Amanda Hahn

I'm Still Here!

2012-01-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all! Happy New Year! I'm sure a lot of you wondered if I was ever going to update this every again, huh? Well, I must admit that 2011 was a year that chewed me up and spit me out. Between misfortune such as crashes, flat tires, and stolen equipment (which resulted in a DQ) in my races and dealing with pneumonia for almost 3 months, I am looking forward to a happier and healthier 2012 for sure! Through the trials and tribulations, I learned one very important thing: the whole reason I'm in this sport is to live out God's plan for my life and spread His word.

One particular experience that sticks out in my head from this season was when I was on my return flight home from sprint worlds in Switzerland, the race where my shoes were missing when I returned to T2 :( Admittedly distraught, I spent most of the flight lamenting the race when it occurred to me that the lady next to me looked visibly upset. After several hours of frowning and sighs, I finally got the courage up to ask if she was ok. She revealed to me that her dad back in the US had had a stroke and she wasn't sure if she'd make it there in time to see him alive. Way to put things in perspective...and I thought I was having a rough weekend!! I asked her about happy memories she'd experienced with her dad and after recounting story after story and praying for her dad's safe journey "home," by the end of the flight she was smiling, thinking about what a blessing it was that she'd been given such a great dad. Stories like this happen to me now and again, and remind me that although sport is great, there's so much more to life.

Anyways, I am thankful to be healthy enough to do what I do and for the people that support me - you truly are the wind beneath my sails. I am excited to embark on this new year and test the waters of both non-drafting and draft-legal triathlon.

This past weekend I kicked off 2012 the best way I knew how.... by combining my two favorite things into one weekend - Disney and running! I ran the Disney marathon relay with one of my best friends and had an absolute blast doing a "fun race" before the real races start in a couple of months. I look forward to all this year has in store for me and wish my supporters all the best as well!

Inside the Box

2011-06-28T11:09:00.008-04:00

Whew! I guess it's been awhile since I updated this thing... so much has been going on I don't even know where to begin...

A few weeks ago I finished up my first semester volunteering with Boulder County Headstart. I'm so thankful for the group of kids I was given to work with and also the support of the Athletes for Hope and look forward to working with this organization more in the future. In addition, I had the opportunity to help out the running after school program at Columbine Elementary School. The overall purpose of the program was to get the kids outside exercising with a more specific goal of getting them ready so that they could complete the Bolder Boulder 10k which happens annually in Boulder on Memorial Day. I foresee some future Usain Bolts in this group... =)

In addition to racing after speedy kids, I've also been racing some myself. In my last post, I mentioned that I was racing in the Monterrey World Cup, a race that ended up being a disaster for me. The swim portion of this race took place in a narrow canal that was about 4 feet deep and not too wide...not the most ideal setting for a group of 70 people to swim through at once. Needless to say, I felt like I was in a boxing match trying to move into a good position most of the swim and came out of the water feeling pretty spent and just a couple of seconds off of the main pack. I time trialed a couple of laps but was never able to catch them and pretty much blew up the second half of the bike. I'd never competed in a race with a field that big so it was a definitely a good learning experience for me...I'll know what to expect in the future.

Last weekend I competed in another race, a continental cup that was held in Monroe, Washington, just outside of Seattle. Before I recap the race I have to comment that this was just about the most perfect race weather I'd ever seen in all my years of racing...high 60's and partially sunny...pretty much a triathlete's dream! Anyways, the elite women's race started right around noon with a just barely cold enough for wetsuits swim in Lake Tye. I came out of the first lap of the swim right in the middle of the pack and lost a couple of spots on the second lap but still came out in good position, only a couple of seconds off the main group. After a very bad taking off my wetsuit 1st transition, I headed out for the bike, just off the first group. I worked with an Australian girl who exited transition around the same time as me and we quickly worked to reel in a couple more girls to form a pack of 6. About 6 laps into the bike, I was moving up to take a pull when my bike started to fishtail and I almost smacked into some of my group (sorry girls!). I quickly realized I had a flat in my rear tire :( I wasn't sure exactly where the wheel stop was but knew it was probably somewhere near the beginning of the lap. So I rode the rest of the 5k lap on the flat very very slowly and approached the wheel station only to learn that unlike in World Cups, there are no neutral wheels in continental cups. At that point I thought I was done but luckily Chris Tremonte saved me and let me borrow his rear wheel so I could continue on...thanks Chris! I don't think I realized how much time I'd lost at that point so I continued on and time trialed the rest of the bike. When I got to the run, my legs felt pretty heavy and sore but I was able to work into a rhythm and get a good turnover going heading into the finish.

Looking back at my past two races, I thought "What good can I possibly take away from these races??" That's when it dawned on me that I'd had two races without getting any penalties for having my equipment outside of the box in transition. This is something I was penalized for many times at the end of last year/beginning of this year. So, that's where I'm at right now... down, but definitely not out... and still having a blast!

My next race is a continental cup in San Francisco, California, a race I've done twice before. But before that happens, I get to visit some of my favorite family members in the midwest and celebrate the 90th birthday of one of my biggest fans, my grandpa :)

Happy summer everyone! Chug that water and don't forget the sunscreen!

Monterrey World Cup

2011-05-05T18:53:00.002-04:00

Hello readers! I am in Monterrey, Mexico getting ready to race my first World Cup of the year. My race goes off on 5/8 (Happy Mother's Day Mom!) at around 8:30am Central Time and you can get live splits at triathlon.org if you are bored on Sunday or want to keep tabs on me :) All for now...

Adventures of a Blonde in Chile Part 2: The Climb

2011-04-03T21:42:00.000-04:00

For the second part of my Chilean adventure, I spent a week falling in love with the city of Valparaiso, the site of my second race. It only took me a day or so in the city to figure out something pretty awesome: as far as loving/enjoying their lives go, these people really get it. As I walked through the city each day, I loved to just stop and “people watch” for awhile. It wasn’t hard to spot a hello kiss on the cheek, a couple embracing, or a group of people laughing while eating their lunch at a local café. The city had a certain energy about it which I feel rubbed off on me the longer I was in it. Once some of the locals realized that the girl with “pelo rubia”(blonde hair) could actually speak Spanish, I had some great conversations with a couple of people on how the simple things such as a great relationship with family, friends, and appreciation of nature were all you needed to really get the most out of life.

Another thing I noticed pretty quickly after arriving in Valparaiso was that the entire city was built on a hill, meaning that to get to anywhere you would have to climb up and down a couple hundred steps… a workout in itself (especially carrying a bike on your back)!!! A saying that I saw throughout city was “Como si la vida fuera a durar parasiempre,” which literally translates to “As if life would last forever.” However, this was anything but true for my time there. Although all I was doing was training (and working a little bit for my other job), it seemed like the days passed by very quickly (partially due to the time I had to take into account to climb up/down the stairs and the hills to get into the city to even begin my workouts). Before I knew it, the week was nearing an end meaning race morning was quickly approaching.

Race morning I woke up a little before my alarm and was amazed at how calm I felt. That never happens and I was honestly a little worried that there were no butterflies in my stomach. Because bagels don’t really exist in South America, I settled for a pre-race breakfast of a bread roll with honey, my usual banana, and some out-of-this-world hot chocolate that I made with the amazing Nestle chocolate powder that I bought on my first leg of the Chilean journey. After breakfast around 6am, my American teammate Lauren and I made our way down to the race site about 4k away from our apartment. As we biked into the race site, we were greeted by the familiar sound of American music, something that is common in most stores and restaurants in Chile although Spanish is the dominant language. After a nice long warmup (it was freezing!), I slipped into my Xterra wetsuit, excited to finally race in a wetsuit that fit me! The water was about 15 degrees celcius, so I had to make sure I gave myself enough time to warmup in it and try to keep up my circulation as best as possible.

The race started right on time and with the blast of a canon, I was off running from the beach into the Pacific Ocean. The first couple hundred meters were very congested but by the time I’d reached the first buoy, I was able to find some space and get into somewhat of a rhythm. I finished the first lap of the swim and as I ran around the buoy to begin the second lap I noticed that I was in about 5th or 6th place with a bit of a gap between myself and the front pack. After I dove back into the ocean to begin the second lap, I decided to put in a surge to try and catch the group. The waves were really whipping me around at this point and although I couldn’t see any feet in front of me, I hoped that I was gaining ground on the lead pack. There were a couple times where I sighted and the waves were so high that I couldn’t see the buoy so I continued swimming in a straight line. Then, once I saw a yellow buoy to the right of me, I figured I was too far left and swam to the right to correct my path. Just before I got to aforementioned buoy, I saw a kayak in front of me pointing to the left… turns out I had swam to the wrong buoy. Whoops! At this point I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, although in the moment I’m sure more of the latter occurred. So, I was forced to swim about 100 meters back to the other buoy to correct my course and not be disqualified before continuing on. Needless to say, I exited the water after my 1700 meter swim near last and was one of the last bikes left in transition.

On the first lap of the bike, I realized that I was about two and a half minutes down on the lead pack and tried to put in a surge to see if I could catch the pack that was forming a minute and a half up the road from me. After smashing the first couple of laps on the bike, I gained a little bit of ground but not enough to make huge dent into the gap. I soloed most of the bike and entered the transition for the run with two other girls.

As I headed out of transition, I immediately tried to start out with as fast a cadence as possible. I knew that most of the field was over 2 minutes up the road but like I said in my previous post, you never know who will have to serve penalties or who’s bonking up the road. Both the bike and run courses were fairly hilly, however, my legs were somehow still there and I was able to push the pace for most of the run and catch 6 girls along the way. After my huge mistake I ended up in 13th place, definitely frustrating but I crossed the finish line with a huge smile on my face as usual, just happy to be able to leave it all out there on the course and enjoy the day.

While I was a little sad to leave Chile and return home, I will forever treasure the memories that I have from this experience. From the waiters at the fancy restaurant who agreed to serve the triathletes that came in dressed in athletic clothes to the cute and fluffy stray dogs that adopted me for my daily runs along the coast, I will never forget you. So now, it’s back to Colorado and back to work. Let me leave you with this: “ It ain’t about how fast I get there, ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side, it’s the climb!” – Miley Cyrus

The Stairs

2011-04-03T21:34:00.000-04:00

The day before my second race in Chile, I had the opportunity to take a walk further up Hector Calvo Joffre (the street I was living on for the week) and check out the house of Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet and diplomat. In 1971, Neruda won the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature and is considered by some to be the Hemingway of Chile. Being a Spanish minor in college, I studied Neruda’s works a great deal and was excited to learn more about his life and influences for his works. In college, I was programmed to churn out essays/poems/papers on a daily basis and since graduation, have rarely had a chance to write. However, something about the setting of Neruda's museum inspired me to write. So, I went to a nearby coffee shop and wrote this poem, my first in quite awhile… I’m no Shakespeare, but I hope you enjoy!

The Stairs by Amanda Hahn

Walking up the stairs of life,
Sometimes tension so thick you could cut through it with a knife.
The first few steps take gracefully,
Sit back, observe the world, just be.
Learning how to stand so tall,
You must keep your balance and fly, not fall.
Now you’re off and there’s no looking back,
No one behind you to pick up the slack.
Teachers will remind you to keep a steady pace,
Life’s a marathon after all, not a sprint race.
The time will arrive when you reach the middle of the stairs,
And what once didn’t matter now represents your deepest cares.
A family, a job, a college degree,
All will fall into place in time…you’ll see.
There may be obstacles when you reach this part of the stairs,
Some will support you, others give you glares.
Another step taken, another moment stolen from the day,
You’ve been on this staircase so long you’re beginning to say…
That this journey isn’t worth it and you’re ready to throw in the towel,
Yet you grit your teeth and smile even though you want to scowl.
Figures from your past walk faster up the way,
Reminding you of where you started and where you are today.
The steps grow steeper, your mind weaker as you near the top,
Your legs grow tired and you wonder if this grind will ever stop.
Life has thrown its curves at you,
And you threw something back…need a clue?
Your faith has pushed you to the end,
And along the way you’ve stored up advice to lend.
You’re knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door,
But don’t forget where you started – the floor.
As you approach your final stride,
These few rules you must abide…
Once you crest the last step, step aside,
And make sure to salute the staircase, the journey, the ride.

The end :)

Adventures of a Blonde in Chile Part 1

2011-03-31T14:32:00.000-04:00

My journey to Chile began on March 17th and couldn’t have started out on a more sour note. When checking in for my flight at the Tallahassee airport with all my luggage from a month away from home in Colorado in tow, the Delta agent informed me that my bike box was oversize, overweight, and since I had my wheels as a 3rd bag that would bring my grand total to $550! “WHAT?!” I exclaimed. It would’ve almost been cheaper to buy my bike a seat next to me so then at least I could’ve make sure my baby stayed safe while we traveled. Anyways, I digress… on top of the bike fee, my flight out of the Tallahassee airport was delayed by almost 2 hours because of a mechanical problem, meaning that my flight would be arriving in Atlanta at the same exact time that I was supposed to be boarding my other flight to Santiago. Once my flight did arrive in Atlanta, you better believe I set the world record for fastest mile with carryon backpacks inside an airport and made it from one end of the Atlanta airport to the other just as my zone 4 was boarding. At this point, I was pretty much a nervous wreck. I was convinced that after I’d paid an arm and leg, there was no way my bags would make it on the flight but figured I’d reconnect with them somehow.

To my surprise, when I arrived in Chile, my bags were there, bike and all…I was shocked! After paying the $140 fee Americans are charged to get into the country and hiring a taxi to my hotel, I started to get settled in and explore my surroundings in Santiago. I was pretty tired, but forced myself to go for a quick jog to shake out the travel and wake up my body. I had to call it a night pretty early because I knew I’d have to wake up early the next morning. Where the athletes stayed was about an hour from the race site of Piedra Roja, a park used mostly for boating. Therefore, a charter bus met the athletes at 7am (read 8am on Hispanic time) to drive us out to the site the day before the race so that we could preview the course and get in our pre-race workouts. After returning to the hotel, the rest of the day was spent checking in and attending the pre-race briefing and pasta party. Pasta parties in Central and South America are always my favorite because there is always some kind of cheap entertainment and this pasta party was no different. The main event at this pasta party was the abs contest to see who had the best 6-pack abs, winner decided by the audience. I know you all will be disappointed to learn that I did not participate in this contest. Haha.

When I arrived back at the hotel, I was in for a surprise… the maid had bought myself and the other triathletes staying there a good luck king size chocolate bar, thoughtfully wrapped and tied in a bow. I was floored – never has a maid or anyone at a hotel I’ve stayed at for races actually cared about my race…so cool! This was just the beginning of the Chilean hospitality I would experience throughout the trip.

So, let’s sidetrack and talk about the actual reason I was down there – to race. Race morning the elite women were scheduled to go off at 9:45, meaning we’d need to catch an early bus again to make sure we were there in time to warmup for the start. However, the bus we were supposed to take never showed and almost an hour later, someone was able to convince the random bus parked outside the host hotel to take us down to the race site. Since there was no undercarriage space on this bus, we were forced to share a seat with our bikes (pretty hilarious in retrospect). When we arrived to the race site a little past 9, we were all in a panic, not knowing if we’d still be starting at our scheduled 9:45 or would be given any extra time to warmup. After we checked in and had pictures of our uniforms taken, we found out that the race would be pushed back til 10, giving us 20 or so minutes to put our equipment in transition and get down to the swim to warmup. Yikes! This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it gave me little time to be nervous or over-think the race.

The race started right at 10am as the elite women dove off the pontoon and into the water for a 2 lap, barely non-wetsuit swim. The pace started out fast and furious with lots of clawing and elbowing going on. About 200 meters in, I’d had enough of getting clawed and moved a little to the left of the pack to get out of the madness and have some clear water to swim in. After moving past a couple of the girls, I settled back into the pack and hung on for dear life as we seemed to pick up the pace as the end of the first lap approached and we prepared to make the turn to head out for the second lap. We eventually settled into a manageable pace, and then for some reason slowed down a bunch the last 300 meters of the swim, allowing most of the women to link back onto the group. We came out of the water as basically one large group minus a few.

This meant that there’d be one large pack unless there was a breakaway. The first couple of laps I was wary that there might be a breakaway and kept on my guard, ready to jump and go with whomever just in case. However, by the middle of the race it became clear that nobody really wanted to do the work and that everyone was going to wait for the run to decide the race. This was by far the most leisurely bike leg I’ve ever had in a race and the only time I’ve ever been able to drink both of my full waterbottles and stretch out my calves and back while still spinning in the pack. It turns out I may have been a little bit too lazy.

As I hopped off the bike and headed out to the run, my legs felt cold as if I’d just hopped out of my bed and was starting my warmup run…not good! At this point, I was just hoping to build into the 10k run and have my legs wake up along the way. I neared the end of the first lap feeling better than when I’d started but was very upset to run past the whiteboard with the numbers of athletes who’d received penalties during the swim and bike portions of the race and see my number on there. I had no idea what I’d done but knew I had 3 more laps on the run to choose when I would stop in the penalty box and serve my penalty. I decided that since my legs were continuing to feel better as the run went on, I’d wait it out as long as I could. I was able to pass 5 more girls in the next couple of laps and finally served my time penalty at the end of the 3rd lap, taking a water and Gatorade with me so I could hydrate during my little break. After serving my penalty I sprinted off, trying to make up the time I had lost while standing in the penalty box. I was able to put a time dent into some of the runners ahead of me but my effort ended up not being enough to catch them. I ended the race in 8th place, just 7 seconds behind 7th.

Besides my costly penalty, I was very pleased with a top 10 finish for my first olympic distance race of the year. After the bus ride back to my hotel and some post-race sushi with friends, I packed up and headed to bed pretty early, eagerly anticipating the next leg of my Chilean journey: Valparaiso.

Update!

2011-03-21T19:22:00.002-04:00

Greetings from Chile where I've just arrived at my second racing destination of Valparaiso. Quick update - I was 8th in my first race (including a penalty booo). I will write a longer race report later but for now, click here to read an interview I did with Tri Chile concerning the two races in Chile. Adios amigos!

Clermont Draft Legal Challenge Race Report

2011-03-11T18:06:00.003-05:00

Usually the airport is a mixed bag of emotions...there's the joyous reunions at baggage claim/passenger pickup and the frowns when news of flight delays/cancellations are relayed through the speakers. However, there are a couple gates in every airport terminal where you can count on seeing more smiles than frowns. I'm not sure whether it's Mickey Mouse, Shamu, or the warm (usually) weather that makes Orlando the happiest destination on earth, but there is definitely a special magic about it. This past weekend, I was among the smiling faces who hopped on the plane to Orlando as nearby Clermont served as the host for the USAT Sprint National Championships. Like last year, the Clermont sprint race served as my season opener.Although this was the exact same course as 2010, it was a completely different race in regards to the way each discipline panned out.

The Elite women had an 11:45am start and unlike last year, we were not dealing with freezing temperatures for both water and air. The water was just barely warm enough for a non-wetsuit swim which I was honestly thankful for because I haven't had a chance to practice in my new X-terra wetsuit yet... we will spend some quality time together in the near future I'm sure :)Anyways, once the gun went off for the start I ran for a good 200ish meters before the water was deep enough to swim in. Due to the shallow water, it was a short and sweet swim with probably only about 5 minutes of actual swimming. Coming out of the water, I was excited to glance over my shoulder and see that I was in the middle of a huge pack of girls and knew I needed to have a good run up to transition and transition to solidify my place in what I saw would be a fairly large bike pack. Only about half a minute separated my pack and a group of the 5 or so in the lead pack.

As I exited transition and hopped onto my bike, I red-lined it for about half a mile to make sure I was in the middle of the group before settling in to put my feet in my shoes and take in some fluids. This was by far the largest group I'd ever biked with and I had to be on guard at all times with people trying to get around from all sides of the lane and u-turns proved to be tricky as well. I had no trouble staying with the group and finished the bike portion of the race ready for what I knew would be an intense run with some amazing athletes in our pack.

I began the run just as I do for any race and tried to push the pace and give myself some room to breathe after weaving through much of the traffic coming out of transition. At the first turnaround after a little over half a mile, I realized that as much as I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to hold this pace throughout the entire 5k portion of the run and had to back off a little and try to relax. At this point I could still see my goal (top 10) within striking distance and tried to limit my losses as much as possible and think positive thoughts. By halfway through the 5k, I was in serious pain (the good kind) and knew I had to hang on for just about 9 more minutes. As the finish line approached, I was involved in a 3-way sprint for 16th place. For the final 20 meters or so, I just closed my eyes and went for it. I ended up tying the 2 other girls in total time, 58:03, but by chip time ended up losing the sprint.

I ended up finishing 18th overall, not exactly the result I was hoping for but not too bad for my first race of the season. After suffering through injury for most of last year, I am thankful that God has given me the focus and strength to recover and come back firing on all cylinders and look forward to what the future holds for me in this season and beyond.

On a side note, I am so incredibly proud of my Tri4Him teammate Natalie Kirchhoff! Natalie won the age group draft legal race a couple hours prior to mine and secured her pro card! So great to see her faith and focus pay off! I am excited that I'll be able to have a teammate out there racing with me in future ITU races...God is good :)

Now that my first race is in the books, I am busy preparing (training and logistics-wise) for my next couple of races which happen to both be in Chile (Santiago and Valparaiso). I'm currently training in Tallahassee with one of my former FSU teammates (Shannon Coates) for the week and will take off for South America next Thursday. It's exciting to be back in my old college town but now I just need to resist temptation...sweet tea is one of my weaknesses in life and I am surrounded by places that offer it :)

Wishing everyone all the best for Spring and don't forget to set your clocks forward tomorrow!

Just Showin' Some Love!

2011-02-14T14:09:00.001-05:00

On a day when everyone is scrambling to buy chocolates and jumbo sized teddy bears to announce their feelings of affection towards loved ones, I thought I would take out the time to show some love for the people/organizations in my life and give you all a little life update.

As I begin to get revved up for the upcoming racing season, I am pleased to announce that I will continue my partnership with Sampson Sports through 2011. This is hands-down the smoothest ride I’ve ever experienced and with its seamless shifting and almost on-contact braking capabilities, I feel secure in the stop and go situations that define ITU racing. So, check them out here and look for me at the races zooming by on my pretty blue bike!

In addition, I am excited to announce that I will be a member of the Tri4Him Elite Team this year. Tri4Him is a community composed of athletes ranging from Elites to Age Groupers who may be competing in their very first triathlon this year. For more information on the Tri4Him community, click here. We are a group of athletes who strive to use our God-given talents to glorify Him on a daily basis and connect with others who believe in doing the same to grow both spiritually and physically. I’ve always loved the team component of different sports I’ve competed in growing up, and look forward to meeting the people in and around this wonderful community. Follow the Tri4Him Elite Team throughout the year as we “run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24

This year during Christmastime, my church challenged us to live a COAL (Christmas On Another Level) life. It’s easy to remember volunteerism and goodwill towards men when December rolls around, the Christmas music is playing, and we are out buying gifts for friends and family, but what about the other 11 months of the year when Christmas is the furthest thing from our brain?? So, the challenge? At least one day a month (if not more) we should try to remember the December 25th birthday boy (Jesus) and make a commitment to do something that helps something or someone out. Even if it’s just a smile to a stranger or opening a door for someone in a wheelchair, the littlest things can sometimes make a huge difference. There have been so many random occurrences in my life that have opened my eyes to how much God is truly looking out for me (especially as of late) and just as he takes care of us, I feel it is our job to take care of others and give back as much as we possibly can.

At the end of the year, I was fortunate enough to join in on a foundation called Athletes for Hope. Athletes for Hope is a foundation that strives to encourage, educate and assist athletes in their efforts to contribute to the community and charitable causes. The great thing about Athletes for Hope is that it was founded by a group of admirable professional athletes including but not limited to: Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, and my fellow FSU alum Warrick Dunn. By combining my passions for working with children, Spanish, and literacy, I look forward to working in the Boulder County school system this year as a volunteer teacher.

2011 will for sure be an exciting year for me and I can’t wait for all the amazing experiences/people it will bring into my life. Time is flying faster than Usain Bolt and before I know it I will be toeing the starting line at my first race of the season in Clermont, Florida on March 5. Guess it’s time to turn off the computer and go for a swim! XO!

Coming to a venue near you!

2011-01-14T23:13:00.003-05:00

2011 Tentative Race Schedule

March 5 - Clermont, Florida Draft Legal Challenge
March 20 - Santiago, Chile Continental Cup
March 27 - Valparaiso, Chile Continental Cup
April 9 - Chiapas, Mexico Continental Cup
May 8 - Moneterrey, Mexico World Cup
May 22 - Miami, FL Continental Cup
June 25 - Seattle, WA Continental Cup
July 3 - Edmonton, Canada World Cup
July 9 - San Francisco, CA Continental Cup
August 14 - Tizzy, Hungary World Cup
August 20/21 - Kelowna, Canada Continental Cup or World Sprint Championships (Switzerland)
September 24 - Buffalo, NY Continental Cup (Elite Nationals)
October 8 - Myrtle Beach, SC Continental Cup

That's all for now, folks! See you at the races :)

Tis the Season!

2011-01-01T17:02:00.002-05:00

To rediscover reason – During this time of year, most people take some time out of their busy schedules to do a self-evaluation and make goals that they will try to keep…for at least a couple of weeks next year. Surprise, surprise, I am included in this “most people” category as well. If I’m being completely honest, I don’t have much thinking to do to come up with a resolution this year because I already went through the self-evaluation process when I was injured earlier this year. Why am I doing triathlon? Is this what I’ve been called to do? Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things if I compete in a race? Do I still love it as much as I used to? Should I be living in Colorado? Should I be in grad school right now? And so on and so forth… Some answers came quicker than others but once I’d figured them all out I felt much stronger as a person. So, this year I encourage you to have the courage to look at your life and have faith that you are strong enough to make the changes necessary to be happy in whatever situation you happen to be in.

To find inspiration – With all of the problems in today’s society, it would be easy to have a cynical view of the world. But, for every story of pain and suffering, there is usually one of hope and joy to counterbalance it. Just think of the Chilean miners story or the outpouring of help to Haiti after the earthquake to name a few examples. The underlying message: no matter the circumstances, don’t give up. Don’t ever give up! As an athlete, I am continually looking for inspiration to pump me up for races or get me through a hard week of training.

Here are a couple things that have inspired me this year…

Every day when I go to the gym back home in Boulder I am amazed at the age range I see doing yoga, lifting weights, even in my swim classes. I hope to be in as good shape as these individuals 20, 30 and 40 years down the road!

A couple days ago I had the opportunity to visit my family in Illinois and spend some time with my grandparents in their retirement community. While there, I got the chance to meet two amazing ladies who also happen to be runners too! It was fun to chat with them about our common hobby and the role it has played in all of our lives. Even though they aren’t professional athletes, it’s great to see the shared joy that fitness brings to all of us. Best of luck to you Maxine and Mary Lou and be sure to keep me updated on your upcoming races!

Whatever your passion, I hope you will pursue it. Aspire to inspire before you expire!

All the best to my readers in the new year – hope 2011 is your best year yet! Race schedule and updates to come shortly…

A Tale of Two Cities: Nationals and Pan Ams Race Recaps

2010-10-30T10:05:00.001-04:00

Hello readers! The off-season is finally here and after literally hundreds of hours of physical therapy and doctors appointments I am happy to report that my fitness is back on track as I eagerly anticipate the start of the 2011 racing season early next year (after some down time that is).

Coming off my injury, I decided to race the National Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as well as the Pan American Championships in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Here's a recap of how both of those races panned out for me.

As I previously mentioned, the race in Alabama was held at the same venue used for Nationals in 2009. It's amazing how much less stressful a race seems when you can visualize the course and almost do a mental walk-through of every twist and turn. This year's race boasted a quality field of Americans, Australians, and Canadians, some who were fresh off competing in this year's World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In the swim, I was able to maintain a good position throughout and posted my fastest swim of the year, almost breaking the 19 minute mark!

As a result, I came out with a bunch of girls and our pack eventually turned into the main chase pack. The bike course was an 8 lap criterium-style course, and included one significant hill per lap. I was riding easy in the group until the hill on the 4th lap when I dropped my chain on the hill and had to get off my bike to put it back on. Once I started up again (not fun going up a hill with no momentum) I sprinted for my life trying to chase back down my group. I got within 200 meters at one point, but was never able to regain contact with the pack. I soloed most of the rest of the bike until I was caught by a group of 3 girls during the last half lap of the final bike lap.

When I hopped off the bike and started the run leg, I immediately tried to put in a surge and get my legs moving at a quick turnover. However,after about less than a mile into the race, my body started shutting down and instead of thinking about picking up the pace, I started wondering if I could even finish the race. I slowed to almost a jog and decided to keep moving. Then, near the end of the 2nd lap, I started getting chills (with temps in the mid 90s) and was having hallucinations that trees were running towards me... so, once I passed the next water station, I decided to give my body a break. I stopped, drank 4 waterbottles and put an ice bag over my head. A couple minutes later, I continued on, feeling much better. I think my first 5k was about 27 minutes with the 2nd 5k at around 21 minutes - nothing spectacular but I was just happy to finish and survive the day. I could've easily dropped out after 5k but I strongly feel that if you're not injured or have some other mechanical problem you should finish out of respect to your competitors as we've all worked so hard to get to this point. Anyways, this was obviously not the result I was looking for coming off the injury, but I was excited knowing that I'd finished without pain in the foot I've been working so hard to rehab all summer. Also, big thanks to my momma for being there to support me through this difficult result! Love you Mom!

So,my next stop was the Pan American Championships in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The race looked to be a repeat of the weather conditions in Alabama, and this time I was prepared, eating tons of salt during the day leading up to the race and fueling up with an extra Power Bar gel during the race - no heat stroke this time! The women started just before noon as we hopped from the pontoon into the sea and executed a deep water start (the water was a little too shallow for diving). I got off to a great start, trying to stay in the draft of super swimmer Sara McLarty who was lined up next to me for the start. I settled into a good rhythm and what I felt was a good group for the first section of the 2 lap swim. Going into the turn to start the 2nd lap of the swim, I got a little lackadaisical with my sighting, following the feet of the girl in front of me and not really sighting for the buoy and a couple seconds later realized that we'd passed the buoy and gone off course a bit. Yikes! I turned around, sprinted back to what I thought was my original group and finished the swim.

As I ran out, I realized I was somewhere near the middle to back of the group and knew I'd have some work to do on the bike to catch up. I worked with a group of 7 for most of the super technical bike course (some was through dirt and cobblestones!) and we entered the 2nd transition about 3 minutes down to the leaders.

Just like Nationals, I took the run out pretty hard and actually had the energy to maintain it this time around. And, once again was SO SO thankful that my foot didn't hurt :) It was definitely an energy booster on the run to see my American teammates Gwen Jorgensen and Jill Petersen fighting for spots on the podium! I was able to chase down about 10 girls during the run portion and ended up as the 15th elite female, earning a couple of Olympic points too!

Thanks to everyone who helped me get through this difficult season! My family, friends, coaches, and sponsors are second to none and I honestly couldn't make it without each and every one of you! I look forward to the 2011 race season and some exciting changes... stay tuned for those... until then, wishing everyone a blessed fall!

Testing 1,2,3

2010-09-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

This past week I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to help out with a great cause. I joined a group of other professional athletes in helping to record a song to raise awareness of the Blazeman Foundation for ALS. ALS is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. Unfortunately, as of yet, there is no cure for the disease. The record, which is meant to honor its founder (Jon Blais, the only person diagnosed with ALS to complete an ironman), will be available on iTunes, Napster, etc. around Christmas and all proceeds from the song will go directly to the Blazeman Foundation. For more information on ALS, click here

The thought of racing with a disease such as ALS is no doubt an inspiration to all. Next weekend, after nearly 4 months off of racing and rehabbing a partially torn posterior tibialis tendon, I will be making my comeback to racing at the USA Triathlon Elite Nationals in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Although this race is being held at the same venue, on the same course, and at the same time as Elite Nationals in 2009, it definitely has a different feel to it. For the first time in about a decade, I will go into the race knowing that of the 3 disciplines, my running will not be my strongest suit. So is it the swim or the bike? I'll never tell...but I will tell you this, just to cross that finish line again will make me one happy girl!

Check it out!

2010-09-04T14:14:00.000-04:00

Exciting news - I am the featured grassroots athlete on the CycleOps website! Click here to discover everything you never realized you always wanted to know about me and take a look at some of the great indoor trainers and other technology offered by the CycleOps company. My powertap has become my new best friend this year and has allowed me to keep a data trail of my workouts and know exactly how much power I am putting out in each workout. Truly great stuff, I highly recommend!

24 for 24

2010-07-27T14:28:00.000-04:00

With my 24th birthday quickly approaching in a couple of days, I decided to make a list of things I'd like to accomplish in the next 24 years... I am open to suggestions too :)

1) Ride a cruiser bike with a bell and basket across the country, stopping at all the touristy locations
2) Teach English in another country
3) Run with the bulls in Pamplona
4) Bike the Tour de France route (taking my time to stop and smell the flowers of course!)
5) Compete in the Olympics
6) Complete an ultra-marathon
7) Learn how to ski and snowboard (I do live in Colorado after all!)
8) Save up enough money so I can buy bikes for kids who live in poverty and can't afford one... socioeconomic status shouldn't determine whether or not you can participate in any given sport, more specifically triathlon and cycling.
9) Become a piano teacher
10) Get one of my stories published
11) If #10 works out, become a full-time writer
12) Achieve something that my under 24 self thought was impossible
13) Become a certified yoga instructor
14) Be a mentor
15) Compete in a triathlon on every continent (Antarctica included!)
16) Learn how to say "hello" and "thank you" in each of the major languages of the world
17) Learn how to ballroom dance
18) Visit the 7 Wonders of the World
19) Swim in the largest swimming pool in the world (off the coast of Chile)
20) Learn how to cook something besides pasta
21) Read every novel that has won a Pulitzer Prize in the fiction category
22) Become a morning person (that is, be able to wake up before 8am and be happy about it)
23) Maintain my blog and have at least one person who cares to read it :)
24) Live my life to the fullest and continue to be thankful for all the wonderful people God has put in it..

This is my road to 2034 and it starts...now!

What I Know For Sure...Now

2010-07-05T15:00:00.001-04:00

It’s not about the cards that you’re dealt, but how you play the hand – This saying from Randy Pausch’s book The Last Lecture obviously applies to many life situations, but for now I’m going to focus solely on how it relates to my life. When you’re dealing with pain, you’d think that your initial response would be to respond to the little red flag with rest and rehab. Unfortunately, the little voice inside of most athlete’s heads is a stubborn one – one that whispers thoughts of super human capabilities and says that to rest/pull out of a race is weakness, especially after traveling all the way to the race site.

When I was having trouble running the day before my past race in Iowa, I should have listened to my body and pulled the plug on racing the following day, knowing I wouldn’t be able to give my usual 110% effort. This thought never crossed my mind. Instead, I spent the rest of the day plotting how I would get through the race and thought “I’m as fit as I’ve ever been, I can push myself through the pain.” This is the typical athlete ego. In addition, I thought about past races/training sessions where I’d pushed through the pain, found that “extra gear” and achieved amazing things (running with a broken toe, finishing a tri after a concussion, blablabla…) My mind was focused and ready to go for race day, now I just needed my body to cooperate for a couple of hours.

I learned pretty early into the race that mind over matter doesn’t always work. After a decent swim, my foot started throbbing as I ran (read jogged) out of the water and up towards the transition area. At this point when I was experiencing excruciating pain, I should’ve stopped. But, once again, the inner voice told me that maybe the pain would subside once I was on my bike and that I should continue on. I hate DNFs more than anything, so I hopped on my bike and off I went. What ensued after that can only be described as pure torture and the longest 10k run of my life. I finished the race but something was obviously off with my foot and I now know that there are only certain types of pain you can push through.

It would be very easy for me to feel sorry for myself right now as I do all my running in a 10yd stretch of a pool’s deep end instead of the gorgeous trails of Colorado this summer but that’s not what I plan to do. I’ll take the forced down time and come out of this stronger and smarter than before. If you are an athlete reading this, I urge you to learn from my mistake and always listen to your body. Besides, making the decision to look after yourself is the best healthcare you can have. That, and playing your cards wisely...

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy summer!

Iowa Roots: Hy-Vee Letter Cookies and My Triathlon Loop the Loop

2010-06-09T12:19:00.003-04:00

This coming weekend I will be racing in my first Hy-Vee Elite Cup and I am pumped! While I was not born in Iowa, I’m about as close as it gets to being a native Iowan without actually being one. Confused? Read on! My family is full of Iowans... my parents and 3 of my grandparents were born in Iowa and 5 of my great grandparents were born and raised in Iowa. As a result, I was dressed in stylish Iowa Hawkeye gear and paraded around Iowa and Illinois at a very young age (I have the pics to prove it!). In addition, my Grandpa Don is a graduate of the University of Iowa and my Grandpa Bill was an avid fan of Iowa sports. My family made the trek via minivan from Gainesville, Florida to Iowa every Christmas and sometimes even in the summer months to visit family throughout Iowa. My Aunt Vonnie and Uncle Al farm about an hour north of Des Moines and I have many fond memories of visiting them and getting to play with the animals on their farm.

When Hy-Vee first created this race a couple years back, I asked my mom why the name “Hy-Vee” sounded so familiar. I was quickly reminded though – it was the cookies. On various occasions, my grandmothers and aunt would send Heidi (my sister) and I the Hy-Vee Letter Cookies and boy were they delicious! We’d always race to see who could make the most words out of the handful of cookies we grabbed from the bag before snarfing them down, of course!

Having the opportunity to compete in the Hy-Vee Triathlon Elite Cup race this weekend will make my triathlon aspirations come full circle. I started in triathlon at a very young age and road-tripped with my family to participate in some of the Iron Kids races. In 1996, my family supported Heidi and I when we raced Iron Kids Des Moines. Five years later, I raced in the Heart of American Triathlon Series race. And now, to be able to race in one of the largest triathlons where my family claims roots is continuing the triathlon loop.

So, there you have maybe more information than you probably wanted on what this upcoming Hy-Vee Elite Cup Triathlon means to me. While the jury may say that I am not a native daughter to Iowa, I would have to argue that I come pretty darn close… I am looking forward to mixing it up with some of the best in the world this weekend and hope that this is only the first of many Hy-Vee races to come in the future!

Pics from Mexico Rounds 1 & 2

2010-05-25T11:41:00.007-04:00

The reason my ITU Continental Cup race in Ixtapa was turned into a duathlon (3k run/40k bike/10k run) this past weekend...MONSTER waves!

The past couple of weeks, I've been dealing with an unwelcome visitor in my training - foot problems stemming from plantar fascitis. Unfortunately, I was forced to pull out of last weekend's race because of heel pain. This is an annoying road block in an otherwise smooth season (health-wise) but rest assured I am all over rehabbing my foot back to 100% even as I type...

Here's a pic of the AP (Amanda Pack) coming out of the water after completing the 1.5K swim in Monterrey, Mexico at last month's World Cup.

Bike dismount!

Breathtaking art and architecture surrounded the town of Monterrey, Mexico, especially the race venue of Fundidora Park.

Hungry?Bored? Both?

2010-05-15T22:18:00.002-04:00

If you're bored and want to read some more of my writing,be sure to check out the LA Distance Club website at http://www.ladistanceclub.com. Furthermore, if you live in the LA area and are looking for a coach experienced in running/running group, check these guys out!

Or, if you're hungry, be sure to visit Power Bar's website and get a free sample of the new Power Bar Gel Blasts energy chews. They come in both raspberry and strawberry banana (yum!) and are a great choice for a pre or mid-workout snack due to their 2:1 glucose to fructose blend. Like the saying goes, the best things in life are free :)

Eat, Pray, Race...

2010-04-23T10:24:00.000-04:00

And hassle the people at the front desk of the Holiday Inn. That’s pretty much the Cliff Notes version of my weekend in Mexico. When my bike didn’t arrive with me and the rest of my luggage on Friday, I was assured by the airline’s customer service that it would be put on the next plane to Monterrey and delivered to my hotel when it arrived. So, my pre-race Saturday was consumed mostly by eating, light training, a pre-race meeting, and hourly trips to the front desk to check on my bike’s status…just in case. After mid-afternoon came and went and I realized that Mexicana Airline’s customer service desk was closed on the weekends, I began to wonder if my bike even left Denver and if/when I’d see it again. Fortunately, one of the junior girls who was there racing for a qualifying spot for the Youth Olympic Games was kind enough to lend me her bike and let me make a couple of adjustments to it (thanks Jen!) so I’d at least have a bike to ride race day. At that point on Saturday evening I was resolved to the fact that if it had two wheels and moved, I could make do. But, I told the front desk that if in the rare chance that my bike did show up, they could call me at any hour whenever it arrived.

So, race day began at 1am when the front desk called to tell me that my bike had finally arrived. HOORAY! When I woke up again at 6am, I quickly put it together, made sure the brakes worked and weren’t rubbing and the gears shifted ok, switched out my cleats and pedals (from Shimano – my back up pedals to Sampson – the ones I’ve been riding), and rushed down to the race site, hoping to get to ride the bike course that I (at this point) still hadn’t seen other than on a map. However, since there was a race taking place right before ours (on the same course), I was forced to warm up elsewhere. This was a huge mistake I’ll never make again…

The race started just after 9am with a pontoon dive start into the narrow man-made canal that runs throughout the city of Monterrey(think San Antonio’s Riverwalk). Upon diving in, I immediately was punched and smacked by the girls surrounding me (as is customary in ITU racing), momentarily subluxated my shoulder, then regained my focus and continued on sprinting. After making a u-turn about a ¼ of the way through the swim, I noticed a slight gap between myself and the main pack ahead of me. The last ¾ of the swim was spent sprinting to try to close the gap between myself and that pack. However, my efforts were unsuccessful and I exited the water by myself, with a pack ahead and behind me.

So, I spent the first part of the bike time trialing to try and catch up to that pack that seemed to be just a couple of blocks ahead of me. However, after making up little time through the first ½ lap, I decided not to completely kill my legs and took some time to make sure my straps were tight on my bike shoes, take in some fluid, and wait to be swallowed up by the bike pack that was a couple seconds behind me. In addition, this was my first time seeing the bike course, so every turn was a little bit of a surprise. Like I said before, big big big mistake. Next time if my bike is lost I will run the bike course, no matter how far I’ve run earlier in the day…. Anyways, back to the race. The pack eventually caught me right before the end of the first lap and I was able to settle in right in the front third of the pack. We weren’t able to make up any time on the lead pack, however, were able to control our losses to the main chase pack and I hopped off the bike about 3 minutes off the leader.

I usually hop off the bike and think to myself, “the hard part is over, the rest is a piece of cake.” I’ve run so many 10ks in my life! But, after I hopped off my bike this past Sunday, I was having trouble getting into a good rhythm and lacked the energy I usually have. The run was a 4 lap course through Fundidora Park and very spectator-friendly. The cheering is always very helpful, especially when you are running on empty – literally. I ended the race by losing a 3-way sprint finish for 23rd place and finished up in 25th.

Despite not having the perfect race, I have so much to be thankful for in addition to having my first World Cup race under my belt. It was such a blessing that my dad was able to make this trip with me and be my cheerleader/luggage handler/bodyguard/psychotherapist when my bike didn’t arrive. Thanks to my family for being so supportive as always! And although it didn’t arrive until right before the race, I was pretty stoked to be able to race on my Sampson bike. I am in love with how smooth this bike shifts and the overall riding experience is amazing – I wouldn’t want to be racing on anything else! Now it’s time to get back to training, try to regain some speed for future races, and enjoy spring in Colorado – hope it’s as gorgeous where you are as it is out here!!

Gracias por leyendo!
Thanks for reading!

Montage for March

2010-04-04T09:15:00.003-04:00

In the middle of March, I competed in my 2nd race of the season - the Miami International Triathlon. I had a good swim and was able to break the 20 minute barrier for the first time ever in a mile open water, but the legs were not there for the bike and run. I battled fatigue for most of the race and finished a disappointing 9th place. Although this is not at all the race I was hoping for, I must comment on what a fun course this was. Parts of the bike course were on a track (very exciting!) and a good portion of the run was on a shaded trail with a turnaround at the ocean. If you're looking for a race course that's not just out and back and flat, I highly recommend - I know I'll be back!

While I was in Florida, I had the opportunity to teach Spanish for the day at Citrus Heights Academy in Clermont, Florida. My lesson plan included Spanish holidays, the Quinceanera tradition (similar to the sweet 16 celebration in America), and formal commands as well. After the lesson, the students were able to test their knowledge through a fun game of Jeopardy.

Back in Colorado, I had the chance to hang out with my aunt, uncle, and cousin for the weekend and show them some of my bike routes around Boulder, including the always gorgeous Estes Park. Although we'd been hit pretty hard with snow a couple of days before,we were still able to access most roads in Rocky Mountain National Park and take in some amazing views!

So after a whirlwind March, I am back in Colorado training hard for my first ever World Cup which will take place on April 18th in Monterrey, Mexico. I had originally planned to attempt a doubleheader at the end of March, with a race in Ishigaki, Japan the weekend after Mexico, but ultimately decided it best to focus on this one race. I think my body will thank me for this decision a few months down the road...

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

Power Bar Team Elite

2010-03-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

I am pleased to announce that after about 14 or so years of supporting Power Bar, they are returning the favor. For the next two years (2010-2011), I will be a member of Power Bar's Team Elite. This is a team composed of athletes from various sports, all who are Power Bar enthusiasts like me. My personal favorite Power Bar has always been chocolate but oatmeal raisin is growing on me too. :) Not only do they make great bars but also gels, beverage mixes and other nutritional products. This is a company I use in my everyday life and I am excited to spread the word of Power Bar goodness to the world!

USAT Elite Development Race #1 Recap

2010-03-12T14:46:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday, I competed in my first race of the season at Clermont’s Lake Louisa State Park. The race was draft-legal format, similar to many of the ITU races I do, however, did not count towards any kind of ranking.

Although the elite women’s race didn’t start until 1pm, the park entrance closed at 10am due to the earlier start of the age group race. So, once I was inside the park, I had about 3 hours of downtime on my hands to read, relax, and cheer for the age groupers and elite men who raced before me.

A little past 1, the race began as we (the elite women) ran into the chilly, wetsuit-legal water of Lake Louisa. After stumbling a bit on the start, I was able to gain some ground back while dolphin diving towards the first buoy. After a fast and furious first couple of minutes which I’ve come to expect in this style of racing, I was able to settle into a pace and into the draft of a couple of girls ahead of me. I exited the water in 9th place and was thankful for a nice long run up the beach, across the boardwalk, and over to transition to give me plenty of time to get my heart rate back under control (dolphin diving is hard!) and tear my wetsuit down halfway.

I exited transition onto the bike and quickly joined with 2 other girls to form a mini-pace line. We worked well together and after about 1 lap (out of 4) we were able to catch the pack ahead of us and pick up the tempo. Then, halfway through the 3rd lap, another pack of girls came storming by my pack. Luckily, I happened to look over just as the last person came by and was able to hop on her wheel. At that point, our big pack was whittled down to 5 from about 9 and that’s the way we remained for the rest of the bike leg.

I had no idea what to expect for my 5k run split after the bike since I’ve been doing 10k/endurance training all winter so I decided to take my run out as fast as I possibly could and give it my all until I bonked. I was able to keep a good pace until about the last quarter mile when the heat and humidity started to get to me… so much for all the heat acclimation of living in Florida for 22 years! I finished up in 4th place and was very pleased with the result for my season opener considering I’d put in a good training block the previous 3 weeks.

One of the more rewarding parts of the weekend was being able to see my coach and help her out/participate in technical clinics. A couple of people were competing in their first draft-legal race so I was able to answer some questions about procedures/what to expect in this type of race. Also, I got some videotaping done on my swim and run form which is always helpful for tracking progression and seeing where I still need work.

In just a couple of hours, I will begin the drive down to Miami for yet another race this Sunday. The Miami International Triathlon is a non-drafting Olympic distance race… not my specialty, but I’m excited to see how much difference a year can make!

Race Time!

2010-03-03T07:45:00.002-05:00

Only four days to go before my first race of the season. The race will be a sprint race (about 1/2 of the distance of most of my races) and will take place at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont, FL. For more information about the race, click here

USAT Hall of Fame Banquet

2010-02-20T13:58:00.004-05:00

Barb and I at the HOF banquet

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend the USA Triathlon 2010 Hall of Fame banquet in Colorado Springs, Colorado (just a short 2 hour drive from Boulder). What an amazing event and electric atmosphere! The room was packed with people who (just like me) are ablaze with passion for the sport of triathlon. Although the main reason I went was to support and celebrate the accomplishments of my coach, Barb Lindquist (one of the five inductees into the hall along with Paula Newby-Fraser, Valerie Silk, Carl Thomas and Jim Curl), I also came away from the event with a deeper understanding of triathlon’s roots. That is, where the sport came from and the “founding fathers” involved in creating the sport and molding the standardized distances in today’s racing. I am truly grateful to the race director inductees for the impact they have made on the sport, because without them I may have been doing a 3 hour race instead of 2! In addition, the successes of both Paula Newby-Fraser and Barb Lindquist have really helped to put triathlon on the map and often times in the center of national media attention.

In other news, I am writing this post from Clermont, Florida – the location of my home/training camp this month. With lots of nice soft surfaces nearby, the National Training Center, and easy access to traffic-less roads, it serves as the perfect sea level training location while the snow continues to fall in Boulder, CO and I am excited to have a great group to train with! Only 2 weeks to go before I do a draft legal sprint race to tune up for my non-drafting race the following weekend in Miami. Time is flying by…

Hope everyone is healthy and happy!
AHahn

My New Baby!

2010-02-07T21:44:00.002-05:00

Introducing the Sampson prototype that I will be riding for the 2010 racing season...now I just need to think of a name for it!

2010 Sponsors

2010-01-21T15:05:00.003-05:00

I am excited to announce the new team of amazing companies that I will be working with in 2010 and beyond in addition to my sponsors from 2009!

Sampson – If you are looking for a quality bicycle or components, you should look no further than Sampson Sports. They offer some of the lightest and therefore, fastest bikes out there and I look forward to revealing to you my Sampson racing bike for 2010!

CycleOps – This year, with the help of CycleOps technology, I look forward to training and racing with power metrics. While heart rate can tell how your body is responding to a given workout, it is also important to know your workload (which is measured in watts) or how much torque is being put on the pedal. I look forward to documenting my workouts and races with this technology and sharing some insight as to why power is very important for improving speed and efficiency on the bike.

Kiwami – In 2010, I will be sporting a Kiwami racing suit. The Amphibian is designed to be both breathable on land (while I’m biking and running) and water repellent (while I’m swimming)… the perfect combo!

2010 Race Schedule! (Tentative)

2010-01-11T21:33:00.000-05:00

Miami International Triathlon – March 14th
ITU World Cup Monterrey, Mexico – April 18th
Littlefoot Triathlon - May 16th
ITU Pan Am Cup Ixtapa, Mexico – May 22nd
Cap Tex Tri – Memorial Day Weekend
Hy-Vee ITU Elite Cup Des Moines, Iowa – June 12-13th
ITU World Cup Holten, Netherlands – July 10th
Nautica NYC Triathlon – July 18th
ITU World Cup – Tiszaujvaros, Hungary – August 8th
ITU Pan Am Cup Kelowna, Canada – August 22nd
Accenture Chicago Triathlon – August 29th
ITU Pan Am Cup Premium/USAT Elite Nationals Tuscaloosa, Alabama – September 25th
Toyota US Open Dallas, Texas – date TBA mid-October
Miami Man 1/2 Ironman (Yikes!) - November 14th

Hope to see you somewhere along the way!

A Palouse Christmas

2010-01-03T14:31:00.001-05:00

Pretty winter scenery in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

My sis and I at the top of Silver Mountain on Christmas Day

Apparently Hahn is a popular last name...who knew?

Ready to cheer!

What running at sunset looks like :) Happy 2010 to all!

Thanksgiving Round 6

2009-12-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

When you stop and think about it, most of our holidays revolve around the same theme: giving thanks for something or someone in our lives. Christmastime is definitely no exception to this rule. Whether or not you’re affiliated with a religion that celebrates Christmas or Hanukkah, chances are you still give thanks during this time of year and partake in some kind of celebration and/or holiday traditions. So, in reality, Thanksgiving is really “Thanksgiving Round 4 or 5” if you count the holidays in the year preceding Thanksgiving in which we give thanks…which technically makes Christmas “Thanksgiving Round 6.”

This time of year and always, I have a lot to be thankful for. I could blog on and on forever about why triathlon is a team support and how an athlete would not progress without the help from its sponsors, friends, family, etc. But for now I’ll just say thank you (you know who you are!!)

Thanksgiving Round 6 is my favorite time of year for many reasons. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that gives me this euphoric feeling. Although, I think part of it is the fact that people seem to be more open to helping others out. That being said, if you missed Black Friday or Cyber Monday (have they had this before??) and still have holiday shopping left to do, I’d like to help you out by giving you a couple of alternative gift ideas to the iPhone or Wii that will bring joy to both the loved one on your Christmas shopping list and a complete stranger!

Feed 5 bear -$60, For the child on your list, buy a stuffed bear and help support Industrial Revelation to promote the fight against child hunger in East Africa.

Personalize a pair of Converse sneakers - $62 – For anyone on your list who could use a new pair of sneaks… 5-15% of the proceeds go to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

This holiday season, don’t have a cow, give one! At the Oxfam America Unwrapped website, you are able to choose what gift you want to give – and the choices range from animals like sheep and goats to chairs/desks, which help to create a better learning environment for children. The gifts start at a mere $10 and best of all, your friend or loved one gets a free card with details about how the gift is being put to use!

UNICEF – And last but not least I had to include the gifts you can buy at the UNICEF store. In 2004, I had the pleasure of meeting and working with UNICEF representatives from across the globe while attending the 2004 Athens Olympic Youth Camp in Greece. UNICEF’s main mission is to give children healthcare and reduce the number of deaths by preventable causes. At the camp, each country’s representative discussed the obstacles for lowering the child mortality rate and what legislation needed to be put in place to promote change. By purchasing things such as water purification and first aid kits, you will be helping children to begin their lives in good health and hopefully stay that way. I strongly believe that health is the most important thing a human being can have… how neat that we have the opportunity to share it with others?

So, although it’s been said many times, many ways… Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/ Happy Kwanza/Happy New Year to you!

Check back in a couple of weeks when I will unveil my support team of amazing companies for the 2010 racing season along with my racing schedule!

Denver ½ Marathon Recap… 09's Officially a Wrap!

2009-10-24T14:05:00.001-04:00

All smiles doing what I love!

Chicago Triathlon 1995

My sister Heidi and I before Mrs. T's Chicago Triathlon, 1995

This past weekend, I competed in my final race of the season, the Denver ½ Marathon. Although the race was at altitude, I figured it would be a good way to gauge my progress from last year, when I competed in a ½ at around the same time of year.

A 7AM race start meant a 4AM alarm, something I hadn’t experienced in quite awhile with all the late ITU race starts this year. Luckily (or unluckily), I’m always somewhat of an insomniac during taper weeks and would’ve been up and ready to go at 2AM if need be. Since this was the most populated road race I’ve ever competed in (close to 10,000 competitors in the half marathon, marathon, and marathon relay), I wanted to make sure I got to the course with plenty of time to warm up, change shoes, and secure a good spot on the starting line. Mission accomplished!

The race started promptly at 7AM, just after sunrise in Downtown Denver’s Civic Center Park. I knew it wouldn’t be very bright for the first half of the race or so, and decided to wear my rose-colored Rudy Project Rydon glasses. This was a perfect choice as my vision was never compromised during the race. My main goal for the first couple of miles was to keep a steady and comfortable pace, and make sure I had enough “ammunition” to get me through the last half of the race. In hindsight, I probably went out a little too conservatively as I slowed myself down a couple of times in the first 4 miles to keep right on 1:25:00 pace. I was able to hit 6 miles right at goal pace, and then dropped off a bit from my pace for the 2 uphill miles that came just after the halfway point in the race. Once the race flattened back out, I was back running 6:30 miles, just not feeling as peppy doing so as I had at the beginning of the race. I finished in 1:26:53, a PR from last year’s race at sea level! In addition, I was the winner of the 18-24 age group and the 7th woman overall.

I’m so glad I decided to do this race as my season ender – it was so much fun! Simply put, there is no better feeling than running stride for stride with hundreds of people surrounding you. Having the support of thousands who lined the street to cheer was just icing on the cake.

This bodes well for my upcoming season, as I plan to try out the 70.3 distance in addition to the Olympic distance races I already do. I can’t believe this is the end of the season – time has absolutely flown by this year. I’d like to send a great big THANK YOU to my: family, friends, training partners, coach, sponsors (Rudy Project, GU, Newton), homestays for the year, and you (for taking the time to read my posts!) for all the love and support shown throughout this year. Thanks for helping to make my 3rd year as a professional triathlete a memorable one!

I look forward to continuing my progression in the sport in 2010 and beyond. But more importantly, I hope to spread my love for the sport with those around me. If I can inspire at least one person to live a healthy lifestyle, it will be worth my time and efforts! 2010 will mark my 15th year in triathlon. I started the sport when I was 8 as a way to a) follow in my big sister’s footsteps because I thought she was the coolest and b) trade in Saturday morning swim practices for trips to the beach… never did I dream that it would lead to this… enjoy the pictures of triathlon yester-year above and check back for sporadic updates on my life and to see who I’ll be partnering with in 2010 and beyond!

Of course I have to end the year with a quote for you to ponder...
“I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.”
~Anthony Robbins

Pics from Australia

2009-09-21T21:35:00.000-04:00

Whale watching in the seas surrounding the Gold Coast

A gorgeous Australian sunset from my hotel balcony

Peacock!

Gold Coast Recap

2009-09-21T21:21:00.001-04:00

Apologies everyone…I know I said I would post regular updates on my trip to Australia but time flies when you are race prepping and I rarely used the L.A.N. down under…

ITU Under 23 World Championships

Pre-race: I think I was prepped as well as possible going into this race. I'd been doing workouts specific to this race for months and made sure to get an adequate amount of rest leading up to the race. In addition,the USA coaching staff made sure our team knew the ins and outs of the course, who our main competitors were, and what to expect from the race in general. Also, we were fortunate enough to have an amazing team of massage therapists, chiropractors, and a bike mechanic to make sure that both our bikes and bodies were ready to go on race day. I raced on Friday, the 11th at 10 in the morning. *Random fact: I have now raced on every day of the week except Thursday. It was a gorgeous day for a race and had it not been for the accents and the traffic driving on the other side of the road, I would’ve mistaken Gold Coast, Australia for a beach in Florida. There were about 30 girls in the race, and each of us was introduced in order of our number and then allowed to pick our spot on the mat in preparation for a beach start (run in the water start).

Swim: The swim consisted of a 2-lap course, 750m per lap. The start was pretty brutal with elbows flying everywhere as I ran into the water, but after about 20 seconds of fighting I was able to find my own space to swim and get into a rhythm. At the end of the first lap, I was able to take a quick peek and check out the competition – it looked like I was right around 20th place. This is where I stayed for the second lap and I exited the water with a group of about 8 girls, a couple of whom I was able to pass on the carpeted ramp up to transition. After a pretty quick transition, I was running full speed with my bike towards the bike mount line to put myself in as good of a position as possible when a calamity occurred… while executing my flying bike mount, I completely missed my bike seat and nearly lost my balance. Complete disaster! I ended up having to stop and mount my bike very carefully, losing me lots of time and more importantly, the pack of girls I’d worked so hard to swim with.

Bike: At this point, I could still see the pack of girls still in sight, only about 10 seconds ahead of me. So, I surged to try and catch up to them. I gained some ground on the first turn around which was only about a ½ mile into the course, but ultimately was never able to catch them. So, I ended up waiting for the girls behind me to form a bike pack because I figured it most likely would be better than working by myself and killing my legs for the 10k run. However, the pack worked very poorly together and we were losing a lot of ground each lap to the leaders. Although they were gaining ground on us on the 8-lap criterium-like course, I knew we were never in danger of being lapped by them, as I knew we still had about 3 minutes between our packs. However, one thing that had slipped my mind is the first runner/last biker rule. If the first runner reached a certain point on the run course before the last bikers reached the transition area, they were pulled out of the race. This is what happened to my pack. Although we were not technically lapped, it was said that we were “lapped out” because of this rule. My initial reaction was one of shock and disbelief. I had no idea our pack was in danger of having this rule apply to us. I didn’t feel I had worked that hard and was of course, getting my legs ready for a quick 10k sprint off the bike. So, there you have it, the story of the DNF.

Obviously, a DNF at the World Championships is not the way any athlete wants to end their season. Don’t feel too sorry for me though… in this roller coaster of a year I have seen more improvement than I could’ve hoped for at the end of my 2008 season and was able to accomplish some of the key goals that I’d set out to obtain this year. If anything, this will keep me driven and focused for my races next year. My favorite quote of the moment is “Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it’d be worth it.” I think that pretty much sums it up.

Thanks for reading!
AHahn

Follow, Follow, Follow!

2009-09-05T10:49:00.002-04:00

The day is finally here... in just a couple of hours I will be headed to the land down under for the U23 World Championships! My race is on Friday morning the 11th (Thursday back in the US) at 10am, so that means... Australia = 14 hours ahead of eastern time, 15 for central, 16 for mountain and 17 for pacific. Most of you will probably be sleeping while I'm racing but for those of you who want to track me there will be live timing splits available at www.triathlon.org, as well as live video at the finish line. Also, you can follow me on twitter @TriMandaPanda7 and I will try my best to post an update or two. :) Have a g'day!

USAT Elite Nationals Recap

2009-08-28T16:35:00.002-04:00

My coach, Barb Lindquist, informing me I would need to swim for my life to fight the current pre-race

Swim start practice off the pontoon

This past weekend I competed in the Elite National Championship in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “Why Alabama of all places?!” many have asked. Well, for one, this was the site of the 2008 US Olympic Trials, boasting a course similar to the one in Beijing. Although the course was slightly changed from last year due to construction, it still served up enough challenges for one race…

Swim – As I dove from the pontoon into the warm waters of the Black Warrior River, I realized pretty quickly that I would need to push the pace of my swim turnover for as long as I could to stay on feet and have a shot of being in a bike pack once I exited the swim. For a little over ½ a mile I swam towards the first buoy, trying to stay in the draft of as many feet as possible and maintain contact with a pack ahead of me. As soon as I made the left hand turn around the buoy, I was able to confirm the rumors I’d heard pre-race about a wicked current on the way back (think water shooting out of a water slide). Although at times I felt like I was going nowhere, I kicked extra hard and was able to stay in the draft of a couple of girls in front of me. Once I turned for that final home stretch of the swim, I picked up the pace to an all-out sprint as did my competitors. As I reached the swim exit and forced myself out of the water, I immediately saw 3-4 girls right ahead of me and started sprinting up the ramp/stairs into the transition area.

Bike – This is the part where I started to get nervous. Thoughts of yester-year started to creep into my head. Since you probably have no idea what I’m referring to, I’ll give you the cliff notes version of my Nationals race from last year. Great swim, stayed with chase pack for 2 laps on the bike and then got shelled off the back on the hills and eventually lapped out by the lead pack. My first DNF ever. Gulp. But anyways, back to the present… as I left transition, hopped on my bike and headed up the first hill, the same 4 girls that exited the swim right ahead of me remained within sight. I knew if I wanted any chance of having a decent race I needed to catch their wheels and be in their bike pack. So, I red-lined it for about 30 seconds and was fortunately able to catch them as some were still getting their feet properly positioned in their bike shoes. Once our pack formed, we were able to formulate a rotation and eventually added another girl to our pack halfway through the 6 lap bike course. There was a pretty significant hill on each of the 6 laps but the lesson learned from last year is that I needed to be near the front of the pack to ward off any potential attacks/gaps that might occur. The pack stayed in tact the entire bike and there were just enough girls in the group that I was working hard yet still had the feeling that my legs would be able to function once I started the run.

Run – Once I got to the run I was able to stop worrying and just go! I wanted to push the pace right away to sort of break up our group and see who would come with me. One other competitor did and we both ran a very quick 8:40ish for our opening lap (2.5k). At the beginning of the second lap, I pushed even harder and was able to open up a little gap on her by the turn around. My legs were hurting and the sun was beating down on us at that point, but I was able to find a rhythm, get my breathing under control(finally!), and just focus on being in the moment. From there, I just thought about trying as best as I could to close the gap on the next competitor up the road who had been in a bike pack a couple minutes ahead of mine. I could see myself making progress each lap on the looped course but realized by the last lap that it wouldn’t be a close enough gap to close. I had a girl 600 meters ahead and another one 300 meters behind me.

Therefore, there was no sprint finish for this race. No camera bulbs flashing at the finishing line. No fans to wave to (they’d all moved on to other parts of the course to watch the men’s race unfold). But none of this mattered to me. The thrill of having a solid race was enough for me on that day. I ended up 8th place overall and 3rd place in the Under-23category. This is an improvement on my 10th place overall, 3rd place U23 finish at the 2007 Elite Nationals and obviously my DNF from last year. Jasmine Oeinck made a remarkable comeback from injury to win on the women’s side and for the men, Matt Chrabot ended up taking the national crown.

Something else I feel compelled to comment on is the electric atmosphere at the race. There are not many sports out there that allow age group athletes to support the pros and vice versa. The fact that the age group race was held immediately before the pro race allowed me to cheer for some athletes while I was setting up my transition area and many reciprocated the favor by sticking around to cheer for my race. I feel that the sport of triathlon forges an innate connection between all participants. We all understand the long hours of training, the sacrifices made, and the mental and physical struggles it takes to even make it to the starting line. Even though our goals may be very different (from winning to just finishing), we are bonded by the three sports that compose a triathlon. I am grateful to have met so many great people/athletes this past weekend and also to have had the opportunity to catch up with some of my Floridian triathlete friends that I hadn’t seen in awhile.

The day after the race, I had an early 5:45am wake up so that I could participate in the mini-camp that my amazing coach, Barb Lindquist, was offering to her athletes as well as some of the athletes from the collegiate ranks that she had helped recruit to the sport of triathlon. I hadn’t seen my coach since the San Francisco race last year (10 months ago!), so it was nice for her to be able to critique my technique in both swimming and running and give me some things to work on for the future. Just because I’m a professional doesn’t mean I’m perfect by any means!

My next race is the Under-23 World Championships in Gold Coast, Australia on September 11th. I have about a week of solid training left and then it’s taper time! Once I’ve figured out how you can follow me and what the time difference is, I’ll let you all know. Also, I did an interview last weekend for the Stay Tuned Report, which should be available to download on ITunes in a couple weeks time so keep an eye out for that.

To read a recap of the race from USA Triathlon, click here.

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy transition into the fall season!

AHahn

An Early Birthday Present!

2009-07-24T21:19:00.002-04:00

I am excited to announce that as of Wednesday I have met all the qualifying standards (race results from Pan Am Champs, Austin race, fitness tests, etc.) and will be adding another competition to my race schedule… I will be representing the US at the Under 23 World Championships in Gold Coast, Australia in early September! Thanks to all of you who have supported me up to this point and to God for giving me the strength and motivation to get out the door this winter and hop on the treadmill/ trainer in my garage when the all the Florida girl (me!) wanted to do was sit inside by the heater and sip hot cocoa. I wouldn’t be where I am today without you all!

At the beginning of this week I drove down to the Olympic Training Center to complete a couple of fitness tests (swim and bike to run) to make sure that a) I hadn’t been slacking off since the qualifying races in May and b) that I had maintained a level of fitness that would allow me to contend for a top-10 spot at the World Championships.

I had a lot of down time in Colorado Springs and was able to see the new Harry Potter movie in IMAX! I’m a huge HP fan and thought that although the movie made good use of cinematography and acting, the book was way better and HP and the Goblet of Fire is still the best movie in the series.

One final early birthday gift – When I was out biking last Sunday I got completely soaked (something that is becoming somewhat routine) and was obviously a little annoyed. However, on the drive home I saw the most gorgeous sight ever – a triple rainbow!! I had no idea they even existed but was awestruck for the rest of the day and suddenly didn’t care that I was soaked or would have to clean some serious dirt off my bike when I got home. The saying goes that the best things in life are free and I couldn’t agree more… I don’t need/want anything more for my 21 +? birthday in a couple of days!!

Don’t Stop Believin! :)
AHahn

Catching Up...

2009-07-19T16:36:00.002-04:00

Hello all! I hadn't realized how long it had been since I updated this until a couple days ago and I figured I should post something to keep my loyal reader(s?) happy. :) So, here's what I've been up to the past month.

- I raced about a month ago in Canada, a race that I now refer to as the "Canada-saster"... I thought I was just having a really really bad off day and that my legs were really tired until I realized after the race that my brake pads were rubbing against my back wheel... not sure if my bike was knocked in the transition area or what but I do know that having wheels that actually spin makes a huge difference...

- I traveled down to Florida to attend the wedding of a good friend from college (Kara Newell)- one of my 10k/cross country friends. It was basically an FSU XC and Track reunion and it was great to catch up with everyone and get in a little sea level training. Speaking of training in Tallahassee, FSU just opened up this amazing 50 meter outdoor pool that is also open to the public... if you are ever in the area I highly recommend checking it out!

- I came back to Boulder for exactly a week before I traveled out to San Francisco, California for a race this past weekend (July 11th). This was supposed to be a draft legal race, however, the field was so small that I ended up riding most of the bike solo. My legs were toast by the time I approached the running portion of the race, so I moved along the best I could and ended up finishing 7th. Besides the race, it was a fun weekend. The day after the race, I was able to meet up with a friend and bike along the coast of California for a couple of hours. I wish I'd had a camera with me for the ride, but I believe this is one of those situations where a picture would do the scenery no justice. After rushing back to my hotel, packing up my bike in 11 minutes (new record I think), and getting out of my hotel before they charged me a $50 late fee, I had a couple of hours to roam around and explore before my 8pm flight out of SFO. I ended up parking by the Fisherman's Wharf, getting some lunch, and eating it down near the seals by the pier. Afterwards, I walked past a ton of Michael Jackson impersonators to Chinatown and Ghirardelli Square to take in all the sights there. I absolutely love the cultural melting pot that is San Francisco - each race, religion, and culture delivers something special to the city.

- That's all the racing I'm doing for awhile. Next up is Elite Nationals in Tuscaloosa, Alabama the 3rd weekend in August. Til then, I'm training, acclimating to this heat, and of course...watching the Tour de France! Go Lance!

Parlez-vous français?

2009-06-17T14:06:00.002-04:00

Bonjour everyone! Just wanted to check in for a quick update. Tomorrow I leave for an ITU draft-legal race in Coteau-du-Lac, Canada (near Montreal). I'm guessing I will be headed to French Canada... the website for the race is mostly in French, the people at the motel I'm staying at speak French... I think I need to learn some French!

This is a big weekend for triathlon in North America as the third leg of the Dextro Energy Triathlon World Championship will be held on Sunday in Washington D.C. If there's nothing good on tv, you're bored, or you're interested in seeing what ITU-style racing (most of my races) is all about, you should tune in for the live internet broadcast of this race which can be found at: www.triathlon.org/tv.

Speaking of Sunday, since I'll be traveling most of the day and probably won't make it to a computer in time, I'd like to wish an early Happy Father's Day to two of my biggest supporters - my dad and grandpa. I love you guys! :)

Update to come later!

Cap Tex Tri - Austin ITU Continental Cup Race Report

2009-05-30T11:56:00.005-04:00

Mellow Johnny's -Lance Armstrong's bike shop in Austin!

This past Monday (Memorial Day) I competed in the Cap Tex Tri in Austin, Texas (which I’m going to coin as the “Boulder of the south” – so many active people there). I’ve never raced on a Monday before and I usually don’t train that much on Monday either because it’s always my recovery day, so I was very interested to see how this race would go…

Swim: We started the race with a deep water swim start, not one that I get to do too often. Basically what happens is that you get to pick a spot in the water based on your starting number, a rope is held in front of you as you tread water and you duck under it and take off when the horn sounds. For the first part of the swim I just hammered to try to get into a group. This worked well and for the first half of the swim as I had a draft to swim into. Eventually, I wasn’t able to hold the pace of the girls in front of me, but I still managed a low 19 swim, a huge improvement for me from last year! I ended up exiting the water right behind Kate Mcllroy from New Zealand, the eventual winner of the race.

Bike: Just like last week, the larger pack was in front of me. I traded off pulls with Lauren Goldstein-Kral (right behind me in the swim) for the first 2 laps and we were able to bridge up to Taylor Cooke who was a little ways up the road. By the start of the third lap, Annie Warner and Jocelyn Petrella had caught our group of 3 so we were now up to a pack of 5. Once Annie and Jocelyn caught us, the pace of our pack quickened and our group worked well together for the remaining two laps of the bike.

Run: The best way for me to describe the run course to you would be that it was a 1/4 mile steeplechase and 6 mile run. The run out of transition included hopping up 3 large stairs and I was quickly reminded why I’d avoided hurdles my entire life/track career and just stuck to running… once I got out to the road, I was able to push the pace for the first mile and put a gap in between myself and the other girls who had been in the bike pack. The heat and humidity were definitely factors on the run and I felt like mentally I was trying to sprint as fast as I could to each aid station where I would be able to grab a towel that had been soaked in ice water (total lifesavers!) and some sports drink as well to get some relief from the heat. As I got to the final lap of the run, I did a time check and saw that the girl in front of me had about a minute gap on me and I was at least 2 minutes ahead of my next competitor so I just focused on good form for the final section of the run. I finished up with a 36:19, 3rd fastest run of the day and a 9th overall finish!!

Right at the finish, I was greeted by a USADA (US Anti Doping Agency) rep. Turns out that the 9th place finisher had been selected for drug testing. At that point, I had an hour to provide a sample for them and I used every last minute of it drinking 3 bottles of water and 2 bottles of Gatorade. Unfortunately in this day and age, random drug testing is a necessary evil of sport but I was more than happy to comply – anything to keep our sport clean! :)

Many thanks to my Austin homestay, Mike and Lindsay Rosenthal and kids (even though they'll probably never read this)! Thanks for drawing me maps to everywhere in Austin, feeding me, and making me feel at home! :)

I’ve traveled and raced quite a bit this past month and now I get a little bit of a break to get a good block of training in and rehab a couple minor injuries. Next up for me is the Coteau du Lac, Canada ITU race in a couple of weeks.

Happy summer everyone!
AHahn

OK in OK - The Oklahoma "Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plains" Race Report

2009-05-22T00:01:00.008-04:00

Heading out on the bike

Last lap of the run - notice all the dirt on my face from the river! Yuck!

Pre-race: It was a 1pm start for the pro women so I was able to sleep in until 9am the day of the race. Those of you who have ever seen me before 9am know that later in the day race starts are definitely a good thing for me!

Swim: We had a pontoon dive start into the crystal clear waters *sarcasm* of the Oklahoma River. I was able to get off to a pretty good start and after jockeying around for position for the first 75 meters or so was able to find some open space to swim in before I rounded the first buoy. As the swim progressed, I pretty much ended up in no man’s land with a group directly in front of me and a group a little bit behind me. I entered the first transition out of the swim with the closest women 22 seconds in front of me and a minute and a half behind me.

Bike: Seeing that I was completely by myself and knowing that a large group was behind me, I decided not to push the pace on the first lap and hydrate as much as possible while I waited for the pack to catch me. They caught me right after the turn to start the second lap and I picked up the pace a little bit to hop on the back of the pack. Because of the intense winds, there was really no set rotation within the pack and a lot of the girls (myself included) sat near the back for a lot of the ride, took pulls for a couple seconds, settled back in the middle of the group and sprinted up to the front for every turn around (which came about every 3 miles). Unfortunately for me, I got caught in the middle of the pack at the turn around with 1.5 laps to go and the girl in front of me overshot the turn and braked (a big no no in draft legal racing). I was forced to brake as well not to crash into her and lost all momentum as the rest of the group surged out of the turn. I tried to sprint to catch back up, but wasn’t able to do so. From that point, I decided I could either push it and have my legs blow up on the run or go as fast as I possibly could while keeping a high cadence. I went for plan b and came into transition about a minute and a half down on the pack that I rode with for most of the bike.

Run: From the time I stepped off the bike, my plan was to hammer, hammer, hammer! I was basically sprinting the first lap, just to see how close I could come to the girls that had over a minute lead on me and then I settled in once I had perspective on who I would be able to chase down. The run was an out-and-back course, similar to the bike, which was very helpful from a mental perspective in that I was able to see my competitors about every 6 minutes or so and kind of gauge how much time I’d gained/lost per ½ lap. I was able to chase down about 12 girls, and ended up with the 5th fastest run of the day and a 14th overall finish.

I'd like to send a huge THANK YOU out to Amanda Jordan, my former teammate and friend from FSU for being my homestay for the weekend! Amanda devoted much of her weekend to showing me around Oklahoma City, driving me to the pre-race meeting, grocery store, ice cream shop, and being cheerleader/photographer for the race. Thanks so much Amanda - you and Pete were great hosts! :)

But although I had a big race this weekend, what I'll probably look back and remember about this weekend for years to come is how I was able to pull off flying to Oklahoma City and back without a photo I.D. to show in security.... whoops! Good thing I was able to locate it when I returned back home to Boulder because I fly out for another race on Saturday! I race again on Memorial Day in Austin, Texas so another update will be coming soon-ish!

-AHahn

St. Anthony's

2009-05-03T15:18:00.004-04:00

Swim – The water was so choppy that the pros were the only division of athletes allowed to complete the swim portion of the race. For everyone else, the race was turned into a time-trial start duathlon (bike/run only). I got off to a great start in the swim and was working well with a handful of ladies about halfway through when I turned to breathe and ended up basically drinking a wave. I tried to continue swimming but was choking so I had to stop, tread water, and clear my airways before I could continue on with the remainder of the swim. I’m not sure exactly how much time I lost when I stopped, but my swim ended up being about 3 minutes slower than usual. Yikes!

Bike – For the first part of the bike I felt drained (most likely from all the coughing) and struggled to find my racing legs. However, at about mile 15 I suddenly caught a second wind and was able to increase both my cadence and speed for the remaining 10 miles or so and do some damage control on my bike split.

Run – For the run, my aim was to stay as relaxed as possible, build the first 5k, and negative split the last 2 miles. While I feel I was a little bit too conservative for the first half, I was happy with my overall effort for the 10k and excited that I was able to run my last mile in 5:42 after over 2 hours of racing. If nothing else, I have that one positive to take away from this race.

Although this is not the result I’d hoped for after so many hours of training, I am excited just to be racing again and to be injury-free. In 2 weeks time I will be competing at the PATCO PanAm Champs in Oklahoma City so be on the lookout for me there.

Countdown to Florida!

2009-04-20T23:52:00.005-04:00

This is what I'm seeing right now...I have a feeling the scenery will be a bit different when I hop off the plane in Florida in a couple of days. The start to my 2009 racing season can't come soon enough!

The Ace of Base

2009-03-31T14:31:00.004-04:00

If you read my last post, most of you probably realize that I definitely jinxed myself by commenting on the weather. 15 inches of snow and a week full of treadmill runs/trainer rides later, I am happy to report that I am still alive and well. Although at first I was not a happy camper, I always try to look for the positive in everything and here's what I came up with. Snow means: a free car wash, pretty scenery, an opportunity for me to make snow angels after my long run in the snow plowed roads, and a chance to get in an extra strength workout while scraping snow off my car and shoveling a path out my doorway. Yea!

This past week marked the end of my 3 month long base training phase (hence the title of this post) which means that the high-intensity workouts will slowly start to creep into my training and increase throughout the season. In a month from now, I will be in Florida recovering from my first race of the year - time is flying!

Until then,
AHahn

March Madness: The Final Four!

2009-03-22T13:37:00.006-04:00

Wendy, Angelina, Max the dog, and I after a long run

Wendy and I at Garden of the Gods

Don’t be fooled by the title of this post... I’m not going to waste your time by telling you how poorly my basketball bracket is doing right now or lament over the fact that the team I picked to win it all barely escaped in the first round of the tourney. Rather, I intend to give you an update on recent happenings in the life of Amanda Hahn.

1) Following an off-season from racing that has spanned approximately half a year, I will finally toe the starting line next month for my first race of the season: St. Anthony’s! St. Anthony’s is an Olympic distance race (non-drafting) that takes place in St. Pete, Florida at the end of April. Besides a sprint triathlon that takes place each year in Gainesville, this is about as close as it gets to me having a “hometown race.” I have competed in St. Anthony’s 5 times to date (it was my 1st pro race) and the atmosphere, fast course, and great competition make it one of my favorites!

2) It has only snowed two days this entire winter since I’ve returned to Boulder! I am in complete amazement and it seems I am not alone. Everyone I talk to says we’re due for a blizzard sometime before the end of April, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this amazing weather continues because we all know my tolerance of trainers/treadmills... somewhere around zero.

3) It had been three months since I’d seen my best friend from high school, Wendy, and she decided to spend the first part of her spring break to come visit me in Boulder. Luckily, she was a good sport about being left for three to four hours at a time while I did my longer bike/run workouts. On my recovery days, I had a little more time to show her around the area, and we even had the opportunity to drive down to Colorado Springs for the day. She was able to see The Garden of the Gods (I showed her the route for my bike/run bricks from this summer), Downtown Manitou Springs, and a somewhat close view of Pikes Peak (we missed the last train that headed up to the top of the peak). It’s always good to see a familiar face and catch up with friends I rarely get to see anymore.

4) Four months! After countless years of track workouts, I took a four month hiatus from the track following the end of my racing season last year. Of course I wasn’t exempt from all running workouts in general, just ones that involved running in circles. I must confess that when I finally stepped back on the track last week, I was a bit nervous/excited. The workout went better than expected and I am happy to say I am back on track! There's something about that oval that brings a curve to my face... :)

There you have it: the final four. Consider yourself in the loop!

Thank You!

2009-02-05T21:35:00.002-05:00

I'd like to send a big THANK YOU out to Newton Running for supplying me with my racing shoes for the year! These shoes are absolutely amazing and are designed to promote a forefoot strike (as opposed to heel strike)when running. Just by wearing the shoes, I have seen a significant change in my running form. Also, I am happy to say that I've been able to get rid of my chronic knee pain since switching to these shoes!

This is my 3rd week back in Colorado and I must say it's been an adventure...everyday I wake up wondering whether it will be 65 and sunny or 20 and snowing. I am beginning to select my races for the 2009 season, so stay tuned for more details!

GU

2009-01-30T15:14:00.002-05:00

A very important part of both racing and training for any distance of triathlon is proper nutrition. That is why if an athlete doesn't take in enough calories while exercising, they will most likely either "bonk" or have a tough time recovering from the effort. That being said, I am excited to announce GU as my "nutrition" sponsor for 2009. GU offers energy gels and a high performance sports drink (GU2 0). As a competitive swimmer in the earlier stages of my life, I fell in love with the chocolate outrage flavor of GU. GU provides a quick energy boost without the cramping that comes with some other energy gels/bars. In addition to the GU energy gel that so many have become familiar with, GU also recently created a new product called Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Gel which helps mitigate lactic acid buildup in the body. Both the original GU and the Roctane are great tasting and most importantly, keep me fueled and feeling peppy for my training sessions and races. To learn about how you can get some GU for yourself, please visit: http://guenergy.com

Rudy Project

2009-01-24T21:34:00.001-05:00

I'm pleased to announce Rudy Project as one of my sponsors for 2009! Rudy Project is absolutely tops when it comes to sunglasses and helmets. I've worn their sunglasses for quite awhile now and am absolutely in love with how comfortable they are. At times I even forget I'm wearing them (no joke!). The glasses include side panels which are useful in blocking wind, water, and any other debris that may come flying at me while I'm exercising. Their helmets are also designed to be comfortable and aerodynamically sound. If you would like to experience the Rudy Project difference, click here!

Back to Boulder

2009-01-19T15:16:00.001-05:00

Yesterday marked the end to my time training at my parents' house in Florida as I returned to my home in Boulder, Colorado. One of the main reasons I stayed in Florida for most of January was to take advantage of the warmer weather and escape the harsh winter of Colorado. So, you can guess how excited I was when our captain relayed that it was 60 degrees as the plane pulled into the runway of Denver International. :) I'm biking outside this week..no complaints here!

But before I can even think about training, I've got a bike to put together and suitcases to unpack...

Twas the Week

2009-01-09T14:16:00.001-05:00

Twas the week after New Years and throughout the US,
You could find stressed faces; the economy was a mess.
The holidays were over and much to my dismay,
All the Christmas lights had been taken down and packed away.

The stock market continued its woes,
And kept many businesses on their toes.

But over in Gainesville the town was aglow,
Because of a man who promised change and delivered; not Obama, Tebow!
The chants of the Gator faithful could be heard everywhere,
From Archer Road to the Downtown Square.

I can’t wait to see what ’09 has in store for me!
Maybe a tropical vacation, a check from Hy-Vee?

But for now I’ll go train in the Florida sun,
First a swim, then a bike ride, then maybe a run.
So Happy New Year to all, hope ’09 is bright!
But now I must go, so I bid thee good night!

Going Out With a Bang in 2008!

2008-12-29T19:35:00.003-05:00

Much thanks to my friend Wess for agreeing to do a 1/2 marathon with me only 2 days after Christmas!

A couple of weeks ago, I got the crazy idea to compete in a ½ marathon to end 2008 after only 3 weeks of training coming off a season-ending break. To my surprise, my coach ok’ed the idea to see where my fitness was at at this point and it was “game on” for the Florida Half Marathon in Clermont, Florida.

I had no idea what to expect for the turnout with the race being only 2 days after Christmas and was pleasantly surprised that there were enough entrants that I was able to run with someone throughout the race. I’d planned on starting out conservatively at 6:30’s and building as the race went on, but was unable to stick to that plan because of the way the course was designed. The entire course was rolling hills (which Clermont has become famous for) and the majority of the downhill section came at the front end of the race. I hit halfway at a little over 40 minutes, but knew what I’d be up against coming back on the out and back course. I hit the 10 mile mark at 1:05:20 and then started the major uphill section of the course. Needless to say, it took me almost 23 minutes to run/jog/power walk the last 5k of the race and I finished in 1:28:10. I finished as the first overall female and it was about a 15 minute drop from the last time I ran a ½ my senior year of high school!

Although this was a tough course, I enjoyed every minute of it. The only running I’d done outside the past couple of weeks had been the sprinting from my car to the inside of the gym or wherever else I was going in Michigan/Illinois while I was up north visiting family for the holidays… I will take 80 degrees and humidity over -9 + wind any day!!! Hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

In Loving Memory of Harris Armstrong

2008-12-09T22:04:00.001-05:00

I know most posts on my blog usually pertain to triathlon or some other aspect of my life but this is a special case. This is one story I feel I had to share with the rest of the world. To give some background information, I never actually met Harris Armstrong. However, I feel connected to him just the same.

His grandmother, a former student of my grandfather and friend of my family, contacted me my sophomore year of college at Florida State University after learning that I lived in Tallahassee. The first time I arranged to meet her, she baked me homemade chocolate chip cookies, a lasagna dish (my favorite), and brought me a gift bag of stationery and other assorted goodies. She recounted to me stories of how much my grandfather was loved as a professor and how much she adored my entire family. Also, when she found out that I was a student-athlete, she shared with me how much her grandson (Harris) loved athletics and what a great golfer he was becoming at such a young age. She gave me her contact information in case I was ever in a bind or just needed someone to talk to and became like a second mother to me in Tallahassee, always dropping by to bring me baked goods and check and see that I was doing ok with school and life in general.

Her grandson, Harris Armstrong, passed away last week after more than a year-long battle with cancer in his spinal cord. But by no means was his life wasted. It can be argued that he accomplished just as much in his 12 short years on this earth as some do in an entire lifetime. When he was only in 5^th grade, he qualified to be on the high school golf team. Further, he was twice a runner-up in the Golf Channel's Drive, Chip and Putt National Championship.

But his athletic accomplishments or the fact that he met some of golf’s all-time greats along his journey (Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus) is not what needs to be highlighted here. Rather, the way he represented himself both as a person and an athlete. Harris exuded qualities that represent the essence of any sport: respect, character, sportsmanship, camaraderie with competitors, and most importantly, a genuine love for the game. And, he had an unwavering faith. When he first discovered that he had cancer, he did not stress- instead he prayed. Harris had a strong faith in God and took a particular liking to Romans 12:12. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. It was Harris' faith that kept him strong until the end.

I can only hope that I am able to impact as many people in my lifetime as this little ray of light did in only 12 years. I send my deepest condolences to the Armstrong family in this time of grieving. The memory of Harris will always be in our hearts.

Let it SNOW!

2008-12-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

I created a new sport today. Yes, you read that right. You may have heard of walking, power-walking, even snowshoeing, but I bet you’ve never heard of power-sloshing. You might be wondering what exactly power-sloshing is? Power-sloshing is what I was doing today when I was supposed to be running. However, because of the 2 feet of snow on the ground, I ended up running for about 15 seconds or so, hurdling a pile of snow that hadn’t been shoveled (and was in my way), and occasionally sloshing my way through some ice/snow bits on the road/sidewalk. I repeated this process for about an hour and decided when I got back that the effort put forth was more equivalent to a marathon than that of an hour training run. So, if you’re looking for a holiday weight-loss plan, forget Jenny Craig, South Beach Diet, and all of the other dieting plans. Just go power-sloshing!

After a couple of weeks off to recharge my batteries, I’m starting to get back into the swing of things with regards to training. I will be building up my volume for the next couple of weeks so that I will have a good aerobic base built when the “killer” workouts start back up. I can’t wait! :)

I Am the Luckiest

2008-11-27T12:40:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I pray that wherever you are that you are able to spend some quality time with friends or family. This year, I have a lot to be thankful for (too much to tell you in this blog). A few things I am thankful for include:

-Supportive family and friends- Both in Colorado and on the other side of the country... you guys mean the world to me!

-Being injury free (besides a few minor incidents) this past year.

-2000 Olympics- The first year that triathlon was contested as an Olympic sport. Yea!

-Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked Ice Cream- For helping me graduate college this past Spring!

And most importantly, you, the readers of my blog! Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!

Gobble gobble,

Amanda

San Francisco ITU Race

2008-11-11T21:32:00.003-05:00

The race this past weekend signaled the end of the season for most and the last time I will race for almost half a year. It's hard for me to explain to you how weird it will be for me to spend that much time away from racing after constantly switching from cross country to track and back again for the past 4 years. It’s only been 3 days since the race in California and I am already getting antsy to compete again!

The race did not go as planned and definitely was not the way I wanted to end my season. In a year where I’ve seen so much progression in my training, I was never able to put all 3 disciplines together to have an amazing race. I guess Rome wasn’t built in a day…

I pretty much dug my own grave in this race early on after a disastrous 1^st transition. As I approached my bike and proceeded to rip my wetsuit off my body (the water was 56 degrees), the suit got caught on my timing chip and I struggled to get it off. When I eventually did, I had lost almost a minute to my competitors who had since exited transition with their bikes and were nowhere to be seen. I ended up riding the bike portion of the race by myself and came onto the run with quite a sizeable gap to make up. I was able to make up a couple minutes on some competitors, but at that point, the gap was so wide it didn’t matter. I ended up in 13th place.

This is a disappointing end to a season in which I only raced 4 pro races, but I know that it will only add fuel to the fire for next year. Now, it’s time for a much needed break. I haven’t had more than one day completely off in over a year because of indoor/outdoor track and triathlon season so I am ready for some serious rest and relaxation. Once again, thanks to all my supporters! I wouldn’t be where I am today without you all! I sincerely hope that you all will join me next year when I “put it on the line in 2009.”

Thanks for reading!
~AHahn

Chain-ges

2008-11-01T14:30:00.002-04:00

Seminole XC ladies, back to back ACC Champs! Go Noles!

I can’t believe that this is the penultimate week of my triathlon season! Where does the time go?! After next Saturday’s race at Treasure Island (San Francisco), triathlon season 2008 will be completely finished.

Last year, the race was turned into a duathlon after an oil ship had trouble navigating in the fog and crashed into the San Francisco Bay Bridge, pouring over 50,000 gallons of oil into the same water the triathletes were supposed to swim in the following day. However, I did not participate in this race last year as I was still back at college running cross country…

Since this is the end of the year, I have been concentrating on getting the little things right for my last race and the races to come next year. A big part of triathlon is technique, especially in the swimming and running portions of the race. Quite honestly, technique is something that I’ve always struggled with…but this year I want to make the effort get it right. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks working with running coach Bobby McGee on my form. The guy is pretty much a walking book of knowledge and has taught me so many helpful new drills (surprising that I didn’t know these being a college runner) to correct my running form. Thank you Bobby! Also, I have been running around town inside a tire (trust me, although I look like a nerd, there is a reason for this!) As for swimming, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks getting some yardage in with a snorkel. This helps because I am able to concentrate on my arm position in the water without worrying about the breathing aspect of the stroke.

In addition to the technical aspects of the sport, I decided that it was time to take my bike in for a tune up. I regularly clean my bike so I don’t feel the need to take it into the shop that often. But, the other day when I noticed the chain clicking and screeching in almost every gear in the big ring and realized you could probably hear me coming from a mile away, I decided it was due time to take it into the bike shop. And it was a good thing I did. Although my frame was nice and clean, the mechanic said that I’d stretched out my chain so much that it was certain to snap sometime in the near future. Scary! So, 80 bucks and a new chain later, I am ready to go for the race next weekend.

On a side note, I’d like to congratulate the Seminole ladies on their 2008 ACC Championship!! This is the 2^nd year in a row the Seminoles have won and I am one proud cross country alum! At Florida State, it is a tradition that the flame on the Unconquered Statue on campus is lit for an entire night (sunset to sunrise) to commemorate any kind of championship (conference, regional, national). So, if you are in the Tallahassee area sometime next week, look for the flame!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T18:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone!
Q: What do birds give out on Halloween night?
A: Tweets!
Hope everyone has a spook-tacular day! :)

Training Adventures

2008-10-18T21:49:00.003-04:00

As far back as I can remember, it's been ingrained in my head that if I am driving and I see deer, DO NOT swerve...always hit the deer. So, when I was biking down a hill the other day at around 40mph and saw a handful of deer in my way once I rounded the corner, my first instinct was to hit the deer. Luckily, at the last split second I was able to override my logic and somehow swerve in between about 4 deer to safety...talk about some serious bike handling skills practice! This actually might come in handy as my last race of the season will be very technical on the bike.

This has not been my only encounter with the wildlife of Boulder. Last Sunday, on the eve of Colorado's first snowfall of the season, the temperature was hovering around 35 degrees and was accompanied by a light drizzle. Because it had rained the day before, everyone (for the most part) was indoors. But not me. I am ok with biking inside on a trainer but treadmills are a different story. I cannot stand them and avoid them at any cost. Even on days when school was canceled because a hurricane was coming, you would most likely still find me on outside in the rain sloshing around before you would find me at the gym on a treadmill. So, I headed out on my 1.5 hour run from my house and ran to the dirt loop that is just across the street. It didn't take long to figure out that I was the only one out there. I didn't hear dogs barking, footsteps, anything. After I'd already done the 6 mile loop once and was on lap #2, something moving caught my attention in the distance, about 200 meters away. A deer perhaps? Nope. A mountain lion. I freaked out and I sprinted as fast as I could the other direction until I came out to the sidewalk near my house. I checked behind me and luckily it was nowhere to be seen. After telling my story to a bunch of my friends and family, I'm told that running away is the worst thing you can possibly do when in the presence of a mountain lion because the lion may mistake you for a deer. I guess I'm lucky this one was smart enough to know that deer aren't pink. :)

The other big news is that in addition to training, I am working 3 part-time jobs right now...but I'll save details on that for another post. Until then, train hard and stay warm!
~AHahn

Fotografias for Fall

2008-10-08T18:12:00.005-04:00

I went on an "easy" hike up through the town of Jamestown with my roommate and her dog, Leon

It was also a good excuse to break in my Mizuno running kicks

A bubbling brook we spotted along the way!

Homeless No More!

2008-10-01T21:49:00.004-04:00

Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a little but yeah, as the title says, I finally have a place of my own. The best part is that I will be helping the worldwide effort to go green! How so you may ask? Well, there are running trails, the NCAR hill(to bike up), a gym and a grocery store all within walking distance which means I will be able to save on gas and walk instead. It's so pretty here right now, the leaves are already starting to change colors! I guess you could say that fall has fallen :)
P.S. Since this is my blog and I can plug whomever I please... if you're looking to read some interesting articles on the college cross country scene, copy and paste this address: http://www.trackshark.com/features/angelina/archive/
That's all for now!
~AHahn

Nationals Recap

2008-09-27T15:28:00.003-04:00

I contemplated not writing this post at all. But then I decided that you can't make something go away by pretending it never happened. Further, I've always believed that any athlete who has a blog should not just skip over their failures and only write about their successes. So here goes probably the shortest race recap I will ever write...

This past weekend, the elite and age group nationals took place in Portland, Oregon with the age groupers taking the morning shift and the elite women and men starting in the afternoon. With a noon start time, I was able to sleep in until 8 (which as I've mentioned before is really sleeping in in the triathlon world) and take my time before rolling out of my hotel at 9:30.

The women's race had a noon start time, and since this was an ITU race, we were able to pick our spots to start on the pontoon. Since I haven't competed in an ITU race in over a year (Kelowna 07 was my last one), I had one of the higher numbers and was one of the last to pick my spot. I ended up choosing the slot between Julie Ertel(2008 Olympian) and Sarah Groff. I knew I'd have to get off to a quick/clean start in order to not get beat up and was pleasantly surprised when I was able to jump on Julie Ertel's feet after the start and hang on them for a couple hundred meters before she kicked it into another gear. For the rest of the swim, I really had no idea where I was in the pack of 15 girls. So, I hammered the rest of the swim, fearing that I might be at the back of the pack. When I exited the water, I glanced back for a quick second and was super excited to see about half of the pack still coming around the last buoy.

So, I sprinted into transition and had a good T1 before I headed out on the bike, knowing that I would most likely have a pack to work with after a lap or so on the bike. And that is exactly what happened. After about a lap, a group of six girls caught me on the technical part of the loop heading down into transition. The bike consisted of 8 loops of 5k each, and each time we had to pass through transition and over timing mats. As the group passed me, I looked for a place to settle in and eventually had to take the last wheel as there were no gaps in the group. As I latched onto the last girl's wheel she started to overturn the corner and had to end up braking to make the turn. This lost us the pack. We both sprinted out of the saddle for about 15 seconds trying to catch up. She was able to catch them after about 10 seconds. As hard as I tried, I didn't have enough power to catch them. So, for about half a lap I rode with the pack about 5 seconds ahead of me. No matter how many surges I threw in, I wasn't able to catch them. Over the next couple of laps, the pack was gaining about 20 seconds per lap on me. Then, after 4 laps, I realized the lead pack of girls were gaining quickly on me. I held them off for six laps, until they lapped me. It is a rule in ITU competitions that if you get lapped, you're out. So, my day was done. I was very disappointed as this is only the 2nd race I've ever DNF'ed (besides a race my junior year of high school where I crashed my bike and injured my arm and carbon frame), so I'm not used to the feeling of just quitting. I know I am in better shape than I was last year at this time, but that breakthrough race can't come soon enough. One more race to go for the year so stay tuned..
~AHahn

Countdown to Nationals!

2008-09-16T18:26:00.000-04:00

4 days and counting until Pro Nationals! This is like the US Open in golf, the Kentucky Derby in horse racing, the Daytona 500 in NASCAR ( you get the picture). This is probably my biggest race of the year since I'm not partaking in any WC (World Cup) events this year and also my first draft legal race of the year.

I leave on Thursday for Portland so that I have enough time to scope out the course and swim/bike/run on it a couple of times before race day rolls around. Friday is the pro pre-race meeting where I will be able to see just how many women will be in the field. From the website, it looks to be a pretty sizable field but you never know until the day before who will actually show up since some register for races months in advance. For this race, I am competing in the under 23 age group which starts at the same time as the rest of the pro women.

This week has been a rest week in which I've significantly dropped my volume. So, for example, I usually bike 2 hours on a Tuesday but on a recovery week Tuesday I bike for only an hour and fifteen minutes. Hopefully it will provide me with that extra spark I need come Saturday at noon. Check back for a race update early next week.

~AHahn

Realizations

2008-09-11T20:56:00.001-04:00

During the short time I've been in Colorado, I've come to a couple of realizations.

A) My car will never be clean. No matter how many times I wash it, the dust and rocks will always find their way to my car, giving it that rugged outdoorsy look.
B) On my easy spin days on my bike, I may get passed by mountain bikers. Enough said.
C)There are people 2-3 times my age (males and females) in Boulder who are just as fit/fast as me. See description for B.
D) High school football games are played on Saturday mornings. I found this one out the hard way last Saturday when I was searching for a high school track to do my track workout on. This was a shock to me because in Florida (where football is so huge), high school games are played Friday night so that the HS players can attend the college games on Saturdays.
E)Do NOT trust weather.com. The weather can change at the drop of a hat. A nice sunny with a high of 75 day can quickly turn into a 45 degree windstorm so I must always be prepared.
And last but certainly not least...
F) The "Cheese" Effect. You know how someone says "cheese" right before they take a picture and the parties being photographed have that goofy smile? That's the kind of smile I've unconsciously had on my face many days while training here. I just can't help it! :)

There's not too much else to write about for now. Right now I'm starting to wind down towards my taper week next week for nationals.
~AHahn

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2008-09-03T15:31:00.006-04:00

Fat tire division for me? Maybe someday....

If you look really close, you can see the elk

After running the gorgeous trail in Nederland

As I mentioned in the previous post, my amazing parents drove my car all the way across the country for me. After they finished the journey, they stayed with me in Colorado for a couple of days before they flew back to Florida. So, while they were here, I had to get all of my training in and entertain them at the same time. It worked out perfectly because they wanted to see the mountains and I needed mountains to bike/run up. On Thursday, in between house and job hunting, I took them up to a trail called Caribou Ranch in the town of Nederland (not too far from Boulder). I've only been to this trail twice but it is already becoming one of my favorites because of the changes in scenery (from forest to wide open space with flowers) along the way.

On Friday, I had a little bit of a lighter day training-wise and we were able to go to Estes Park, about an hour drive from where I'm staying right now. Estes Park is the name of the town and within it is the Rocky Mountain National Park. If you are at all interested in nature/wildlife I highly recommend going (2 thumbs up). Because the park is a vast expanse, there are maps and signs within the park to guide you where to stop and take pictures or where to look for certain animals. My favorite spot was one where you had to look straight up a cliff to see elk blending themselves into the pine trees. :) After a great dinner at Grub Steak in downtown Estes Park and some homemade ice cream (there was 7 shops within a block so clearly it was a sign to stop), we called it a night. That's basically all the excitement from last week. Since then, I've been...you guessed it...training! Nationals is approaching fast, but more on that later!

~AHahn

Chicago Tri Update

2008-08-29T00:04:00.003-04:00

Deep water. Run-in. Dive. There are three different types of starts to a triathlon and this is just one of the aspects of the sport that keeps it interesting. This past Sunday in the Accenture Chicago Triathlon I got to experience a deep water start for the first time in quite a while. It's actually sort of a rush- you float in the water while sculling for a couple of seconds and then the starting horn sounds. After a minor injury kept me out of the pool for a week prior to the race, I was pretty pleased with my swim time in the race. I was able to swim with a pack of about 5 girls and was able to draft almost the entire way (which helps out a bunch).

After about a 600 meter run from the swim exit to transition, I hopped on my bike and headed out to start the 40 kilometer bike loop on Lakeshore Drive. It was a picturesque setting with the buildings of the big city in the background, however, I paid them no attention as I had to concentrate on maintaining the highest speed possible while still avoiding the many potholes out on the course. I came off the bike in 15th place and knew that I would have to chase on the run (which is usually the case) to reach my goal of top 10. I was able to pick off one girl in the first mile and would only pass one other competitor in the race, right at the 5 mile marker. I ended up 13th place in a field stacked with former Olympians, 2008 Beijing Olympic alternates, Ironman World Champions, etc. I was pleased with my performance, but realize that I still have lots and lots of work to do before I can do only triathlons for a living... until then, back to the drawing board!

I'd like to send a huge THANK YOU out to:
A) My parents, for driving my car all the way across the country to Colorado so that I don't have to bum rides off my friends
B) My Aunt Deb and Uncle Bob for being my homestay for the Chicago race
C) My roomie in college and her parents for housing me while I finalize a place to live in Boulder
I truly am blessed by the support crew of family(parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) and friends I have around me. I love you all so much!!

Windy City Bound!

2008-08-21T00:42:00.003-04:00

The Olympic rings, a popular camera spot for tourists at the OTC

Alright...so I know I haven't updated this thing in awhile... but there's a method to my madness. To tell you the truth, since the Olympics have been on I have been trying to avoid technology(especially the internet) as much as possible. Why you may ask? The answer: every website wants to tell you the results of the Olympic events which I don't get to watch until I see the "live" (aka it was live for someone in the world watching it just not Colorado)broadcast at 8pm. Since I didn't want to spoil the results, I have spent a lot of my time between training by catching up on some good books I snagged from the OTC (Olympic Training Center) library and working on some stories of my own. :)

Monday was the last day of training camp at the OTC and honestly, I was sad to see it come to an end. Although all weekend Colorado Springs was bombarded with rain showers and frigid temperatures (there was SNOW on the mountains), I was able to make it out for a solo bike ride early Sunday morning and take in all the natural beauty of Colorado Springs one more time before I headed out. I really enjoyed the experience as a whole and the group of people I trained with and firmly believe that you will see some of the people I trained with in 2012 in London.

Tomorrow I head out to race in my favorite big city in America: Chicago! This is my 2nd pro race of the year and also the 2nd race I've done in the Lifetime Fitness Series. I am excited to see what the training at altitude will do for me. Hopefully I'll feel like I'm running with an oxygen mask on the last leg. The race is Sunday morning, 11:04 am. Check back soon for a full race report!
*** Congrats to all my Seminole teammates competing in the Beijing Olympics!***
~AHahn

Photos from CO Springs

2008-08-14T13:58:00.005-04:00

The gorgeous view I see every morning walking across the street from the OTC dorms to the cafeteria :)

L to R: Jessica Broderick, Me, and Lauren Goldstein-Kral exploring the "garden"

Garden of the Gods in the background

The Olympics= Now!

2008-08-08T18:15:00.004-04:00

A view from outside the OTC Athlete Center

I've been at the Olympic Training Center for a little over a week now and am finally acclimating to the altitude in Colorado Springs. This past week has definitely been a productive one, as I've had a schedule jam packed with training, lectures, meetings with coaches, and recovery(stretching, ice baths,etc). Overall, it's been an amazing experience. The group has been educated on everything from swim technique to proper nutrition to how to read our lactate threshold tests (which help determine which heart rate zones we should be training in).

Another high point of the week was the amazing routes we biked and the views once we biked up certain hills and mountains. My favorite ride of the week was through the Garden of the Gods, a park filled with breathtaking rock formations, just one of nature's masterpieces in Colorado Springs. Hopefully I'll get to take some pictures there before I leave Colorado Springs...

On another note, I can't believe the Olympics start today! It seems like just yesterday I was in Athens, Greece, participating in the Olympic Youth Camp in 2004. And although the Olympics are the big event, I want to encourage everyone to also watch the Paralympic Games(also taking place in Beijing). It didn't take me long to train beside the paralympians to realize something: they are AMAZING! I feel that the amount of time and dedication they must put into their individual sport is the same if not more than Olympic athletes and I respect the amount of skill and coordination they must have to maneuver their bodies around.

Well, it's time to do a short stretch cords workout (for swim strength) to end the day. More to come soon!
~AHahn

Every New Beginning...

2008-07-31T10:52:00.002-04:00

...comes from some other beginning's end. Tuesday I left behind the heat and humidity of Florida that I have come to know so well for 22 years for the heat and altitude in Colorado. A change of locale is always good to mix up the training and keep the mind focused.
I am heading out to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs today to get in a couple weeks of quality training out there before I permanently move out to Boulder. It should be a great couple of weeks because the way the center is setup, all the athlete has to worry about is training. Meals and lodging are provided to each athlete and the sports medicine staff is great in dealing with injury prevention/recovery so that each athlete is able to train up to their individual potential.
In other news, I am old! Someone please tell me the perks of being 22?...
~AHahn

My Sister's Keeper!

2008-07-25T16:04:00.002-04:00

I am so excited...I just found out that one of my favorite books of all-time, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, is being made into a movie! If the movie is anything like the novel, it will be a must-see. You can be assured I will be there opening night whenever it is released in 2009. :) To learn more about the movie, go to: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1078588/
That's all the news for now... more to come soon!
~AHahn

A mixed bag of apples...

2008-07-23T15:46:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I raced the Nautica New York City Triathlon this past weekend. Before I tell you about my race, I must say that triathlon has come a long way since I first started competing back when I was 8 and has even made strides since the early 2000's. Back then, I would travel to a race and everyone would look at me standing in airport with my bike box as if I was carrying some explosive that just happened to have a Lance Armstrong Foundation and USA Triathlon sticker on it. However, this weekend, it seemed that many had an idea of why I would be carrying a bike on a plane and had either heard of or competed in a triathlon. That just made me smile!

When I arrived to the race expo Saturday at the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan, the place was swarming with carbon fiber bikes. Not only is New York City a melting pot, so is the New York City Triathlon. The over 4500 participants in this race came from 49 different states and 23 different countries to compete in the triathlon! Again, triathlon is making progress! After picking up my packet and attending the pre-race meeting, I went with my family to a locally owned Italian restaurant(very good) and called it a night around 8:30.

The next morning, I woke up at 3am to begin my pre-race routine. I jogged around the block of my hotel for 15 minutes and then went back to my room to eat a quick bagel and banana breakfast and grab my racing backpack. Since there was no way my bike was fitting in a cab and I needed the bike warmup anyways, I biked from my hotel to Broadway St., took a right turn and headed towards the transition area at Riverside Park. While biking there, I saw David Letterman leaving his studio (4:30 am now) and a bunch of people waiting in line outside the Apple store (I'm guessing for the new Iphone?).

I got into transition and realized that they had placed the numbers on the bike racks extremely close together, and just in the time I was in there, my shoes and helmet were knocked around. So, being on the cautious side I waited a little and watched my equipment in transition to make sure my helmet and sunglasses weren't knocked off my handlebars and that I wouldn't have to go searching for them after the swim. Bad move #1. Then, I headed to the bathroom line at 5:10, 43 minutes before my wave started. I waited there for 25 minutes, checking my watch every minute or so and getting anxious. Bad move #2.Then, I sprinted down to the swim start which was a mile away from transition. What I hadn't planned was that the only way to get there was on a narrow path crammed with the other 4500 participants walking down the path because their waves didn't start for awhile. After a bunch of weaving and "pardon me"s, I was about 100 meters from the diving platform for the start when I heard the horn go off for the pro women, my wave. Flipping out, I ran to the tent where we had to drop off clothing to be taken to the finish line and then headed down to the dock, asking what I should do. The race director said the best thing to do would be to start with the Elite Age Group wave which followed the pro women.

So, that is exactly what I did...because of the almost 100 elite age groupers I was forced to start in the 3rd row back and jump in off the platform instead of dive. The first 5 minutes or so of the swim was a wrestling match with the Elite Age Group men as I tried to muscle my way through and around them. I was at a little bit of a disadvantage though, because while the elites were allowed to wear wetsuits, pros abide by different rules and therefore, the water was not cold enough for us to use them in this particular race. After about 5 minutes I was able to break free and find a little bit of open water to swim in. Then, a couple minutes later as I was swimming along, I felt something clinging to my arm. When I tried to fling it off, I felt like I got whipped in the face. It turns out, jellyfish season started earlier than normal this year in New York and in the Hudson River... the rest of the swim was kind of painful with the jellyfish sting but I was trying to remain focused on keeping at the front of the pack of my wave. I exited the water with the leaders and used a long run to transition to pass a couple of people.

When I hopped on my bike, I used the first couple of miles to get my breathing under control and settle into a steady pace. Then, after about 3 miles, I decided to start hammering a bit. I knew that coming back would be more downhill than going out and I wanted to have a good pace going out. There were a couple of Elite Age Group men that passed me and since my drafting rules state that I have to stagger from the biker in front of me and theirs state that they have to stay to the right, pass on the left, there was some problems, mostly me just being extra sure I was outside the drafting zone so I didn't get stopped for a penalty. With about 5 miles to go in the bike, my legs felt fatigued and I had to fight to keep my cadence.

But soon enough, I was onto the run. For the start of the run, we exited Riverside Park onto 79th street and ran over into West Central Park. As I crossed over 79th street, the street was packed with people sitting outside of cafes cheering on the racers, a greatly needed boost. It took about a mile and a half to get my legs under me and then I was able to pick up the pace a little. I came through the 5k in around 18:25 and tried to keep that cadence for the remainder of the run through Central Park. Running has always been the portion of the race where I try to chase down as many people as possible and since there were no pro women in sight, I decided to just try to pick off as many people as possible and to not let anyone pass me (which I was able to do). I crossed the finish line in 2:14:22 , just 2 seconds behind Andy Baldwin (The Bachelor Season 10 ) with a 9th place finish and mixed emotions. I was very embarrassed and a little disheartened that I missed the start of my race, but I was very pleased overall with the effort I gave. I guess I'll put this one down as a learning experience. I don't race again for another month so, until then, I'll just have to keep my chin up and wheels spinning.
~AHahn

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

2008-07-16T20:29:00.003-04:00

Throughout the week, I have been researching logistics for my race in New York City on Sunday morning. But one aspect of the race caught my attention right away- the start time. The pro women go off in the 2nd wave...3 minutes after the pro men....at 5:53 AM (this is not a typo)! This is by far the earliest I've ever started a race. Because of the start time, I will set a 3AM alarm clock so that I have enough time to eat breakfast, digest it, do my pre-race warm ups, and make sure I have enough time to get from my hotel to transition and the swim start without rushing around.

This race is an olympic distance race, however, is unlike most of the other races I compete in. It is not an ITU (International Triathlon Union) race and therefore, is not draft legal. That being said, the race is more like a time trial of all three disciplines. Normally, in draft legal races I am able to work with a pack on the bike to conserve energy for the run, but on Sunday, I will be giving it my all on every discipline. I have two more days of training in Florida before I head out to NYC Friday morning. Positive thoughts and prayers are always appreciated!
~AHahn

From Workouts to Weddings

2008-07-14T19:59:00.003-04:00

Every once in a blue moon comes a day when I get to trade in my bike shoes for high heels and the smell of chlorine for the smell of perfume. This past weekend was one of those times as I headed down to Atlanta to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's (Tina) wedding. Tina is one of the strongest people I have met (both mentally and physically) and I am so excited that she is now hitched to the man of her dreams! The entire event was absolutely perfect. It was held outside of an antique house (Houston Mill House) in a garden setting and, although it had rained every other day last week, there was not a dark cloud in the sky on July 12th. After the reception, we moved inside the Mill House for dinner and dancing for the remainder of the night. Since both the bride and groom are runners, most of the guests were members of the Florida State (my alma mater) Cross Country/Track team. It was exciting to see everyone and catch up one last time before I move out of Florida in a couple of weeks. Now, back to training!
Cheers!
AHahn

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return" ~Eden Ahbez

Racing Update

2008-07-13T20:02:00.003-04:00

Last weekend (July 5th) I wrapped up the sprint triathlon portion of my racing season at the Crystal River Sprint Triathlon in Crystal River, Florida. As I have come to learn with any race, I cannot expect everything to go as perfectly as I would like. While I was making my usual race day preparations on July 4th (getting my racing gear together and testing out my Zipp wheels on my bike),the brake cables on the bike snapped, leaving me panicked and wondering what to do for my race in less than 12 hours. Brakes are kind of a necessity! Since it was July 4th and all of the bike shops were closed for the holiday, I decided to race on the bike that had been sitting in my garage for about 2 years and hadn't been raced on since the beginning of 2006. Because this bike had a different cassette on it, I was unable to switch my Zipp racing wheels onto it, so I raced with my training wheels. Not really knowing what to expect from the race, I went in with the mindset that I would take this as a challenge to have a fast bike split with average equipment.

The result: my fastest bike split of the year! I averaged almost 22 miles per hour on the 15 mile out and back bike course and was able to pair that with decent swim and run splits to win the women's overall title and set a new course record! This was definitely a confidence booster for the racing season ahead of me. As my former cross country coach would say, "You have put in the work, now it's time to go get the paycheck."

Now that my sprint season is over, I am moving up to olympic distance triathlons, starting with the Nautica NYC triathlon next weekend in New York. More to come on that race soon!

Welcome!

2008-07-09T23:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings! Whether you are a family member, friend, or just happened to stumble upon my blog, I'd like to welcome you! Lao Tzu, a well known philosopher in ancient China said that "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." For me, this post is the the first of what I hope will be many posts, providing some insight into the life of a second year professional triathlete racing on the ITU circuit. I invite you to come along for the journey...more to come soon!