No More Club Swimming

I have officially stopped swimming with my club team. I just couldn't handle all the stress of high school, and swimming combined! I know it sounds lame, but it is so true. But I haven't given swimming up completely. I am still swimming for my high school's team. Well, kind of. The season is about to end, as of today. But, yesterday was the prelims of the regionals meet, and today I have finals. I made it to finals in all the events that I swam in prelims, including the 500 freestyle, the 200 freestyle, and the 4 by 100 freestyle relay.

My time in the 200 freestyle was a 2:19 which isn't a best time, so today in finals I am hoping to drop a second or two. Then in the 500 I went a 6:12 and my 50 splits were 32 seconds, 34 seconds, 36 seconds, and then I held a 38 for the rest of my swim. Today I want to get under a 6:10, which means that I have to be more consistent throughout the whole race.

Because I quit swimming, I want to try crew. I have tried one practice on the machine, and the coach told me that I was a natural. I hope he doesn't change his mind later in the season ;)!

Have a great Valentines weekend!!

I have the slowest tempo in the history of swimming

The other day I made back to swim practice, and I have been going at least four times a week. Practices only are and hour and a half, and we have a thirty-minute dry land before practice starts. These dry lands are getting the best of me, because the only dry land things that I can do are…. the handstand, jump ropes, and jumping jacks. Everything else works on my core, and I literally fall over every time I am doing the exercise.

As most of you know, I am a long distance swimmer. As most of you need to know, I have the slowest tempo in the history of swimming. And my coach lets me, and my teammates know this fact. Every. Single. Day. I am not kidding. Sometimes Coach is nice about it and just says something when most of the other swimmers are already off the wall like,

Good tempo Chloe, but I know that isn’t your fastest.

And other times, when I don’t get so lucky she announces it loud and clear in front of the ENTIRE pre-senior group, like this,

CHLOE!! What do you think you are doing?? This is a sprint set, not a warm down!!

And other times when the whole team is sitting on the wall after a long workout Coach Dana says something like this,

CHLOE!! Do you see everyone else? They are breathing hard! Are you? I don’t think so? When you push hard, you breathe hard.

When she says the last thing I mentioned, I get so mad! I don’t know why, but this one bothers me the best. I think it is because she isn’t focusing on my stroke technique, but just looking at my breathing patterns. But who knows?

School is going well, I just got a 90 on my math test, and I was so happy! I have an 89.45 in the class, and this will bring my grade up to an A, finally. The school I am in now is so much more challenging than my last school, but I have all As and Bs. My lowest grade is in Biology, and I am working so hard to bring it up!

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good week! Thanks for reading

Back And Ready To Swim

I have some sad news..

I can no longer walk out my door and enjoy and open water swim. I just moved to Kentucky.

Anyway, I am very excited to be living here, because the swim team here is amazing! Also, my school has a swim team, and my goal for this year is to win the MVP award. I know I am aiming high for a freshman, but I think if i try hard enough I can do it.

I just started back swimming, and the night after my first night back my english teacher told us to write about an embarrassing thing that happened to us. I decided to write about my first day back to swimming up here in Kentucky. Here is the story if you are interested.....

I hopped into the third lane at the St. Xavier pool thinking that I was going to accomplish something amazing on my first day back to swimming in a little less than a year. I was going to show the other swimmers that were in shape how fast us “Florida Girls” really are. I jumped in, and I was ready to swim my first warm up – 300 meters freestyle – as fast as I could, and I was going to keep the pace for the rest of practice. As I finished the warm up I was a little out of breath, but I covered it up by floating with my face in the water so no one could tell that I “actually tried” only after the first set. Next, were seven 100s, odds were freestyle, evens IM. I knew I wasn’t going to make it very far let alone fast with this, but I was determined to not let anyone know. When I got to the third 100 my arms started getting shaky, I had the worst foot cramps, and I knew that my dinner would be floating in front of me in any second. As I looked at the clock to see that I was 30 seconds behind what I should have been, the coach screamed my name, as if I was a dreaded disease and said, “Chloe how out of shape do you feel?”

I responded with out even digesting the question, “Badly”, I said.

My answer didn’t even make since. How embarrassing! As I was still overcoming all the embarrassment that I had already caused myself, the coach told me to move down a lane. Moving down a lane is the biggest insult to any swimmer. It is almost as embarrassing as wetting the bed, when having a sleepover with all of your friends. I knew right then that I didn’t belong in the “fast people lane”. I had caused myself pure embarrassment during the first practice, and I am still debating whether or not I want to go today. I tell my mom that I don’t feel well, and I have homework in every class. I tell her everything that could possibly be wrong with me so I don’t have to cause my self anymore pain, mentally and physically. It shouldn’t be like this, but unfortunately it is. Embarrassment happens to everyone, and we all get over it sooner or later. As for now, I am going to flip a coin to see if I will be attending swim practice this afternoon.

Thanks for reading!!

Interview

Hi guys! I just recently got an e-mail from Sara Landolt, who is from http://www.ironmakeover.blogspot.com. She writes encouragements from triathletes on her blog, and she is also working on a non-fiction book. Ms. Sara was nice enough to ask me if she could ask me (haha double ask me) a few questions. I of course said yes, and I thought that this would be a cool way to get back into blogging. So here we go. I will try not to be to boring!

Here are some questions just for me..

Question #1

Have most/many of your friends heard of triathlon? What do they think? Would they try it or have they? Even a relay to start? If not, what do you think is holding people back?

I think most of my friends have heard of triathlons, mostly because down here on the panhandle we have a TON of races, from the IronMan Florida to the Crab Trap race. I think most of them think I am crazy for doing these races, but I also think most of them are willing to try one. Off the top of my head I can think of two friends that did a tri. They really enjoyed it, but I think that the swim freaks them out. I also think that the swim holds most people back. Also, I think the thought of training for the different race at one time scares some of my friends away.

Question #2

As a teen triathlete, what's the greatest need you see in triathlon-related youth/teen resources? What would you like to know more about etc? The youth/teen tri market is a huge area of growth right now!

As a teen triathletes the greatest need I see in triathlon-related kids resources would have to be that there is not enough advertising. I mean seriously, have you ever seen a kids’ ad in a triathlon magazine? I think not. I think some kids think that these races are just for adults, which really disappoints me especially with the obesity problem. I think that more races should be made for just teens or for just kids that are more than just one or two laps in the pool, 2-mile bike, and .5 mile run. There really aren’t enough. Last year I did the NYC Tri, and I was in a 24-an under age group. As a 13 year-old. What is the possibility of me placing in something like that? I would like to know more about what I should eat before and during races, besides reading a 200 page book about Triathlons for Idiots.. ;)

Question #3

Do you think you'll keep doing triathlons post High School, College, in the future?

If so, why?

For sure, I definitely don’t think that I will stop doing triathlons. If you love something, then why stop?

Question #4

Do you know any teen celebrities that do triathlons?

Ha if anyone does puh-lease let me know, but I think all those Hollywood people are afraid to break a nail, or break a sweat.

Normal Questions.

Question #5

How has training impacted your life?

Training has helped keep me in shape, as well as in shape for other sports. Like training fro cross-country helped keep me in shape for swimming. It also gets my endorphins going so that I am in a better mood, and more focused.

Question #6

How do your friends or family members support you during training and on race day.

My parents actually train with me, so there is no backing down; they also do the races with me. It usually turns out to be a competition. Competitive family, right?

Question #7

Describe as openly as possible a low moment in training or racing and then please describe one of the high/best moments in training or racing.

My lowest moment in racing would definitely have to be the first race that I didn’t finish. It was IronGirl race, and I was so excited to be a part of it. There were actually other girls in my age group which was a big plus. I think I ate something bad the day before the race, and my stomach was a big mess. I had to stop on mile 18 of the bike, and I tried to call my dad (but being him, didn’t answer) a van came to pick me up, and brought me back to the hotel room to recover. I unfortunately had to drop out of the race.

The best moments of racing would have to be when I did the NYC triathlon. I was the youngest person to ever complete the race. The whole time I was thinking I HAD to finish or else any other person under a certain age wouldn’t be allowed to enter the race. So the whole time I kept saying I have to finish I have to finish. So when I did finish I felt so good!

Question #8

Please share your top 3 tips for a triathlete in training.

Please describe something technical (a skill or workout etc) that confused you when you were new to triathlon.

OK, my number one tip is to wake up an hour or so before the race that morning and go to the bathroom (you know what I mean ;) ). There is nothing worse than standing in line for the porta-potties when you are already nervouse, and also need to set up your transition area. If it helps you, then eat an apple at lunch time the day before the race!

I guess I am just doing helpful hints for the race day, I hope that works for the question!

Number two would have to be that you have trained in what you are going to wear on race day. Getting chafed is absolutely the worst thing! Make sure is doesn’t happen to you!

Number three, make sure your brakes are not on before you start biking! One of my mom’s friends just couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t going the speed she normally was going. Later that day she found you that her brakes were pressing down on her tire the whole entire race… she was doing an IronMan too!!

Question #9

Define the word athlete. Are you one? Describe your strengths as an athlete.

Athlete- somebody who loves the sport they are doing, and does it often.

I would have to say that most of the time I am , but I can’t say that I do triathlons often. I usually take a break somewhere in the year..

My strengths as an athlete would have to be that I only do I sport if I love it, if I don’t then I don’t do it.. which helps me to be an athlete.

Question #10

How do you preserve and document your training and race-day experience?

Ex: Good luck cards? Race day signs? Group t-shirts? Do you write a race report, write a blog post, facebook update, or create a scrapbook page? What tips make your post-race report/documentation most useful or meaningful?

I keep evey single one of the trophies that I get, and also the necklaces with the medal on them. I also like to get pictures that mean a lot to me. I also keep all the race shirts that I get, and write a blog post!

Question #11

Training and race photos: Describe your satisfaction with professional race-day photos and family/friend photos from training or race-day events. What’s the photo you wish you had from training or racing? What tips do you have to improve your training/racing photo memories?

I once got a picture of me surrounded by huge buff men coming out of the water, and that is my favorite picture that I have ever gotten! I really don’t like having pictures with just me in them, I think what makes a race is having all the support from the other racers, so I do like to see them in my pictures. When I got out of Lake Ponchentrain (spelling?) in New Orleans, I had green gunk all over my face. My mom and I were doing a realy, and she refused to kiss my good luck because my face was too gross. I wsh I had a picture of her face and my face J.

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading. I hope I didn’t bore you guys to death ;)

Spring Break 20 10

I say SPRING you say BREAK

SPRING

BREAK

SPRING

BREAK

I think spring break is one of my favorite breaks during the year, because it is finally getting warm outside after a long winter, and we haven’t had a long break since Christmas. This year for the break we had some friends come in town from Atlanta. They are the nicest family, and I am so glad that they are staying in our neighborhood. In fact, they are so close if I whisper they can hear us.

In my last post I mentioned applying for two jobs, and it turns out that I got them. That’s right I got them both. It turns out they are owned by the same woman, and I got the job in the T-shirt store, but I am going to switch off in between the T-shirt store, and the beach and surf store. One of my best friends also got the job with me, so I am very excited. And everyone is just so nice! I got very lucky.

Golf tryouts are not this coming Tuesday, but the next. I found out that only 6 of the 13 girls trying out will make the team. I guess it will be nice for those who make the team, because they will get extra attention, but for those who haven’t been practicing *cough me cough. * I guess I am just going to have to practice over spring break J.

I stil haven’t found a camera, so, once again, if you have ANY suggestions let me know. I was thinking about getting the Canon Rebel XSi, but just randomly (after we visted Best Buy, and looked online for cameras) my mom remembered that she still had some lenses from a Nikon camera, so I think that I am going to have to look at Nikons!

Currently I am reading "Age Is Just A Number" by Dara Torres, and it is an AWESOME book! Definitely try it out if you are looking for some inspiring non-fiction!!

Happy Easter/ Passover ya’ll!

I'm Still Here.

Hello! I have once again been out of the blogging world for a long, long time! My triathlon life has been put to a pause in my life recently, because my mom put down a “no race rule” for a while. I have also stopped swimming on the swim team for one to two months, so that I can focus on tennis and golf. I have also been saving up for a SLR camera, and if you have any suggestions for one for me please let me know! I am also trying to get a job in one of the stores down the street from me, and I applied for two over the weekend, so I hope the economy doesn’t take a toll on me ;) . As most of you know, I am in the 8^th grade. That means that next year I will be starting high school. There are two high schools that I am thinking about, and one of them has a collegiate program, which I applied for and got in, so I most likely will end up going there.

I am now playing tennis on my school’s team. When I first started the coaches ranked me number one. I was so so so excited that they placed me as number one, because hadn’t had any practice since last year. I am now ranked as number three, because you can challenge the person ahead of you, and if you beat them in a match, then you get to switch places with them. Unfortunately it happened twice to me. Hopefully next time I will come back. Golf season will be starting soon, and I can’t wait! Golf is super fun, because most of my friends play on the team, and also before practice we sit in the club and get a snack. Sitting around eating an after school snack probably doesn’t sound like the highlight of practice, but you have to remember that we are teenagers J.

Lately I have been babysitting, and all the money that I make while babysitting goes toward my camera fund. I love taking pictures of everything. I definitely want a “serious camera” aka an SLR, but I am having the hardest time picking one out!! If you have any suggestions at all please please let me know what you think would be a good one! I love the colors in pictures, but I also want an easy to use camera!

Hopefully a new post won’t be such a rare thing anymore!

Thanks for reading!

Thanksgiving Week

Hey everybody!

I know it has been forever since Thanksgiving, but this is the first time I have sat down to write a blog post.

Over thanksgiving break, I went up to my grandparents house. We had the best time!! The first day we didn’t do much besides eat dinner, and play with my 2 cousins that are my age. ( I have 7 cousins in all).

The next day we went to the hospital that my grandfather works at to get a blood test for my brother Reis. Let me tell you that he is NOT good with shots. The whole week before we went up there he was making himself crazy thinking about getting a shot. He needed to take a shot because he has been coughing every night, and it is a super super bad cough. We think that he might be allergic to peanut butter, but have no idea. He got the shot after many breakdowns, but he did get the shot. Later that day I went shopping with my two cousins around my age. Who knew that two days before Black Friday the mall would be so crowded. We were hoping that everyone would wait until Friday to go shopping, but I guess everyone was thinking the same thing. It took us half an hour just to get into the parking lot, but once we got in it wasn’t crowded any more.

Thanksgiving day. The morning of Thanksgiving there was a 10k and one mile fun run near my grandparents house. I did the one mile fun run, because I wanted to see if I could get under an 8 minute mile. My mom, dad, aunts, and uncles ran the 10k, and almost all of my cousins did the one mile fun run. Like I said, my goal was to do under 8 minute miles, and my brothers goal was to run faster than me. What a brother! The morning of the race was FREEZING, but I still met my goal by 40 seconds with a time of 7:20!!! That was my best mile time that I have ever done, and I was so happy J . my brother got his goal with a 7:09, and my cousins got… Jake who is 10 years old came in third over all for the turkey run, he ran a 6 something!! Illan got a 7:06 I think, and Kylie who is 7 got a 9:45!! I was so happy for all of my cousins!! Thanksgiving dinner was awesome, and we had the best food, and the best time!

The rest of the week was a blast,, and can’t wait until next year!!

If anyone remembers me talking about the robotics competition in past posts, I just want to say that we made it to regionals, and are going up to Auburn next Friday!! If we come in top 4 then we get to go to Texas!! I really hope we can do it!!

Only 19 more days until my birthday!!! J J J

Florida IronMan

This weekend was the Florida IronMan,

My swim team volunteered,. Our job was to clean up the beach after the start and finish. It was AWSOME! As we were on our way to the race my mom was like, Chloe, do you have the camera, and I was like… no I thought that you grabbed it, so no pictures from the morning, and then we went home after we volunteered, and on the way my mom asked me if I got the camera, and of course I forgot again!

Most of you know that there is a cut off for the swim. I think it is about 2 and a half hours. Enough time for some of us, but I sadly saw three people who didn’t finish. I felt so so so bad for those people. Doing all that work, and not even being allowed to finish the first leg…major bummer!

The bike was pretty cool. My mom, my brother, and I pulled the car over to a waffle house, and parked the car in a lot behind it, and opened the trunk and cheered on the pros!! It was soooo cool, and a couple of them smiled at us! Pretty darn cool to see the pros so close to you! One of our friends was a draft official, and she said that there were a lot of crashes on the bike L ! I hope that everyone is ok!

We went back to the race for the run, and my brother and I were going to dress up and cheer people on, but being Cat and the Hat and a bumble bee just didn’t make much since so we didn’t dress up. But oh well! We were cheering people on and dancing to the music that was playing! So fun!

Today was the kids IronMan, but it is so short that it should be called the Kids Tin Foil Man, because it is a very wimpy race. It was a 200 swim, a 6 mile bike, and a 1 mile run.

The swim was fun! I started out going 3^rd (it was one person at a time into the pool) into the water, and came out 2^nd. The girl that went first was this amazingly fast swimmer, and she is ranked in the country with her 5:47 mile run time!! I could have caught her on the bike, buttttt, I got a flat tire!! We had to do the bike loop 3 times, and I thought that I heard air coming out of the tire, but there was no way I was going to stop in such a short race! So I didn’t know that I had a flat until I felt my tire at the finsh, and I was so mad because I totally could have caught Cece (the amazingly fast girl!), but you can only do what your equipment lets you do : ) . the run was ok, I am not sure of any of my splits, but I think I did okay on my run! It felt good, but I had a BAD cramp in my side, but I ran through it!

Over all I got like 7 out of all the 13-14 girls and boys! Pretty good huh?! For the girls I got second, and I was not happy about getting second, but I was happy…I really wanted first, but that stupid bike J !!

If any of you raced in the IronMan I would love to know how you did, or any funny or good stories that you have!!

Thanks for reading!

The Weekend

Ughh, I can’t believe how fast this year us going by!!

Cross country season is officially over, and I am so sad! This years team was super fun!! I started out being so excited about getting an 8:47 for two miles, but now I can run it in 16:43.

Yesterday was Halloween, and I dressed up as a bumblebee! It was the warmest costume, and it was awesome because it was a little chilly down here in Florida! After my friends and I went trick or treating, we went to a haunted house, it was so fun! My group of friends had to split up into two groups, and my group went first. After we were done we had to walk through the woods, and we were just waiting to be scared again but we weren’t so we decided to hide behind a tree, and scare the rest of the group! They got scared, and they were mad, but it was totally worth it.

Before we went to the haunted house, all my friends went to the bathroom, and I of course went, but as we were leaving I hear “CHLOE, CHLOE”, in this (not scary) frantic voice. By this time of the night I was on a sugar high, and was just so giddy, that I walked out of the bathroom with toilet paper on my foot!! J! Luckily the town was dead, but I was just cracking up! Of course with my luck I couldn’t get the stupid toilet paper off, so I had to scrape my foot on the ground…ugghh it was very funny though!!

So next weekend is the kid’s Ironman, and it is the day after Ironman Florida!! I am so excited, because this is my first triathlon since New York. The race is super short. It is a 200 swim (short course), a 6 mile bike, and a 1 mile run. Can’t wait to see how I do. The winners bags are the best! Last year I got a pair of goggles, a towel, a IronMan watch, all in an IronMan bag. I guess the kids race gets all the leftovers, which is FINE with me.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Stomach Virus

I feel like every time I post I am talking about something bad that has happened!

This post is no different.

This past week my brother got the stomach flu. It was awful for him, and even worse to be around (if you know what I mean)!

Anyway, my school has this robotics program, and we make a robot, and compete with other schools at a pub, and if we win 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd than we get to go to regionals, we have made it to regionals every time, and I hope that we make it again! I was supposed to go to spend the night with my friend Leah, and then she was going to take me over to the kick off, but I had to go home in the middle of the night because I didn’t feel so hot. Fortunately nothing happened until later Saturday night!

Ugh, I am not going to go into great detail about what happened, but I think we all know that having the stomach virus. Sunday I was never awake for more than 3 hours at a time, and sleeping for at least an hour every time my head hit a pillow. Luckily my fever was dropping all day long, and today I am much better!

Ok I am done talking about bad things,

I just finished the book Ultramarathon Man. It is about a man who runs an amazing amount of miles! He has done 200 and 100-mile races (running)! If you have a chance to read this book definitely do! Not only is it an amazing book, but it is also really well written!

Have You Hurt Yourself Without Knowing?

Have you hurt yourself so badly, but you don’t even know how?

Unfortunately I have.

A couple of days ago I was out waking my dogs, and I was running, trying to make them tired. Then I just stopped, and I rolled my ankle. I didn’t hurt myself at all. Just a little pain right after I did it.

Now I have always been a sleepwalker. I have done some crazy things, like one time I dreamt that my mom and dad got into a fight, and my dad came upstairs and told me to go sleep on the couch because he wanted my bed. I woke up on the couch the next morning! Another time I was on a school trip, and I got out of my bed and went into the bathroom to turn on the water, I have no idea why, but that is what my chaperone told me! When I sleepwalk I don’t remember doing it, but I just wake up in strange places. So anyway the other night I woke up on my floor my door, and I remember being in a ball think that my ankle was KILLING me. So I got up and walked to bed, witch killed my ankle! In the morning it was my turn to walk the dogs, and I could barley walk down the stairs, I came back from my walk absolutely crying my eyes out.

I sort of remember telling someone in my dream about walking the dogs and tripping, so what I think happened was that in my dream I was showing someone how I had hurt my ankle when I was walking the dogs, but this time I really hurt myself! Three days later my ankle is still throbbing. It’s to bad, because cross country season starts on Monday it looks like I will be sitting out the first practice!!

On a lighter note…

Not really though.

Yesterday when my dad and I were picking up my brother from school we were told that we couldn’t drive down the street because there was a Texas burglar with a gun, and the school was in lockdown. So we waited, and then they told us that they were loading the kids on busses escorted by armed police men to the high school ( about 5 or 6 miles away). We finally got my brother and headed home!

The bad thing is that they still haven’t caught the guy yet. I have the doors locked, and we aren’t allowed to go outside.

Has anyone hurt themselves while sleep walking!?

Last Day of Summer :(

Today was the Sandestin triathlon, and I did a relay with my mom! My dad was supposed to do it, but his back went out this morning at 4:30, so he couldn’t race, isn’t that a total bummer!? But, my mom and i had an awesome time, I did the swim and she did the bike and run.

 

The swim was pretty tough, because there was a strong current pulling you sometimes I the right direction, and sometimes the wrong (depending which way you turned). The cool thing was that I could see the bottom of the ocean the whole entire time! Sometimes it freaks me out, and I just close my eyes when I am under water, but sometimes I like it, weird huh!?  I think I came out 3^rd in the Relay/Clydesdale/Athena group. My time was 15 minutes flat for the half mile swim, it could have been better had I gone to swim practice more during the month of August. I think the two guys who beat me were collage swimmers. They had on their special fast skins, and I was in my super duper cute Splish suit on! I love Splish, because you can design your own bathing suit, or you can choose from their supper cute pre-made ones!

 

My mom did awesome on the bike and run, I don’t have much else to say, but she did do really well! She went an average of 20m/p/h/ on the bike, and had a super fast run! Her bike time was 57 minutes for a 20 mile ride, and her 4 mile run was 36 minutes pretty dar n   fast huh?

 

We came in 2^nd overall for the women’s relay division! I was super excited! Too bad in the relay division the awards are only for the first place, but we had to leave early anyway so my dad could get to the chiropractors!

 

When I was waiting for my mom to come in from the bike I was watching other people come in, and also looking out for people that I knew. While I was waiting there i found a friend of my parents, and I was standing with him, he kept saying how he wanted the bike dismount line to be more narrow so that there would be more crashes, and it would be more interesting! How funny!  So anyway, we were watching and waiting, and this man rode up on his bike, and then everyone heard this huge POP! If you could chose any time to have your tire blow out on the bike it would totally have to be the dismount line. Everyone sure got a kick out of that!

 

On a sad not, we had a friend that had an Awful AWFUL AWFUL crash, it was so bad that he doesn’t even know what happened. We all thought that he had a concussion, and he went to the hospital (unwillingly) and fortunately all he has is some MAD road rash! Unfortunately he was going to do Ironman Louisville, but we got an e-mail from him this morning, and he said that he was all drugged up so his road rash doesn’t hurt to badly, and he is still going to do Ironman! What a stud he is!

 

School starts tomorrow and I can’t wait. I am finally the oldest in my school, an 8^th grader!  I am just super excited, AND I finally get a top locker. 6^th grade was the worst, I HATED the bottom lockers... yuck!

 

I hope that everyone is having a good weekend, and HAD :(   a good summer! ”

An Olympic Experience

I DID IT!!!! Nobody (at least in my

family) thought I could, and I

DID!! Oh, “it” is the NYC Triathlon Hip Hip Hooray! Ok, ok, it was on Sunday July 26, and it’s now August 6^th, I think,

but we are taking a very, very long road

trip home. Sorry for the delay, here’s the race report:

It was the longest distance I have done before, and to be honest I was kind of nervous, and so were my mom and dad, but I think my brother could have cared less! It was a little less than a mile swim, a 25 mile bike, and a 6 mile run, or in simpler words, an Olympic distance triathlon.

On Wednesday, July 22, my mom, dad, brother, my dogs and I piled in the car for the nice LONG trip! We dropped off the dogs with their real Mom, had lunch with a good good friend, Magda, and went toBirmingham, where we would spend the night with my mom’s parents, I love them, and there great big sweet German Shepherds. Then on Thursday it was off to Nashville to drop my mom and brother off at the regional swim meet. On to D.C. to spend the night with some friends, and it started lightning and thundering like a disco. To make the story short we got to NY safely, and then spent the night at my grandma’s house.

Now, really, the Race Report…

O n Sunday morning we woke up at 2:55, and I went to the bathroom (I was very happy about that so I wouldn’t have to go in a Porta-Potty—read about Atlanta if you want to see how important this is to me)! Then I ate some banana, and we were off. If you have never been on the street of NYC at 3:30 in the morning, it is VERY easy to get a taxi. 15 minutes later we were at my transition (my dad and I were separate), and the security man told us that transition opened at 4:30 not 4:00 so we would have to wait for a while. While waiting we met an 80 year old man who was doing the whole race, and he looked like he was only 60 and maybe even younger. I was so impressed and I hope that when I am 80 I can do triathlons!!

At the race start, we got body marked, and then we put our finisher bags into the truck. I kept having to go back to the truck, because at first I forgot to put my flip flops into the bag, and then I forgot to tie up the top, but luckily the volunteers did it for me! Then we went, and put on our wet suits, which I HATE doing, one because it hurts, and two because it is hard. We learned from the wetsuit instructions, that if you put a plastic bag on your foot, that the wetsuit just goes right on up your leg, or you can be like Big Chloe, and spray Pam all over yourself. Then in my corral for the swim start I met Regina Chiu (sorry about spelling!!) one of my blogging buddies. This is amazin

g because there are SO many people. NYC Tri is huge – 3700 people. But I was ok because it is so well organized. And that makes a difference so you don’t have to worry about anything.

I think that this race was the hardest swim start even though it was a wave start!! When you get down to the dock to swim in the Hudson, you jump in, and hold on to a rope, so you don’t get carried away by the strong strong current. I totally felt the current when I jumped in, and then this man ( my wave was 24 and under, and also relays) jumped almost on top of me. Then the horn sounded, and I was kicked and swam on top of, yuck, but I know it happens to all of us!

The swim was fine and not as bad as everyone joked it would be. Nothing yucky in the water at all! Then after the swim I had to run a MILE to transition, and I wish that it counted for the 6 mile run later, but unfortunately it didn’t.

My first transition time was SUPER slow, I had a time of like 7 minutes, and I have no idea why it was that slow, but oh well!

Then bike was cool – they closed down the highway for us. But for me 25 miles is a long way without music or just talking to someone, and I got really bored. And my foot kept falling asleep, and it really hurt! The

hills weren’t so bad (we have none to train on). And, every time I passed or got passed by a man I would hear a couple of bad words, and I don’t know if20it was because of my age or what, but I definitely wasn’t imagining those words). I saw my dad at mile 20, and he asked if I was ok, and I was, so he breezed past me like I wasn’t moving at all. I was super happy that it took him all the way til mile 20 to catch me even though he started like 10 minutes behind me, and I totally think that Heed helped me through the bike, it tastes better than any other sports drink, and I think it works better also!

My second transition was a whole lot better, it only took me like 1:45 to switch.

I was most worried about the run, but it was my favorite part. We went through Central Park and it was awesome. The first 1.5 miles people were cheering, and there were so many people! The whole run I felt like I was just breezing through it! Mile 4 was the hardest, because I knew that I was more that halfway through, but I still had 2 miles to go, and 1mile is ok, but TWO… Then the last mile there were people and people and people just cheering, and that helped so much! I finished with a time of 3:34.

This was the best race ever! I was in NYC, which is great and exciting, I did it all by myself, and I’m proud of my time.

I even got to be on the front page of the local papers’ sports section. here is the article if you are interested…. http://www.newsherald.com/sports/chloe-76396-mile-directed.html

Pretty cool, huh?! So sorry that it took me 2 ½ weeks to post this, but my family and I are on a m

ajor road trip, and we haven’t had Internet connection for the longest time, and I can’t post pictures until I get home ( hopefully will be home soon), so be sure to keep checking back!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. my mom had a Scott bike,and it was malfunctioning, so she got a brand new one for the price of....

NADA!! Crazy huh!? The Scott people just gave my mom the Scott Plasma! The brand new one! The deal is that if I can out bike her on my bike, then I get to get hers! Here is a picture...