On Sunday April 17th, I competed in New Orleans 70.3. It’s been about six months since my last race and I’ve done New Orleans before, so I thought it would be the perfect rust buster. It did not disappoint. Sustained winds around 23mph with gusts of up to 35mph, made every discipline “interesting”. I was panicky on the swim for the first time in a long time due to the chop; the headwind during the first 28 miles of the bike made for a scary and wobbly ride; and the wall of wind on the back half of the run was soul-crushing. The good news? The rust is busted! And all of my equipment this year ROCKS!!! I am so happy I had the chance to test drive it all in New Orleans and I cannot wait for the next opportunity to race! Here are a few pictures from the race… Enjoy!

Pre-race nutrition planning with Infinit Nutrition… (So serious!)

This beauty had some prime real estate in the hotel room. (I couldn’t let her sleep outside!)

The winds caused a delay, so there was plenty of time to catch up with friends in transition.

A few of the pro girls before the start. The calm before the storm…

This picture was taken by a local reporter. Dozens and dozens of people abandoned the race during the swim due to the scary chop.

Whew! I didn’t drown! Through T1…

And onto a VERY windy bike course…

The run!!! I couldn’t feel the wind… yet. 😦

Mr. Yellow and I went back and forth a few times…

Post-race: All smiles! My bike, saddle, watch, nutrition, and helmet were all INCREDIBLE!!! (Notice the flags in the background? The wind was still howling!)

Many thanks to: CEEPO, Drivetrain Sports, Cobb Cycling, RUDY Project, Infinit Nutrition, Mac’s Smack,  POLAR, and Lindsay Mock, one of the BEST race sherpas EVER!!!

Confession: I love to read and I love, love, LOVE a good quote. I know, I know… That can be a little cheesy. But with the arrival of Spring and the start of a new tri season I thought I’d share three quotes that helped me tremendously the past few months.I recently heard Taylor Swift preface one of her songs by talking about what happens when we lose somebody that used to be close to us. In her case, I am almost sure she was talking about a boy. But to hear her speak about losing this relationship was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. She suggested that instead of focusing on anger or heartache at the end of a relationship, why not focus on the good times you had, thank that person for all they’ve given you, and move on? If someone changes or you grow apart, let them go. There’s no need to waste valuable energy on anger and sadness. Recognize the change, appreciate the past, and move on.

Ever feel like you can’t win? Like every move you make has a GREATER and opposite reaction? Sometimes I fall into a very reactive mindset and all I’m playing is defense. The problem with that? All of my moves are predicated on someone else’s moves. The solution? Take stock of your goals and where you want to be, then find a way to get there. Forget your detractors, forget your competitors, and forget the devil on your shoulder. Follow your star and forge ahead making bold irreverent moves.

As an athlete this one gets me every time. “What if I followed a schedule like his?” “I wish I could swim like her…” “It comes so easy to them.” The trouble with comparing results, schedules, or workouts is we are only looking at the end product, not the countless minutes, hours, weeks, months and years that went into making each and every individual we compare ourselves to unique and powerful. After comparing ourselves to others, we often come up with one variable that’ll change everything; “If I do this one thing differently, surely my results will improve!” We all know that rarely happens. Why not get off that spinning wheel of comparison and forge your own path? Put your blinders on, do what’s best for you, stick to your plan and EXECUTE it. Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds success. If we could all just worry about ourselves, the world would be a lot more joyful.

“Every day starts with the tick of a clock. All escapes start with the click of a lock!”

I am so looking forward to new partnerships and new relationships in 2016. And of course I cherish all of friends, family, and sponsors who show their support every day. Sweet, sweet, 2016, I am ready for ya!

Here are a few of the NEW developments in my world… Stay tuned for more!

I just co-founded a new company called TenTen Coaching! (Check us out at http://www.TenTenCoaching.com)

This year, I’ll be riding a NEW bike from CEEPO!!! (I am super excited about their triathlon-specific geometry!)

In 2016, I will again represent Infinit Nutrition, the BEST sports nutrition company around. (To INFINIT-y and beyond!)

No one, and, I mean, no one, knows more about saddles than John Cobb. I am THRILLED to be representing Cobb Cycling again in 2016.

Fancy, right? But also, so so FAST!!! I am incredibly honored to be wearing RUDY Project in 2016.

Mac’s Smack is a company based in Virginia that makes the MOST incredible natural products. I am so proud to be one of their 2016 ambassadors!

Thanks for checking in! More updates SOON!!!

Here’s to 2016!

Jaybird and Maverick Multisport teamed up in Miami to create the ultimate video. Need a little inspiration? Wanna go inside the race? (Or just see yours truly?) You won’t be disappointed!

“And the first round pick goes to…”

As a triathlete with a background in long distance running I am not very fluent in what I like to call “ball sports”. Basketball, football and baseball wouldn’t really be on my radar, but as they are such a huge part of American culture, I find myself learning a lot about the NBA, NFL and MLB because they mean so much to so many. What really intrigues me is the championship/draft ranking paradigm found in many of these sports. Teams that do well one year (say make into the conference finals or win the World Series) are not given an advantage over other teams the following year just because of how far they advanced. Instead teams like this often pick LAST in the draft. The rich do not get richer. Those that are on top are not then given the first overall draft pick or a player who might guarantee that the team’s success one year becomes a dynasty. What is more, teams that win the Superbowl or the Stanley Cup don’t automatically receive berths to those games the next year. How unsatisfying would a season be if we already knew in September that the reigning Superbowl champs would make it to the final game in February? Part of the beauty of football, baseball, and basketball is watching teams duke it out all season trying to get back to the big dance.

When you consider these practices, the KPR system used by the World Triathlon Corporation to rank and invite pro athletes to the World Championships in Kona becomes all the more perplexing. Not only are winners given a slew of points toward next year’s KPR, they are given a berth to the World Championship for the next five years as long as they validate their slot at one Ironman before the next Championship. An automatic berth? Isn’t that a little much? These athletes can basically “phone” in an Ironman early in the season and save their legs until Kona while the rest of the field has to battle it out at multiple Ironman races (often late into the season) to get to Kona. I wonder who’s going to do better… Someone who cruised to the finish at an Ironman in November or somebody who was fighting for points at races in March, June and August? Granting past winners a ticket to the championship after meeting so low of a bar is laughable and insures that those that were on top, stay on top. In addition to doling out these automatic qualifying slots, WTC also bestows a large amount of points to the top finishers at Kona. These points carry over to the NEXT year. Tell me another sport that does that. The reward for getting to Kona IS Kona. You made it to the World Championship! Congratulations!!! Sponsors are happy; your fans are happy. The race itself is the end goal. There shouldn’t be points awarded at Kona for Kona. As it stands Kona is a qualifying race for itself. Instead points should start again after the KPR deadline with no points awarded for the World Championship.

I am a firm believer that the number of pro slots available to male and female pros should be equal. (Find out why here.) But I’ll save that discussion for another day. In the meantime I think it’s time to revise a flawed points structure. Good luck to all the racers in Hawaii!

Labor Day is just around the corner and in Virginia that means students will soon be returning to school. Luckily I have a “pre-school” week to get things in order ahead of their arrival, but my schedule has definitely reverted back to “teacher work-mode”. So how does one fit in 20 to 30 hours of training a week with a full-time gig? It takes a little work… I certainly haven’t mastered the art of juggling a job and heavy triathlon training, but below are five tips that have helped me stay sane thus far. Enjoy!

1. Prepare your breakfast and plan your lunch ahead of time. When I get home in the evening the first thing I do is cook egg whites for the next day’s breakfast and pack my lunch. That way when the alarm goes off at 4:30am I’m not fumbling around and wasting time before my morning training session.
2. Lay out your clothes. I don’t think very clearly early in the morning, so to save time I plan out a whole week’s worth of outfits on Sunday night. The benefits are twofold… I’m not going to show up to work in a horribly mismatched get-up because I was too bleary eyed to put something together and I save time daily by planning my wardrobe just once. Bonus!
3. Look ahead in your training schedule. Sometimes it’s nice not knowing the hard sets that await you during this bike interval session or that track workout, but looking ahead in my schedule helps me map out my week. If I know I have to fit in all of my workouts AND I have an after school meeting on Monday and parent teacher conferences on Thursday I can shift workouts around to fit everything in. I wouldn’t want to miss an important session just because I didn’t plan ahead.
4. Keep your gear with you. I lived in New York City for nine years and I loved every second of it. My only complaint? As a triathlete moving my gear from borough to borough (I worked in Manhattan and lived in Brooklyn) became very tedious. Now that I live in Virginia, I have a car and I can keep swim/bike/run gear with me at all times. Plans change and it’s important to utilize every available moment. Keeping my training stuff with me helps me to do just that.
5. Multi-task! Well, sorta… I often find that I don’t have time for things that I love like reading and catching up on radio/TV programs during periods of heavy training. My solution? While cross-training or during easy recovery treadmill runs I’ll read a chapter or two of a novel or an article I’ve saved online. (These workouts are also the perfect time to listen to podcasts and you can do your mobility work while catching up on TV and movies.)

Happy training!

(And don’t forget to save!)

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Do you ever look back over old training logs or race plans and ponder, “What the heck was I thinking?”. I often do.

I ran cross country from 2nd grade all the way through high school and while in New York for college I was bitten by the long-distance running bug. I ran my first marathon during my junior year at Barnard and I was hooked. Upon graduating, I moved to Brooklyn to live with my sister, Mary. We were minutes away from beautiful Prospect Park, which turned out to be a blessing and a curse. The park had a main road that wound around the interior of the park with several trails and cut-throughs that provided quite a few distance options for a runner. You could also run along the perimeter of the park and “visit” the different neighborhoods adjacent to the park.

I remember doing endless laps and loops in the park as I trained for my next 15+ marathons. (I know. I had a problem.) When I think about HOW I ran those loops and laps… I am baffled. Every time I went to the park my intention was to cover X distance faster than I had the day, week or month before. I was constantly trying to outdo myself and PR this loop or that loop. There were no levels to my training: no specific speed work, no tempo runs and no recovery days. As you can imagine it didn’t take long for me to get injured and I dealt with everything from plantar fasciitis to debilitating IT band pain that finally sidelined me.

ZONES! Where have you been all my life?!

Luckily a few years later when I began competing in triathlons, I started working with a coach who believed in heart rate training. While at first I was skeptical, I eventually acquiesced, gave into her way of thinking, and the results followed. It’s funny because even though my volume was way down, I was taking more days off from running, and the intensity of my workouts varied wildly, I had never run better. 90 mile weeks weren’t the answer and racing myself daily certainly wasn’t the answer either.

Taking an LT test with the BSX device. No pricks during this test! Thank you very much!

As an athlete and a coach I am a huge believer in zone training. Before I work with any athlete we do several tests to determine their bike and run zones based off of their lactate threshold. (I always have to tell runners “This is going to be very different. Not everyone can handle it, but if you trust the process, results will follow.”) Not being a fan of traditional lactate threshold tests (too much blood), I administer and assign tests that approximate an athlete’s lactate threshold. These tests have proven to be very accurate when corroborated with race data or a traditional LT test, but real world data is always best. I’m happy to say with the world’s first prickless lactate threshold sensor from BSX there is no reason for any more guesswork or any more blood! I can determine and confirm my (or anyone’s) LT with a simple little sensor.

BSX calf sleeve with small BSX sensor worn on the back of the calf

Over the past several months I’ve been using the multisport device from BSX and I have taken several tests. The assessment, which you take using an app on your smartphone while wearing the BSX device in a calf sleeve, could not be easier. After personal experience with it, I’ve been able to see my progress over the course of the season and I love how the device helps me confirm or adjust my zones.

I am a huge advocate for zone training and the most important number to know is your lactate threshold. BSX can tell you that without guessing and without the pricks. I highly recommend it; I wouldn’t give mine up for the world.

Do you live near Richmond or D.C. and want to take the guesswork out of our training? Contact me. I’d love to do a BSX LT assessment with you.

Learn more about how the BSX device works here. Train smarter.

Use code “MavMolly” for $40 off the BSX Multisport Edition at www.bsxinsight.com/multisport