On The Water

After almost two years of just swimming and biking, I started running again at the end of February, 2015. I had then finished my physical therapy program that took up nearly 8 months and I could run pain free the majority of the times. I went on to win the SouthEast Duathlon Regional Championships in April and I even started putting in the mix a couple of local off-road triathlon races - just to see where I was at - and everything seemed to be rolling as planned. I even threw in some interval sessions and, towards the end of the first half of the season, I was hoping to race pain free at the Xterra off-road SE regionals. Although I had not been training to perform at that race, I knew that if I would just run without any pain in my abdominal muscles (see New 2015 season - racing pain free ) , I had a chance to podium. The first two women qualify for the Xterra Worlds, the rest - rolling down to 18 - get a ticket to the ITU off-road Worlds. There was no real pressure, but if podium ha...

I am really excited to finally experience an Xterra off-road triathlon in the SouthEast! Coming from the road triathlon scene, I was really disappointed to realize how few racing options are available for off-road triathlons compared to the road triathlons! I would say that the Xterra Tiger is a great welcoming race to make this gap a little smaller! Located at the Chewacla State Park in Auburn, AL, the Xterra Tiger is a sprint off-road triathlon race that has it all: excellent timing for a first tri of the year (right at the beginning of the season), easy drive to the venue (from AL or GA), plenty of parking space and friendly people! The race itself consisted of a refreshing 1/2mi swim (I really think it was a little longer than 1/2mi though), and a truly amazing 10mi mountain bike loop that is fast and flow-y, quite rocky and with sharp turns but not particularly technical. The trails are fast and furious packed with a lot of fun! The 5k run (also a little longer than 5k) is ar...

When it comes to picking up the right mountain bike, things can get complicated. Especially for female riders, who tend to have shorter torso and longer legs (opposite to the male anatomy), choosing a mountain bike with female-specific geometry is paramount. Mountain biking challenges your body in multiple and different ways compared to road biking. Road biking sets your body in a more-or-less single position with a couple of options setting your hands in the hoods or drops and perhaps getting off the saddle on hills and sprints. Mountain biking on the other hand, requires constant, multiple-angled positions, riding on the tip of the saddle or far back off the saddle, climbing leaning forwards or descending leaning backwards. Therefore, for us all female riders, for better positioning, more efficient and fun riding, less muscle fatigue and injuries, it is crucial to chose a mountain bike company that truly designs frames with a female anatomy in mind. The first company tha...

My new season is slowly getting into a proper routine of training and preparing for 2015. My dear Lord, it has been a long two-year anticipation of trying to resolve my abdominal pain mystery (see Shaping up for 2015 ). I am really excited to have that finally under control and be able to work around it, train successfully and plan for the upcoming months. I have been working on my swimming technique (see The path to becoming a more efficient swimmer ) and I have also been putting long miles on the bike. My running is still at a base-line as I only started running again a month ago. I have had some test-fitness races earlier this month. These races showed that my fitness is at a good level, both endurance-wise (3rd at the first round of the southeast endurance 6hr solo mtb cup) and speed-wise (3rd at the annual 11mi Cumming TundraTT). Cumming Tundra TT podium South-East Championships (round#1)  6hr solo mtb podium For the coming months, the plan includes a gradual...

I am a triathlete. I did not grow up swimming. Sounds familiar? This is me as this is with a lot of triathletes out there. I never really paid attention during the first year of training and racing-I just practiced and practiced and practiced. My 2011-2012 season showed that I could have some potential in triathlons but it ended prematurely (due to a deep abdominal pain) with my 4th finish at the Collegiate Nationals ( Lili 2011-2012 racing season ). I was hit with and unknown injury (see An unknown injury ) and as a result, I lost the two following seasons trying to resolve my problem. During these seasons, I could not run as much or as fast as I wanted because I was constantly in pain. The good thing though was that I could focus on my swim and on the bike (see How I trained through my injury  and  Swimming technique facts ). With Mike Cantrell The "junk" swim miles got substituted this year with real technique work under the supervision of my husband, who is al...

It has been a long time. I could not run pain free for almost 2 years. I went through exams and numerous doctoral visits ( An unknown injury ). I thought I got it under control last year with the weekly visits to a great massage therapist ( Who is Nathan Henderson? ), yet I was not completely pain free. This is because the massage was really treating the symptoms and not the cause. I never gave up hopes though. In July 2014 I got this little demon right ( My abdominal pain ,  Posterior Mediastinal Expansion ). At the Cantrell Center , I started a series of physical therapy to correct my muscoloskeletal diaphragmatic and pelvic imbalances. To tell you the truth, I did not have high hopes in the program back then. I have now. I have been running pain free for a month. I started with 20min runs every other day and I can now put up with a long run of 45min - what a joy! I can fully breath from my right diaphragm, which was awfully atrophic, and most importantly, I can somehow r...

CycleOps has been the leader in cycling indoor solutions for so many years. The company got acquired by Saris (famous for their bike racks) in 1999, and since then, Saris has brought CycleOps to the next level! Not much to tell about the science, the superb quality, the lifetime warranty, the great functionality and the awesome looks of all CycleOps products! I am fortunate to train in one of their best products, the CycleOps SuperMagneto Pro. I have used the trainer during the winter mostly but also during the season for more controlled interval workouts and power tests ( quick indoor workout , power test ). The SuperMagneto Pro belongs to the Pro-series of the brand featuring ultra-quiet progressive magnetic resistance to simulate the feel of open road cycling. The coolest feature (and one of the differences compared to the the Magneto trainer) is the four resistance settings (easy spin, open road, intervals, mountain) that make your workouts really count! The unit is super...