March Spotlight Swimmer

Missy Hulbert is March's Spotlight Swimmer!

1. Where are you from? What brought you to Nashville and how long have you lived here?  I grew up in Southeast Michigan, Plymouth to be exact.  Aside from moving to East Lansing/Michigan State for the college years, I lived in Plymouth all my life.  I was recruited from MSU by Saturn (back when Saturn was Saturn and not GM).  I moved to Tennessee in June 1995…love it.

2. Tell us something we don't know about you.....    I totally suck at team sports.  Because of my height, they’d try to shove me into basketball but I was just terrible.  I’ve never done or played any real ‘sports.’  I had horses growing up so showing and training took up all my time (that is, until I found boys, and then it was all over).

3. How did you find Excel and how long have you been swimming with the team?   Excel found me by way of Dee Davis…I was participating in the Du Run Run 2006, standing in the portojon line and Dee was right next to me.  We got talking, she asked if I swam, I said I know how but I don’t really swim, per se.  She said, you need to come swim with us.  After peppering her with questions and being terrified of swimming with a group, I came to class. Jason was the coach and I think there were 3-4 people a lane MAX.  I swam 1500-2000 in my first practice.  I was so excited that I survived.

4. What is your swimming background?   Other than swim lessons, years at the community pool and loving to swim (read: play in the water), you’re looking at it.  I was never on a swim team, even a rec team.  Marco Polo was my game.  Seriously, diving for quarters, gutter ball?  Anyone?

5. How did you get into triathlon and what was your first race you did?

A few folks at work wanted to do a relay for Music City in 1999.  I got suckered into swimming for them.  We were fifth for the co-ed relay division.  I didn’t do another until 2001 – reverse sprint tri in Alabama on a borrowed bike.  Reverse…never again, talk about a lead balloon and having to swim under people to get around (in a pool), very weird.  I didn’t come back around until 2006 and then it was on…

6. What was your "A" race last year? How did it go for you?   A Race – Ironman Florida!!! It’s my only Ironman to date.  It could NOT have gone any better.  I have never second guessed myself about my performance or what I coulda, shoulda, woulda done.  From beginning to end, thee best.  Everything went well, I was calm, not too jacked up, other than a kick in the mouth on the swim, everything was smooth.  Everyone remembers me saying “I’ll never do this again.”  That was during the peak three weeks of training.  I seriously wanted to quit and never cared to see Ironman but…time changes things…and so does an Ironman finish.  I’ll be back…someday.

7. What was is your focus this year? Why?  My focus this year is balance.  I didn’t have a lot of balance last year with work, family, and IM training.   It was a huge cycle of work, sleep, eat, workout, pack a bag for the next workout, go to bed early and repeat.  For racing, THIS year I am focusing on some open water swim events.  I’ve got a 5K swim in April and (probably) a 4.5 mile swim in June.  I’ll throw in some relays and a tri here and there but swimming is the current focus.  All that swimming has to make Ashley happy, right;)?

8. Do you have any swimming advice for your fellow teammates?   Buy a new swimsuit regularly OR get a poly suit, I can see your bits half the time and it’s freakin me out!  Kidding aside (kinda), whatever you suck at, do it more.  If you’re a terrible kicker, do LOTS of it.  There’s nothing to say you can’t kick during warm up.  If you’re a terrible puller, do the whole swim set with a pull buoy – just go to the end of your regular lane and whatever the set is, just pull (no paddles unless prescribed).  Seriously, I used to get lapped pulling on a 300, I was VERY slow.  I can attribute my improvement to pulling full sets for about six weeks (thanks to a sprained ankle) and swimming a lot more – from about 9000 yards/week to 15000 meters/week.

9. Do you have any favorite prerace meals or rituals?   I’m terrified of eating out (food poisoning horror stories) before big races so I try to pack my own food whenever possible.  I make my own spaghetti sauce and meatballs for prerace dinner (some of you have been in on that action) and have coffee, gluten free toaster waffles (2) and some egg whites for a little protein on race day.  Short races – I’m liable to eat a Hammer Gel and be on my way.

10. How can excel triathletes keep up with your training schedule, rants and raves?   Ironman, Ironthings, Trithings, Lifethings (www.missysironmanflorida2008.blogspot.com) is the title of my blog and I’ll cover anything from my swim set to my very old dog (Kasha loves the lake) to ‘how to properly shop for a bikini’ to detailed race reports.  I pretty much go with the lighter side of training for endurance events.  I figure, there’s enough serious stuff out there that you can get from a real coach, but who else will tell you that the #1 item you should carry with you on a long run is a pre-packaged moist towelette (always);)?