Stephanie Liles

Kona Memories

2011-11-22T09:12:00.001-05:00

When I qualified for Kona at Ironman Florida in 2009, I never knew how lucky I was. I did know that if I didn’t take that Kona slot that I would lose my honorary triathlete badge, so I signed up for the 2010 World Championship Ironman. At that time people would ask me if I was excited about going to Kona and my response was always, “Not really.” I lived in Florida, so how different could Hawaii be?!? How very wrong I was. There is nothing like Kona, especially being there the week of the Ironman.
We stayed at the King K host hotel. We were smack dab in the middle of the action. A triathlete’s paradise, there were tons of vendors giving away lots of gear. Alii Drive had tables up and down the street with even more free stuff. Even on the swim course there was freebies. It was pretty cool swimming out to the Coffee boat to get a cup of coffee and a chance to win BlueSeventy goggles. I’ll never forget that wonderful Lava Java coffee! I was one of the first people in line early in the morning to get my delicious cup of java. While my husband and I would sip on our coffee in front of Lava Java, we’d marvel at all of the super fit triathletes running very fast down the street.
The Lifesport Kona Camp was a blast and so informative. The last day of camp was the very same day that I married my training partner and best friend, Mike. A lot of my new camp friends were there during the ceremony. An awesome day!
There was always something going on, like the Parade of Nations, a kid’s mini triathlon (Pro’s children racing each other,) the Underwear Run (fun and crazy,) and lots of parties, like the Slowtwitch Party (a mansion on the water,) and the PowerBar breakfast (my daughter and I had our backpacks busting at the seams with PowerBar gear and nutrition freebies.)
So, just like Phil, I am reading all that I can on what’s going on this week in Kona, my heart aching to be there. I cheer for my amazing Snapple teammates that are competing in the Ironman this weekend and hope they cherish every moment while they are there. Once you go to the World Championship Ironman in Kona, whether you are competing or not, you never are the same again.

Preparing for World Championship Ironman 70.3

2011-08-25T16:45:00.002-04:00

Winnersville Olympic Triathlon 2011

Winnersville Triathlon has always been a fun, laid back, out in the country triathlon. My goal this year was to race it, but not all out. Last year at this race, both my Achilles seized up during the last part of the 10k. I was out of commission for weeks. Since my 70.3 race is only a few weeks away, I had to be very careful how I raced.

The swim was in a nice lake, but super warm water, due to the high temperatures. The first buoy (which was yellow,) was to my right. It was also right where the sun was coming up. All I could see was sun! No buoys, trees, or landmarks. I kept swimming towards the light, until I swam smack dab into the buoy. Talk about swimming right on course! BTW, that is very unusual for me, because I am the swimmer that is zig zaging all along the swim course. Once I got done with the swim, I knew I had some time to make up. Last year, there was a competitor that was about 5 minutes ahead of me out of the water. This year, the same girl was only 3 minutes. Yahoo!

The bike is a two loop, 27 mile bike course out in the country. It wasn't until the 2nd loop that I took the lead. When I came into T2, I found out that not only was I the first female going into the run, but I was the first overall everyone! At that point, that changed my goal for the race. I knew that I was a faster runner than the girls behind me, but there's usually a fast male runner that would fly by me at some point. It never did happen. My plan was to run with effort the first 3 miles, then see where I was in the race. Not a soul behind me, so I slowed my run pace down to a tempo run. I crossed the line feeling great and ended up finishing faster than last year's time. Very happy with my 2:12 overall time and so glad to have found my confidence again. Watch out Las Vegas! Here I come.

Family Fun on 4th of July!

2011-08-25T16:43:00.001-04:00

Freedom Springs Triathlon

Luke, my oldest child and a Snapple Club Team member, decided to try his first adult sprint triathlon. That made me very nervous. The race is held in Blue Springs, Marianna, so the swim is in a clear, but chilly spring. Not only is the water cold, but there are weeds in the springs that go up to the surface of the water. Even for experienced triathletes, this could cause swimmers to panic and this is why I was nervous for my inexperienced 15 year old. Also, Luke had never done a mass swim start before, and being a worried mom that I am, I decided to forgo my race to stay right by Luke’s side. Needless to say, I worried for nothing! I wore my wonderful Xterra wetsuit, Luke had only his trisuit. He got through the swim with no problems at all. Silly me!

We got on the bike and because it wasn’t a USAT sanctioned race, I was able to ride beside him some giving him guidance on the rules while racing. Luke rode well for never riding 10 miles ever.

Onto the run! The run was on a dirt road that went further into the country. Very hilly, so thank goodness it was only a 5k. We kept a pace that was comfortable for Luke, passing some people, but keeping it consistent and steady. The finish was on a long downhill, where Luke found his second wind and out sprint me to the finish line. That stinker!

I was so proud of Luke finishing his first adult sprint triathlon, along with the rest of my family. Luke came in 2nd in his age group, Mike (my husband and Snapple Club Member) came in 3rd Overall, Joshua (12 year old) came in 3rd Overall in the kid’s race, Juliet (10 year old) came in 1st in her age group in the kid’s race. Success!

Could things get any worse?!?

2011-08-25T16:41:00.001-04:00

Gulf Coast Triathlon

After a good half ironman in New Orleans about three weeks ago and a great camp last weekend to prepare me for Gulf Coast Triathlon, I was confident that I would do well in my upcoming race. Sometimes you can be too confident.

After getting to Panama City Beach, I was gathering all that I would need for my race the next morning. See, instead of having it all in one bag, I had clothes, gear, etc., in 3 bags. Bad idea! I realized that I forgot my Snapple Triathlon Team tri shorts. Boo! Fortunately, I had an old pair of black tri shorts as a back-up that I could use, but they’re not nearly as comfortable as my Snapple shorts.

Race morning, I woke up with my stomach bloated and uncomfortable. I looked like I was 5 months pregnant. Great! People will be whispering and wondering how a pregnant lady was able to race a half ironman. So, as I waddled to the swim start, I knew I would at least float. Even with my big belly, I had a P.R. in my swim, knocking off 5 minutes off of last year’s time.

Because I race by heart rate, I had my Garmin on my bike ready to go. I started the bike portion, knowing that my heart rate always spikes at the beginning of the bike. Looking at my heart rate, it was lower than my resting heart rate. Uh oh. What does this mean?!? I rode a little bit farther and checked my heart rate again. Still way too low. So, now what? I didn’t have a back up plan. Just the weekend before at the camp, Coach Dan told us to always have a back up plan if things did not go the way you plan. Way to listen to the coach, huh?!? So, I tried my best to keep my bike pace similar to what I rode in my half ironman in New Orleans. The course was flat as a pancake, so it was easy to keep the pace consistent. My stomach still felt big and full, so I did not take in the nutrition as planned. Another no no.

Going out on the run, I was hoping to feel as good as I did my last race. Of course, it always hurts the first mile or two, but then I would get into a groove. I decided not to go by my heart rate on the run, since it was so off on the bike. I tried to just go by feel and occasionally glance to see what my run pace was. I never did feel like I could get into a good steady pace. The weather conditions were almost perfect, so that wasn’t the problem. My run pace kept getting slower and slower with every mile. All I kept telling myself is to keep moving forward. The finish was in sight and I couldn’t have been happier to see it. I was happy I didn’t drop out when I felt so bad. It was also a good lesson for me to always make a checklist of items you need for your race and always have a back up plans if things don’t happen the way you plan.

In the end, I was lucky to win my age group, 7th female overall, and my finishing time wasn’t as bad as I was sure it was going to be. Even better, some of my very good friends had fantastic races and I was so proud and happy to see them finish.

First triathlon of the year is always a scary one!

2011-08-25T16:37:00.002-04:00

Ochsner NOLA 70.3 Ironman

My husband and I got to New Orleans the day before race day. Boy, New Orleans is one of a kind! We stayed in a very unique B & B in the French Quarter. The B & B used to be slave quarters and I don’t think they updated it much.

The Ochsner NOLA 70.3 is an interesting course. You start at one place, then finish miles away in the middle of the French Quarter.

Race morning, there were gusts of wind. Just doing my run warm-up in the head wind was a challenge. No surprise that the race officials cancelled the swim and turned the triathlon into a duathlon. They couldn’t get the safety boats out where they needed to be, because of the large waves. We had a time trial start, starting with the bike portion. Within our age group, we’d take off two at a time, every 3 seconds. It didn’t spread us out too much, but the race directors did as much as they could with how many participants there were.

The bike was difficult, due to the strong wind. We had head wind going out, but had some great tailwind coming back in. My Smith sunglasses were a big help, protecting my eyes from any flying debris. The roads were quite bumpy and uneven. I saw a few bike wrecks, not sure if it was from the gusts of wind or the bad roads. My coach has taught me to go by heart rate, rather than speed, so I never knew my speed. I felt pretty good, though.

Starting the run, I didn’t feel that this was going to be a great race for me. My husband, who was watching along the run course had informed me that there were at least 5 girls ahead of me. I just did not know what to expect from my legs. As I was running, I found I was picking them off one by one and I was feeling overall better. My Spira Stingers came through for me once again. Those shoes are awesome!

The finish line was in the middle of the French Quarter. There were lots of people cheering and that has always been a big motivator to finish strong. Once I crossed the finish line, I was in 2nd place. Unfortunately, with a time trial start, you can’t be too confident that you are going to hold onto that spot. There could easily be another that started a couple minutes behind you, but ended up with a finishing time that is faster than yours.

Oh, happy day! I did in fact hold onto that 2nd place spot, with the fastest run in my category. Not only that, I was fortunate enough to qualify for the World Championship 70.3 Ironman in Las Vegas this fall.

It’s so great to get one underneath your belt and it went better than expected. My wonderful Snapple Champion System gear kept me comfortable and cool in the heat. Speaking of hot, my next stop, Gulf Coast Triathlon in Panama City Beach, Florida. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

A slice of humble pie.

2011-02-08T09:37:00.005-05:00

Boy, you think you know everything there is to know about your sport with training and racing, but then you get a slice of humble pie. I got served mine this past weekend at the Tallahassee Half Marathon. A few months ago, I started running a lot. In fact, it started when my Snapple Triathlon Team put on a running challenge. Oh, how I love a challenge! Whoever got in the most miles for the month wins a prize. Anything with a prize, I'm in! I ended up logging in over 200 miles for the month, which really helped my running speed. I did not win the competition, since there are super studly athletes on my team. I got away from my serious run training the past few weeks while focusing on swim training, but still was hopeful that I would run my goal time.
Race morning:
It was cold! Really, really, cold. I live in freaking FL! It shouldn't be 30 degrees in FL, right?!? So, I lined up at the starting line, with as little layers as I could stand, which was still 5 layers of clothes (the top 3 layers were my awesome new Snapple Triathlon Team gear.)
Race:
As I started running, I thought I would hold back for the first half of the race. Approaching other runners, I'd ask them what pace they were trying to hold. Too slow or too fast, moving on. Little did I know that the people that I thought would be too slow would end up passing me right by at the halfway point.
Since I am a slave to my Garmin, I would keep checking the pace. Hmmm? Why am I getting slower with every mile??? And why do my legs feel like I had 20 pound weights on them?!?
At the 7 mile point, I had decided that today was not my day to have a good race, so if I was going to suffer, I'd wait for my good friend, Brook, and we could suffer together. Suffer we did. Brook did amazing, finishing with a P.R. by 3 minutes.
I learned a lot from my horrible race. I learned that you need to put in the work to get the results that you want. I learned that your nutrition during the race and leading up to the race can make a huge difference in your performance. Also, you never know what your body will do day to day. You just show up race morning and hope for the best.

A week in Paradise!

2010-10-25T12:34:00.010-04:00

What a journey! When you do an ironman, there’s such a build-up, it makes you sad when it’s over with. Let me first start by thanking many people who has been there for me in training, rehab, financially, and emotionally. Snapple Triathlon Team has been a huge support to me, giving me all the cool gear to help me go fast. Spira shoes is so giving to their athletes and was why I felt so darn good during my marathon. Coach Dan helped me have yet another fantastic ironman. I love Lifesports! My parents, brother, and sister-in-law helped me feel not so guilty about the long training days, but doing fun stuff with my wonderful children. Not only that, they were there to cheer me on during the race. John and Karen McBroom, I couldn’t of gotten to Kona and stay in Kona without your financial support. I am eternally grateful. Robin Gibson, you are one of the most selfless people I know. Willing to help anyone that is injured. All my wonderful friends that did some of my long training days, even though you weren’t doing an ironman. I love you guys! My awesome kids for putting up with me training morning, noon, and night. I feel so lucky to have such great kids! My wonderful new husband, did all the training with me. I couldn’t of married a better guy. Thank you to all my friends that supported me, encouraged me, gave me great advice, and congratulated me. You all inspired me!!!!

Ok, so now the race report. A week in Kona was paradise and a lot of fun! I started my trip by doing the Kona Lifesport Camp. We got to train on parts of the course, which was great. Got many helpful tips that I used during the race.

Got married! Yep, at our hotel, King K, Mike and I got married right on the water with my family, my awesome coach, and all the new wonderful camp friends watching. We had a traditional Hawaiian wedding. It couldn’t of been more perfect.

Woo Hoo! The Underpants Run! My kids, Mike, and I wore our Splish “Just Married” bathing suits. Too much fun!

Expo, Slowtwitch Party, cool Yurbuds photo shoot, snorkeling boat trip were some of the neat things I did before my Ironman.

Race Morning:

The swim was great! Felt like I was swimming in a tropical fish tank. It was hard to take the swim seriously. My swim time was what I expected. S-L-O-W. Oh well, at least I enjoyed it.

The bike was challenging, due to the gusts of crosswinds. My race strategy was go by heart rate and nothing else. I never knew how fast I was going and it was hard at times letting people pass me, knowing how much faster I could go, but I wanted to feel good during the marathon.

The run was awesome! I felt great the whole time! My plan worked and I would do it no other way. I got faster as I ran, again by heart rate. Never knew my pace. I was always comfortable in my snazzy Champion Systems gear and my Spira running flats. I finished with a much better time than expected and most importantly, feeling wonderful! It was worth holding back on the bike to have a fantastic run and feeling so good.

What a great experience! I was sad that my ironman experience had ended and so sad about not getting my Lava Java Kona Coffee every morning. This race has made me want to do more, because it was so great. Maybe in 2 years I will be back on the Ironman circuit. In the meantime, I will be focusing on the half Ironman and shorter distances.

Thank you again everyone for supporting me on this wonderful journey!

Valdosta Winnersville Olympic Triathlon

2010-08-22T16:47:00.004-04:00

Getting ready for Kona has kept me busy most weekends. I hadn't done a triathlon since May. Wow, that is unusual for me during tri season. I will normally cram as many races as possible in the short season. With a couple setbacks, because of my silly mountain bike accidents, and the long ironman training weekends, I had to put my beloved short course tris on hold. Well, until this past weekend. :-)
Valdosta Triathlon has always been a fun, laid back, country triathlon. About 200 competitors, there's no pressure and it's all about getting a great workout and enjoying the day. This year, Valdosta Triathlon decided to not only have the sprint triathlon that they've had for the last 3 years, but added an olympic distance. Since this weekend was my "easy" training weekend, I decided to see if my body remembered how to race. Valdosta Triathlon is definitely a good runner's race, with their extra long run distance in their sprint and also this year's olympic distance. If you think you are going to do a 3.1 mile run, think again! It's more like a 4 mile run. And if you are planning on a 10k run, too bad for you! It was more like 6.7 miles.
The swim is in a really pretty lake, although is was more like a hot tub, with a temp in the 90's. Honestly, it didn't bother me, since my swim pace is not fast enough to build a sweat. :-) The positive thing about the swim is that I'm getting darn good at sighting this year. I was the girl that would be zig zaging all over the swim course. Now, I see the buyou and swim straight for it. Why prolong my worst event?!? As predicted, I came out of the water 3rd female and 15th overall. Oh well.
Zipped through transition. Got on my girlie Planet X bike and Hawk Racing wheels, which I adore. It was hammer time! Nice somewhat flat bike course (in the country.) Ended up passing both leading girls before getting on the run. Brook Pace, one of my good training buddies, was one of the super fast swimmer girls and great cyclist I had to work to catch. I ended up with the fastest bike times for the gals and the 3rd fastest bike time overall. Glad to know all my ironman training on the bike is paying off.
Now for the run. My favorite and one of my strengths. I took off on the run, felt great, on track for a fabulous run time. Got to the last two miles of the run and my Achilles seized up. Where in the world did this come from?!? No warning and my awesome Spira running flats had never given me any issues before. I stopped and stretched as much as I could. I knew Brook was probably not too far behind me. I started running again. Pain still there and making its way up my calf. Stopped and stretched again. All I could do at this point was limp the last two miles. I prayed that my fast running earlier gave me enough of a lead to keep my placing. Sure enough I did it. That was the longest 2 miles, especially on that run course, and took the win. I was 1st Woman Overall and 3rd Overall. I surely hope I made Team Snapple proud an I do hope my Achilles heals fast, because my Kona Ironman is 1.5 months away and I have several big training weekends ahead.
Thank you, Valdosta Tri, for the great race and beautiful watch I won. Look forward to next year.

On Top of the World!

2010-06-22T11:16:00.008-04:00

Adventurous, I am, but after this recent experience, I can definitely add that to my resume.
My cousin was getting married in Colorado Springs, so I started planning all that I wanted to do in the 5 days I'd be there. Definitely wanted to see the Olympic Training Center, go to the beautiful and magical Garden of the Gods, and hike Pike's Peak. Well, hike was not what I ended up doing! Let me start from the beginning of that crazy day.
It was Thursday morning, the day after I flew into Colorado. I was told that if we were going to do Pike's Peak, that we needed to leave at 5 a.m., because of the many hours we'd be on the mountain. So, we started our hike up the mountain. There were many people hiking and running, but little did I know that they were only doing a small portion of the mountain. They were the smart ones! Picture climbing stadium stairs. Ok, now imagine climbing them for 5 1/2 hours straight. Well, that's exactly what I felt like during the hike. As we climbed, the scenery was breathtaking! Wow, this really is God's Country! I kept taking pictures during the hike, it also gave me an excuse to catch my breath. Coming from sea level, just walking up a few steps made me out of breath. After 2 1/2 hours, we made it to the midway point of the climb. I was so happy to sit down and take a break. As we were eating our PowerBars, a cute little chipmunk came right up to us begging for food. How could we resist! He's obviously knows the routine for getting the tourists to feed him. So, the first part of the climb wasn't so bad. The weather was nice and cool. I finally got to break out my awesome Champion System Team Snapple gloves and wind breaker. Let me tell you, at the end of the day, that's what saved me from freezing to death in the 31 degree weather. Hey, I'm a Florida girl!
So, off we went trying to find the top of the mountain. The incline got a bit steeper and I felt as I was struggling to breath a little more. We took mini breaks every 15 minutes, mainly to catch our breaths. Finally, we get out of the trees and could see the top of the mountain. It didn't look too far, but we were so very wrong! The trail had us winding back and forth up the mountain. We had to carefully walk through knee deep snow. My trusty Spira shoes can handle a lot, but they are not waterproof! Some parts, we actually had to rock climb with no equipment! Besides my shallow breathing, I was feeling light-headed, and really out of it. I had 2 miles to go, but really felt like I was not going to make it. At one point, I was telling my fiancee just to leave me and go on. It's amazing how altitude effects you! Finally, we reached the top! There was a restaurant up on top of Pike's Peak, where I spent a good couple of hours warming up, eating chicken noodle soup and their famous homemade donuts. Yum! It's still too soon to ask if I am glad I climbed Pike's Peak, but I can promise you that I won't be doing that again. Oh, by the way, did you know there are some crazy fools that actually do a marathon on Pike's Peak?!? Either they are super fit or super crazy!!! :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-12T10:13:00.003-04:00

Every year Gulf Coast Triathlon (half ironman) is during Mother's Day Weekend. And every year, I drag my poor children to the race. It's hard to focus on what you have to do to get ready for the race, when all you want to do is play with your children.
Gulf Coast Triathlon is held in the beautiful beaches of Panama City Beach. This time of year, the weather is usually gorgeous, which makes the race enjoyable. Well, this year was a bit different from previous years.
Race morning, all seemed well, until I looked out to the ocean. Hmmm...looks a little choppy. No problem, I like swimming in choppy water. Feels like I'm on a rollercoaster, makes it fun. The horn goes off and I start dolfin diving into the water. Trying to get into my swim rhythm, the waves seem bigger than from the beach. Still swimming, I look up to see where the buoy was. All I could see was a big wave smacking me in the face. I zig zagged all over the swim course, even had to be redirected by a volunteer in a kayak. Never seeing anyone, except when another girl ran smack dab into my face (or maybe I ran into her.) Knocked my goggles off, had to do the back stroke to fix them. Let me tell you, that swim felt like it was never ending!
Finally got into T1, calves cramping up, but was just happy to be out of the water. Took off on the bike, just to have major head wind. Oh well. What can you do?!? Was alone for most of the bike, up until the last mile of the bike portion. Saw another girl ahead of me. Not for long! I closed the gap pretty quickly and rode on by. Shortly after that was T2. Boy, was I glad to be off that bike!
Got in a rhythm on the run and wanted to keep the pace around a 7 minute mile pace. Of course, at the beginning it's always a bit too fast (6:20-6:30,) but thank goodness for my Garmin to keep me in check. I hadn't run father than 7 or 8 miles for the last several months, so I was nervous that I just might not finish the 13.1 miles. Still all alone on the run, I planned on getting water or gatorade every other water station. The wonderful volunteers working the stations were still setting up and not expecting to see an athlete already. No problem. I just went with the flow. I appreciate all who volunteer for my races and know how hard they work. Mile 8 I was feeling all that I had done already. It was hot and very humid and stopped at every water station from there on out. Counting down every mile, I could not wait to see the finishline! I felt just as bad as when I did the ironman last year. Finally, got to the finishline to be greeted by my wonderful children. All my pain and tiredness disappeared. Ended up 4th Female Overall and 2nd Amateur Female. Always glad that I do that race and looking forward to 2011.

The wind is my friend... Or at least that's what I tell myself!

2010-04-30T17:12:00.003-04:00

Competing at St. Anthony's Triathlon is an experience everyone should try. No other race like this! It's a challenging olymipic tri, even in perfect conditions. Swim has always been anthing but calm year after year. The bike portion is turn after turn after turn. The run is flat, but usually hot, hot, hot! Last year when I competed in St. Anthony's Triathlon for the first time, the swim was too rough, so they just did the bike and run. Swim challenged that I am, I had no problem not doing the swim. In the end, I did very well. 3rd Overall Amateur Elite Women. This year, I had no clue. If they had the swim, I knew I would have to fight for being in the top 10 elite females. Racing some of the best girls in the world, it would take a lot of effort and work.
Race morning, the energy and excitement was contagious. I was nervous myself and anxious, but ready to get the race started. I wanted to do well and not let my Team Snapple down. From transition to swim start, it was a good 15-20 minute walk. Lesson to be learned, bring disposible flip flops. Gun went off, I dolphin dived to get in the middle of the pack of great swimmers. Boy, how I love the swim portion of the race. It totally calms my anxiousness and nerves. I got focused and actually passed some swimmers. That made me so very happy! Water was choppy, but for me, the choppier the better. I don't really understand why that is, but I have fun with it and enjoy the swim.
Climed myself out of the water and into T1. As I was running out with my bike, I hear the announcer saying all kinds of wonderful things about me and wishing me luck. Wow, what a way to start the bike portion! Slipping my feet into my awesome Spiuk bike shoes, I realize that I pulled my strap out of my left shoe. Oh no! Well, I just have to have one foot firmly strapped in. As expected, there was turn after turn. Addition to that, there was much headwind. Well, this is good training for Kona, right?!?
Get into T2, I throw on my Spira racing flats and fly out of transition. This is my strongest leg, so I know I'll be able to make up any time lost on the swim. I pass several elite girls going out on the run course, but as soon as I turn, I felt like I was running in s-l-o-w motion. Darn wind! I see the amazing Miranda Carefrea flying by all those poor pro women struggeling like the rest of us. How inspiring is Miranda?!? Got to the awesome spectator lined finishline. If that doesn't make you speed up, I'm not sure what does! I finished better than I expected with the swim this year. 7th Amateur Elite Women Overall! How could I be disappointed? Great race! Would I do this race again, even though this doesn't favor my strengths? Oh yes! Hard course, but you are treated like a pro triathlete. Recommend to everyone!

Starting Tri Season with Much Fun!

2010-04-14T11:06:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, I competed in a triathlon like no other. The tri was “The White Sands Triathlon,” in Panama City Beach, FL. I’ve always loved racing in Panama City Beach, with their beautiful white sand beaches and beautiful weather. This triathlon wasn’t in my original schedule, but the whole concept of the race really had me interested. White Sands Tri is a sprint distance triathlon, 600 meter ocean swim, 16 mile bike, and a 5k run. Sounds pretty normal, right? Well, the organizers of the race decided to make the race a bit more competitive. When registering, you had the option of putting $5 in the pot to start 6 minutes ahead of the guys. Now the guys who wanted to try to catch the girls, also had to put $5 in the pot to participate. Whoever came across the finishline first, male or female, won the cash. The pot was over $200 and I couldn’t wait to fight for that money! So, knowing that the swim was not my strongest, I had to really put effort into it. Taking in that saltwater and trying to avoid jellyfish, didn’t help my swim stroke. I got back to the beach and was happy that no men were in sight. Got onto my bike and started hammering it. The bike course was a 3 loop course, so you could see who was in front of you and who was behind. I was 1:30 back from the lead girl, which is no surprise, since I’m swim challenged. Still no sight of guys. Yahoo! With every lap, I was closing the gap on the lead girl, but by the 2nd lap of the bike, I see two Navy guys about 2 miles from me. Darn! They looked like they were riding strong too! The last lap of the bike, those two Navy guys caught me. I still had hope that they weren’t good runners, since that is my strength. I caught the lead girl in the last 2 miles of the bike, but my focus was on the 2 guys ahead of me. Practically flying out of T2, I ran after the Navy guys. Saw the guys at the turnaround point of the run. They still looked strong, but I wasn’t too far away and was still hoping for them to slow down. No luck! Yep, I got beat by 2 boys, but I did come in 3rd Overall and 1st Female. And even better, I actually got a small piece of the pot for coming in 3rd Overall, so that was icing on the cake for a wonderful time.
Would I do this race again? Heck, yeah! It was a lot of fun and a fantastic course.

Be careful what you eat!

2010-03-11T13:28:00.003-05:00

Ok, I am a healthy person and is very careful what I eat, because of my sport. I love fruits and veggies! I think my downfall is, when I like something, I eat it in mass quantities. Not a good thing! There was a time when I would eat oatmeal every morning. Start my day right. Then I discovered this yummy tasting no calorie spray butter. I'd spray and spray even more of it on my oatmeal, then finally decided to just open the darn container and dump half the bottle out into my oatmeal. YUMMY! After many weeks of eating that delicious oatmeal every morning, I noticed my clothes weren't fitting anymore and my butt getting bigger. Hmmm... What the heck was I doing wrong? I was eating healthy, exercising too. Well, I started looking online on the calories and fat of all I would consume during the day. Looked up the zero calorie butter spray and OMG, reading the fine print, there were many calories and fat! What?!? It said ZERO calories in a spray. Well, that's one spray, not half the bottle. What reminded me of that time was that I recently discovered dried veggies as snacks. My favorite being dried green beans. What could possibly be fattening about that? Well, I've noticed this week that I am getting that "pudgy" look, which is so attractive in my swimsuit during my group swim workouts. I'm afraid to go on my run, because of the fire I might start with my thunder thighs. Anyhow, I decided to look up my wonderful and delicious green bean chips. What do you know, but they aren't as low cal and low fat as I originally thought. Serving Size 28 g, Calories 130, Calories from Fat 40, Total Fat 4.5 g, Saturated Fat 0 gm, Transfat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Sodium 160 mg, Total Carbohydrate 20 g, Dietary Fiber 4 g, Sugars 5 g, Protein 2 g

Darn it! Oh well, back to Subway for the next several weeks!

Training Camp Tallahassee 2010

2010-03-11T09:04:00.006-05:00

When I heard that there was going to be a Snapple training camp this April up in Virginia, I wanted to go so bad, but I knew there was no way I could attend due to travel, kids, and work. After talking to a few of my training partners, we came up with a four day mini-camp here in town. Four days of nothing but swimming, cycling, and running. Sounds like fun, huh?

Day one: 4,000 yd swim and 60 min run.

Day one was pretty uneventful. We had 4 people show up for the 4k swim and it went by pretty quick. I’ve had the luxury of catching two different colds in the past ten days so I didn’t feel 100%. A couple hours after the swim 5 of my friends showed up at my house to do an hour run on the trails. One key to get through 4 solids days of training is to keep the intensity down some and we did just that on the run. Nice and steady.

Day two: 60 mile hilly bike and 20 minute brick run.

Only two other hearty souls showed up for today’s workout. Like most of the country, North Florida has had a cold and wet winter. That is why I was happy to see sunshine and temperatures in the upper 50’s/lower 60’s. I felt really good during the ride, and even had to back off some for the 2nd half knowing I had a long weekend ahead of training. The short brick run after the bike didn’t feel great, but wasn’t too bad either.

Later that evening I had a group of training friends show up to do some yoga. I have the Flexible Warrior DVD set of the Yoga for Traithletes. We all got a good laugh of how inflexible most of us were.

Day 3: Local 10k running race, 2-hr bike.

Now I’m starting to feel some of the milage in my legs from the past two day. Four of my training partners showed up for the 5k/10k race. It was cold for the start, in the mid 30’s. Since I was sick earlier in the week, I wasn’t able to do a 15 min run test that my coach wanted me to do. So I decided to run the 1st 15-minutes hard, then back off and cruise the rest of the run and help a training partner run a good time. Isn't it funny how running fast in a race seems so much easier, than having to run that same pace in a training run?

A few hours after the run we met up for the 2 hour ride. A friend was able to round up a few more recruits and we had about 10 people for the ride. Nutrition is not starting to play an important role in my ability to make if through the weekend. It was nice and sunny with temps in the low 60’s and was able to ride w/o leg warmers and get some sun on my white legs. We had some good head winds on some stretches and I was glad to get the ride over with.

The yoga the day before was a big hit and people wanted to do it again after the ride. With my living room full of people, we Downward Dog’ed it for 30 minutes.

Day 4: Judgment Day – 3,500yds, 60 mile bike, 10 min brick run

We had an interesting start to the swim. A group of us were waiting outside the pool to open at 10am. Finally a lifeguard pops out of the building about 10:15 saying that the locker rooms and bathrooms are closed, but the pool is open…..huh? I found out later that the head life guard was out the night before, drinking and partying and decided to have his friends over to the pool for a late night pool party. All good until the cops show up to the city pool at 3am with a bunch of drunk people having a party. One nice thing about Tallahassee is there are a good number of excellent pools available – so we decided to head over to the nicest pool facility that I’ve ever been to, the new Florida State University outdoor pool.

About 10 fools showed up for the workout and I got nice and tired by the end of the 3500. Up next was a 60 bike on flat road thru what we call the Dead Zone. The Dead Zone is this one road that is 14 miles long out in the middle of NOWHERE. It goes on and on and on. Half way through the ride the fatigue of the weekend is really starting to hit me. To top it off it seemed like we had a head or cross wind the entire ride. Not to mention my nose ran down my face the whole time! Ugh! Needless to say, I have mastered the "snot rocket!"

After the ride I wanted to bag the brick run. After lots of complaining and whining, my lovely fiancé made me do it. I ended up running pretty hard just to get it over with and honestly felt a lot better afterwards. Go figure?

So, am I glad I trained that much in a short few days? Mmmm... yeah, I am. Would I do it again? Ask me next year. :-)

Krispy Kreme Challenge

2010-02-02T17:57:00.002-05:00

Krispy Kreme Challenge
January 24th, 2010

I have always been curious about the Krispy Kreme Challenge run. How do they do it and do people actually participate in the eating the doughnuts and running? How is that possible?!? Well, in Tallahassee, FL, this was the 1st year that they put on this race. I just couldn’t resist going & yes, participate. Finding out more about what I needed to do to participate, you could be a slacker & only eat one doughnut midway in the 4 mile race or if your have a stomach of steel, you would eat a dozen doughnuts at the halfway point. Yep, I decided to play it safe and be a slacker. I was more interested in watching the fools that signed up for the challenge of eating a dozen doughnuts.
The gun goes off and everyone is running as fast as they would in a normal running race, knowing that once we get to the doughnut stop, it’s all downhill. We get to the mandatory stop, I see runners cramming doughnuts in their mouths, downing it with water. Some people flattening out the doughnuts in their hands to get as many doughnuts in their mouths as fast as they can. For me, they asked me how many doughnuts I would like to eat. Are you kidding me?!? I’ll take one, please. After painfully cramming that super sweet original doughnut down my throat, I started running again. Nothing like, choking on doughnut pieces while your just trying to get air in your aching lungs! Finally, I got to the finishline. Happy to be done with the craziness, but anxious to get back out on the course to see who all was going to be puking their guts out. Those Krispy Kreme Challengers didn’t let me down. The guy who ended up winning the race puked up that dozen doughnuts as soon as he crossed the finishline.
So, I was happy to experience The Krispy Kreme Challenge and ended up being the Overall Female Slacker. Yahoo! Who knows, maybe next year I will go for the real challenge of racing with a belly full of doughnuts.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T17:27:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone! I do believe that 2010 is going to be an awesome one. After being a big, fat slacker, after my ironman, it's time to get serious. I'm happy to say that I participated in my local masters swim group annual 50- 100 meter swim today. Yep, that's right, 5000! I must say that I kept my paddles and pull buoys on for most of it, because they are all so dang fast, but it was great. I felt like I was training for ironman again. :-) Well, there are many things I'm looking forward for 2010. I am so very excited about my new triathlon team, Team Snapple. They are the best, but I do wish I lived closer to all of them in D.C.. I cannot forget the ongoing amazing support I get from my favorite and only running shoes, Spira. They have been incredibly supportive to me and I cannot thank them enough!!!! I love Spira!!!! Also, I am going to be doing the World Championship Ironman in Kona! Yahoo! Who wouldn't be excited about that?!? I am also getting married in Kona. Why not?!? It's beautiful and I'm marrying my best friend, my training partner, and the man of my dreams. All in all, I think 2010 will be a great year. Happy New Year!

World Championship 70.3

2009-11-24T16:07:00.004-05:00

A week after my first ironman, I decided to drive down to Clearwater to support my awesome coach during his World Championship 70.3 race. I mean, he helped me qualify for Kona, so that's the least I could do! :-)

Now, Coach Dan and I hadn't ever met face-to-face, but I've talked to him enough and e-mailed him enough, I didn't think I'd have any problem picking him out of the thousands of participants.

The electricity that I felt in Panama City Beach for my ironman had moved down to Clearwater. What a cool thing it is to race the best of the best in the world! I did this race in 2007 and have many fond memories of that day.

This year, because the tropical storm had come through Florida, the race organizers felt it safer having the participants race in the bay across the street. It sounded pretty cool to me, because it would be a time trial start for the age groupers. I got to experience that once at St. Anthony's Triathlon this year. Certainly different, but difficult to know where your competitors were with time.

Watching the pros come flying out of the water was exciting. Thinking to myself, "Nope I wouldn't be coming out of the water yet." A few minutes later, "Still probably wouldn't be coming out of the water yet. Boy, I think I should concentrate on my swimming in the off season!"

Once the age groupers started coming out of the water, that's when I really had to pay attention. Looking for my coach. Several tall, fit guys went by me. They looked like they could be Dan, but no dice. Finally, as I watched the wetsuit strippers (or should I say peelers) yank wetsuits off people, I noticed a LifeSports Coaching tri suit (Hey- where's my tri suit?!?) Yep, no doubt that that was Coach Dan. Now I knew what he was wearing, I could track him during the race.

To watch everyone come in from the bike portion of the race, I knew I had to find the best spot. There was a bridge, that apparently everyone else thought of too, where I planted myself. I saw some great triathletes also there watching, like Luke Mackenzie and Miranda Carefrea (I know I mispelled their names. Sorry.)

It was too funny watching the mass packs of triathletes coming in on their bikes. No wonder many of them had faster bike times than some pro cyclists. I do know it was difficult to avoid those packs, just from my experience when I did the race.

Where I was standing was also where the Timex run bonus was. The fist pro to get to that point got some really great $$$$! I had a blast cheering on all my favorite pros like Greg and Laura Bennett, Michellie Jones, Ritchie Cunningham, and Matty Reed.

When I saw my coach, I screamed, "Go Coach Dan!" He looked at me a bit strange, like I was a LifeSport Coaching stalker. I think it was my head to toe in pink that clued him in on who I was.

Watching everyone finish reminded of how I felt just a week earlier in my ironman. The joy and feeling of accomplishment was on all of their faces. So very cool!

I am so proud of Coach Dan and all the other LifeSports Coaching athletes and coaches that competed. Hopefully, next year I'll be joining you.

Yep, One More Ironman Florida Picture

2009-11-24T16:05:00.004-05:00

Ironman Florida Pictures

2009-11-10T07:16:00.005-05:00

Ironman Florida 2009

2009-11-10T06:55:00.003-05:00

Had an amazing time at IMFL. Wanted to do a quick blog with some pictures on pre race through post race.For anyone that has done an ironman, the day you arrive to get ready for your race, you feel the energy. Nervous energy? Probably.On race morning, I was scared to death about the mass swim. Hey, I can hold my own, but I didn’t really want to fight people the whole 2.4 miles. I started waaay right, knowing that I’d have to swim a bit farther than other people. Saw lots of jellyfish and some stingrays during the swim.The bike was what I expected. Headwind going out and tailwind coming back in. I have never stopped during a race for anything, but found that I had to stop for a porta-potty break and for my special needs bag, not only for the bike, but for the run too. Quite the change from my sprints or even my 70.3’s. Felt good on the bike. Hard to go that slow at times, but I kept thinking that I needed to, so I could do well in the run. Not actually running 26.2 in training scared me a bit for the run.

Once I got out on the run, I felt great. I was running comfortably, then looked at my Garmin. Oh, how I am a slave to that Garmin! 7:00 min. miles?!? I don’t think so! So, I slowed it down to 8:00-8:30. Felt like I was in slow motion, but I had to make sure that I’d make it to the finish. Thank goodness I did, because by mile 18, I was sticking with my 8:30’s and no faster. I stopped at every stinkin’ water stop. This is also something I’d never do in any other race. By the last 4 miles, I’d grab a Gatorade and a couple of waters. Looking up ahead while I ran, I couldn't wait until the next water stop! I seriously didn't think I had ever taken in so many fluids in training or racing.

Finishing was just amazing! Laughing with me training partner, Shannon, who ran most of the marathon with me, just because we were almost done. Seeing that beautiful finishline all lit up and hearing,”Stephanie Liles, you are an ironman,” was something I’ll never forget. So, not only did I have a great experience for my 1st ironman, I get to do it all again in Kona. Thanks for everyone who was cheering me on, my wonderful family who put up with my absence for many months, for my fiancee, Mike, for doing much of the training with me, and for my awesome coach, Coach Dan, for training me well & helping me qualifying for World Championships Ironman 2010.

How long has it been?!?

2009-08-12T12:12:00.002-04:00

Yep, I've let several months pass by without blogging. Shame on me! Between Facebook, Twitter, and blogging, it's hard to keep up with it all!

Ironman training has been going well. Cannot believe that November is right around the corner. The workouts that my coach has given me lately, it now makes me realize it's crunch time. My bike rides are now easily 4.5+ hours, run painfully long and fast, and this morning, did a 5250 yrd. swim. It seems like every spare moment I'm training. No wonder that people tend to only do 1 Ironman every other year!

One Addiction to Another

2009-02-21T11:19:00.003-05:00

Well, I have had a couple of new changes in my life. I have decided that I'm tired of looking like I'm 5 months pregnant, because of all the carbonation I'm drinking during the day from my Diet Pepsi's. I've ALWAYS hated coffee, but I thought I'd give it a try, in place of my sodas. First couple of coffee drinks, I had to choke it down, but now I'm loving this whole new world. I've decided that I just love the taste of Irish Cream Brewed Coffee. Yum! I've also learned that my body doesn't handle the "Red Eye" at Starbucks very well. I'm just thrilled I'm off my addiction to soda and on to a new one. I think that as an athlete, you have that addictive personality. Thank goodness that I generally have all healthy addictions, with the exception of my new one, coffee. If that's the worse one, I think I'll be alright.
Now, another new addiction is, Twitter. I discovered it this week and it's just so much fun! It reminds me a lot of Facebook, but it's basically all "status updates." You should check it out: www.twitter.com. I think you'd enjoy it just as much as me.

I missed my bike!

2009-01-28T15:00:00.002-05:00

You never realize how much you get used to something until it's gone for awhile. When I got into a bike crash about a month ago, I had to send my beloved pink Planet X bike off to get fixed. During that time, I rode my old Litespeed. I loved my Litespeed before I even laid eyes on my Planet X, but having to go back to it was very hard. Had a cute little bike seat on my Planet X, but was having to ride a bigger, bulkier seat that I did not like at all. Maybe it was all in my head, but I even felt slower on my group rides. Fortunately, it didn't take long at all before my beautiful bike came home. I just always thought I could get on any bike and never think twice about it, but I learned otherwise. So, I guess I won't be changing or upgrading my bike anytime soon. I'll stick with my barbie bike! :-)

To hire a coach or not.

2009-01-19T08:29:00.002-05:00

I have always thought about getting a coach to help me put stucture into my workouts. I would run 6 days a week, never get on my bike, except for the weekend group rides, and swim a couple days a week. The quality of my workouts were bad. When not racing, I am LAZY. Why hurt if I'm not going to get a prize at the end?!? So, how would I work on my speed? I would just race a lot. It's worked out so far for me, but I want to step it up a level and know I can't do it on my own.
I have a friend that works with LifeSport Coaching and he hooked me up with one of their top coaches, Paul. Being a single mother of three, my budget is super tight. I was planning on signing up for the cheapest plan they had to offer. Paul convinced me that I needed to do the mack daddy plan, if I want to move up in the triathlon world. So, now living on Ramen Noodles and water, I am getting my butt kicked on a daily basis by my coach, Dan. I look at my week training schedule and think, "Isn't this supposed to be my off season?!? What is Coach Dan going to put me through come tri season?" Needless to say, I will either be an amazing triathlete by the end of this year or broken down and retired. :-)

I stink at Blogging!

2009-01-19T08:25:00.002-05:00

Yep, I have figured out that I stink at blogging. I've never been one to keep a diary and so it's been hard to set some time to blog. 2009 resolution: Be a better blogger!

Girls on the Run

2008-11-25T05:21:00.003-05:00

Part of my sponsorship with Team StayPut, is that I have to work a "Girls on the Run" race. Well, I signed up for the Atlanta 5k race in November. I wasn't sure what to expect. I was nervous about finding the race site, since I'm not familiar with Atlanta. Yes, I did get lost on the way there and even trying to find my way back to my hotel, but it was worth it. It was so neat to see all those kids running with 5k with their parents or coach. A 5k is a long way for most kids. Girls on the Run is such a neat program that prepares girls for a 5k race. They promote health and fitness for kids, which I'm a big believer.
When I finally got to the race site, my Goody's StayPut sponsors had a couple of tents set up with tables full of cute hair products for the girls. The girls could pick out what they wanted in their hair and we would fix their hair for them. Well, I'm not very good at that (you can ask my daughter,) so I felt sorry for my little victims. All the kids seems really happy just getting some really cool hair products, so that great. Even though hair styling isn't my thing, I had a blast. I would definitely volunteer again.

I have lost my mind!

2008-11-25T05:00:00.003-05:00

You would think that injuring my back would discourage me from doing something crazy, like signing up for an ironman, but it didn't. I went to watch friends compete in the Florida Ironman race in Panama City Beach. I do this every year, because it is truly inspiring to see these athletes finish such a long race. And in the past, even though I admire those athletes, I had no desire to race that distance. Well, this year, I've been going back and forth about doing an ironman. One day, I would search for a cool ironman race to do, then the next day thinking there's no way I could do that distance. After Ironman Florida, I had a strong urge to sign up. I felt like I was ready. I didn't get up at the crack of dawn and wait in line to sign up, like most people did, but I drove the 2 hours home, went for a run, and decided that if there were still spots left, I would sign up online. Sure enough, there was. So, I signed up. Immediately after, I thought, "What the heck did I do?!?" Not sure if I made the right decision, but I'm committed. I'm not looking forward to it either, although I feel so out of shape and like a big blob right now. Maybe in August I will feel like I'm ready. I will keep you posted.

How time flies by!

2008-11-25T04:44:00.003-05:00

Well, an Aussie friend of mine reminded me that I was neglecting my Blog and to update it. If I could only do it from my cell phone, it would be updated daily. :-)
A lot has happened since my last blog. Seems like a week after my last blog, I hurt my back. Not sure exactly how it happened, but I went to my chiropractor one morning and by the evening, I couldn't walk. Had an MRI done on it and found the a had a tear in one of my disks. Let me tell you, it was painful! I hate taking medicine, unless I absolutely have to, but I was tempted to ask my doctor for some pain meds during that time. Well, I got through it without anything. A good friend of mine works at Florida State University as a physical therapist for the all the athletes. She was kind enough to rehab me. I tell you what, those athletes have it made at FSU. I felt like a kid in a candy store. They had all the coolest equipment, had a room of just orthodics, and a huge storage room of anything an athlete might need (compression socks, etc..) Robin, my physical therapist friend, had me run on an underwater treadmill. No, it's not water running, but a treadmill in a pool, where the water was chest deep. After the first time I ran on it, I left with a huge smile on my face, because I had gone so long without running and I missed it terribly. Eventually, Robin not only had me run on the underwater treadmill for an hour, but moved me to their on land treadmill. Now, I am back running on the road and slowly building my mileage back up. I'm supposed to run in a 15K on Thursday and not sure if I'm going to be able to complete the whole race, since the longest I've run in the last month is 6 miles. Should be interesting.

What to do in the off season?

2008-10-08T15:32:00.003-04:00

Now that my triathlon season is over, I am now figuring out how I should train. Before, I had to get so many swims, runs, and bike rides in, because of an upcoming race. How weird it is to actually sleep in. It just doesn't seem right not getting up at 4:30 a.m.. Do I scale back on everything? I mean, my next triathlon isn't for 6 months. But will I lose my speed in the meantime? Thought about taking up yoga, because my hamstrings couldn't be any tighter. Well, I think in the end I will continue swimming, until it gets too cold for me to get out of the locker room in my swimsuit, bike once or twice a week, and put in some serious running miles. I'll focus on running races until next April. Actually, there really isn't an off season for any triathlete I know. Who was the person that came up with that idea?!?

End of Triathlon Season

2008-10-07T22:49:00.006-04:00

Wow, I can't believe my triathlon season is already over. This year has been my most successful year yet. I have thoughts of doing an IM next year. Some days I am ready to sign up for one, then other days I'm thinking, "No Way!." I am not a planner, so we'll see. I do know that I want to place better in Gulf Coast Half Ironman in 2009. I came in 4th overall this year, so we see what happens next year. I will also plan on racing St. Anthony's Triathlon and its sister race, Morton Plant Mease Triathlon. I loved that race in 2007. It was cancelled in 2008, because of bad weather. I will also plan on competing in Age Group Nationals in 2009 in AL. Other than that, who knows?!?
Well, I'm excited to actually have a blog page now and look forward to playing around with it. Take care, everyone!