So I did a fun transition workout with Alicia in a business park near her house in Durham. We did three sets of a loop on the bike, then transition to a 400m run around a parking lot… simulating race situation.

After a warmup, I tried to do the “proper” transition from the bike where you take off your shoes as you ride and put your feet up on top of them and then smoothly come off the bike ready to put on your running shoes. HA… yeah… I fell completely over on my side. At least it was my left side and not my right (where I separated my shoulder from Philly).

Forget that! I’ll do my best to master the shoe thing in the off sesaon, but in the meantime I am going to just go ahead and be slow in transition so I don’t crash myself during the race. hehehe… wouldn’t that be a sight?!

That is just taking the shoes OFF… I can’t even fathom putting my shoes on leaving after the swim… whew. I have lots to master!

While I am finding my coordination, enjoy this cute picture… I’ll be camping out in the transition zone making sure nothing fishy is going on. (but watch out next year, I promise I am going to master this transition thing on way or another!)

Alisha finished a strong 2nd last weekend at the Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon, completing the hilly 13.1 mile course in 1:24:15. She only came in behind Raleigh runner Tara Wojciechowski out of the 230 woman field. It was a tough race, especially being so close to the finish of Alisha’s Half Ironman just six days prior. Showing her strength and stamina to gut a race out, Alisha finished a solid and challenging run.

• Asheville Citizen-Times Race Recap
• Full Results (PDF)

So Alicia has totally gotten me into Open Water Swimming… we meet out at Lake Jordan and just swim, swim, swim. It’s so refreshing being out in the middle of the lake… the wildlife is amazingly peaceful and it’s nice to not have any flip turns. The time goes by so fast. (and don’t worry, her husband kayaks along with us so we are seen by any boats)

Since Alicia was gone this week to go out to the Grand Columbian Long Distance ITU Triathlon, I had no Open Water Swimming Buddy. Just happened that a real nice gal, Robin, came into Inside Out while I was working looking for some running apparel. I helped her pick out a SUPER CUTE outfit for her upcoming marathon… yes, that is totally important, we all know this! We wanna look GOOD out there competing, not just kick butt.

As Robin was checking out, we started talking about swimming and I mentioned that I had been doing some open water swimming. She was stoked because she had been interested in doing some open water, but like me (before going out with Alicia) she didn’t know where to go and swim at. SO– we set a time to meet at the shop to go out for a swim.

Wednesday afternoon came, and the weather in the Triangle was less than pleasant. It was rainy and around the low 60 degree mark. Robin and I called back and forth, unsure what to do… we had been looking forward to this swim so much! Finally, we decided to grab our wetsuits and brave it.

What a great idea! We got out to the Farrington Point access and swam for almost an hour… it was beautiful out. The wetsuit blocked out the cold, and the rain meant that there was NO ONE else out at the lake except for us. There were no boats, no noise. It was so quiet and peaceful. Just us churning through the open water… and the occational huge bird flying overhead. (so Robin could actually tell you what type of birds they were because she is an avid bird watcher, but to me… they are just amazing and pretty)

Another great training day… full triathlon style.

Running for the glory

Elite runners prepare for half-marathon

by By Lindsay Nash, LNASH@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM

published September 12, 2006 12:15 am

ASHEVILLE Professional cyclist Alisha Lion is quickly proving she is just as fast on her feet as she is on her bike.

The 25-year-old Holly Springs cyclist has exploded into Asheville’s running scene out of the blue, winning the rainy Bele Chere 5K women’s race in July and last month’s grueling Springmaid Splash 10K, stunning competitors as she beat former race champ and ultrarunner Anne Lundblad.

And now, she has her sights set on Saturday’s Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon.

Read More…

>> LINK TO FULL ARTICLE < <

In her first triathlon in over 3 years, and the first Half Ironman of her career, Alisha showed she’s a triple threat, finishing the Duke Liver Center Half Ironman in an impressive 4:42:30, good enough for second place, just 1:26 behind Kristin Price. The race was a grueling event, starting with a 1.2 mile swim through Lake Jordan, a few miles southwest of Raleigh, followed by a windy 56 mile bike ride, and finishing with a punishing 13.1 mile run through the New Hope Overlook Park.

Alisha paced herself well in order to ensure a strong finishing run, the leg of the race that can make or break an athlete. Having concentrated her training on the bike and run, Alisha came out of the water over 5 minutes behind the top Elite Women. She gave a strong and steady effort on the bike, reeling in all but three of the women, and started the half marathon 3 minutes behind the leading group. Her steady bike pacing paid off, as Alisha easily made up the 3 minute deficit within the first few miles of the race, and by the halfway mark of the run Alisha was the race leader.

Former NCAA 10k National Champion and multiple NC State XC and Track All-American Kristin Price was hot on Alisha’s heels, however, and overtook her by in the run by mile 9. The two ran together and pushed eachother to the finish. Alisha finished just under 1.5 minutes behind Kristin, but almost 7.5 minutes ahead of 3rd place finisher, Stacey Richardson.

Alisha was pleased with her overall effort and has learned a lot from her first endurance triathlon as she prepares for bigger and harder races next season. She will waste no time getting back to competition, however, with both the Asheville Half Marathon and the Bridge To Bridge Century bike ride coming up next weekend. Alisha will also compete in the Big Lick Triathlon in Roanoke, VA and the Wilmington YMCA Triathlon by the end of September.

• Full Race Results

• 1.2mi Swim – 35:29 (15th)
• 56mi Bike – 2:34:40 (3rd)
• 13.1mi Run – 1:30:15 (3rd)
• Overall – 4:42:30 (2nd)

I really think I could be Spiderwoman in another life with as many spiderwebs that I run through at Umstead when I’m out on the trails. The past few mornings I have run through so many I lose count… I wish I could say that I don’t get as freaked out anymore but I still find myself yelping and frantically trying to get the web off of me. And of course I am super scared a spider will actually be on me.

I ran through half of this HUGE web on Tuesday morning and there was an equally HUGE spider in the web. I was so scared… I had to run thru part of it because it covered the trail. I carefully manuvered breaking the web at the farthest point from the SPIDER MONSTER that was going to eat me alive if I got stuck there. (it really was that big- don’t have a picture you will have to believe me on this one…)

I’m guessing there are more webs out now since I am hitting the trails earlier and the High School runners are back hitting the books so they aren’t out in the mornings to “clear the trails” for me. Darnit!

So I’ve decided I’m taking applications for a Spiderweb Clearer. Job description: run my route every morning before me, and make sure all the webs are out of the way. That simple. Job restrictions: must be at least 5ft 4in tall (what good are you if you miss some from being too short?!).

I know I am going to be flooded with applications, so please get yours in soon.

One day after tearing up the course at the 10k Springmaid Splash Trail Run, Alisha was back in the saddle riding through the mountains in the Hilly Hellacious Hundred, out of Fletcher, NC. The Hilly is a challenging century through the Appalachain Mountains in Western North Carolina. Alisha was the lone woman riding in the front of the group all day with the top men. She completed the tough ride in 4:45, easily the first woman finisher and just minutes behind elite male rider Justin England. Alisha was using this weekend’s run and ride as preparation for her next big challenge, the Duke Half-Ironman triathlon.