June 2009
So here's the quick and dirty.  I'm living in Portland, coaching triathletes and a Sunday Swim workout for Upper Echelon Fitness (upperechelonfitness.com) I'm also instructing a weekly Trigger Point Re-Gen class out of P.A.C.E, Portland Athletic Center of Excellence and am soon to be a Trigger Point Ambassador.  I work at a running specialty shop on the weekends, Fit Right NW, and have just started tackling a year or Prerequesite work in order to apply for a doctorate program in Physical Therapy.  (Breathe....)
I'm also racing again!  I eased into by doing the Shamrock 8K in March and the Hagg Lake Open water 2K in May.  I did my first triathlon since 70.3 World Championships in November of 2007, the Blue Lake Olympic Distance Triathlon pulled off an overall win at Blue Lake this weekend.
My swimming has come leaps and bounds, and I have high hopes that the rest of my training will follow.
Long ways to go, but things are lookin up!

January 2009
I wrote a piece about Marin this past May (PART 2 - Fights at the Pool).  A courageous soul who passed quietly through my life, changing it forever.  Thank you Marin, you will be missed.  Marin passed away on Friday morning, Jan. 2, after a long fight against brain cancer.  She was 18 years old.  For more information about Marin and her family please visit www.marinlove.com.

I've been blessed by a great group of people during my year and a half up in Seattle.  It has been a challenging year with a knee surgery, a much longer than expected knee rehab, and a transition of careers.  Now I'm looking forward to a move to Portland to pursue some career goals in the sports industry, continue my rehab and look forward to the possibility of racing in 2009.  I have traded in my Elite USA Triathlon license for the opportunity to pursue a comeback to triathlon and start off at a more leisurely pace. 

I look forward to getting involved in the sports community in the Portland area and again finding new training groups and friends.  I want to say a big thank you to my sponsors and the angels who really took me under their wings up here in Seattle.  You know who you are, and I'm not sure where I would be without you.  Thank you.

So Thank you all for a 2008 filled with challenges, defeats, victories, struggle, hope, happiness and joy.  And here's to a 2009 filled with all the same.

I'd like to end with a quote that sums up my year:
"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people." - W. C. Fields 
Because when things seem utterly hopeless, there is always laughter.  And that is what I treasure about you all, thanks for that oh so needed laughter.

"Behold the turtle, he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out." - James Bryant Conant

Thanks to my 2008 Sponsors!

Thanks to my 2008 Sponsors for being a huge support through a challenging year.
For encouraging me on through a long rehab and frustrating setbacks. 
You have all been incredibly instrumental in the health of my knee and my passion to return to the sport and race with more knowledge, understanding, style, precision and fierceness.  
Thank you!

BARRACUDA
Rick Runckle, President of Skyline NW, manufactures some of today's most revolutionary goggles using BARRADUA'S original positive seal.  I'm a huge fan of the Ultimates, they have a great leak-proof seal without having to over tighten the straps.  The silicone straps are great for comfort, they are extra durable and stay in place without having to yank them down to head exploding tightness.  Besides being a Northwest company, (where else could such a stellar company come from?!), Rick runs a tight ship really taking a personal interest in local athletes and the performance and comfort of swimmers hitting the water all around the world.  I hear the Predators are making quite the splash on the triathlon scene, I have yet to sport them at the pool, but have snuck off to the open water to test them out.  They rock!  Check them out!
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EQ Swimwear
EQ Swimwear not only makes fantastic suits but their company philosophy rings true to me as a person. "We know that for some, the water is freedom. For others, it’s work. We’ve personally tasted the thrill of world-class competition and the giddy joy of a springboard cannonball."  Ellen Ferguson, fellow native Oregonian and president and founder of EQS is an accomplished swimmer herself and takes great pride in producing high quality suits and "exceptional swimwear that’s as real as the people who use it."  I'm a huge fan of EQS, and believe me the suits speak for themselves when they are housed on my pasty, northwest, haven't seen the sun in four months body!  They are fantastic!  I'm look forward to working and racing with EQS and hoping to dawn some of their great two pieces this summer!
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PLATINUM PERFORMANCE
I was fortunate to discover Platinum Performance at the Santa Barbara Long Course Triathlon in 2007.  My first response was that the product tasted great, my second response was excitement that I had found a product that included everything I was looking for! My 2007 season was riddled with health problems, and I found myself on and off antibiotics every 6-weeks.  After spending some time working with Dr. Max Testa, I started an aggressive supplement program and decided to go gluten free.  From that decision point in July I have been healthy, avoiding common colds, the flu and any sort of infections.  On top of being gluten free, Platinum Performance provided me with all those supplements I was taking individually.  I have been using their products religiously ever since and I am excited to now be a part of the Platinum Performance team!  
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CATALYST TRAINING SYSTEMS
Catalyst Training Systems was started in the fall of 2006 by exercise physiologist Phil Cutti.  Not a stranger to professional sports, Phil has moved from the professional baseball arena, to the elite marathon field, to triathlon and ultra running.  He has worked with professional, elite amateur and dedicated recreational athletes for 10+ years.  Currently Phil is leading the Human Performance Lab at Stanford where he works not only with student-athletes but endurance athletes who come from all over the globe to test at Stanford's world class performance assessment facility.
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PRESIDIO SPORT & MEDICINE
Chris Chorak and the team in San Francisco really took a genuine interest in me as an athlete and a person, they gave me tremendous support throughout my 2007 season.  Presidio Sport and Medicine will continue to work and consult with me into 2008.  With all our history PSM is a great resource for me to have and I will continue to depend on them in a big way.
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CLIF
The team at Clif Bar has been fantastic supporting me from the start of my professional triathlon career.  Their products, their strawberry blocks and vanilla recovery drink in particular have been the staple of my training and racing for the past year.  It has been a fantastic opportunity to work with a company so focused on quality, performance and the well being of their athletes.  I hope to represent Clif well throughout 2008!
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EMC
Making the move back to the Northwest has made winter riding quite the challenge, but I was fortunate enough to meet Cindy Biggelstone last year after the Vineman 70.3 and started EMC’s Multi Riding program soon after my move to the Seattle area.  After over a year and a half of eCycling with Endurance PTC I’ve seen the results of training with power and I’m excited to now ride a new computrainer focused class in a group setting and continue to improve my riding strength in 2008.  EMC is also been a great hub for meeting cyclists, triathletes and just great people in general, so Thanks to the East Side Multsisport Center team for keeping me off the icy roads of the Northwest at least twice a week, what a treat!
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August 2008
On the Mend and Out of the Game

I’m sure you are all looking for something witty or funny, … I apologize in advance for any disappointment.   My knee is coming along fantastically, I’m gaining strength and reducing scar tissue continuing to improve mobility and spending more time each week on the road.

After a winter and spring of focusing solely on my form, in the water, on the bike, in the gym and more recently on the run, I’ve become increasingly aware of my body, my biomechanics, my strengths and weaknesses.  I’m not sure if this makes training easier or more difficult.  Either way it is a much smarter way to train, but a much slower process in gaining fitness or returning to racing. 

So in an attempt to maintain that “perfect” rehab I’ve taken all the races off of my schedule for 2008.  I desperately want to get back to racing, but know that any false move on my part could mean more than just the end of my 2008 season.  I’m looking forward already to 2009 and hopefully some smaller local races, this fall and winter.  In the meantime I have been a huge prophet of some of my rehab aids, Trigger Point (get on it!!) sometimes I just refer to them as magic. I recently started having “TP nights” with friends, most of them were initial pissed that I didn’t share the magic with them sooner, but the euphoria of being able to heal yourself, and maintain a healthy muscle balance seemed to trump my sure place in the dog house.  Platinum Performance, joint supplements and daily nutrition, FRS and it’s amazing properties when it comes to recovery and increasing energy levels (really who doesn’t need that), F2R and my F2R open water crew (holla), Barracuda a more recent (and desperately needed) goggle sponsor, it’s amazing how the seal on goggles can be revolutionized (it’s 2008,…swimming’s an old sport), and last but certainly not least EQS, Ellen and the Ferguson crew.  I’m admittedly wearing two pieces because they are on their own just much too cute to sit in a drawer, and with so many styles, patterns and colors it’s never a dull day swimming with EQS. 

So until August, which is somehow already upon us, find time to take a mental break from your day and check out my most recent article, “Rug Burns and Bruised Foreheads” at F2R.com.

If you or your friends would like to be added to my monthly update group please send an email titled “Please Add Me” to: lara@larabrown.net .

 

June 2008

As much as I would have loved to send you all a race update, I’m still not fully recovered or back on the race scene.  Rehab is going well, and slow as most successful rehabs do, so in the future you will have more triathlon racing news to read as opposed to the following.

So I know a few triathletes, and I found an odd similarity between myself and a few of my good friends.  We seem to be klutz's, but I’d like to offer the possibility that something or someone might be after us.  Oh and by “us”, or “friends” I really just mean myself, unless you count the friend who went for a leisurely southern Cali dip in the ocean after a long Saturday ride/run and got hit in the forehead with a used pregnancy test (not painful but really gross), or the friend who ended up with 7 stitches above his eye when he lost a fight with his stubborn front seat trying to maneuver it while loading his surf boards for an early morning trip to the beach.  So I don’t mean klutz like overtraining, bike crashes, or shark attacks.  I mean wandering into some sort of mild mayhem in a non-training atmosphere. 

I fell in the shower last year after the first day of our coast ride.  That’s right, we rode 130+ miles south of San Francisco, and I hurt myself in the shower, of course Kelly may have laughed harder when she ran into the bathroom where I was doing some sort of choke, cough, laugh from the shower floor.  Last night I saw Langhohrne Slim at the Tractor in Seattle.  That’s right I stayed out way past my bed time on a school night…a little worse for the wear at the pool today, but Langhorne and the War Eagles totally rocked making it well worth the sacrifice. So non- training environment.  We grabbed a bite to eat at a burger joint next door before the show, where there happened to be a pie eating contest (which consequently has nothing to do with this story and I won’t even tie it in later so don’t bother trying to figure out that extra added detail).  I slipped into the booth and immediately got a searing pain on the outside of my right calf.  It really hurt!  I’m pretty sure I said something quite loud and un-lady like.  I pulled up my jeans pant leg.  There was a sliver, no not a sliver an actual piece of wood sticking directly out of my calf.  Somehow it went straight through my jean leg and punctured my leg.  I just stared at it a minute, laughed then started the shenanigans of pulling it out.  I tugged pretty hard and it didn’t move, I wasn’t even sure how deep it was at this point.  So out with the pocket knife, I thought I might slice the skin because I didn’t want the wood to splinter in my leg if I pulled it out.  I previously learned that lesson in junior high when I got a nice size chunk of the water dock stuck in my foot.  Anyway, as soon as I touched the blade to my leg I realized that that would hurt pretty badly.  So I just kept pulling and slowly the splinter came out, about 1.5 inches long, and a hole in my right calf.  I kept the piece of wood. It’s stained pink from the inners of my leg.  So perhaps a redefinition is in order from self-inflicted klutz, to small disaster bound magnet…..yes?.  Neither term provides any comfort to myself, or my friends and family who sit by wide eyed, half laughing, half in awe of the mischief I seem to land in. 

 Part 2 of What Motivates You? at F2R.com:  Fights at the Pool by Lara Brown

May 2008

"We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by."- Will Rogers

I saw the acupuncturist today.  Not sure if my actual "chi" has improved, it may be the 30min of forced relaxation time.  Either way, my feeling is it can't hurt......or can it?! .... that was a joke.
My knee rehab has been going well. Like any other athlete, (or at least that's how I rationalize it) I've had my fair share of wrenches thrown in the mix, but each time I'm leveled out by a good friend or maybe just reality.  This is where I am, this is what I can do today, and this is how I smile. 
I found this comic in the newspaper the other day and tore it out and put it in my back pants pocket.  About four days later I found it destroyed in the dryer.  Guess how long it took me to find it on the internet,....hold your hair down.....!!!about 2 minutes, that's right, as Mark C. says, "all those looks and a brain too!". 
It made me smile because it was randomly simple, and when I walked into the quiet all too Zen, soft, sound of running water, no shoes acupuncture office I thought of this comic and muffled a giggle trying not to further instill the "blonde" stereotype. 
One day at a time and I'm almost back on the bike, back on the roads.  One smile at time, one oddly placed humorous thought, and I'm closer to the person I'd like to be.  Bring on the porcupines!! 

I'm published again at F2R.com - Part 1 of What Motivates You? a 2 part series.
The Big Picture and Blown Speakers by Lara Brown

April 2008

“….you don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when.  You can only decide how you’re going to live.  NOW!!”    - Joan Baez

I recently spent the week in the South Bay area with Catalyst Training Systems and Stanford's Director of Performance Phil Cutti this past week.  Unfortunately I didn't get to personally test because my knee is still on the mend.  But I did spend a good chunk of time running blood lactate tests on other people and learning how to interpret and apply the results with endurance athletes. 
The Stanford Human Performance Lab is an amazing facility, with force plates, high-speed treadmills and state of the art testing equipment you feel like with that much help you could be #1 at whatever sport you chose.  Of course spending the week there on crutches put things back in perspective.  Amazingly the testing facility is open to the public not just the collegiate athletes, so check it out and take advantage of this place!
It was a great learning experience for me and I hope to transfer those skills to testing more endurance athletes in the Northwest, so look for me in Washington!
The week was a great time to reconnect with friends, but was also overshadowed by the loss of two well known Bay Area athletes in a terrible accident the weekend prior.  More often than not most of us need to be reminded that the people you love can be gone in an instant.  I spent some time writing an article for Fit2Race about my perspective on the reality of life and endurance sports. 

If you get the chance check it out on the F2R website: 
The Sun Doesn't Go Down - The World of Endurance Sports by Lara Brown

March 2008

"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."   - Abraham Lincoln

Well my surgery went well and now I'm in recovery mode. Still counting the minutes till I can get in the water.
Thanks to Tom Oliver and Game Ready for being the biggest part of my recovery to date.  Dr. Engel was very impressed with my limited swelling less than 2 days after surgery.  And I can see my knee cap and even muscle definition today, only a week out!
I spent 3 days on Pine Island in St James city for a Fanconi Anemia fundraiser for our cousin Nikki's daughter Samantha. It was a great success, unfortunately I was laid up on the couch and on pain killers for a majority of the trip. But I made it to the fundraiser for the 10 most important minutes of the day, seeing Sam play the piano on stage!
Well I'll continue to update my recovery and hope to get back to training in no time at all (well 5 weeks or so).  I should be some kind of fish w/ mad aqua jogging skills by then!
Till then!

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February 2008
How important are your knees?

Apparently pretty dang important! After attempting to train on an overused right knee for the past year and a half, I've realized your knees aren't too disposable.  And finally with plenty of physical therapy, strength work, rest and healthy amount of prodding from Paul Lundgren (F2R) and Chris Chorak (PSM) I got an MRI done this month.
Things moved quickly from there and to spare you the boring details I have a scope surgery scheduled in the next week.  I'm banking on the fact that this will get me back out there and able to build up some running mileage.  Something I haven't been able to do since the summer of 2006.
The recovery time is anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks, so for the next 2 months I'll be playing it by ear, and erring on the conservative side.  Easier said than done, but I have a great support crew with my family nearby to kick my butt back to the couch.  That being said, as soon as the wound heals (about a week) I will probably be spending an unheard of amount of time at the Bellevue Club pool.
So my race season may start a little bit later than I first expected, but I'm optimistic and really excited about some fantastic performances in my future.  And as far as 2008 goes I'm thinking it's "Better Late than Never!".

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January 2008
I’m sitting here thinking what would be interesting about me that other people would want to read about? And then I figured, its not me you are all really interested in, it’s my lifestyle, or the idea of who Imight be.

My lifestyle for the moment I think was summed up by a quote I read off of a left-over workout board this past weekend at an indoor aquatics center in Whistler BC, surrounded by huge picturesque mountains covered with snow, on a beautiful sunny, clear, 10degree ski day. Most of me, wanted desperately to be on Blackcomb “shredding the gnar” with Ben and Joe Maffey for our second day of skiing at Whistler, but my legs screamed quite the opposite after a destructive “Brandon Roy” strength workout with my personal trainer on Friday followed by a speedy distance run, and then a 8:30-3:00 hard day of skiing feeding off the trail mix and slushy bottled water we carried around, or rolled over all day Saturday. With a hard week of training coming up, followed by a big weekend and then another hard week, big weekend, hard week….. you get the point. There was only one option left to me, swim. My legs felt like those fish sticks that get over cooked. So when you try and peel them off the pan part it inevitable decides to stick (not enough grease….?!) until the fishy part slithers out of the battered casing stuck to the pan. So to the pool I went. I was 1000 into my warm-up when I glanced up at the workout board with the morning’s left over masters workout. At the bottom: “There are no business hours for champions”. I’m sure a master coaches attempt to motivate some middle aged swimmers at a ridiculous 5:30am start time.

Hit me like a ton of bricks. I hate that saying, who really knows what a ton of bricks feels like when it hits you. Would you really even be relating that to us if you did get hit by a ton of bricks? I’m thinking it would probably leave you a little more than speechless or in deep thought. So it hit me like catching what seems like a flimsy tree branch in the helmet skiing through the trees on a powder day. But what it actually turned out to be was a full on “build-a-tree-fort-on-me” branch, picks you up off your skis landing you flat on your back, wondering if your brother behind you might be a split second from skiing over your buried helmet head in the snow.

So anyways, no business hours. It was Sunday late morning, in British Columbia and I was putting in a good $6.50 drop in fee 4000 meters.

Maybe I shouldn’t but I’ll tell you, I’m up to day 18 on the ski slopes this year. My body actually feels stronger and more stable than ever! I spent January really focusing on my swim stroke, with help from Karen and Kim, masters swim coaches at the Bellevue club, and a high school buddy Flurry. For the first time I’m on my way to thinking and training like a swimmer. I’m working with a personal trainer, Michael who has done wonders for my strength in less than a month; this may have included some tears during our latest arm day Monday. I’m back on the bike and recently picked up my new E-motion rollers, my toy for the year, which after being warned by Joanne and Larry at Inside Ride I’ve learned I’ll have to schedule in time to get them away from Ben. I only managed to fall off 3xs the first time I used them, upstairs in the study of my parents’ house. Funny story, the first two times I just fell over trying to get on. The third time I was 1:30 into a 2 hour ride and I just lost focus and drifted into the side bumper. Not a big deal it just tips the bike over, almost in slow motion, any normal person would have ample time to clip out and step down, but I just rode it out. I set the rollers up to give myself plenty of room to eat it on the carpeted floor, what I didn’t plan on was the geriatrics of sticking my left arm out and grabbing the wedding/bridesmaid dresses my mom had hanging from the nearby cabinet. Unfortunately they weren’t just hanging from the cabinet; they were hanging from a wire shelf on top of the cabinet which came down with the dresses. By the time I hit the floor I was covered with dresses, and to finish it off the wire shelf came down and beat me in the temple, spreading sewing materials all over the room. It hurt like a bitch, I managed to unclip from my bike (yep still clipped in), and sat up holding my head. The only thing I could think to do was laugh, while I waited to see my mom bounding up the stairs. She never showed up, I guess we never needed to do all that tiptoeing back in our younger years because apparently you could parade an elephant around upstairs and no one seems bothered in the least. Anyways (again), the rollers are fabulous, I’ve been riding those, and computrainer classes with a fantastic group at the Eastside Multisport center. I’ve been doing 1-2 outdoor rides a week (brrrrr), which end up starting out well but finishing pretty painful because my feet can’t seem to stay warm for more than an hour and a half.

My running is currently limited to the pool, as I’m dealing with knee problems and looking at possibly getting a scope to clean up the cartilage under my right knee cap. So I spend countless hours running (no belt of course) in the pool. I’m actually really good at it. Started it in high school with a fractured shin, and then in college with a broken ankle, my form is superb I have to say, and with the new addition of trampolining in the Olympics I’m looking forward to my aqua jogging debut, 2012?! Of course there is the every now and then kids swim practice sharing the pool with the fat 8 year old in a speedo who feels the need to make fun of me because I’m running in the water,…..dude you are 8, overweight and somehow thinking it’s a good idea to wear a speedo, let’s see where you are at at 27. Sheesh.

Overall I’m very pleased at where I am in January with my training and I say for two reasons, I’m healthy and I’m settled in Washington with Ben. My health was a huge battle in 2007 and since last August I’ve made huge improvements getting my health issues under control. I plan on racing Wildflower Long Course for my first 2008 race (after a handful of swim meets and hopefully some 5Ks and ½ marathons) but of course all depending on the state of my knee. I’m looking forward to getting down to San Francisco to work with Phil Cutti, Catalyst Training Systems and the Stanford lab. I guess after my first test of the year I’ll actually have to go to work!! ;)

That’s it for my January re-cap, onto February, bigger, better, faster and keep your fingers crossed, … smarter (I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one).

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15 December 2007
Back to the Northwest where I began!! I’ve just moved from San Francisco to Redmond Washington and I’m ready to start back into my second year as a professional triathlete.

Finishing up 2007:

2007 was a challenging year for me, a learning year. I take so much more away from this year than a handful of good performances. At the finish of this season a good friend and mentor of mine wrote me this: “ Character is the person nobody notices with a mix of mud and puke on their face, and who looks forward to doing it all over again”. And I’d say that about sums up 2007 for me.