In the Zone Multisport
Train your mind. Train your heart. Train your body.
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The Good Ol' Ticker
Last September after a sub par season, I set my sights on qualifying for ITU Draft Legal World Championships in November. I knew I was going to have to really work to pull this one off coming out of a hard place in training. My preparation was spot on and I was beyond thrilled with a 7th place finish that qualified me for Cozumel 2016!!
Moving into 2016, I had very high expectations for myself. I really wanted to perform well at the World Championships. I knew I needed to make my bike stronger to help me have a better run. I set up my race schedule accordingly. Draft Legal racing is a different animal for sure! I have loved coaching it for the past 4 years and it was even better racing one!My optimistic outlook was in place and was lined up with my training plan. In February, I started having some really odd and irregular high heart rate in training. My max on the bike is 162 and on the run is 174. I was easily seeing numbers in the high 180-190 and even into 210-220. This is frightening when you seriously feel like you're going to blow up and you are working below a zone 1 pace!
Not to bore you with ins and outs and ups and downs; by the beginning of July, I decided to pull the plug on my season. I just was not getting anywhere with heavy fatigue after mediocre efforts and not being able to do any speed. At this point, I also felt like I should maybe go get things checked out to make sure there wasn't anything serious I should be ignoring. Up to this point, I had just attributed it to "stress". 
At the end of July, I was out on a run, which was typically ... run until the HR got too high, then walk until it came down then repeat". This day I was finishing my run downhill at the Bluffs and my HR sky rocketed to 242 and I felt pressure under my breast bone. This scared me beyond anything previously. I got into my doctor immediately, she ran an EKG and nothing; it all checked out to be normal. She scheduled further testing and told me to really be very careful with things and to not push at all. I agreed.On the way out of town to USAT Age Group Nationals, I had an echo stress test done and then was to wear a holter monitor for 48 hours. I was so upset to not be able to race at Nationals, but even more so, I was missing my training the way it used to be. I missed being outdoors and enjoying nature.
A couple weeks ago, we got things sorted out and I decided after 2 weeks that if the HR would hold during training, I would consider racing Worlds since I was already going. Once I made that decision, the excitement of racing in the World Championships that I worked so hard to qualify for is flooding back into me! I am now at 3 weeks of normal HR and as long as nothing changes, I will feel comfortable swimming in open water again and being able to at least participate!! I will not have any sort of result but 90% of the journey is getting to the World level and now I can play on the stage once again!!
The Morning After....
It's no secret that my family is my first priority. It's been quite some time since I've blogged... And I'mquite sure 99.9% (if not every single one) of my entries are regarding racing, training or coaching. Today is different. Today I blog about Motherhood on my blog titled "My Fire Within".We are always told as parents "don't blink" they'll be gone before you know it. I really have taken that to heart but even more so when I was sitting at a Parent Orientation Meeting for incoming Freshman January 2010. A sense of panic ran through my veins and I dug my heels deep into the dirt and did what I could to make time go slower. My own training and racing dropped to a very solid 3rd on my list. I knew I wanted to be able to look back on the High School years with my daughters with absolutely no regrets. During the process, my relationship with my daughters blossomed beyond what I thought was capable. But as I look back, it's kind of a no brainer.. I invested deeply in them and what happens to anything that we truly invest in? Well you know that answer. We are best friends... But don't be fooled, there was a lot of tough love! My girls are good girls! I know that! But refining them so they can reach their full potential is a constant process.Sunday morning we departed at 7:15 am en route to BYU in Provo, Utah. With Daphnie and Darbie both leaving home this fall, I anticipated this being very hard once again. When we arrived we checked into our hotel and the madness began. Dorm check in, apartment check in, load and unload. Target runs, grocery shopping, job applications and cover letters; meet the roomies, love the roomies, walk campus, cafeteria meals, bookstore and router installs. Daphnie's boxes at Darbie's place and vice versa. Morning jogs, trips to Swig and taco runs to Brasas. Come Thursday afternoon, all was good and in order and it was time to leave. As hard as it was to leave, Demi is in need of some attention after such a world wind month. She is now the only one at home which is a huge adjustment for all of us.As I wake this morning and review a few midnight texts that I received from my lovelies already enjoying their life out there.. I sit here and find myself counting the hours until they arise and facetime, texts, calls and snaps begin so we can share all the details of their evening. I already miss them.5, 9, 29, 38
5 days: Miami. Seven days to my first race of the season. I am very excited and anxious to see where I'm at. I don't have many expectations. I'm just going to see what I've got after winters worth of work.
9 days: Utah. I will drive out and pack Daphnie up while she is finishing finals. I can't hardly wait to get there. I can believe its been 8 months since I dropped her off, feels like forever. This might be harder work than the race. Carrying boxes up and down a few flights of stairs all day kicked my booty last August. Last time I checked I wasn't getting any younger.
29 days: Maui. Greg and I are being spoiled by sales-force as we get to celebrate Greg's had work. He was one of the top performers in the nation in 2014, therefore we get to go wiggle our toes in the sand for a few days and relax... I'm very proud of him and his hard, hard work.
38 days: Red Rocks. Darbie graduates from High School. Another one down, geesh! She is ready for the next phase of her life and it's been fun being apart of the process. just two months ago I remember a conversation with her while I was at iTz camp, how she was scared and didn't feel ready for college. Now she is more than ready to get started with life after High School.
My plate is full but I am excited for the next month and all it holds. many people have commented recently about my crazy schedules. I believe to be truly successful AND happy, you have to work just as hard as you play. I've seen people in my life that struggle with that balance. One that has worked so hard his whole life but never figured out how to play hard and enjoy the efforts of the work. Another who believes life should just be fun and can't quite figure out how to work hard. She always is coming up short and can't figure out why.
As I celebrate 20 years from my college graduation and reflect back as my nest empty's... I can see that has truly been the key to my happiness. WORK HARD PLAY HARD =)
My Head Injury on Valentines Day 2009
As Feb 14th draws near, I am reminded of what happened on Feb 14, 2009. I was skiing very slow watching my daughter take jumps to the right of me and I caught an edge, went down and slammed my head on the ground behind me. I sustained a pretty significant head injury; in bed for 7 days with the worst head pain. As it started to improve, I was able to get back to walking around. I would have headaches on and off through out the day but not constant like the first week. I was able to start with walks around the block. That is how I began to get back to training. These headaches were very different and NOTHING improved them except for the occasional sleep; resting the brain so it could heal. My poor family and close friends saw a whole different Trista and it was very clear to them when my head was hurting. I had zero tolerance for any noise, light, movement, etc. It took months for me to be able to sit at the computer for any extended period of time. It was a huge challenge to work and build athlete plans. Alison Dunlap, an Olympic Cyclist was a good support to me during this time as she advised on how she returned to training after sustaining a similar injury. I eventually was able to get on the trainer again. My rides were only about 30-40 mins. That is all it took for the head pain to return from exertion and bring me to a screetching halt. My first run was 3 weeks after the injury and I was very nervous and had my husband with me. I made it 20 min which I was very happy about but once again, stopped by pain. It was the most difficult to swim. I couldn't wear a swim cap because the pressure on my head was unbearable. My time in the water was only 10-15 min because the water on my head created pain as well. I couldn't be an any situation to be hit in the head again until I had 7 consecutive days without a headache. To me, this meant no group rides or even riding with friends. I couldn't be in jeopardy of another fall. This took absolutely forever... I would get to 6 days and get a headache and then have to start over again, Some times it would only be 4 days or I would have a headache daily for 3 days. I kept an in depth log but there were no triggers that I could find to associate with it. My head just needed time to heal. I was scared it would never heal. After 3 months, I had my first 7 day break with no headaches and I would say I was about 80-90% recovered in 6 months. Over time, the headaches have improved, but I was convinced they were ever changed. Even 2 years later I would get headaches like I had never had prior to injury.
A month after my fall as I continued to be patient with the healing process, Natasha Richardson took a similar fall hitting the back of her head on the slopes at Mont Tremblant Resort and was NOT wearing a helmet. She passed March 19 from an epidural hematoma. This information still is paralzying to me today. I was so lucky, I was so lucky.
As Feb 14 approaches this year, I seem to be especially grateful for my health, and my full recovery from that head injury. Counting my blessings and grateful that helmet spared me that day.Off to a Great Start! Sponsors, Partners and Race Schedule
February is here! 2015 is well under way and I am excited to announce my 2015 line up!! I will a part of the TIMEX MULTISPORT TEAM for another year and I can honestly say I'm just as excited as I was my first season in 2009. With Timex comes an umbrella of sponsors including Trek, Shimano, Castelli, BlueSeventy, to name a few. I have ZOOT returning as my shoe sponsor and am really excited about the new shoes they are launching this year! POWERBAR will continue to provide me with all my training nutrition needs as I will continue on PowerBar Team Elite thru 2015. Finally, I am partnered again with HIGHLANDS RANCH OPTICAL and Dr. Jeff Ward! I'm honored to have this partnership as they support such a critical piece of my training and racing; my vision! Ortho-Keratology has changed my life as an athlete!
Feb 3-9 Team iTz Camp Clermont, FL
Mar 19-22 Timex Team Camp Tucson, AZ
Apr 19 South Beach OLY Miami, FL
June 7 Trinona Oly Winona, MN
July 19 NYC Triathlon New York City, NY
Aug 9 USAT Sprint Nationals Milwaukee, WI
Sept 19 ITU World Chicago AG Sprint Chicago, IL
