my post last year at this time after taking the antibiotic levaquin and it's lingering effect). I was feeling fit, confident, and mostly at ease because I knew what kind of race I was capable of rather than the big question mark I can go into races with at this time of year. I just wanted to race!<br /><br /><br />Sunday morning came and before I knew it I was setting up my bike in transition. I walked over to the start with Amy and Brandon Marsh and I've got to say it feels great they are back in Texas. I've known them for years--and dare I say I've known Brandon for nearly decades?!?! Yes, we are getting old! Of course I realize I've forgotten my swim cap in transition. The only thing that made me feel not quite so air headish is that Amy left all her nutrition at home! Ha! Sorry Amy, although we all know it turned out okay for you!<br /><br /><br />I hopped in the water and it felt a little warm for a full wetsuit. I'm wearing BlueSeventy again and it fit like a glove. The start horn went off and I immediately had clean water. I swam as hard as I could, deferring to no one. I knew I was at the tail end of the lead pack because I was absolutely redlining it to stay there. And then I moved over to get on the inside and I was just off, keeping pace but being in the worse position...alone!! I kept trying and trying to get back on. This went on until about 1200meters when I realized, "wow, I'm really hot." and "wow, I'm going to explode if I keep this up." A quick sighting behind me revealed that a few women were working their way back up to me, so I soft stroked until they caught me, then tried to hop in behind them. Problem was several of the women weren't having it and wouldn't let me in! Alrightly, fine. I can help pull you along but you won't let me in, that's cool. So I let them all go and just cruised it in on the back. The lesson? Get my butt on that front pack next time!!<br /><br /><br />Out to transition was smooth. I heard 2 minutes down. Perfect. I can deal with 2 minutes. I started the bike and knew my legs were ready to play. I take a turn to head out towards the seawall and immediately hear a POP and all I can thinks is, "oh no, I think that was me!!" I stop and feel my front & it's okay. I feel the rear and sure enough it's completely flat. In a split second I made a decision. I was going to finish this race, no matter what the result. I immediately head back to transition yelling, "Does anyone have a rear wheel?" I get back and a spectator with his bike says I can use his. I'm thinking, "okay, I'll get this on, and maybe I can still run my way back into the top 10." What seems like forever we get the wheel on and sure enough it won't even spin. Crap. At this point I see the next wave of women heading out on the bike and I think, "well, I can still have a good bike and run today." Another spectator, the generous Jill, runs to her car, gets her bike out and we proceed to put her wheel on. She says to me,"it needs to be pumped up, I haven't pumped it in awhile." I said, "does it spin?" Sure enough it does and I tell her, "hey, that's good enough for me." I look up at the clock and it's ticking over to 45 minutes. At this point I thought, "get out there and smile because you get to do this." also with, "and don't you dare start feeling sorry for yourself." From there I biked strong, making sure to smile and encourage others around me. I will say about half way I thought, "what the heck are you doing Jessica?!" But tried and succeeded in pushing away pity party thoughts. The wheel worked great, although I believe in properly inflated disc wheels more than ever!! <br /><br /><br />I started the run and my parents had a very concerned look. I ran out of t-2 with a smile and said to them, "I'm okay." Later my parents said they were relieved because they thought I had crashed. On the first loop I actually got to appreciate the race going on around me. I quickly realized that running into the top 10 was completely unrealistic. And I will admit that I'm a little mad at myself for not trying a little harder on the run, because my training indicates that I'm ready for some fast running. But then again I realize I'm being a little hard on myself and being in no man's land and not being "in the hunt" is not the most conducive to your best result! I finally finished. The first thing Gwyn says to me is, "did you win?" I told her, "kind of sweetheart." Seemed good enough for her!<br /><br /><br />After the race upon inspecting the tire it appeared to be sliced clean through. All I could wonder was what on earth did I run over? On our walk back to the car we decided to inspect the turn. I really didn't think I'd find anything, but sure enough after about 10 seconds something shiny catches my eye. A razor blade is just sitting there on the road. I know some people carry them in the event of a flat to help get their tire off. My suspicion is that someone could have dropped it. Needless to say it's just rotten luck. But it did give me some satisfaction that it was not a mechanical error of any sort.<br /><br /><br />So some of the most exciting parts of the day was seeing the men and women's race unfold. I saw Kelly completely dominating and Amy land on the podium. I'm lucky to know these ladies for a long time. Besides that, to see the hard work they put in year after year is inspiring. Sometimes I think people realize what a long, tough road this can be. They are just great examples of perseverance. And they are just nice people, which makes it even better! And speaking of perseverance I couldn't be prouder of Tim O'donnell. While he's known as T.O. to many, I think of him as Timmy, the midshipman I met 10 (wow, I'm getting old!!) years ago. I don't know many people that work as hard and never give up. As a fellow former officer in our military, I couldn't be more thrilled that he took home top honors at the U.S. Pro Championships while also representing Team Red, White, and Blue! Despite the fact he gave my twins "Navy" onesies when they were born, we still love the guy!<br /><br /> <br /><br />It always feels amazing to win. And it feels amazing to get on the podium. But this day I learned that I can have the courage to put my ego aside and focus on just racing as hard as I can no matter what the result. I guess that's my "victory" for the 2012 Galveston 70.3. But don't think for one second I won't be back next year as fired up as ever!<br /><br /><br />Thank you to my incredible sponsors who allow me to get to do this: Revolution 3, Kestrel, Powerbar, Pearl Izumi, Recovery Pump, Rudy Project, Blue Seventy, and Louis Garneu. A lot to these guys are like family (and not the embarrassing extended kind!) And thanks to Ryan and Jesse at Sun and Ski Sports for jumping through hoops to get my bike built. Thanks to Ray and Colt for getting my wheels ready, and to Bill Marshal of Challenge Tires for making sure it was operational in Galveston. Coach Kevin, who is so much more than a coach--thank you! Lastly, thank you to my amazing parents! My mom was wonder woman taking over the kids and letting me focus on the race. And my dad for always being there, no matter what--year after year. I hope I tell you enough what your support means to me.Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-45667459041864608872012-01-24T06:20:00.000-08:002012-01-24T06:48:26.129-08:00Ch-ch-ch-changes!!!Okay, the truth is the more things change, the more they stay the same, right? Once again, I have been absolutely terrible with the whole blog thing. For this, I will just give you one of my 4 responses: No excuse, Sir! But seriously, I have not been totally lacking in social media. You can follow my twitter at jessmeyerstri. I need to figure out how to link the twitter to my blog. (In other words, I need to find someone else to link my twitter to my blog!)<br /><br />So updates on my front. It's a new year and we have been extremely lucky with the weather. I don't think I've ever gotten out this much in January since living in Oklahoma. We are preparing ourselves for February. Hopefully our luck will continue. Also, last fall I realized I left out quite a bit of information about what's going on in the Meyers household. There have been a couple big changes that as a result change the dynamic of my training. Me being a glass half-full kind of gal mean the changes have been in the positive direction! First off, my husband got into medical school at OSU here in Tulsa. While this definitley brings stress with the uncertainty of our financial situation, I remind myself it's temporary and you can't let that get to you. On a positive note, it is exciting to see my husband love what he is doing. I am fortunate to get live my passion day in and day out, and now he gets to join the fun! And this might be hard to believe, but we actually see him more than when he worked as an enginner. I don't think people know that when we first moved here Lucas was still in the Reserves. Shortly after that when the kids were about 8 months old he started going to classes at night and on the weekend to make this dream happen. I won't get into details just yet--I'll save that for another blog! The other big change is that my kids started Pre-K. They are in school 5 days a week, from 7:45 until 2:45. My babies are growing up!! So how does this change for me? Well, it's the obvious. I have more time to train during the week. But even more is that I have time to rest during the week! (and blog perhaps? ;) This has definitely added much more structure to my training. I do my training while they are at school. I pick them up, and that's it--I'm full Mom. I no longer have that uncertainty of "Oh, I hope Lucas can get home on time so I can get my swim in because I couldn't get it done earlier." And then the guilt of leaving the kids to go get it done. I'm just able to get the work done stress free, and it's making a huge difference--not just in my training but in my emotional well-being. For all of this, I am so thankful!!<br /><br />In other news, I've got a few new exciting partnerships! However, one that will be staying the same is the Trakkers/Rev 3 Team. But you must know, the "Trakkers" will be dropped and it's just called the Rev3 Team now! Details will come once everything is finalized! Until next time--happy training!! And for you crazies that are already racing--happy racing!! I'll see you out there in a few months!!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-38524149485056432362011-10-25T05:57:00.001-07:002011-12-04T06:56:27.733-08:00Austin 70.3...Take 4!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNp0D96FQCcV_04A4F-VOjjS3U-JwUlJoU1h5OTnF7gZoD9P8epGPZL0B85xnZde5-7ymn5NNlqU7HYOX9F9kU7bF31eJrB5Y5dfYLoe6y2lUD0bYBROODOMqr2Dg_ca4Px2OfXHPNVWQH/s1600/Austin+2011.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNp0D96FQCcV_04A4F-VOjjS3U-JwUlJoU1h5OTnF7gZoD9P8epGPZL0B85xnZde5-7ymn5NNlqU7HYOX9F9kU7bF31eJrB5Y5dfYLoe6y2lUD0bYBROODOMqr2Dg_ca4Px2OfXHPNVWQH/s320/Austin+2011.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667426738869835746" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmVDadna4SWDC3HZ5O1G-f3RRpealGK_OJ2OmuHpdrYjBfjOxq6mtR6AlVf5_lDD8vcUL-WNnPo6YOJTvTpMsl-Rl_HiBg79_MC2WtxOMI0J2qJ9t2qPSCzhhOz_1kXM1GD43Vc08Vw-mI/s1600/Jess%2526GwynAustin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 169px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmVDadna4SWDC3HZ5O1G-f3RRpealGK_OJ2OmuHpdrYjBfjOxq6mtR6AlVf5_lDD8vcUL-WNnPo6YOJTvTpMsl-Rl_HiBg79_MC2WtxOMI0J2qJ9t2qPSCzhhOz_1kXM1GD43Vc08Vw-mI/s320/Jess%2526GwynAustin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667426734827410578" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SkJPuRCLAVfyA-BuccYFGbdSk3oW3HIGWPwMhUEoCybH9waYRVZu_J35DeVvLeV3CIQK4Z45u80HkWrzODp_sqj_eYAZJU-QxhE2_6faWacGFJHNw9Dx7YuEnGex2-1XeY8yBKST98bl/s1600/kidruninaustin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SkJPuRCLAVfyA-BuccYFGbdSk3oW3HIGWPwMhUEoCybH9waYRVZu_J35DeVvLeV3CIQK4Z45u80HkWrzODp_sqj_eYAZJU-QxhE2_6faWacGFJHNw9Dx7YuEnGex2-1XeY8yBKST98bl/s320/kidruninaustin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667426736153558322" /></a><br />Thank you Mario Cantu for the photos.<br /><br />This weekend I raced the Austin 70.3. This was my first half-ironman starting in 2008. I started training for it a few months before. My twins were 18 months old, and I really don't think I totally understood what I was getting myself into. When I got off the bike, all I could think was, "How in the heck do people run a half marathon now??" I've returned each year, mainly it's as close to a "home" race as I'll ever get. I think of Austin as where I grew up in triathlon. When I was stationed at Fort Hood, which is about 45 minutes north, I spent a lot of weekends in Austin learning and training for this sport. I love the people, the energy, the hills, the heat, and on and on! Despite all this, I've never put together a good race in Austin. I've always just missed out of the money, and I've always had some late season issue going into the race. I vowed this year I wouldn't let this happen again!<br /><br />We loaded and took off Thursday. Lucas had to bury his head in the books, so he was unable to come. I was a bit nervous driving by myself with the kids, but we made it okay with only a few meltdowns. We arrived at my brother's house and Rowan and Gwyn went crazy for their cousins. Times like these makes me really want to move back to Texas. I love Tulsa, but can you beat being with family? My Mom, who is an absolute Saint by the way, arrived that evening. She helped me with the kids and the next day entertained them while I did my short swim/bike/run. Later that day she loaded the kids up to go visit their other grandparents in San Antonio. (Again, thank you to my awesome mother and father in-law for helping me out!!) Leading into the race was relatively stress free. I had one incident at the pool with a head in collision. It left my head a little sore, but thank goodness I'm so hard headed to begin with :)<br /><br />Okay, let's get to the race. Kevin and I had a specific game plan for this race. We knew I was running well. We also knew that this was a type of race that sneaks up on you. It gets hot and windy. Also, the run course is hard with some rollers that just come back to bite you in the butt. To top it off there isn't an ounce of shade on the run. They changed the course from last year and we would run 3 loops and exclude the off road portion from last year. I got my stuff ready and headed to the swim, hoping the sun would come up soon so we wouldn't be swimming in the dark. When the cannon went off I was really surprised how aggressive the swim was. I moved over to get some clear water and was back from a few girls. I noticed that I was on Caroline's feet. I also noticed we were losing contact with some girls ahead, so I went ahead and caught the next girl, which ended up being Morgan (who I swam with in Branson). I debated going around her and trying to catch the next group, or just chilling where I was. She decided that for me because I realized we picked up the pace while rounding the last buoy and I couldn't have gone around if I wanted to! I exited and was a little surprised there were so many girls out all ready. They must not have been too far ahead because I passed all but a few in transition. Once on the bike I concentrated on keeping my cool, staying focused, and taking my nutrition. Like I said, this race sneaks up on you. The bike was pretty lonely. I passed a few girls and a few pro men passed me. In the later stages a few collegiate guys (Go Army!) passed me in the last 5 miles. I will say that the roads were in bad shape. The drought caused cracks and holes. The organizers did an excellent job marking, but there was noticeably a lot more chip seal then years prior. By mile 45 I was ready to get off. I felt like my whole body was vibrating and I was just kind of getting bored. This is where I really lost my concentration and I undoubtedly gave up most of my time to the leader (Tenille having a great ride) up ahead. I finally got to T2 and I was stoked to get off the bike and get running. When I headed out I heard I was 5 minutes down. I didn't panic at all. Kevin and I fully anticipated I would be at this kind of deficit. I quickly calculated that if I ran 30 sec per mile faster, I should reach her by mile 10. Time to get to work. When I reached mile 2 I was told 4:20. Uh, Jessica that ain't going to cut it. Okay, keep calm and you have 3 miles of wiggle room. When I got to the first loop I was 3:30 down. Okay better, keep it moving. I suddenly felt better and the crowds were amazing! When I got past the far turn-around I got an update that I took back 1 minute in just that section. I got energized and just started to go harder. Through loop 2 and 1:20 down. I could see the lead cyclist ahead and put the hammer down to catch it. Finally I passed Tenille around mile 10, and I was concerned as she looked to be hurting. I offered some encouragement as we had quite some time on 3rd. When I got to the far turn around coming back I saw she was walking and having a hard time. I hoped she was okay as it was getting brutal out there. Once I reached mile 11 I knew I secured the lead and put the race in cruise control in order to "save" my legs a bit for Miami. Really, it was nice to enjoy the crowds who cheered me on all day to keep fighting. As I made the turn to go into the expo center, I saw Rowan sitting on my brother's shoulders going crazy. My brother yelled, "Are you winning??" Ha! High fives to them, ran inside and my father-in-law was holding Gwynnie near the finish. High fives and kisses to her. Finally I crossed the line and suddenly was worried I was going to pass out! I kept on two feet and my good friend Adam (announcing the race) interviewed me and I have no idea what I said. I was totally spent. I got to visit with some friends (even childhood that happen to be there!) and headed out to get cleaned up and get the kids out of the sun. A quick shout out to Kelly and Derik Williamson--each loop I would find them and they were just calm and cheering as if "go get it done already." I didn't even know they'd be there, what a treat! Also, to Richie and Melissa Cunningham. Richie, my Trakkers teammate, is coming back from an injury and passed me on the run and kept me calm. Melissa, thanks for the cheers and twitter updates!<br /><br />This was a great day. It wasn't an incredible time, but it's one of those races that force you to believe in yourself. I am most proud that I raced my race and never panicked. We had a plan and we stuck to it. Huge thanks to my family, especially my parents, for always supporting me in this triathlon dream. To my incredible sponsors: Trakkers, Rev 3, First Endurance, TYR, Recovery Pump, Kestrel, Louis Garneau, Avia, 918 XC, and Team Red, White, and Blue!! Thanks for sticking with me. This season has been full of downs, and now finally ups!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-77684866131645179892011-09-19T06:39:00.000-07:002011-09-19T10:17:30.867-07:00Back in Branson<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_LALrxv6PHfA7S5-RErAgUJXXYHCdz22ihKo8lARn9_8rSomkJaHLejhWIE4PNrN2k-QbAl4hMDEGN0aTQoRDa9LbRbRjs0sN7ie8eWHhCjFZItr9Bd8yRgwe5Yxd2MxZbD2Mc0O_vck2/s1600/bransonwin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 290px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_LALrxv6PHfA7S5-RErAgUJXXYHCdz22ihKo8lARn9_8rSomkJaHLejhWIE4PNrN2k-QbAl4hMDEGN0aTQoRDa9LbRbRjs0sN7ie8eWHhCjFZItr9Bd8yRgwe5Yxd2MxZbD2Mc0O_vck2/s320/bransonwin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654121017263144386" /></a><br />Last I wrote I was bummed about my race in Vegas. I was scheduled to go do Augusta, which would be two weeks later. In the few days after Vegas, my legs felt pretty decent (minus my quads from all the climbing) and I had a little talk with Coach Kevin about doing Branson instead. At first Kevin was pretty hesitant. I think he was just concerned about my state emotionally after Vegas. He says that can take more out of you then a good race, and I definitely agree with him. But once I took the emotion out of the race, I knew that I was ready to go in Vegas and truly believed I just made a few costly errors there. I knew I was fit and ready for a good race. Was I little scared? Heck yeah! You can't come away from such a disappointing race without doubting yourself. That's normal. But I refuse to let fear dictate what I'm going to do with my life. Branson is a 3 hr drive, my kids and husband could watch, and quite frankly I couldn't afford the trip to Augusta. So Kevin agreed but told me to be realistic. I can deal with realistic.<br /><br />On Friday I dropped the kids off to school and did some last minute errands of the swim/bike/run variety. Lisa picked me up and we hit the rode by 11. We had a nice little girl's drive to Branson. Once there we checked in and then decided to go ahead and drive the course. I went to this race last year but had my first ever DNF with a broken chain. So it was nice to get familiar again. Also, they changed the last part of the course. Last year was a nice decent back into town. This year not so much! It included going around a school, a bike path, and then a nice little 14% climb. Thanks guys! ha! I'd also like to mention that it rained the entire time. This was going to be a tough day.<br /><br />Saturday morning Lisa and I did a little bike/run. I was worried because my quads still felt a bit heavy and tight. Lisa reminded me I still have another whole day. What really gave me some confidence is teammate Hillary Biscay's message letting me know that I could do a dirty double. She is the queen of the dirty doubles! And she said the 2nd is usually the better race. Okay, keep telling myself this! After our little day before bike/run we met up with my good friend, Jasmine and her boyfriend Brandon. Jasmine is like a little sister to me. At the OTC when we first met she was 19 years old. We were best buds there and did all our training together. I am admittedly jealous that now she and and Amanda get to do all their training together :( In any event, it was just like old times. I have found that I have a hard time being serious at all when she is around. But I guess that's good for the nerves? We hit up the race meeting later that day and by the time I got back to the hotel Lucas and the kids arrived. They were psyched about the hotel. I apologize to the people below our room as they immediately started jumping between the two beds!<br /><br />Race morning came and Lisa and I set up our transition 2, then took the shuttle to the swim start/transition 1. I left my bike overnight with my friend Amanda E., who was staying at the hotel there. After getting the bike all set (thanks Amanda again for letting us crash your room), Jasmine and I decided to just chill in the lobby instead of sitting in the rain outside. We put on our wetsuits half way, then took off around 615 (race started at 7). We were the last pros to arrive, but we just racked our bikes and headed to the swim start. During warm-up I knew my "swim" body felt a little sluggish. I hoped that I would have someone to swim with because Jasmine would crush all of us in the water. The cannon went off and sure enough Jaz was gone (by the way she beat all the men). Luckily Caroline was next to me and and I hopped on her feet. Around half way through another girl came by and we all swam in together. I had a quick transition and got on the road. Luckily the rain had subsided and stayed that way until about 5 minutes after I finished the race! My legs felt great, but I still played it pretty conservative because I knew this ride would take over 2:45. I caught Nina pretty early on and knew Jasmine would be well up the road. Once one the main road (they closed off a 4 lane highway, how cool is that!) I could see Jasmine ahead but just stayed focused on my efforts as this ride is literally up or down. On one of the ascents I looked over and poor Jaz was changing a flat. I asked if she needed anything and she said she got it. For the next two loops I just tried to stay focused. I knew I was riding away from the other women, but one thing Vegas taught me was anything can happen! Once we got off the 4 lane highway, we were back on a 2 lane highway and things started to get a bit sketchy. A sprint tri was going on in conjunction with the race. Usually I would have been hammering this section, but this section was open to traffic. Several cars were stuck behind some of the sprinters. So I'm riding my brakes because I can't go around the cars, and the cars won't go around the cyclist. It was a tad frustrating and I definitely lost some time here. Finally what felt like an eternity it cleared out and I was back at it and was finally back at T2. <br /><br />The run was a 3 loop course that took us through the Branson landing which has a bunch of shops. It was great for spectators and they definitely helped keep the morale high. Around mile 2 Matt Leito caught me while he was on his second loop. He told me to stay with him because it took him a long time to catch me. I did just that and it made the miles just click by. I knew I was putting more time on the girls, but didn't want to take any chances. Also, Matt was pretty entertaining so I had to keep up! Matt, I apologize--I usually have a little more wit when I'm not so tired. The best part was seeing my kids multiple times each loop. They would yell things like, "Sprint!!" and "Move it Mommy!" I also got to see lots of Tulsans out on the course, which was awesome. The best is seeing your training partners: Amanda E won the whole amateur race, Susie was 2nd in her age group, and Lisa was hanging tough after an especially long, hard season. <br /><br />I got to the finish line and was greeted with flowers and huge bottle of wine. I gave Lucas and the kids a quick kiss and the first thing Rowan says to me is, "Is it time to eat now Mommy?" Ahhh yes, kids will keep you grounded!<br /><br />It began to downpour so we got the kids out of there and warmed up back at the hotel. We hit up awards. Congrats to all the ladies, it was a lot of fun, hard work! We got home by 730 and the kids were out by 745. I think I made it to 8.<br /><br />I really learned a lot from Vegas. You can ready my full nutrition report on firstendurance.com. I changed just a few things but it made all the difference!<br /><br />Again, thanks to all my sponsors who make this possible. Trakkers, Rev 3, Recovery Pump, First Endurance, TYR, Kestrel, Avia, Louis Garneu, 918 XC, Team Red White and Blue. Thanks Kevin for encouraging me and keeping the faith! You always say the right things. And most of all to my family! Your support means more then you'll ever know!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-61966174654190614962011-09-14T08:10:00.000-07:002011-09-14T08:42:34.858-07:0070.3 World Champs 2011, Las VegasLet me start by saying this was an absolutely awesome course! I like it so much better then Clearwater. Just driving the course the day before I knew this had the elements I thrive in: hilly, windy, & "hot"! I was excited for race day and was so ready to go on Saturday I wished it was a day sooner! Sunday came bright and early. This race has two transitions so it threw in some logistical difficulty, but we got it figured out pretty well. I got to transition and wasn't my normal self. By normal I mean that I usually don't get flustered, but I dropped my electrical tape in the dark and couldn't find it, and almost walked off without putting my bike shoes on my bike! What was I doing? Well, in my defense there were 2 or 3 camera crews next to me. No, not taking pictures of me as one would think :) But taking pictures of the bike, or rather the person racked next to me, the awesome Julie Dibens. I was trying to duck out of the video crew's shot half my time setting up. Ha!<br />We hopped in the water about 10 minutes before go time. I had a nice little warm-up, got in position, and before I knew it the cannon was firing. We took off and I never conceded in the swim like I have in the past. I swam hard and then once it strung out a little bit hopped in behind a few feet, one being the eventual World Champ. I had a great, smooth transition (despite my rough time setting it up) and got out on the course. Right away I knew my legs were ready to bike. I caught up with several girls, and then it became a bit of cat and mouse the whole ride, but also with a male pro?? I tried to keep my distance off the back or get to the front, but never me in the middle because I knew this guy was going to cause a penalty, and sure enough he did. Luckily it wasn't me but not so fortuate for my competitor Melanie McQuaid who hardly needs to draft. She was blitzing through our ride.<br />Off on the run it took about a mile for my legs to come around. Then I felt strong and ready to pick off some girls ahead of me. My legs were moving, I felt great and I was within 90 seconds of 4 girls ahead while sitting in 8th. Perfect. Around mile 6 I head a rumbling in my stomach. Hmmm, this is not so good. In all of my years of running and triathlon this has never happen. I wouldn't call it a blow-up but more a blow-out if you catch my drift. Luckily there were port-a-johns on site. After a few of these I had nothing. It took all my energy just to move my legs. I've never wanted to stop so badly in my life. But on the other hand, I knew I'd never forgive myself for stopping (although that probably would have been the smart thing to do!)<br />After letting the dust settle and taking out the emotion, I'm obviously disappointed with my result. I made a few mistakes. While they were simple mistakes, they caused major problems in the end. The important thing is to fix these mistakes, and not spend another minute beating myself over this race. The 10th anniversary of 9/11 is a good reminder that Jessica Meyers having a bad last 7 miles of a 70.3 is hardly a tragedy. Also, I was able to look up and see that my good friend Jessica Jacobs was about to win Ironman Wisconsin. She has had a tough year and it brought tears to my eyes. That is resiliance right there. And then Amanda and Michael Lovato won their first 70.3 together! How cool is that? Finally, I was proud of Heather Jackson for running into the top 5. What a cool chick. I love seeing nice, friendly people do so well. Way to get after it!<br />I wanted to thank everyone that contributed to my race for Team Red White and Blue! Much much appreciated! And also to my wonderful sponsors, Rev 3, Trakkers, Kestrel, Recovery Pump, First Endurance, TYR, Avia, Louis Garneu, 918 XC. Also to Superleggera for getting my fit just right! Lastly to my awesome parents for coming to support me. You guys are the best pit crew (sorry you always pick the not so great ones!) Until next time!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-3309307488172580892011-07-27T06:37:00.000-07:002011-07-27T07:16:15.514-07:00Better Late Then Never? Buffalo Springs and Muncie!Yes, I am way late in posting my race reports. Apologizes again. I'm a broken record, again...Let's start with Buffalo Springs!<br /><br />I arrived to Lubbock on Friday. As soon as I got out of the airport I felt that dry, Texas heat and had to smile a little bit. Yes, it's certainly not comfortable, but I love racing in my home state! I will say that the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">humidity</span> of Houston is nothing like the dryness of Lubbock. Although they are probably equally unpleasant! In any event, I got to the hotel and built up my bike and got to meet up with my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">vatos</span>, Amanda and Michael <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lovato</span>. The best thing about these races is catching up with friends, and I've come to love my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">vato</span>-time, even if it is a bit tardy! <br /><br />Saturday was a little swim/bike/run course preview. I knew this race was going to be epic, and like what I learned in Mil Art--a war of attrition so to speak on race day. This race you had to play your cards right, there really was no room for mistakes. To me, one word came to mind--conservation! Getting through would be an accomplishment! The pro race meeting was totally laid back and I got to catch my with more friends that I've know for years now (crazy!) Kelly W and Jessica Jacobs (yes, this might surprise people but I am not Jessica Jacobs :)! <br /><br />Race morning came too early as usual. Amanda and I kept Michael in order and we arrived to race site with plenty of time. We got the bikes all set up and head down for the swim. I opted for the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">sleeveless</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">TYR</span> Hurricane. Again, I knew it might not be as fast as the full wetsuit, but I was more interested in conserving. When we took off and got to the first buoy I was just behind the feet I wanted to grab. Perfect. Although right next to me a girl that I don't know is pounding me every stroke. I'm thinking really? Yes, this <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">definitely</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">impedes</span> progress and I couldn't quite catch the feet in front of me, perhaps because every stroke I took half her body was on me. I thought, "Well, she must be a swimmer and know what she's doing, we are getting nowhere." So I moved over so she could go ahead and grab the feet and I'd fall in behind her. Big mistake! She died about 100 meters later and I realized that she probably wasn't fighting for the feet like I was, I think she was probably just a little over anxious and firing on all <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">cylinders</span>! In any event, I couldn't bridge back up, and then I was pulling several girls. This is not the situation I wanted--remember the buzz word "conservation!" So I soft stroked and let the girls go ahead and fell in. I look over and who do I see? Amanda! Every stroke I'd smile at her and knew she was having a great swim, so don't make her laugh! I kept my heart rate down and finished the swim. I got a time check in transition of about 2 minutes down. Not too bad, although I would have like to be a little closer! I got on my Kestrel 4000 and went to work. The whole bike I focused on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">nutrition</span> and not ever extending myself. I kept a consistent effort that was within myself. I slowly picked girls off and was able to get a good idea where I was at 2 180 turns. I caught Kelly with about 10 miles to go. I rode into T2 and they announced me as the first woman. I thought "how silly, they missed Margie" but <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">unfortunately</span> I learned later that Margie had gone off course, so I really was the race leader. I wish I would have enjoyed it a little bit more! I started the run, again--conserve, Jessica, conserve. Get through it. I was waiting for Kelly to come flying by. Sure enough she did, but not until around mile 2 which really surprised me. I guess I put on a little more time than expected those last few bike miles. I kept <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">trudging</span> along, focusing on my nutrition and putting one foot in front of the other. I kept seeing this guy out on the course (bike and run) and I figured it was a pro woman's coach. After seeing him about 10 times I felt like we were old pals, and he started to give me a little feedback. At around mile 12.5 I said to him "am I almost done already?" He smiled and said just ahead. It turns out it was the legendary Dave Scott! He was <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Sherpa</span> for his son who started in the wave behind me! Very cool. So I finished with a bit of blurred vision and stayed strong for 2<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">nd</span>.<br /><br />The next day I flew out straight to Denver. My family was having their annual family reunion in Estes Park. Honestly, Buffalo Springs is not like other half <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">ironmans</span>. It just takes a lot out of you--the heat, the course, the wind. I was beat up. And recovering at 7200 feet is probably not ideal, but good for the soul nonetheless. We had a great time and I'll post some pics when I get them downloaded. "Training" was <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">definitely</span> interesting. I was just really beat up from Buffalo Springs and started to feel pretty run down. We came back to Tulsa for 1 day and then I was on another plane to Indianapolis for the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muncie</span> 70.3.<br /><br />I'll admit I wasn't feeling too zippy for this race. If I hadn't been chasing 70.3 points I would have scratched it. But being worth more points I decided to go for it. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Unfortunately</span> so did a group of talented women, including good friend Kelly W who went on to come in 2nd! If "<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">conservation</span>" was the buzz word for Buffalo Springs, then "blah" would be for <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muncie</span>. The gun went off and within my first 10 strokes I thought "uh-oh." I had nothing. My arms just went through the water, seemingly grabbing nothing. I got on my bike and just biked, no power behind them. It was a lonely day out there :) I started the run and actually felt pretty decent, although my time might not reflect it. I finished 6<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span>. For as blah as it was, I had to be satisfied. You just can't expect to be in the race with these women without a little pep in your step. I had <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">nada</span>. Was it worth it? Only time would tell if I got the precious points to put me in the top 25. When it was all said and done, I landed at 27. Hopefully 2 women would decline their spot. Luckily they did and I confirmed my spot to Vegas last Friday.<br /><br />So where does this leave me? Getting ready for Worlds 70.3 in Vegas! I'm loving that it's going to be hot and hilly. This is my type of course! Again, none of this would be possible without my wonderful family and friends, and I include my awesome sponsors in this friends <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">category</span>! <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">Trakkers</span>, Rev 3, Kestrel, First Endurance, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-error">Tyr</span>, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">Avia</span>, Recovery Pump, Louis <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-error">Garneau</span>, 918 <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_27" class="blsp-spelling-error">XC</span>...Just a quick story on Recovery Pump. I brought them along with me to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muncie</span> 70.3 I had a late flight out the following day so I sat around in them for several hours. No <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">soreness</span>! No joke! These things are worth their weight in gold!!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323507698927380470.post-83358290025968194642011-07-15T08:40:00.000-07:002011-07-15T08:56:09.822-07:00Nutrition at Buffalo Springs (and Muncie), yum...Hello all, I'm trying to get my stuff together after two races in two weeks, and a family reunion in Estes Park <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">in between</span>. Those of you who have been so lucky to spend time in Estes know that there is little reception in the area, so I apologize for the delay! More to come about my races, but I wanted to give a quick run down of my nutrition at Buffalo Springs, and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muncie</span> for that matter!<br /><br />After <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Quassy</span> I realized I need some more calories. I knew Buffalo Springs was going to be a race that would afford little mistakes. With temps well over 100, nutrition would be key (even more than usual!) in this race. I woke up and ate 3 hrs before--my usual bagel with Justin's Nut Butter with honey, totally 400 calories. I made sure to drink lots of water, but also to sip on mild grape <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">EFS</span> before the race. About 45 minutes before the race I took one scoop <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Pre</span>-Race with roughly 100 calories of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">EFS</span> liquid gel. One thing I did do differently this race was to stay away from caffeine before the race. After getting a little light headed in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Quassy</span>, I just wanted to see if staying away from the coffee would make a difference. So, in total before the race I had about 600 calories.<br /><br />Once on the bike I had two bottles of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">EFS</span> mild grape with 300 calories each. I made sure to grab water at every aid station. So I drank an <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">EFS</span> bottle, then a water, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">EFS</span>, then water. The temps started to climb, so of course my appetite went south. I couldn't quite stomach all of my send bottle of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">nutrition</span>, so I made sure I had plenty of gel, 300 calories in total. I was able to get this all in, so a total of roughly 700-750 <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">cals</span>. Also, I took salt every hour on the hour, as I knew I'd really be sweating a lot this race.<br /><br />During the run it got even hotter. I made sure to grab every liquid I could get my hands on, which included water and the occasional coke. I took about 100 calories worth of gel on the run. <br /><br />I ended up the day in 2<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">nd</span>, which I'll gladly take! I did get a little light headed, but this wasn't until mile 12.5. I think just about everyone was light headed at this point! It was a brutal day out there!!! <br /><br />As you can see, my nutrition continues to be tweaked just a little each race. In <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muncie</span> I had the same game plan, but this time I decided to break up my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">pre</span>-race. I had half a scoop before the race, and then put the remaining half (so a quarter scoop) in each nutrition bottle. Did a make a difference? Well, I finished 6<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span>, so let's just say that's obviously why I didn't podium. Joking!!! I really couldn't tell much difference. I will say my swim was terrible at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">Muncie</span>, so perhaps I'll use the whole scoop to rev of the engine a little better next time!!<br /><br />Thanks First Endurance for the continued fuel!!Jessica Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07772477611141372563noreply@blogger.com2