And the answer is.....

Yes. The question: Has Jenni Keil ever done a triathlon (and survived)? May 18, 2008 marked my entry into the world of triathlon. Going into the race (750m swim, 13+ mile bike, 5k run), I was concerned with the following things: 1) How far will I be behind after the swim? 2) Will I freak out in the water (I have NEVER swam in open water before), 3) Will have have enough time to bike down some people, and 4) The 5K (I have done zero speed work. The last speed workout I did was at the World Championships in Novemeber of 2007).

I had sent a few small goals going into the race that I felt were attainable. The first being not to be last out of the water (I know it sounds dumb, but I was serious about this). Secondly, I thought I realistically could place in the top 15. Thirdly, learn as much as I could about racing a triathlon and what and where I could improve.

Going into the race, I was surprised at how calm I was. I thought I would be more freaked out by the idea of swimming in open water with no clue with what was under me. As I warmed up on the run course, I looked at Union Rez and reality hit me. I was going to swim in that. And I was ok with it. I surprised myself in this respect. I had accepted it and was ready to do it.

SWIM-I saw Kat and she really helped me in telling me what to do and took me under her wing. I did some pickups with her and she said just to stick on her feet. 8.13 am. The race starts. I start to swim. There are women all around me. I run into some. Some hit me. I can feel them on my feet. The first 300m were the hardest for me. It was a test of focus. I knew where the first buoy was and I just wanted to make it there. It didn't seem to come any closer despite the fact that I was moving toward it. I calmed myself and just kept swimming. I made it around the first two and was on the last turn for home. I tired to stay on people feet, but it was hard. I need to learn how to do this. I swam next to a women-doing that made me feel secure.

T1 and Bike. I am used to running then biking then running. Swimming and then biking is WAY easier. First I had to get my wetsuit off. The bike course was somewhat technical in that it weaved through a couple neighborhoods with 90 degree turns and speed bumps. It was also a 3 loop course. The first loop was not that crowded, but it got cluttered on lap 2 and 3. I felt I rode well. I was calm and just keep a good pace. I would say I did not hammer the bike per say, but I ride hard. In hindsite, I might have lost some time eating on the bike and by trying to weave in a out of people. I passed 4 women on the bike and DID NOT GET PASSED BY ANY WOMEN. Chuckie mentioned in his email to me that I should try not to get passed on the bike. And in that I was successful. On the last lap of the bike, I started to think about the 5K. It started to scare me. Could I hold the girls off of me?

T2 and Run. Jeff tells me there is a women 2 min ahead. Shit! 2 minutes on a 5K. No good. I had a solid transition. My bike to run transitions are usually descent. I start running and I am feeling ok. I have not idea how fast (or slow) I am going, but I am passing people. The is a hill before mile one and after mile 2. I wanted to get to the top and work the downhill and see where I stood. At the top, I see the turn around and the women is already there. Double shit. I push the downhill. I am feel good at this point. I am honestly surprised. My legs do not hurt, my breathing is controlled. It does not feel as hard as some other 5K I have ran. And mentally, I am focused and positive. At the turn around, the women is about 40 seconds ahead. I have chipped into the time she had on me. I set another goal of making it back up the hill and working it to the finish-a distance of about 1 mile. I work the downhills (something I don't usually do, but Jeff has been helping me with this). I run tangents. I am getting closer. We are about 600m from the finish. I have closed to gap to about 10 second. I am pushing it now...and my body knows it. Keep pushing. The finish is close. She crosses first-5 seconds ahead of me. Jeff tells me I was second overall.

Times: Swim-11.29 (1.28/100m) Bike: 13+ (avg 21.5-no bad with the turns and speed bumps) Run: 19.43 (6.22/mile-fastest run on the day for the women). 2nd overall/1st age group

What I Need to work on:
1) T1 and getting the wetsuit off
2) Need to work on swimming on people's feet
3) Settling into a pace on the bike and being comfortable with being uncomfortable
4) Trusting myself and my training. Being honest with myself, I was scared about the 5K. As I mentioned I had not done ANY speed work. You can email CV if you don't believe me. I know I have the ability to run decently, but the fact that I had not run mile repeats, 1K, 400's etc etc. scared me. How could I run fast not having done those? Running a 21 or 22 5k would have been hard for me to deal with-and when that happens, I have a tendency to shut down. But after running a 19.43 (I did not even run that fast last year off the bike and I was doing what I mentioned above) gave me the confidence that the training I am doing is working-Working for me. I knew this in the back of my mind, but I needed to prove it to myself. And that is HUGE confidence builder. On another note, my HR did not get nearly has high has I have seen in it previous races. I think this might mean I am starting to get aerobically fit-but still have along ways to go.

What I did well:
1) My nutrition. Last year was a good learning year for this and I carry that with me now.
2) Warm-up. I did a longer warmup knowing that my body would respond better to it.
3) Stay focus and positive on my run. Responded to a challenge well.
4) I survived a swim. I did not freak out. I built some confidence today in my swim.

Many thanks to Chuckie and Jeff. Without them, I don't know if I would have even considered doing a triathlon.

Will I do another one? YES. Did I enjoy it? YES. I am looking forward to Buffalo Springs.

Rock on
JK

Uninhibited Felxibility

......One of the advantages of being young

OTC

When you were 15 or 16, did you ever think when you were 30 you would be driving 100 miles to a destination with 4 teenagers in your car? Did you ever think you would hear teenagers argument about whether it is better to shave your legs or not to shave your legs? Did you ever think you would sing along to songs with teenagers that came out when you were small, but are 25 years old to these teenagers (And they love them!!) Did you ever think you would argue (playfully) with a teenage about miscommunicated directions ( knowing that you are right and the teenagers is wrong!!). All this happened on Wednesday. Teenage overload-but in a good way!

I took my spring experience group to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, on Wednesday. They had never been there. So we took to the tour, got to see some athletes, and along the way, most of them got inspired to go to the Olympics. I would not doubt if a few of them take their sport to that level. My favorite part of our trip is being in the car with the kids. They really begin to see you (me) as a mentor, a guide, a person with hopes and dreams and struggles, just like them. Just older.

Spring Experience

I am lucky enough to work at a school that values non-traditional education. A school based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. A school that values the overall health and well being of students. A school that makes time for teachers and students to build meaningful relationships. Every year, the highschool takes a week off of academic classes and immerses the students in a week long intensive develop by a teacher and based on something they have in interest in and are passionate about. This year, I developed a week around running and cross training for my students. I had 7 students (6 pictured here) join me on this journey. (Our school only has 80 kids-22 of them seniors who are off in other parts of the country during this time doing community service).

My intention for the week was to share my enjoyment of running with my students, as well as to open some doors that they may want to venture through at some point in their life. The week before this Spring Experience, I had the kids complete a Lactate Threshold Test at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. It was important for them to get this done before the week started because they could use their new heart rate monitors to make sure they were running in their own zone.

The week officially started on Saturday by volunteer at the Special Olympic Track Meet. The following Monday-Thursday involved the following various activities ranging from listening to Melody Fairchild, Ewen North and my husband speak on their own personal experiences, Neal Henderson explaining their LT results, a nutritionist speaking to them, 60 min of yoga 3 times during the week, a trip to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Spring and meeting with people from USA cycling, daily running workouts, and cross training activities. We were going to do that all in 4 days....get ready.....

Rock On
JK

On my ride.....

About 3 months ago, I was pedaling my bike around Boulder Country and I swear I saw a camel. It was a dromedray camel (a one-hump camel to us lay people). I rode past the place a few times to make sure I was correct, because a few people thought I was full of S#@t, but it was never there!! So yesterday, as I was riding, I went by there on the chance the Humpty would be out. It was warm and camels like it warm (or so I assume). And there he was. Grazing. So I snapped a few pictures to prove it. So here is a picture of the camel in Colorado. Humpty lives on the SW corner of Valmont and 75th (if you live in the area).

Rock On
JK

Saturday Special

7am on a Saturday morning. I roll into the parking lot of school (yes-on a Saturday) to pick-up 7 of my highschool students. Why, you may ask, do I want to spend my Saturday with teenages I see from 8.30am-3.00pm on Monday-Friday? We were heading down to Englewood to volunteer at the Special Olympics of Colorado Regional Track Meet. It was amazing seeing these athletes as the complete in various events ranging from the soft ball throw to the 5K. One athlete ran the 5k in 21 and some change(see awards ceremony for the 5K runners). Quite impressive. My kids were cheering them on the entire 12+ laps running from one side of the track to another as they came around. In the end, the two atheletes (pictured with 3 of my kids) hugged them and thanked them for their support. All in all, it was a great way to spend the day. I think I was feeling the mojo from the morning, because I had a great 2 hour run with Sherpa Jeff!

Rock On
JK

Picking and Choosing

Yesterday I came home from work (on a Friday) in a pissy mood. I was tired. I had realized that my weekend was stacking up with obligations and training. I started to look forward to Monday (sad I know). In two days, I had worked about 19-20 hours (at school and at home) and felt I had about 1 hour of ME time. I had planned on taking off from work early Friday to train. This was due to the fact that today (Saturday) I am taking 7-9 of my highschool students to go volunteer at the Special Olympics Regional Track Meet in Denver. However, I got sucked into other stuff at work and did not leave until 3.30. Ugh. CV had 5-5.5 hr of training on tap for me yesterday. Unfortunately, it did not all get done. I feel badly.

I came home from my MAF TEST and told Jeff that working gets in the way of things. Working screwed up my training today. It was not that I did not have the will-I feel my will force is pretty good. It is just that work sucks the life force out of me sometimes-not everyday-just some. And when it realize it, it hits me like a ton o'bricks. Working probably gets in the way of achieving my full potentials, but there is not a choice at this point and time. Therefore, Jeff and I both had to make it work. It is an art scheduling a day around workouts, sticking to boundaries, and saying NO to people, in order to do what you what to do. In my defense and to toot my own horn, I rarely miss my scheduled workouts (I only miss about 2 per month). One reason miss so little is because of the guilt that would following the decision not to do a workout. The second reason is knowing that the bigger plans (and goals) depend on my consistency. And thirdly, CV, and JK1 would know if I did not do my workouts...more importantly, I would know.

Back to yesterday. Up at 4.45 to swim. Was a hard swim yesterday, but at least I feel like I am not the slowest person anymore. I got home at 4pm and had to deal with dog stuff. I need a quick nap before my MAF test. So I lay down-no really passout-for 37 minutes. I need to be running my 5pm. Get up and leave by 5.05. MAF test takes me 90 min total, so I roll back in the door at 6.40. I still have a 1.5-2 hr bike to get done. It is just TIB. I make the choice not to do it. (I had actually already made the decision on the track while going around in circles). I just needed some time with Jeff. I needed to pick and choose today. By the time I got on my bike it would be 7 and done by 8.30. BUT, I needed visit Eric and Amber to buy some race wheels and I they expected me at 8. In a nut shell, I did the workouts that I thought were more important on that day, keeping my own wellness and sanity in mind. And I had to deal with my decision.

It is Saturday morning at 5.55am and I am still thinking about my decision. I hope it was the right one.

Rock on
JK