2012 Year in Review and a Toast to New Beginnings in 2013

I realized I haven't posted anything in a while and the last thing I wanted to do was another downer post.  My last post was titled "Life is Short - Celebrate Every Moment" which was a little tribute to my friend Laurie that passed away very suddenly at a young age.  As most of you may know, my father in law has ALS and in June I did Mooseman Half-Ironman in New Hampshire for him.  You can read more on how the disease progressed when I posted on Thanksgiving.  On Christmas night, actually at 2am on the 26th, he passed away.  It has been quite a holiday.  I want to thank EVERYONE for your love and support  to Mike, his family, my family and myself through the holiday.  Carle was a wonderful man, a great father-in-law that told me I was the best daughter-in-law (even though he had one but claimed I would still be the best even if there were others).  He shared my love for math, chemistry, humor and reading so we always had much to talk about.  I had many bonding moments with my 2nd dad, as I called him, whether that be sneaking a cigarette on the back stoop and talking about my new job when I was 22 (I know I know not healthy but it was when I was young and stupid) to going to lunch when we both worked about 20 minutes from each other to chatting of the latest book we read to staying with me while I was in my early stage of snowboarding while he was skiing and everyone else was ahead to making his famous cheese dip while he oversaw when he could no longer use his hands.  It was a beautiful funeral and tribute and he would have been very happy.

Despite life's obstacles that were thrown along the way, there was some really good times... 

In racing, it was a great year for me, my training partners grew with Yasi and Team Triumph which I really feel helped push me to have a very PR year. 

In life, there was definitely lots of good moments with some new friends like Yasi and my new Brewtal family as well as Mike, family and all my wonderful friends that there is just not enough room to name them all.  They all are so different and special and are so amazing.

not to mention good brews....

and then obviously lots of good healthy food....

.....and to top it off we found out in early December that there will be another addition to our family and it's not another animal....yes, Mini FancyPants will be joining the LaCouture's come August 2013.  The most wonderful aspect in all this was that we were able to tell both our families that we were having a baby on Christmas Eve which meant that my mom was so happy (she's been impatiently waiting for a long time) and my father-in-law was able to be happy to hear the news before he passed away the next night.  Both of our families and our friends are ecstatic and it has really helped us through a tough time, especially when you see a heartbeat and a picture of an ACTUAL baby inside of you.  It was bittersweet.

In the meantime, I will keep to the purpose of the  Miss FancyPants blog of running, biking and LOTS of swimming and of course lots of healthy food.  Obviously my beer list will have to wait to August...haha but I may post vicariously through Mike, Brewtal Beer and Broken Goblet (more on that as well).  I don't want to bore you to death with my prego details so if you choose to read I am starting Mini FancyPants (like you didn't know that was coming).

Here's a toast to a good 2013!  To Life and Happiness!

Rest of Summer Happenings...

It's been a while, a long while since I posted something....I just really felt like I didn't have much to post.  Which has been ridiculous because so much is going on...The rest of the summer has been going, I lost a lot of motivation with training.  I signed up for Atlantic City Tri International Distance just because...although I was happy to do a race with my bestie...

part of me was upset that I just couldn't find another half-ironman during a convenient date so I have been just blah from training.  I guess I just wasn't excited about it.  I couldn't quite find a plan so just kept chugging with swimming, biking and running following my normal schedule from half-ironman training.  Life has been crazy with Mike spending most of his time taking care of his dad, which just makes me love and miss the guy even more (I didn't know after 15 years that that was even possible).  He has been self-less and really dealing with a lot until they get nursing care.  For one day while I was there we were able to get him out of bed, it was a great day!

We were able to spend the time we have doing things we love (e.g. beer) so it's been lots of quality time when we can get it.

Trying lots of phenomenal beers

Great quality chilling times

Hanging with the boys before Nick left for Australis

Trying to sell the Brewtal growlers

On our way to a Brewtal meeting

Wedding for some friends

I have had some really good and fun times since my last post...

Running with my mama 

We also started the book club of the CENTURY - CGBC - Cool Girls Book Club - 

yup it's official

And...the 6th Annual Beerathlon occurred and it was awesome with costumes and lots of fun!  Plus I got to play Coach H for not one but TWO HGRC teams.

Left-overs of a party...

Mojitos after party...

Finally, it's a week before the race, and I still can't put a finger on why I am not excited about it, but it could be the fact that the day of the race I will be 37!!  What???  When did 37 happen? But in actuality it was probably training since November with no break.  BUT I put in the work, I know this will be a nice flat race (PR, maybe?).  So I am going to go into this race as a CELEBRATION, a celebration of all the hard work, the highs and lows of the summer, and turning 37.  Oh yeah, and in the spirit of over-achievement I have my first hockey game of the season the next day with my new stick!!!

The Ultimate Checklist

If you asked me a month ago if I was ready to race, I would have said with no hesitation "yup, I'm ready!" BUT when time is actually here, the butterflies come, I question the combined talent of my swim, bike, run capability and more importantly the ability to take off a wetsuit in less than 10 minutes...(just kidding, 5...) and then I worry about whether I will forget my....swim cap (yup did that 1 year), bike shoes (done), run shoes (yup, did that too), luckily all of these took place about 2 miles from my house at different races/rides.  So since everyone seems to LOVE to make fun of me and probably has bets on what I will forget on Sunday, I decided to post for you the checklist...

Found a pic from a couple years ago when I didn't forget anything...

PRINT ULTIMATE CHECKLIST

SWIM

• 2 pair Goggles (always carry spare set)
• Race cap
• Wetsuit
• Glide (for wetsuit - otherwise, it will seriously be 10 minutes)
• Gel/Food for Pre-swim
• Garmin (HR monitor or other device)

TRANSITION/X-tras

• 2 Towels (one to get sand off or dirt or whatever you ran through)
• Nutrition
• Extra water bottle
• Sunscreen
• Air pump

BIKE

• Helmet
• Bike shoes
• Socks (if needed)
• Sunglasses
• Arm Warmers (if needed)
• Bike (duh)
• Bento box/bike bag with tubes/CO2/levers/nutrition (Gu/chomps/bars)
• Aero water bottle
• Water bottle (extra)
• Nuun tablets

RUN

• Race belt
• Running shoes 
• Socks (if needed)
• Visor/Hat
• Compression socks (if needed)
• Gels

Sunday is race day and I really just have several goals:

1. NO anxiety pre-race/swim
2. Quicker transition times
3. Not to forget anything
4. Feel strong on the bike
5. Negative split on the run (slow down in the beginning with a strong finish)

I don't have any big time goals, I really want to have fun and iron out the kinks before Mooseman!

Black Bear - A Partial Race Report

First off, if you haven't followed me on twitter lately or facebook...I had some sort of running issue that felt like my achilles/calf and was a little worried about running on it.  I took off for 5 days (of running) over the Memorial Day weekend and just logged in many biking miles with no pain.  I had to go to Canada for work the week before the race and decided to try running in Toronto.

Sidenote:  If you are in Toronto, stay at the Westin Harbor, the have a morning run group at 6:30 am every morning during the week. 

I didn't have to be at the facility till 9am so I figured I would attempt a 3 mile run and see how and if it was still there.  I went running with another triathlete from the Westin and after about 1.5miles running about 8:00min miles it really cramped/pain in the same area.  OKAY - looks like I am NOT doing my first race of the season.  I decided that I would still go to the race and do the aqua-bike (the price of these races do not warrant skipping).  I was going to have fun and determine if I would do this ride next year!

Background on Black Bear....

This is the Olympic course, click the elevation to see.  I went to the website for Wildflower to see what the comparison was...pretty equivalent, so I decided on the road bike (after confirmation from many tweeters and facebookers).  I would have loved to take out the new bike but I was worried about my handling skills during the descents and quick turns.  I went for a long 60 mile hill ride a few weeks before so I felt very humble and had no expectations (that meant it was hard).  I did not feel I had adequate hill training but was going to play it by ear.




I really wished I read an article in Bicycling magazine (May 2011 pg 84 - "Climb Smarter") for anyone looking for hill tips.

Anyway, I really had no nerves but then thinking back I never have nerves the day before, I always TRY to act all calm, cool and collected.  I had planned on getting there the day before, stay with some relatives.  I was also planning on getting to do the "practice swim" on Sat.  Oddly, they had a bacteria problem and wasn't sure if the swim would still be on (meaning it would be a duathlon and that would mean no race for me)..I just wanted to do it, I didn't care if I raced or not, I was just so tired of reading my western and southern friends on twitter post about a race...I wanted to do one...

So, they decided late that night that the swim was on!!  Yeah!  It was going to be in a reservoir which meant the cleanest water I had ever swam in...LOL. 

I got there got my transition stuff together (without the running shoes) and went to the beach.  The cool part was that I was wearing my new team Triumph kit and people came and introduced themselves.  I saw my friend/coach Bill to say hi and went to the water.  I was looking for a couple friends which I found and I chatted profusely, which is what I do when I am EXTREMELY nervous.  I was in the last wave with the over 35 crowd...which plays into things later.

Swim

Everyone left and my wave went to start.  We all get out treading water and I freeze.  And the water was cold maybe about 60-62 degrees byt I had a wetsuit.  It is just that in a wetsuit I feel uncomfortable and can't move my arms. MENTAL NOTE - GET SLEEVELESS WETSUIT.  I get the normal "oh fuck" moment and try to figure out if I can back out of this.   I really WAS feeling confident, I feel like the swim has come a long way from - I can't swim to finally feel somewhat competent in the pool.  Anyway, I was hoping for a 30-35 minute swim by mere calculation including my anxiety attack....but it turned into a longer attack then anticipated.  It's the breathing. I know I should go in the water pre-swim, but I was more concerned with seeing someone I knew but I think I had a big learning....

DO THE PRACTICE SWIM

Anyway, if I swam the entire swim as I did at the last 500m, I would have been fine.  Instead...one of the last 10 people probably out there.  I do want to say this is a very small race.  Anyway, I strutted (yes, strutted) into transition because I didn't know how my calve would feel up the 1/4 mile run in and out of T1. 

Bike
Okay so it is very difficult bein in the end.  There is a lot less people to pass, so you lose that competitive streak plus I kind of felt like I wasn't racing since I wasn't running which definitely puts a jinx on things.  It was HILLY.  Challenging but I remembered the hills and were they were from mapmyride.com.  The best line of the day was a dude at the top of the first long 5 mile climb that said "Welcome to Mt. Pocono."
I rode and did have to do the walk of shame ONCE for a minute maybe 50ft.  I accidently did not downshift before the last major steep hill and BAM.  I didn't go ANYWHERE!!!  I got to the first lip and rode the rest of the way.  I didn't feel too guilty because the two dudes I passed where walking behind me.  However, I think the highlight was the descents.  I felt so alive going 35mph and then had to quickly turn.  So fun!

All in all, despite the non-spectacular performance on my NON-RACE, I had a fun day and this will definitely be on my list for next year.  My legs felt great (but probably cause I wasn't racing) and would have loved to run and start passing people again.

As for the prognosis:  It is actually from my overpronation of my feet, the tendon that goes from your left big toe to your calve was stressed.  I only have 5 weeks till Vineman, and well, I have to be honest, I prepared alot and don't know if I will be running in time...It's a little depressing but it's life and I will deal...
I am going to wait and adjust my schedule when I figure out my running situation....

Crazy Work Week, Training, Heat Wave Race, Borat and Other News

Week 1 (4/26-5/2) of training plan (see last post) last week was all about the word Adapting.

Started off fabulous until Wednesday...not so good, crisis at work happened and had to fly to Atlanta leaving me working from Wednesday directly off of my 4 mile speed work session run to the wee hours of night, waking up at 5am flying to Atlanta, working till 11pm, flying home at the ass crack of dawn, drive back from Newark to say Happy Birthday to my man, shower, check email, and leaving to do focus groups till 9:30 pm, running home feeding dog and off to Mike's Beyond Dishonor show at Club Risque (yes the strip club...)










to see my man in all his glory...

hang out with my friends...













and an excellent rendition of Welcome to the Jungle - metal style.









Followed by getting home when the birds are chirping, sleeping (again, no workout) and running to Philly pick up race packet for Broad Street and dealing with Phillies tailgating (smelling bbq and passing beer pong and wishing I was there instead). Home in time to cook while Mike is getting a Thai Yoga Massage by my BFF - Jojo the ninja (that's what we call her - she teaches Martial Arts and could kick anyone's ass)












so I can make his bday (my pre-race) dinner complete with Red Velvet Cupcakes.

I have to say (patting myself on the back) that I made the most awesome dinner of grilled filet with chianti salt straight from Dario's butcher shop in Tuscany, roasted parmesan potatoes, green beans in orange juice and red velvet cupcakes (I only ate 1/2) and




drinking a glass of our wine we bought in Tuscany from 2007 - a 2004 bottle of Castello d' Albola Le Elleyre (yum).










Bed at 11pm, get up at 4:45am (now I am used it this week) and going back to Philly- yet another 1 hour drive. But what makes it all worthwhile is when one of your friends, our resident bike mechanic, comes to your house with the latest flavors of GU!! My new fave blackberry - yummy....

If anyone has ran the Broad Street run you understand the fiasco and the trial and tribulations of getting to the start line. You park at the stadium, you walk to the subway filled with (did they say 30,000 people) crammed like sardines for 20 minutes (did I mention I am claustrophobic), get to the other side of broad street - wait in line for 30 minutes for a port-a-potty where a fight breaks out (yeah PHILLY) between two women "butting in line" where one screams "I am going to sh%$ my pants."
Lovely! This was in my line...so you do your business and wait with the cow herd for 2 hours (by now pre-race breakfast is gone and you are starving and you don't want to eat any of your 2 gels in the rare case you may lose one), the heat is starting up - by now it's in the 80s & it is humid.
I haven't run in heat since August 2009!!! And then you walk 4 blocks with the cattle herd just to move up to the start line.

The four of us (Christine, Bill, Nicole and I) start off (we lost the other three) in a what I call a "non-moving jog" to trying to dart in and out of people like a game in this claustrophobic mess of a first mile. It wasn't enough to have 20,000 people like last year, we always need to make it BIGGER...by allowing 10,000 MORE people to join in.

Christine and I are going at a good pace when I look at the mile 2 clock - we took 12 minutes for the first mile due to getting around people and then settling into a 9 min/mile pace. Heat is coming on, humidity is up there. You have the Philly fans the whole way, you are slapping hands, listening to bands and at mile 5, you are just not ready for the heat, your legs are slowing, every water-stop takes 40 seconds off your time and where is the GATORADE?????
I start to hear the Mummer's at mile 7 and I think this is when Christine and I get our groove back. We start to run through the fire hydrants, stopping and wasting time at every water stop, people are dropping in the middle of the road? Seriously??? WTF? Then I hear out of a window the "Rocky" song...very encouraging...you are excited about being from the Philadelphia area at this point.
More people are down - they said 30 passed out - then the 1/4 mile shoot - claustrophobia and the weird calf cramp is preventing me from sprinting....
Then we are done!! I was happy until I see my time with 10:15 miles...not necessarily what I was going for but then I heard the Kenyans were 3 min slower than last year and the fast 7min milers were 5 min slower so I guess I don't feel as bad...









We go to Christine's parents' house for breakfast and have a fabulous spread complete with Adobo Chicken, my favorite.

Home and then lay around and not leave the couch...












Oh and did I tell you about the fabulous shoes and my new William Rast jeans, the James Perse skhirt (not a typo - it can be worn as a skirt or a shirt - LIKE MULTIPLES - please tell me someone remembers them!!!!)
????? BTW - those Sam Edelman were out of stock and I got a different pair...












What a weekend!!


On to week 2...