Live TV!

Peter and I were on Studio 62 today to talk about our upcoming adventures in China!

Here are a few pics from the green room: 

And in the studio:

And, finally, the video!

http://www.carolinascw.com/story/26486621/local-triathletes-headed-to-world-championship-in-china

Swim/bike brick change of venue

Tonight I had an open water swim + bike on the schedule, so luckily Steph was willing to go with me to Clemson. We decided to do the swim from Y beach instead of the normal Clemson swim location to avoid the huge hill at the end of the bike. :)

It was cloudy and windy in Greenville, so I wasn't sure it was worth the drive, but about halfway to Clemson it cleared up, and it ended up being a really lovely evening.

I tried out some TYR goggles that I got on the Clymb a while back but hadn't used yet and they are great. Definitely my goggles for China - comfortable, seal well without feeling like I'm going to have an imprint on my face for hours, worked well even when swimming toward the sun, didn't fog up... too bad I don't know which ones they are or I'd tell you. Maybe someday I'll sort through my Clymb purchases and find it.

After we swam we headed out on our bikes to try to do the Clemson tri course. It was actually pretty cool (mid-70s, I think, which is probably around what it will be in China), and I was cold for the first 10-15 minutes. Final test of the Smith sunglasses - no fogging up when I put them on after swimming! Yay!

We got a little list for a while, and it got dark earlier than expected, so for the last 5 or so miles we were just trying to get to the cars before it got so dark that it wasn't safe. But on the last bridge, we were treated to this lovely moonrise over Clemson, so maybe it was worth it. I had to stop and take a real quick picture. :)

Send-off party

Oh man, you guys. The party today was so great! I'm so tired, but it's a good kind of tired. THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who made today special - by planning the event (huge thank yous to Pedal Chic and friends - Robin, Amy, Cherie, Rhonda, Mary, Stephanie, and to my sweet friends Julie and Martha), by baking for the bake sale (another big thank you to bake sale queen Kim and to Steph for adding even more yummy stuff to the table), donating silent auction items (Michelin, Upstate Rolfing, Earth Fare, Joe's Place...), providing yummy food (Stax's Original), or by coming to the event! I love this town! Extra thanks to all of you who have trained with me all summer - you've made it fun and I hope I can be there for you when you're chasing a goal. And to all of you who couldn't come today - thanks for all the comments and messages of encouragement, and for "liking" my blog posts. I love you all!

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures...

Kim's bake sale is ready to go!

Peter and I, with Robin Bylenga (owner of Pedal Chic) and Hans-Peter Durst (a paracycling world champion who just won 2 gold medals at the UCI Para-cycling World Championships held here in Greenville last weekend). 

Even the Michelin Man made an appearance!

Talking to old friends and making new friends. :)

Thanks also to QBP and CamelBak for the AllClear water purifying bottle! I'm going to need a lot of water to get through this race - glad to not have to worry about if the water I'm drinking is going to make me sick!

Thank you!!! 

The countdown is on! We leave in 6 days. Time to taper and pack. :)

Bakery ride

Yesterday was my last weekend ride, so I wanted to go up to the bakery in Saluda. My training plan said 3 hrs, so we picked a route that was around 50 miles. It was great to have so many friends who came out!

We started at Lake Robinson to add some miles. I love the views there! Also, check out my new Smith Optics sunglasses! (Review coming soon because I want to see how they do tomorrow on my swim/bike, but so far I love them. And they didn't fog up when we stopped yesterday like everyone else's did.

Fun times and yummy food at the bakery!

Part of the group had already headed back down before I took the group picture, but here are the ones who were still there!

After the ride and a shower, we went to visit our friends in the hospital. They are doing so much better and we are so thankful! 

Today's a rest day and our send-off party at Pedal Chic. Should be fun!

Last long run and Reflection Sports

So apparently I still had a long run remaining when I thought I did the last one. :) Tonight was a 45 minbike / 2 hr run brick. For the bike, I decided to stay close and do some loops around Cleveland Park since there are some tough hills over there. Then for the run I did a mixture of hills and flat and decided to try to gauge my race pace. I finished the 12.4 in 1:50, so I'm thinking I should be close to 2 hrs on the run in China (which means somewhere around 8.5 hours total if you're counting). 

When I first started biking more often, my friend recommended Reflection Sports Ride Glide to prevent chafing. I tried it and it worked really well, so that's all I ever use. So when I was at Pedal Chic on Saturday, I was looking for some more so I could make sure I had enough for China. They were out, but I noticed some other interesting Reflection Sports products near the cash register that I decided to try. The main one that caught my eye was the "pre-swim/sun gel." Ever since my hair has been a little longer, it gets ridiculously tangled when I bike or run, no matter how I put it up and this stuff claimed to prevent that. I also grabbed their swim shampoo/conditioner. I've tried the gel for several workouts now and I LOVE it. Plus, my husband likes the way it smells.

This is my hair post-bike and run tonight (all I did is take down my ponytail and comb it):

Not bad, huh? Ladies (and guys with long hair), I highly recommend this stuff! It's in my pile of stuff that I can't forget to take to China. :)

The swim shampoo and conditioner smell just as good, and in my personal opinion remove chlorine smell better than the other swim shampoos I tried. Next I'm going to try using it as my daily shampoo/conditioner since it says on it that you can. 

Community support

I'm so thankful for the support of good friends and local businesses as I train for (and pay for!) this race!

Two of the sweetest people you will ever meet were determined to help me do a little fundraising, and they have gone above and beyond in planning our event on Sunday. One of them went to Robin Bylenga, the owner of Pedal Chic (for those not from Greenville, Pedal Chic is an amazing local women's-specific bike shop), and asked her if she would let us have an event in her shop. Robin said yes, and threw herself into helping with this event. One of my sweet friends who was planning the event was in a horrible car accident on Saturday and she and her husband are both in the hospital. In the midst of worrying about and praying for them, we have determined that the only other thing we can do is make the event what she wanted it to be, so she'll see how grateful we are when we show her the pictures. Please help me pray hard for them and for their family.

So, in between training and ordering the stuff I need to take to China, I visited a friend of a friend at a local print shop called Dapper Ink and got some logos put on my uniform so everyone can see who is supporting me.

Pedal Chic's logo is first! Can't wait for the event on Sunday! Seriously, if you are local (or have the internet) and have any bike needs, you should check them out, especially if you are looking for something a little more feminine. I'll be writing about a few of the great products they carry over the next few days as I try things out in workouts and make a pile in my bedroom of what's going to China.

 

And then Upstate Rolfing! Owned by another of the nicest people in the world, Upstate Rolfing has helped lots of people find relief from pain and discomfort. I haven't needed to try it yet, but I might have to after the race! ;)

Ready to race!

Asheville marathon and half discount!

I mentioned a while back that I was selected as an ambassador for the Asheville Marathon and Half at Biltmore next March. I was pretty excited because this really is a great race! See my race report from the 2014 race here:

http://www.tri-ingforchina.blogspot.com/2014/03/asheville-marathon-at-biltmore.html?m=1

Last week, I got an awesome package of fun Asheville marathon stuff in the mail!

If you want to run with me in 2015, let me know! I have discount codes that are good until Sept 15. :)