Steve in a Speedo Interviews Coach Liz: A Blogger Exclusive!

The meds are kicking in again and I have more pep in my step. The weather was a beautiful cloudless, 69 degree day and I had a good one hour long run. The only thing that I did not like about the run was having to play chicken with the school buses on a street that had two lanes in each direction divided by an esplanade and no sidewalks. I had to dodge mail boxes, cactus gardens, and little brick walls as I jumped out of the way of oncoming buses that would not move over a lane when they were the only motor vehicle on the road. Whatever!!!

So, here is the exclusive interview that I know you are all (NOT) ready to pounce all over.

Steve in a Speedo presented me with some burning questions to really get to the core of who Coach Liz really is. I just referred to myself in the third person. That was weird. So without further ado...

Coach Liz

The slow but determined triathlete who would be worm free

Steve in a Speedo: So Coach Liz, what's your best and your worst race experience? Explain.

Coach Liz: I would have to say that I have two races that really come in as a tie for the best race experience. One would be Ironman Arizona. I trained well and put in a lot of hard work leading up to that race and everything all fell in place on race day. My good girlfriend and my Dad and Step-Mom and even one of the guys who takes my spin class were all there cheering me on. When my Coach told me on the second loop of the run that I was looking strong and that he was heading home because he knew I was going to finish well it made me feel like I had everything under control. Hell! I was a frickin' IRONMAN!!! The second race that ranks right up there as one of the best race experiences was going to Clearwater for the Ford Ironman 70.3 World Championship Race. I felt like I was totally crashing the party and that the slow girl had snuck into the race. I had a stellar bike leg and I never saw any of those draft groups around me that everyone seems to bitch about. I was able to pull out a PR for that race and break the 6 hour streak that I had been on for forever. It was a wonderful end to a spectacular season one year after knee surgery.

My worst race would have to be the 2008 Los Angeles Marathon. I was good through the 13.1 marker and then I had to hit a port-o-can. There was no TP anywhere and I really needed it. From that point on, my gut went from mildly irritated, to painful, to debilitating. I wanted to throw up so bad but there were too many spectators and if I threw up I knew that I would never see the finish. I had to walk a good portion of miles 14.5 through 22 because I was doubled over with sharp cramps. I was glad that I had my iPod to crank up and drown out the spectators who were telling me "You look good, keep going!" and that I had sunglasses to hide the tears that were streaming down my face from the pain. I could not DNF that race because I was in a strange city, my friend who was behind me in the race had no idea what was going on, and I had a flight to catch later that afternoon. To top it off, the race t-shirt was monkey-ass ugly and lame.

Coach Liz is a Pilates trainer with 10 years of experience of teaching Mat Pilates classes and working with clients on the Reformer, the Wunda Chair, the Step Barrel, the Cadillac and Tower.

SS: What was the race that got you "hooked"? Explain.

CL: I would have to say that the Tri-America Walt Disney World Olympic Triathlon was the race that hooked me. I had done two sprints leading up to my first Oly race and they were cool, but they were smaller races. The Walt Disney World race was a big one! I did this race with Team in Training and I did it withe the Palm Beach Chapter out of Florida since my local Chapter did not offer triathlons yet. I trained all on my own, did my fundraising, drove with the family out to Orlando through a tropical storm in Louisiana and then proved some coach from the North Texas Chapter wrong when he told me that I should do well to finish in 3 hours for my first Olympic distance race. I finished in 2:35. From there, the rest is history. I was not even mad when I found out that the hubby and the kid did not see any of the race but were in line for Space Mountain. I was on cloud 9.

One month after knee surgery, Coach Liz and her son, Buddy (pictured here in 2006) rode the 40 mile route of the Lance Armstrong Foundation LiveSTRONG Challenge.

SS: If you had to pick a current game show to be on, which one would you pick? Why?

CL: Well right now my favorite show is Top Chef (Go Carla!) and that would be an interesting game show to be on, but I would be told to pack my knives and leave in the first show. I can cook and I can cook good, but not like these people who just have all of these recipes in their heads and can create such beautiful plates of food. I am sure that I would do better on The Amazing Race. I would love to do all that wild travel and see all of those places. Who would I do the race with? I don't know, my husband has the smarts to do it but you also need someone who can run and be physical as well. His bum knee could hold him back.

This is NOT Coach Liz' bike.

SS: On your drive to work, do you listen to alternative, classic rock, NPR, or the local pop station with the trashy and shameless morning show?

CL: Sadly, the trashy and shameless morning show on the pop station that I have been listening to since 1985 when I moved to Houston mid way through high school. My kid insists that we always change the station to the Classic Rock station. I guess mom embarrasses him as I sing Single Ladies, Just Dance, and Right Round by Flo-rida.

Coach Liz' Hero of the moment. Trust me, he would be your hero too if you had the worms.

SS: If you could replace one leg of a triathlon (swim, bike, run) with ANYTHING else (canoe, 1/4 mile of monkey bars, off-road baja car race, pull-up challenge, etc), what part would you replace? Why? What would the new leg be? Why?

CL: Well, the swim is my favorite part and I am solid on the bike. My run has been my weakest leg, but it was getting better. At this point in my training, it could be sorely lacking so let's say I will trade in the run leg for a Scavenger Hunt leg. EVERYONE is on a level playing field for that one. You do have to run from one place to another as you collect clues or items and all the clues you collect is a puzzle that needs to be put together like some phrase such as, "Hugh Jackman is AWESOME!" or "X-Men Origin Movie Tickets in Mike Riley's Pocket" Chrisie Wellington better hope she does not have a tire patch kit or 3 CO2 cartridges on her list to find.

So there you go folks. If you want to play along:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
2. I will respond by giving you five questions. (I get to pick the questions.)
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Hope you enjoyed it. Later Gators!


Liz