travels, races, and other musings

Last year we ran the race in a very silly, non-serious (not race-like and untimed) manner. We stopped at the crazy stops (ice cream, etc.) and even took a break at Secret Oktober to hang out in the A/C and shop. This year we ran it for real. The course was different this year and had we done the silly, non-serious, not fast running, it wouldn't have been as fun as last year. However, the course was a lot more flat and much less challenging. It was fairly hilly last year. This year it was an out and back style course which was slightly downhill on the way out and slightly uphill on the way back.  Unfortunately, I really would have preferred downhill on the way back. I went out way too fast. I was also using a lot of energy trying to escape the throng of people and dodge all the walkers, strollers, kids and dogs that somehow decided they would start at the front. Usually they make those folks start at the back, but nobody was announcing that. It was sort of lame and irritating....

I had a good race today at the Rogue Women's Tri! Here's the short version: I kicked ass on the swim, was a little too conservative on the bike, but had a really good run. My transitions were fast and smooth, there were no major mishaps and I felt great afterward. Pre-Race Once again, my day began at 5 AM. Usually I have the "What the hell am I thinking?" line going through my head at 5 AM in the morning before a race. Usually that voice goes away while I'm getting ready. This morning it didn't go away for a long long time (just about until I hit the water at the start of the race). We arrived at the site a little later than I had wanted. We parked and I found a place in transition to rack my bike (though slots were filling up fast). I set up my stuff and then headed out to get body marked. After being marked upon, we waited in the long line at the port-a-potties, then I got my timing chip. After that, I took a quick dip in the water in an attempt to w...

This was the race that started it all. I went back a year later to run it again. Like last year, my morning began at 5 AM. It was slightly easier this year, since I'm getting used to waking up early for training and events. Again, I met my teammates at Apple at 6 AM and we headed down to the race for a start time of 7 AM. Only two of us from last year's team returned this year, which is for the better since this year's runners were a much faster bunch. The weather was much better this year than last year. It was still humid, but it wasn't as hot. It was overcast for the first couple of legs of the run, then part way through our third runner (the second 10k leg) the sun came out. The sun came and went a bit, but unfortunately, when it was my turn, the sun was out and it stayed out through most of my run. I did a better warm up than I have been doing recently at races and I think it really helped. I didn't go out too fast and I kept a pretty good pace through th...

I'm getting slower How is it that I'm running slower and slower. Geesh. I did the Sunstroke Summer Stampede 5k tonight. This is my third race on this same course. My PR for the course is 35:42 (which prior to the Daisy 5k was my PR for any 5k). I guess it just wasn't my night. Tonight it was hot (around 95 - although there was a slight breeze and it wasn't too humid which helped), I'd worked a full day at work so perhaps that contributed. I don't have my official results from the chip, but my GPS said 38:49 which is a 12:29 minute mile. Yuck. I ran it up until mile 2 where there was a water stop. I walked the water stop and drank some water (drinking and running don't mix for me). After walking, I just couldn't pick it back up again and walked most of the last mile. Here are my splits according to my GPS: Mile 1 11:23 Mile 2 12:27 Mile 3 13:39 Last .1 mile 1:11 Official chip time: 38:47 12:26/mi Why am I getting slower? How come I could run...

Pre-Race My alarm didn't go off. I goofed and set it for 4:15 PM and not AM. Was it my subconscious telling me something? Perhaps I should have stayed in bed. Roger's alarm went off, luckily and we got up. I ate breakfast, showered, put on my outfit and we were on the road on time. We made good time getting to the race site, but about 3 miles from the site we were in a huge traffic jam of spectators and racers trying to get into the race site. Luckily we were 10 minutes early. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the parking lot for the race site until about 30 minutes after I wanted to be there. It took us nearly 40 minutes to get through the jam up. It was 6:40 when I jumped on the shuttle from the parking area to get to the race site. Transition was supposed to be closing at 6:45. There were tons of people in traffic behind us so there was so way they were starting on time. Roger and I were separated getting on the bus (athletes were given priority) and I rode over th...

My First Triathlon I did it! All in all, it was way way easier than I thought it would be. I'm extremely happy with my results. I had three categories of goals: good, better and best. I did the "better" time for my swim and "best" time for both run and bike. Yay!! My transitions were a little long, but I had a long way to go to get to and from the bike in/out so I wasn't surprised. My final results: Swim 11:10.3 - pace 2:48/M (78th out of 210 men and women) T1 5:14 Bike 24:26.8 - pace 15.2 mph (108th out of 210) T2 4:09 Run 36:41 - pace 11:45/mi (150th out of 210) Total time: 1:21:42 (122nd out of 210) Pre-Race We got on the road a little later than I would have liked. In the end that was fine because they started my swim wave later than originally scheduled. We found some free parking, although it was a bit of a walk and headed for body marking. My race number was written on both upper arms, both hands, and both thighs. My age (at the end of t...

My First Open Water Swim  My morning began at 6:15 AM. I ate a quarter of a pear, quarter apple and a small protein smoothy. My friend Tom (who has been helping with my swim coaching) arrived at my house at 7 AM and we set off shortly thereafter. We arrived at the race site (Mansfield Dam Park) at around 7:30 and picked up our race packets. Then we walked a long way into the park and to the water. We milled about, checked out the course (two 400 meter laps) and picked up our timing chips. The timing chips are about the size of a quarter. In a running race, you affix the chip to your shoe with a little plastic tie. In a swim or triathlon they use a velcro strap around your ankle. I put mine on pretty tight because I was worried about it loosening when it got wet. As it would turn out, the timing chip was my achilles heel. More on that later, though... Around 8:15 they started herding everyone down to the water. We each had our race bag with our number on it so we could walk do...

I woke up at 6:00 this morning to run the Daisy 5k. Still battling a cold, I rolled out of bed, donned my running gear and headed downtown to run in the longest running (no pun intended - running as in number of years) 5k race in Austin. I arrived about 30 minutes early, picked up my timing chip and made a final pit stop before warming up. They got started a little late because of some road blocking issues. A little after 8:00 they started all the chip timed women (my group). Five minutes or so after that, the chip timed men got to go, then after that everyone else. I started off well, actually, a little too well. I probably went out too fast, but at the time, it didn't feel too fast. Mile 1 came quickly and I remembered to lap my GPS at exactly the mile one mark - 10:14. Yay! I tried very hard to concentrate on my form and I heard Karen's voice in my head shouting "floppy feet!" I did my best to keep my feet floppy which seems to be the main thing that helps alle...

Yesterday was not my best race ever. It was hot, the humidity was near 100% (though it never rained), the course was very hilly, and I had just gotten over a cold. Even so, I only finished 4 minutes over my previous 10k time so all in all it wasn't awful. My shins were bothering me a bit and the weather was so oppressive that I walked a lot of the race but I finished in 1:16:50 at a 12:22 minute mile. I had some glitches with my technical stuff. My GPS was acting up a bit - it was cloudy and so it thought I was inside. It finally got going, but it was already about a quarter mile into the race before it started keeping track. Then there was a little matter with my iPod shuffle. For some reason, it would only play the same two songs over and over. :( I ran the entire race (well, except for the first 10 minutes or so while I listened to those first two songs) without music. I was going to start training without music and wean myself off the thing since I can't wear it for t...

5k with a cold I came down with a cold on Saturday night with a scheduled 5k race on Sunday morning. Sunday morning I was feeling a little crummy, but not too bad so I decided to go for it. Besides, I had talked Roger and Dru into this one so I didn't want to bail out (plus I already paid and picked up my race packet). We arrived and picked up our timing chips. I'm really horrible at sticking those things on my shoes. They always flop around. How many races at this point and I can't get the stupid timing chip on right? It was pretty cold (about 45 degrees) so we were all wearing long sleeves. Dru and I wore capri type pant things. Basically ankle-length loose running shorts. She didn't have warmer running gear so I loaned her some of mine. We tried to keep warm by doing some fast walking around the track where the race started, then we stretched a bit before heading to the start line. I had a hanky stuffed in my pocket that I had to keep pulling out to blow my nos...