My 6th Annual JCC Triathlon by the Sea {Race Review}

(Alternate title: Almost PRing without training)

On Sunday, I got out of bed bright and early, at 6:00am, to race my 6th annual JCC Triathlon by the Sea. Last year, I trained heavily, posted about my training almost daily, and set goals and in the end, had a great race. Last year, I finished in 1:27:31. This year I finished in 1:24:41. WTF?!

I have not swam or biked since this race last year nor have I done a ton of running yet somehow I shaved almost 3 minutes off my time. What?

Tri Set Up

I went into race day expecting the following from myself:

  1. Finish the race. I have finished 10 triathlons and this is the shortest distance. There was not reason not to finish.
  2. Enjoy the course. This course has amazing ocean views and beautifully landscaped houses along the way.
  3. Enjoy the weather. Spring has finally sprung and after this winter I plan to fully appreciate all the time I can outside.

What I got was an amazing race, 59 seconds away from a PR.

Here is how it all went down and why I think I raced so well.

The Swim

Although I love swimming, I was nervous for the swim. Like I said, I haven’t been in the pool since last year and this race is notorious for people effing up the swim and there being swimmer jams (link traffic jams but with lots of naked limbs). Not gonna lie, I had butterflies in my stomach before jumping in the pool but my brain knew I could do it. And I did.

Swim time (including T1) – 5:41

The Bike

Again, like I said, I hadn’t been on this particular bike since this race last year. I love biking but I just don’t get out as much as I would like. This course is hilly but beautiful so I knew at the very least I would be in for a nice ride. I wanted to finish around the 45 minute mark so I set my RunKeeper app to cycle mode and started to pedal.

After passing the 7 mile mark, I knew I could beat my arbitrary 45 minute goal so I pushed (my 8th mile was my fastest at 16.36 mph) and finished the 10 mile course in 41 minutes. Average speed – 14.47 mph. That is almost 2 mph faster that last year.

If your are wondering, same bike, same legs.

Bike time (including T2) – 47:13

The Run

My legs were pretty gassed from the bike but I grabbed my Clif Shot Blocks and started to move. I set my RunKeeper to run mode to keep track and turned on my Half Marathon Playlist (sans headphones because they told us not to wear them) and made my legs move.

Tri Run

The first mile of this course always feels like hell. It was hot. I felt slow. I needed water. Ugh. But my music was great! I chugged along and at the mile mark I heard RunKeeper chirp…

  • Mile 1 – 9:00! Ok, not as slow as I thought.

I grabbed and sipped on a refreshing cup of cold water at the water stand and realized I could beat last years time.

  • Mile 2 – 8:58! Negative split!!!

The hardest part of the day was over, only 1.5 miles and one hill left.

  • Mile 3 – 8:59. Sub-9 minute miles in a triathlon is something new to me. I love it!

The last half mile felt super long but so many people were out cheering and I was determined to beat last year’s time at this point (little did I know I already had it in the bag).

  • Last 1/2 mile – 9:02

The very last part of the race is uphill. So mean!

Run time – RunKeeper 31:29 (8:59 pace), Official Race Results 31:48 (9:05 pace)


Needless to say, I am pretty proud of myself for crushing this race without training. I don’t love that I trained so hard last year and didn’t se the results but I have a sneaking suspicious as to why which I’ll check in with later the week.

Fun fact: I got home to see this. Apparently my athletic efforts for the day made her exhausted.

exhausted khaleesi

I hope you all have a great Monday and a great week!

Emily Signature

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A Beautiful Weekend in Words and Pictures

Hello and happy Monday. May the 4th be with you!

I’m actually not a huge Star Wars person but I figured I would roll with it because its trending and I am #basic.

This is going to be a fun week with lots of interesting first time things going on but before we get to that, let’s throw it back to the weekend.

Although the weekend didn’t officially start until Friday after work, I wanted to share this amazing turkey burger I had for lunch with a few of my favorite co-workers.

turkey burger
(Turkey burger with arugula, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, chimichurri with a side of fries and a pickle)

The weekend started with a cleaning frenzy in out house in preparation for having people over on Sunday. We ordered pizza and watched the Red Sox lose to the Yankees 😦

Saturday started with a trip to Tendercrop Farm. I am a big fan of shopping local ad have been making an effort to eat more locally sourced organic meat.

tendercrop farm

Before shopping I said hello to a goat, two llamas and a chicken.

farm animals

After shopping, my wallet cried but it was all worth it.

We celebrated the glorious spring weather outside and the Derby.

Outside

Sunday was glorious. I treated myself to a massage. #yolo #treatyoself And it was the first shorts day of the year!

shorts

Then SL and I got use out of our resident beach pass and spent an hour or so walking the beach. Toes in sand = happy girl!

crane beach

Post-walk I was HUNGRY. I whipped up a veggie-filled orzo salad and SL manned the grill and cooked up a ton of buffalo chicken wings that I bought from the farm.

Orzo salad and chicken wings
(Orzo salad – arugula, red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, radicchio, radishes seasoned with garlic powder, olive oil and cracked black pepper)

My nearly non-existant sweet tooth kicked in after dinner and I whipped up some Nutella cookies. They came out square. I suck at baking.

Nutella cookies

But they were delicious and I ate 2 while watching Game of Thrones. Is anyone else watching GOT? I feel like its jsut starting to get good!

Here is the recipe if you want to try your hand at being a shitty baker like me.

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup almond butter
  • 3/4 cup Nutella
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of sea salt (optional)
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 dark chocolate chunks

Directions

  1. Mix first egg, almond butter, Nutella, brown sugar and vanilla in a mixer until smooth.
  2. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt until a large dough ball forms.
  3. Stir in white chocolate chip and dark chocolate chunks until incorporated.
  4. Scoop tablespoon sized balls on to parchment lined baking sheet.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes, turning baking sheet after 5 minutes.

If your cookies miraculous don’t come out square, let me know your secret!


Hope you all have a great Monday!

Emily Signature