Thursday, November 27, 2008

I Am the Luckiest

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I pray that wherever you are that you are able to spend some quality time with friends or family. This year, I have a lot to be thankful for (too much to tell you in this blog). A few things I am thankful for include:

-Supportive family and friends- Both in Colorado and on the other side of the country... you guys mean the world to me!

-Being injury free (besides a few minor incidents) this past year.

-2000 Olympics- The first year that triathlon was contested as an Olympic sport. Yea!

-Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked Ice Cream- For helping me graduate college this past Spring!

And most importantly, you, the readers of my blog! Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!

Gobble gobble,

Amanda

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

San Francisco ITU Race



The race this past weekend signaled the end of the season for most and the last time I will race for almost half a year. It's hard for me to explain to you how weird it will be for me to spend that much time away from racing after constantly switching from cross country to track and back again for the past 4 years. It’s only been 3 days since the race in California and I am already getting antsy to compete again!


The race did not go as planned and definitely was not the way I wanted to end my season. In a year where I’ve seen so much progression in my training, I was never able to put all 3 disciplines together to have an amazing race. I guess Rome wasn’t built in a day…


I pretty much dug my own grave in this race early on after a disastrous 1st transition. As I approached my bike and proceeded to rip my wetsuit off my body (the water was 56 degrees), the suit got caught on my timing chip and I struggled to get it off. When I eventually did, I had lost almost a minute to my competitors who had since exited transition with their bikes and were nowhere to be seen. I ended up riding the bike portion of the race by myself and came onto the run with quite a sizeable gap to make up. I was able to make up a couple minutes on some competitors, but at that point, the gap was so wide it didn’t matter. I ended up in 13th place.


This is a disappointing end to a season in which I only raced 4 pro races, but I know that it will only add fuel to the fire for next year. Now, it’s time for a much needed break. I haven’t had more than one day completely off in over a year because of indoor/outdoor track and triathlon season so I am ready for some serious rest and relaxation. Once again, thanks to all my supporters! I wouldn’t be where I am today without you all! I sincerely hope that you all will join me next year when I “put it on the line in 2009.”


Thanks for reading!
~AHahn

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Chain-ges


Seminole XC ladies, back to back ACC Champs! Go Noles!

I can’t believe that this is the penultimate week of my triathlon season! Where does the time go?! After next Saturday’s race at Treasure Island (San Francisco), triathlon season 2008 will be completely finished.


Last year, the race was turned into a duathlon after an oil ship had trouble navigating in the fog and crashed into the San Francisco Bay Bridge, pouring over 50,000 gallons of oil into the same water the triathletes were supposed to swim in the following day. However, I did not participate in this race last year as I was still back at college running cross country…


Since this is the end of the year, I have been concentrating on getting the little things right for my last race and the races to come next year. A big part of triathlon is technique, especially in the swimming and running portions of the race. Quite honestly, technique is something that I’ve always struggled with…but this year I want to make the effort get it right. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks working with running coach Bobby McGee on my form. The guy is pretty much a walking book of knowledge and has taught me so many helpful new drills (surprising that I didn’t know these being a college runner) to correct my running form. Thank you Bobby! Also, I have been running around town inside a tire (trust me, although I look like a nerd, there is a reason for this!) As for swimming, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks getting some yardage in with a snorkel. This helps because I am able to concentrate on my arm position in the water without worrying about the breathing aspect of the stroke.


In addition to the technical aspects of the sport, I decided that it was time to take my bike in for a tune up. I regularly clean my bike so I don’t feel the need to take it into the shop that often. But, the other day when I noticed the chain clicking and screeching in almost every gear in the big ring and realized you could probably hear me coming from a mile away, I decided it was due time to take it into the bike shop. And it was a good thing I did. Although my frame was nice and clean, the mechanic said that I’d stretched out my chain so much that it was certain to snap sometime in the near future. Scary! So, 80 bucks and a new chain later, I am ready to go for the race next weekend.


On a side note, I’d like to congratulate the Seminole ladies on their 2008 ACC Championship!! This is the 2nd year in a row the Seminoles have won and I am one proud cross country alum! At Florida State, it is a tradition that the flame on the Unconquered Statue on campus is lit for an entire night (sunset to sunrise) to commemorate any kind of championship (conference, regional, national). So, if you are in the Tallahassee area sometime next week, look for the flame!



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