Fairy Tale Week

The Fairy Tale Week

I never made an official announcement so here it is… I hired David Tilbury-Davis as a Triathlon coach. We started together in August and I wanted to meet him before my next race in Malaysia in November. He recommended coming out the end of September since there would be other pros in the Woodlands training for Kona.

I kept waffling back and forth on if I was going to go or not but then found a deal for a $30 ticket! I jumped on it! Even if I didn’t use it, it was only $30! My bike was $150 round trip… seems quite backwards. I'm so glad I went and it was worth every penny and minute of the trip! 

The Thursday before I left my back decided to lock up. I looked like a robot because of my limited mobility in my back. I was in so much pain I couldn’t swim, I wanted to cry on the bike, and I ended up actually crying on my run. This couldn’t be happening at a less opportune time! I was leaving in five days to go through a rought week of hard training. I needed to be as close to 100% as I could so I pulled out all the stops I could. I saw my chiropractor almost everyday, I saw a massage therapist twice and I saw my physical therapist! I’m so incredibly blessed to have this team to help me be the best I can be! On Monday I wasn’t crying on the run anymore and on Tuesday I ended up doing a 2K swim, which was very slow and painful, but I was able to do it!

Since I didn't take any pictures on my trip (I know, stupid!), here are the pictures I got from home! Thanks to my friends who let her come over an play while I was gone!

I arrived in Texas late Wednesday night and ended up getting a massage on Thursday morning to continue to calm my back down. Right after the massage I met up with Coach David and Matt Hansen (North American Ironman Regional Champion). We had a 1.5 hr ride where I got to babysit Matt’s back wheel. I don’t think you could have wiped my goofy smile off my face the entire ride. I was in heaven! Coach David drove sag for us and took some slow motion video to look at my position on the bike. We all caught some lunch together and then grocery and home to prepare for my run.

Went to the store with daddy!

The run was some 1K repeats in some nasty weather. I had been running in 55 degrees and it was around 90.  They went alright and it was back home to eat and get ready for a recovery swim that evening with Magnoia Masters and Tim Floyd.  I got some amazing stroke changing tips that I am continuing to incorporate into my swimming mechanics.

Blanket fort snuggles with her bear.

Friday started with a 6am swim (I was looking forward to sleeping in without my daughter!). I could tell I had lost the feel of the water after being out of it for a week! That swim is not very nice to you if you don’t give it the time it deserves! After the swim, Coach David, Coach Tim and I went to grab some breakfast. Coach David and I had a nice long chat with topics ranging from goals and schedule for the year to sponsors and beyond. By the time I got home it was time to go out for my almost 2 hr run which I ended up doing at the gym along with my core work routine. Lunch/dinner when I got home followed up but giving my bike some much needed TLC. Embarrassingly enough I hadn’t cleaned it since IMTX (May 16^th) and it needed a lot of help. I was able to just work on Ironman stuff that night, liker where to stay for my next race and developing a new website (hopefully to be launching soon!).

Pool noodle pit at home, so much better than a ball pit!

I already have issues with sleep but then throw me into a different environment and it’s usually disaster! After about 6 hours of sleep, I was up and off to swim practice at 6:30. Nice hard swim where I felt like I was getting my swimming arms back. Then it was a fun 4-hour ride on Cody Beals’ and Matt Hanson’s wheel. Drafting off of them was like swimming with fins in the pool. Everything feels so fast and effortless! Half way through the ride I looked at my garmin and we were averging over 25mph! That was with the wind, but still! It was awesome!

After the ride I drove straight to College Station to see my parents. We sat around and just chatted for a while and then my sister came in and we went out for some earnds and grocery shopping. Yep, Gardners love to hang out in the grocery store! My parents used to call going to the grocery store “date night,” actually, I’m pretty sure they still do!

Scott had gone in the other room for a sec and she had put one of her dress up dresses on by herself. 

Sunday I was able to go to church with my old congregation. There were a couple people that I still knew and it was fun to see after so many years! It’s always nice to hear updates on peoples lives and know they still care about you. Drove back down to the Woodlands on Sunday night.

My homestay has a business called The Woodlands Fascial Stretch, which helps work pain out of the body. Dutch worked on me for an hour and it was so fascinating to learn about! There were several times where a muscle that had been tight for the last couple weeks finally relaxed! It was instant! I wouldn’t have believed it unless I experienced it myself. I’m excited to be able to go back in January and do more with him! When I got home my PT commented on how my back was more "cleared up" than it had been before. 

Burnt her finger while cooking an egg for breakfast. 

Monday morning was obviously another swim and then I was able to go on a run with another fellow female pro. Probably one of the worst runs I’ve ever done! I hadn’t eaten breakfast and then did a hard swim… bad news! Got another massage to continue to help my back and then headed back to the house to pack up some of my things. David got me together with Steve at VRcycling Studio to use a computrainer. It was AMAZING! I wish we had a studio like this in Cincinnati or even that I had a fan like the ones there! Everything you would ever need was there at the studio, all the courses, fans, screens, towels, showering facilities with everything in them! The Woodlands spoils triathletes! Right after my ride I headed to dinner with David and some pros he coaches. It was so fun to be able to just sit and chat. I honestly can’t remember the last time I went out with some friends with out my daughter!

A glimpse into VR Cycling Studio. I'm wishing I were there now!

That night I slept horribly! I finally got to sleep sometime after 11 and then woke up at 2 and couldn’t get back to sleep till 5! Well, for probably the second time in my life I slept past my alarm and was an hour late to swim practice! So what was supposed to be a hard swim became a recovery swim.

Soon after Coach David and I went to get my bike fit done at Bicycle Speed Shop. Brian does an amazing job with bike fits there! He does a retül fit and really increased my comfort and power on the bike. (Yay free power!) He recommended doing custom insoles as well because of the way I ride. So we did those as well which have made it so I don’t have any more numbness or discomfort in my feet! It’s amazing what changing a couple mm/degrees here and there can do for power and comfort.  Thanks Brian!

Coach David and I grabbed some lunch and went and packed up my bike and all my stuff. Learned some better ways to pack my bike and took pictures when I got home so I can actually do it myself J.  I had a run on the schedule but since the bike fit went long and I had to get to Dallas on time, I just drove straight to Dallas to catch my flight. I ended up at the gate 2 hours early (could have done that run L), but right next to my gate was a yoga studio! I forgot to do my yoga the day before so I went over to the little airport yoga “studio” and did 40 minutes of yoga.

My private little yoga paradise.

Leaving was so bitter sweet! I was very excited to be able to see Scott and Emi again and be home in my own bed after having a summer very full of traveling, but it was so fun to be able to train with other pros who are chasing the same dream I am. It makes me mentally tough to do these training sessions by myself but it's nice to know I'm going to have company a couple times throughout the year!