The magic 22 mark finally went down this weekend at the Reindeer Run 5K!
21:37 for a 7:00 min/mile pace!!
Yeah!!!
So I know many others can handle this without too much difficulty....but it has taken me a bit to get here...so definitely a good way to head into the end of the year!!
Details later when I have more time......
Monday, December 04, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tidbits
So I am having trouble finding time to post, clean the house and all those other general things that are being pushed to the wayside momentarily....but one more week and hopefully things should get better.
Taking the Series 7 test next Wednesday 12/6 and would much prefer to put in some extra studying and pass than the alternative!!
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Okay so now I must mention how totally excited and thankful I am for my early Christmas present from my parents. A new trainer!!!!! It came Monday. It is a Kurt Kinetic trainer that I found thanks to Jodi! Last night I put it together and hoppped on my bike to try it out for one minute before we had to head out the door. I can't wait to actually try it out. For some reason though the bike seems crooked. I am not sure if it is my old floor or something is not adjusted just right. I will have to figure this out I suppose. The only thing I don't like about biking is figuring out all the gadgets and what is wrong.
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Training has been going pretty well. Today hit 1 hr 6 AM spin class followed by 4.2 mile treadmill run and then cam eback to the gym on the lunch hour for 1000 yard swim....hence why I am just not feeling overly energetic for a trainer ride tonight.
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I totally fell off the eating wagon over the holiday with a million family gatherings...but the good thing is I have gotten back on it!
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Did the Pigskin run the day of the OSU / Michigan game. Go Buckeyes!!! Total time 22:40 at a 7:22 pace. Holy fan support downtown Cleveland!!
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Lastly, turkey trot run on Thursday was pretty awesome. First and foremost the last two years I barely made it downtown Cleveland for the event on account of horrible driving conditions. This year it was sunny and around 50!!! I was enjoying the morning and seeing many friends at this race of nearly 2000 people.
I had made myself a new playlist on my Ipod which I swear makes a huge difference when I run. I decided to just see what I could do on the race. It has been so long that I don't have my splits anymore but I ended up with a time of 36:13 for the 5 miler at a 7:16 pace. They were giving away pies to the first 50 females and the first 50 males. I guess the far-fetched goal in my head was to win one, not because I really wanted a pie, but I just wanted to win it. No such luck with that though as the 50 for females was somewhere in the 35s...there are so many fast women in this darn town!!
So since I missed that far-fetched goal I will just have to focus on another one for this weekend's Reindeer Run 5K of somehow breaking that 22 minute mark that I have yet to accomplish...last shot for 2006. If nothing else, I will go out trying!!
Taking the Series 7 test next Wednesday 12/6 and would much prefer to put in some extra studying and pass than the alternative!!
-------
Okay so now I must mention how totally excited and thankful I am for my early Christmas present from my parents. A new trainer!!!!! It came Monday. It is a Kurt Kinetic trainer that I found thanks to Jodi! Last night I put it together and hoppped on my bike to try it out for one minute before we had to head out the door. I can't wait to actually try it out. For some reason though the bike seems crooked. I am not sure if it is my old floor or something is not adjusted just right. I will have to figure this out I suppose. The only thing I don't like about biking is figuring out all the gadgets and what is wrong.
---------
Training has been going pretty well. Today hit 1 hr 6 AM spin class followed by 4.2 mile treadmill run and then cam eback to the gym on the lunch hour for 1000 yard swim....hence why I am just not feeling overly energetic for a trainer ride tonight.
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I totally fell off the eating wagon over the holiday with a million family gatherings...but the good thing is I have gotten back on it!
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Did the Pigskin run the day of the OSU / Michigan game. Go Buckeyes!!! Total time 22:40 at a 7:22 pace. Holy fan support downtown Cleveland!!
------------
Lastly, turkey trot run on Thursday was pretty awesome. First and foremost the last two years I barely made it downtown Cleveland for the event on account of horrible driving conditions. This year it was sunny and around 50!!! I was enjoying the morning and seeing many friends at this race of nearly 2000 people.
I had made myself a new playlist on my Ipod which I swear makes a huge difference when I run. I decided to just see what I could do on the race. It has been so long that I don't have my splits anymore but I ended up with a time of 36:13 for the 5 miler at a 7:16 pace. They were giving away pies to the first 50 females and the first 50 males. I guess the far-fetched goal in my head was to win one, not because I really wanted a pie, but I just wanted to win it. No such luck with that though as the 50 for females was somewhere in the 35s...there are so many fast women in this darn town!!
So since I missed that far-fetched goal I will just have to focus on another one for this weekend's Reindeer Run 5K of somehow breaking that 22 minute mark that I have yet to accomplish...last shot for 2006. If nothing else, I will go out trying!!
Monday, November 06, 2006
Quick weekend recap....
I had spent the evening Friday hitting a few stores in the hopes of finding a windbreaker which would help keep me warm during Saturday morning's du. On the 4th store (thankfully the hubby was also in pursuit of a garment he could not find either) I finally found an insulated windbreaker at Target in the boys section for $14.99 that I thought would do the trick...major score as it was way better than the $50+ ones I was scoping out at Dicks.
Saturday woke up to a crisp morning and hoped I would watch my temperature rise as I left the house at a cool 28 degrees. It warmed a bit until I started dropping into the valley where the event was held. My car, G-unit (as it is a Pontiac G-6) said 27 degrees. Brrr....oh well, I shound warm up on the run anyways.
There was 8 of us doing the event. I was pretty sore from weight training & Friday's spin class but with the countdown I was off. I tried to hold back for a little while on the run and just tried to stay close with the only other female, melanie who was running strong. 3rd one in of 8, 2 mile run one, 14:11. At T1, I had planned to put on my new windbreaker but I was so hot from the run, I did not bother.
Lesson of the day- Test the bike befoe every event. So I started off only to hear my front brake dragging. I kept trying to fix it while I rode for the first 4 or 5 miles and then I just decided to deal with it. It was not too bad once I just quit worrying about it. I managed to catch Melanie (who totally kicked butt as she was on a mountain bike) and then just tried to keep a steady pace. My body was plenty warm but I could not wait to get off the bike on account of very numb toes. 13 mile-ish bike time 44:39.
As I entered t2 now in second (behind this guy who just destroyed the rest of us), I complained a bit about my toes and was off. Ouch, ouch..poor numb toes. 2 miles later (17:15) I came in to the finish still in second with a total time of 1 :15:35. I will take that 2 plus minute improvement over two weeks ago, even with a dragging brake. (2 weeks ago it was 14:39, 45:10, 18:08 for a total time of 1:17:57).
Totally a great morning despite the cold. I tell ya that the best part about these events is doing them with a great group of competitors and volunteers. I cannot say enough about the volunteers who cheered everyone on in the cold!
Sunday morning, woke up early again to head to the 5K on the other side of town with TriSaraTops, Buckeye Runner, and many other familiar faces. This race is one that counts for points in the Hermes Road Race series, so I was not sure what to expect on legs that were far from fresh. However before long I was off. The first mile heads down a small hill and up a medium one. I was attempting to hold back a bit the first mile which was 7:19. I had felt pretty comfortable at that point and started to pick it up a bit. There was some wind in the face for mile 2 and was trying to pick up the pace a bit mile 2- 7:04. On the last mile as I tried to con myself in to dealing with some pain for just a little while longer, my quads started to tighten as I rounded the final stretch. When I saw the timer I was disappointed to see the clock ticking over 23. Final time 23:04. As it turned out, the race director said the race was a bit long at 3.2 miles. So slight redemption.
The time was good enough to get 1st in my AG. Trisaratops was right behind me for the unofficial 2nd in our age group. (Her chip did not work, so she got screwed out of a cute tuffed animal).
At any rate, today I took off on acount of some sore legs after my busy weekend!
Friday, November 03, 2006
Weekends are not for resting...
My body will adjust here at some point.....
At the moment I need to give myself an assist sitting down and I am willing to take the stairs up but not down...ouch!
All this variety in my workouts with weight-training and spinning has really woken up some new muscles which is a good thing, right??? I tend to think so and I can say I have really enjoyed the challenge of new things.
However....
This weekend I had planned to do the Cleveland Tri Club duathlon on Saturday and then my Hermes Road Race Series 5k on Sunday. So even though a bit sore, I will just go ahead and attempt both, even if it means a PR is not in the cards. So here is to the start of another fun weekend!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
22.5
22.5% body fat. 133 lbs
Somewhat embarassed to put it out for all, but that was the number the trainer this morning came up to. He did the 9 spot caliper pinch measurement following another solid workout.
It was an interesting conversation as we talked about where the different numbers in different areas could be improved and which areas will be more difficult on account of my high cardio training (stomach...grrr, I am going to find a way to show it can be done).
My takeway is to not worry about calories so much, but focus on intaking quality food (not high fat content, etc.) and probably add more lean protein.
Recent nutrition (minus the Halloween party-too many beers!) has been improved and I find myself really enjoying all of my additional weight lifting in addition to my normal runs, swims, and bikes. The weight training has led to a lot of muscle soreness over the last couple weeks, which hurts on one hand but sort of feel good on the other.
So for now, I have a reference point in writing to work with. These numbers will be coming down..............!
Somewhat embarassed to put it out for all, but that was the number the trainer this morning came up to. He did the 9 spot caliper pinch measurement following another solid workout.
It was an interesting conversation as we talked about where the different numbers in different areas could be improved and which areas will be more difficult on account of my high cardio training (stomach...grrr, I am going to find a way to show it can be done).
My takeway is to not worry about calories so much, but focus on intaking quality food (not high fat content, etc.) and probably add more lean protein.
Recent nutrition (minus the Halloween party-too many beers!) has been improved and I find myself really enjoying all of my additional weight lifting in addition to my normal runs, swims, and bikes. The weight training has led to a lot of muscle soreness over the last couple weeks, which hurts on one hand but sort of feel good on the other.
So for now, I have a reference point in writing to work with. These numbers will be coming down..............!
Friday, October 27, 2006
Time crunch!
So it seems hard to find the time to even look on the internet, let alone manage a post. I have been doing some quick browsing of my peeps when I have a minute but have rarely even taken the time to comment.
However, that does not mean I am still not trying to find time for training. First off I am proud to say that after more than a month off of swimming I hit the pool today for the first time at the new gym!!!! Aghh, 25 yards is way better than 15!!! Perhaps now I know what is up I will start to swim again on a regular basis...which I really really need to do!
Other than that, it has been some decent runs, spinnning classes, and weight training. The new gym had 2 free trainer sesssions so I took advantage of that. The trainer had me do a bunch of weight lifting which really got my heart rate up. I could really tell that I worked some different muscles and have been a good sore from that. I find it totally awesome to just get different folks perspectives on some different routines. I will definitely try to incorporate a few ideas of his.
Oh the duathlon last Saturday, I felt as though I was still not yet quite recover ed from the marathon as I was somewhat fatigued the entire time it seemed. It was a 2 mile run, 13 mile-ish bike, 2 mile run. My splits were 14:39/ 45:10/ 18:08-total 1:17:57. So not too bad. Finished 1 of 2 females. 9 of 15 overall.
In a hurry at the moment as usual as we are having huge Halloween bash thus weekend and heading out the door to shop.
However, that does not mean I am still not trying to find time for training. First off I am proud to say that after more than a month off of swimming I hit the pool today for the first time at the new gym!!!! Aghh, 25 yards is way better than 15!!! Perhaps now I know what is up I will start to swim again on a regular basis...which I really really need to do!
Other than that, it has been some decent runs, spinnning classes, and weight training. The new gym had 2 free trainer sesssions so I took advantage of that. The trainer had me do a bunch of weight lifting which really got my heart rate up. I could really tell that I worked some different muscles and have been a good sore from that. I find it totally awesome to just get different folks perspectives on some different routines. I will definitely try to incorporate a few ideas of his.
Oh the duathlon last Saturday, I felt as though I was still not yet quite recover ed from the marathon as I was somewhat fatigued the entire time it seemed. It was a 2 mile run, 13 mile-ish bike, 2 mile run. My splits were 14:39/ 45:10/ 18:08-total 1:17:57. So not too bad. Finished 1 of 2 females. 9 of 15 overall.
In a hurry at the moment as usual as we are having huge Halloween bash thus weekend and heading out the door to shop.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Vow to self!!!
Must work on nutrition!
I always ensure I do what it takes to run/bike/swim what is nescessary to put me where I need to be. Now I need to use that sort of focus with my intake, as it seems to be causing me many too many issues. Definitely Goal #1 going forward!
Goal #2 recover and get IT Band and all other minor issues healthy!
I always ensure I do what it takes to run/bike/swim what is nescessary to put me where I need to be. Now I need to use that sort of focus with my intake, as it seems to be causing me many too many issues. Definitely Goal #1 going forward!
Goal #2 recover and get IT Band and all other minor issues healthy!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Columbus Marathon Recap
Forgive any errors, wrote fast...
We will just start at the beginning. Last week I took this fantastic bootcamp class but unfortunately these crazy fast switching lounge moves resulted in a very bruised knee cap on my good leg. The IT band on my other leg still hurt, yet I have become accustomed to the pain. So despite these minor annoyances I was still pysched for my second marathon. My only other marathon was Columbus in 1998 and now I was heading back.
My husband, Joey and I hopped in the car for our 2.5 hour trip to Columbus. First stop, Starbucks for my non-fat Pumpkin Latte which was oh-so-delicious and then to my old college roomie, Liz's house just outside of Columbus. The 3 of us headed down to the expo which was stacked with people. After some browsing and grabbing things, we headed off to dinner at Bravo. After dinner we watched some movies and I hit the hay.
Race day woke up feeling pretty good. The three of us drove back into town as I ate a Clif Bar and I took in the excitement. It was the first time my husband and friend had been to an event like this. So many people, music, and a general excitement in the air when so many others are still in bed.
I made my way to the start and with the gun started off with the 3:40 pace group. Perhaps I should have started off slower....but I was feeling pretty good and figured if I had a shot I might as well try. The Clif Shot pacer was right on every mark. 5 miles in, I was right where I wanted at 41:52. The group was so big and there were so many people that with every water stop when I slowed it seemed like a challenge to get beck to the pacer. I hung with them until just after mile 7 when I felt my IT band grab. With 10 steps it seemed to feel better, yet I was now nervous and more than anything I just wanted to finish so I decided to slow down.
Just after 8, I spotted Joey and Liz and trotted over to shed my jacket and earwarmers. With a quick sweaty kiss (of course to Joey!!!) I was back off. About that time, the insides started to churn. Crap! I started looking for Port-O-Potties (POP) with no line, passed the half way marathon point at 1:55:18 which was not far off my half PR of 1:53. Then I made a stop at the POP and was back off.
About this time I started thinking that so many others had headphones and now I was running by myself and was really wishing I had mine. I started to think that now that qualifying for Boston was totally out of the question (even though it was a far-fetched notion I suppose now) I really did not care about how fast I finished, just so I did finish. My pace was really slowing.
I was feeling OK about this point but before long my insides announced they were not fine yet. About 15, I was in a lot of pain as I needed another POP. The one at 17 could not come soon enough and there was a line. It seemed like the longest line. I watched the 4 hr pace group go by and finally it was my turn. Then I realized why the POP line was moving slow, no TP. Just great, had to improvise. Finally I was back out. I kept alternating between feeling pretty good and picking up the pace to my numb aching balls of my feet, my super sore knees, and my knotted insides. One lady running by was encouraging...she said she should know something it was her 131st marathon...holy cow I thought! I marvelled over the many different people you see out on the course. The music along the course and fans helped. I was still really missing the headphones.
Finally to 20 now at 3:12:55, I ducked into the POP for a third time. I was excited to start counting down from that point. My pace was discouraging but everytime I picked it up, my insides seemed to get worse, so I just kept things slow and steady. Around 24 or 25 I thought about hitting the POP again, but I just kept trying to con my body into letting me just wait until the end. There was an older gentleman running with another man who yelled out in pain which really put it into perspective for me that I had no reason to whine. I think he had a cramp, but his running buddy was helping him through it.
I was so excited to round the final corner and see the finish line. I picked up the pace significantly for the last 200 and passed several people. After crossing the line, I was psyched and in a ton of pain. Total time 4:17:56 so a 9:51 pace. Total time in POP, way too much!
I do not recall feeling so spent after my first one. I was in a lot of pain. Walking was hard. Both knees were really sore. I think the balls of my feet were bruised. So many other things hurt too. I kept thinking I cannot imagine how the ironmen and women do this whole thing after swimming and biking so far.
All in all, my husband and Liz totally made the day with their support. I was so thankful for the crowd suppport & volunteers and all my training partners who have helped me to once again finish another marathon. 2006 time 4:17:56, 1998 time 4:40...so I will take that improvement. The thing here is given all of this races isssues, I know I can do better next marathon...to be continued!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
I'm a marathoner ...again!!!
Yeah, so it was not the time I had hoped for....but given my lackluster training due to injury, I am not feeling guilty about my time as I was simply all-kinds-of-happy to simply finish. Heck it was only my second marathon and it has been eight years!
Total time for Columbus marathon 4:17:56 for a 9:51 pace. Pretty tired and very sore with some seriously upset insides still. Time spent in my 3 trips to the port-o-potties did not help me at all. I was just happy to keep the near-nescessary fourth port-o-potty trip at bay until after the race. Full race details later.......
Highlight of the day really was my college pal, Liz, and my hubby who were both totally supportive and made the whole experience that much more memmorable!
Total time for Columbus marathon 4:17:56 for a 9:51 pace. Pretty tired and very sore with some seriously upset insides still. Time spent in my 3 trips to the port-o-potties did not help me at all. I was just happy to keep the near-nescessary fourth port-o-potty trip at bay until after the race. Full race details later.......
Highlight of the day really was my college pal, Liz, and my hubby who were both totally supportive and made the whole experience that much more memmorable!
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Changing Times!!!
So my news which I eluded to was that I have a new job. I was fortunate enough to have two very compelling offers and I really stressed myself out trying to pick between them. In the end, life is kind of funny. Back at the end of June when my old company down-sized, a growing company from upstairs took over our old office space when we moved. Well guess where I work now......????
Yup, back in my old office. And no, I did not accept the position just to get my shower back!! I started work Monday and have not showered there yet as I joined a gym 3 miles down the road which totally kicks butt. I am thinking I will let them get to know me a bit before they realize that, yes, I was that crazy running chick they always saw AND also that crazy chick who often rode the motorcyle to the office. They will figure it out soon enough I am sure!!!
So my training you may ask....
Well I have been putting in solid training with my runs. Last Wednesday night was my last New Vision Cycling night for the year as there are no more sessions on account of darkness. I am not sure what I hate more, darkness or cold.
My new gym has a pool. I don't know the distance for sure but it is way way bigger than the 15 yard pool I am used to. Now I just got to get myself motivated to go splash around for a while.
Also new for me, is spinning classses. I had never been to one until this week. However new gym offers them where my old one did not. I really thought I would totally kick butt in this 6AM completely full class. However, it totally kicked my ass. I have never been out of the saddle so much even with all my monster hill experience. I think it rained hard inside the club judging from the puddle under my bike by the time I was done.
At any rate, this new atmosphere has been fun. Over the weekend hit the trails for a muddy, hilly 13 miles. It went pretty well as I am just getting used to dealing with some knee pain.
This weekend I am getting excited to head out to the Akron towpath marathon to do some running and cheer on some friends. Getting so nervous as I am inside of two weeks for Columbus!
Lastly just wanted to send major props to all my local peeps who kicked butt at the Akron marathon in less than ideal conditions!!!
Yup, back in my old office. And no, I did not accept the position just to get my shower back!! I started work Monday and have not showered there yet as I joined a gym 3 miles down the road which totally kicks butt. I am thinking I will let them get to know me a bit before they realize that, yes, I was that crazy running chick they always saw AND also that crazy chick who often rode the motorcyle to the office. They will figure it out soon enough I am sure!!!
So my training you may ask....
Well I have been putting in solid training with my runs. Last Wednesday night was my last New Vision Cycling night for the year as there are no more sessions on account of darkness. I am not sure what I hate more, darkness or cold.
My new gym has a pool. I don't know the distance for sure but it is way way bigger than the 15 yard pool I am used to. Now I just got to get myself motivated to go splash around for a while.
Also new for me, is spinning classses. I had never been to one until this week. However new gym offers them where my old one did not. I really thought I would totally kick butt in this 6AM completely full class. However, it totally kicked my ass. I have never been out of the saddle so much even with all my monster hill experience. I think it rained hard inside the club judging from the puddle under my bike by the time I was done.
At any rate, this new atmosphere has been fun. Over the weekend hit the trails for a muddy, hilly 13 miles. It went pretty well as I am just getting used to dealing with some knee pain.
This weekend I am getting excited to head out to the Akron towpath marathon to do some running and cheer on some friends. Getting so nervous as I am inside of two weeks for Columbus!
Lastly just wanted to send major props to all my local peeps who kicked butt at the Akron marathon in less than ideal conditions!!!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Training update!
Week recap...
Tuesday, track workout...went fairly smooth but it was slightly modified as I did it on a dirt path at a park near home. Quite wet and slippery so had to be careful.
Wednesday, Group cycling night. Consisted of warm up, 2 sets of 3 - 1 mile repeats with one my recoveries and a longer recovery between the two sets, followed by a cool down. The workouts have gotten shorter due to running out of daylight. A little cooler this week so I wore a jacket and felt pretty comfortable. Only one more week of Wednesday bike nights left for the year. It's been a good run and learning experience...how fortunate we have been for Pete Gladden, New Vision Cycling and the the other individuals who have made this possible!
Thursday, 8 mile tempo run. Pushed the pace most the way. Finished in 1:01.19, pretty sore and tired afterwards. Fairly consistent splits.
Friday, rest
Saturday, Dolores Sawan 5K for Ovarian cancer. This race was part of the Hermes Road Race Series I participate in. It is generally a smaller race with a fairly flat course with small rollers. Went out sighty behind another female that I was hoping to stay with. I know from past races she always beats me but I was thought perhaps taking some hints from her pace could help me. Mile one, feeling tired but not too bad. 6:50. Mile 2 had a turn around at 1.6 out and with the turn the strong wind hit ya in the face. Getting winded but pushing on-7:20. Last mile I continued pushing harder than I wanted to go in an attempt to not lose anymore ground and passed one of the woman who were ahead that had to walk. My body aching and yearning for the finish line I finally made it. Still did not break that darn 22 I keep hoping for but managed to finish in 22:19 (7:12 pace), 4 seconds behind the lady I worked so hard to stay with. Ended up 4th overall female and 1st age group. To top it all off I had bought 3 raffle tickets and lo and behold my ticket was pulled and I won this really cool Cleveland Indians basket. Wahooo!!!
Side note-the best thing about a 5K is pushing the body so hard that my knee pain is not at the top of my hurt list during the race. However afterwards continued my normal regiman of icing which has become quite common.
Sunday-woke up at 5:50 AM to drive out towards Akron to get in my long run. Let me say, the idea of doing this was just so unappealing as I was getting ready this morning. Still tired, knee aching already, rain beating on the house so loud....wondering why am I doing this. I arrived just before 7 and was on my way for my first 5 solo. Fortunately the rain had stopped 10 minutes before I arrived. It was still dark when I started but luckily the towpath where I ran is mainly crushed limestone and not too wet. First 2.5 went quick and I turned around to go meet up with everyone else. I had a chance to eat a half a clif bar and some gatorade while the group assembled. I tried to keep lose while waiting and before long we were off. The sun started to come out and the scenery down in the park was just gorgeous. You can tell fall is here. Three of us set out together and I was thankful for the company. About 5 miles in we walked for about 30 seconds to take in some fluids. Let me tell ya how much I love my fanny camelback on these long runs...always thankful to have it!
Then we took off again the last 2.5 before turning around where we took another 30 second break. My knee had a dull ache and my feet were numb as could be. The numb feet thing is a reoccuring thing with me. My friend says I should try to concentrate on not landing on the ball of my feet all the time. So I am planning to try to work on that. Took another walk break after the next 2.5 for 30 seconds to take in more fluids and so my friend could take a gel. Then he did a quick stretch on me which helped immensely. Aother random runner joined us for a couple miles and the guys swapped marathon stories and I worked on just keeping up. I was exhausted but did not want to let on. It just seemed like if I kept saying I was OK, that it would just be so. Walked for another 30 seconds before the last 2.5. Oh the knee was screaming not to make it start again, but I was in the home stretch so no giving up now. And then Oh happy day starting running through my head as I saw my car. Thank goodness I had made it and it had actually went fairly smoothly. Yes, I hurt. Yes, I felt exhausted. But there were no major struggles and things went pretty well. I am sure so much of this was made possible with my company. It is so much easier to have the distraction of conversation versus thinking about how much you hurt. So now I start my taper. Of course, could have had some more long runs but just trying to work with what I have on my bumb leg. So I am off to do some more icing!!!
Tuesday, track workout...went fairly smooth but it was slightly modified as I did it on a dirt path at a park near home. Quite wet and slippery so had to be careful.
Wednesday, Group cycling night. Consisted of warm up, 2 sets of 3 - 1 mile repeats with one my recoveries and a longer recovery between the two sets, followed by a cool down. The workouts have gotten shorter due to running out of daylight. A little cooler this week so I wore a jacket and felt pretty comfortable. Only one more week of Wednesday bike nights left for the year. It's been a good run and learning experience...how fortunate we have been for Pete Gladden, New Vision Cycling and the the other individuals who have made this possible!
Thursday, 8 mile tempo run. Pushed the pace most the way. Finished in 1:01.19, pretty sore and tired afterwards. Fairly consistent splits.
Friday, rest
Saturday, Dolores Sawan 5K for Ovarian cancer. This race was part of the Hermes Road Race Series I participate in. It is generally a smaller race with a fairly flat course with small rollers. Went out sighty behind another female that I was hoping to stay with. I know from past races she always beats me but I was thought perhaps taking some hints from her pace could help me. Mile one, feeling tired but not too bad. 6:50. Mile 2 had a turn around at 1.6 out and with the turn the strong wind hit ya in the face. Getting winded but pushing on-7:20. Last mile I continued pushing harder than I wanted to go in an attempt to not lose anymore ground and passed one of the woman who were ahead that had to walk. My body aching and yearning for the finish line I finally made it. Still did not break that darn 22 I keep hoping for but managed to finish in 22:19 (7:12 pace), 4 seconds behind the lady I worked so hard to stay with. Ended up 4th overall female and 1st age group. To top it all off I had bought 3 raffle tickets and lo and behold my ticket was pulled and I won this really cool Cleveland Indians basket. Wahooo!!!
Side note-the best thing about a 5K is pushing the body so hard that my knee pain is not at the top of my hurt list during the race. However afterwards continued my normal regiman of icing which has become quite common.
Sunday-woke up at 5:50 AM to drive out towards Akron to get in my long run. Let me say, the idea of doing this was just so unappealing as I was getting ready this morning. Still tired, knee aching already, rain beating on the house so loud....wondering why am I doing this. I arrived just before 7 and was on my way for my first 5 solo. Fortunately the rain had stopped 10 minutes before I arrived. It was still dark when I started but luckily the towpath where I ran is mainly crushed limestone and not too wet. First 2.5 went quick and I turned around to go meet up with everyone else. I had a chance to eat a half a clif bar and some gatorade while the group assembled. I tried to keep lose while waiting and before long we were off. The sun started to come out and the scenery down in the park was just gorgeous. You can tell fall is here. Three of us set out together and I was thankful for the company. About 5 miles in we walked for about 30 seconds to take in some fluids. Let me tell ya how much I love my fanny camelback on these long runs...always thankful to have it!
Then we took off again the last 2.5 before turning around where we took another 30 second break. My knee had a dull ache and my feet were numb as could be. The numb feet thing is a reoccuring thing with me. My friend says I should try to concentrate on not landing on the ball of my feet all the time. So I am planning to try to work on that. Took another walk break after the next 2.5 for 30 seconds to take in more fluids and so my friend could take a gel. Then he did a quick stretch on me which helped immensely. Aother random runner joined us for a couple miles and the guys swapped marathon stories and I worked on just keeping up. I was exhausted but did not want to let on. It just seemed like if I kept saying I was OK, that it would just be so. Walked for another 30 seconds before the last 2.5. Oh the knee was screaming not to make it start again, but I was in the home stretch so no giving up now. And then Oh happy day starting running through my head as I saw my car. Thank goodness I had made it and it had actually went fairly smoothly. Yes, I hurt. Yes, I felt exhausted. But there were no major struggles and things went pretty well. I am sure so much of this was made possible with my company. It is so much easier to have the distraction of conversation versus thinking about how much you hurt. So now I start my taper. Of course, could have had some more long runs but just trying to work with what I have on my bumb leg. So I am off to do some more icing!!!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Buckeye Half
Well as I woke up for race day I walked down the stairs and thought "pain is still there." I packed up the Aleve and my other pre-race nescessity these days, a couple pepto bills and headed out the door.
It was an insanely foggy morning and in the upper 50's. I was a bit cold waiting for the race to start in my tank top but did not complain because I was just looking forward to the race. I was planning to run with my friend Bob and he just is a truly wonderful partner who provides conversation and support the whole way through.
Before the race I caught up with all the other familiar faces and friends I have gotten to know over my running time which was fun. I really did not have a game plan for what I wanted out of the day. I thought about trying for 8 min miles, but I figured given the recurrent knee pain that I would just run with Bob and enjoy the run.
And so we were off, chatting away. Pretty much hitting 8:30-8:45 consistently through all the miles, slowing on the waterstop ones to actually walk so we could drink. I felt strong the whole way. I never felt uncomfortable even where there were short hills.
As we came up to the last waterstop I told Bob that I was going to skip it and headed up the hill before the finish line. What a guy, I hear him cheering over and over from the bbottom of the hill. He totally could have been with me if he wasn't spending all his energy cheering. Anyhow eneded up finishing in 1:53:39 at a 8:41 pace which put me at 5/25 in my age group (last year was 1:53 and some change too!).
As far as my running goals for the rest of 06, I had been hoping to have a BQ time at Columbus this year but given the recurrrent IT band pain, I have given up on this goal due to the scaled back training. I have decided to just run at what feels comfortable...or rather, what pain I can handle. I am somewhat disappointed yet relieved that the pressure is off. I figure for the Columbus marathon I am just going to try to get through it, which at this point will be an accomplishment. I keep thinking about what would be a realistic goal given the reality that my original one is probably out the window. Hmmm, what marathon time should I shoot for do ya think??? Maybe next year!!!!
On another note, may have good news to share soon!!!
It was an insanely foggy morning and in the upper 50's. I was a bit cold waiting for the race to start in my tank top but did not complain because I was just looking forward to the race. I was planning to run with my friend Bob and he just is a truly wonderful partner who provides conversation and support the whole way through.
Before the race I caught up with all the other familiar faces and friends I have gotten to know over my running time which was fun. I really did not have a game plan for what I wanted out of the day. I thought about trying for 8 min miles, but I figured given the recurrent knee pain that I would just run with Bob and enjoy the run.
And so we were off, chatting away. Pretty much hitting 8:30-8:45 consistently through all the miles, slowing on the waterstop ones to actually walk so we could drink. I felt strong the whole way. I never felt uncomfortable even where there were short hills.
As we came up to the last waterstop I told Bob that I was going to skip it and headed up the hill before the finish line. What a guy, I hear him cheering over and over from the bbottom of the hill. He totally could have been with me if he wasn't spending all his energy cheering. Anyhow eneded up finishing in 1:53:39 at a 8:41 pace which put me at 5/25 in my age group (last year was 1:53 and some change too!).
As far as my running goals for the rest of 06, I had been hoping to have a BQ time at Columbus this year but given the recurrrent IT band pain, I have given up on this goal due to the scaled back training. I have decided to just run at what feels comfortable...or rather, what pain I can handle. I am somewhat disappointed yet relieved that the pressure is off. I figure for the Columbus marathon I am just going to try to get through it, which at this point will be an accomplishment. I keep thinking about what would be a realistic goal given the reality that my original one is probably out the window. Hmmm, what marathon time should I shoot for do ya think??? Maybe next year!!!!
On another note, may have good news to share soon!!!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Running time!!!
Well with the last tri out of the way, it is time to shift my focus to running. Only problem is the IT Band continues to bother me some.
I managed to get in a decent workout today at the track. I decided to hit my local gym in Garrettsville and run apprximately 2 miles to my old high school track, do my workout and head back to the gym for some core training. Let's just say my core training ended up much shorter than planned as I was just spent from the track.
As I started my warm-up I took in all the changes at my ole alma mater...the addition on the high school, a paved parking lot that replaced a gravel one, all the new baseball and soccer fields which replaced the entire wooded area that was along the gravel road back to the track which used to be surrounded by woods. So much has changed and as I took a quick look at the track, I realized not much had changed with it. It was still cinders, still uneven and at this point in time completely covered with water in spots. Oh well, I was there and if I ran on the inside I was able to keep my feet out of the pools of water.
At the track I did (10) 400's with either 100 or 200 yard recoveries depending on how I felt. I started off fair and slowed down and managed to pick it up slightly at the end. My lungs ached and it was a slow 2 miles back to the gym. Knee ached but not too terrible. I think I am just getting used to the constant ache. My key is to just keep going b/c starting after stopping is the worst.
Sunday will be the Buckeye Half Marathon so we will see how that goes!
I managed to get in a decent workout today at the track. I decided to hit my local gym in Garrettsville and run apprximately 2 miles to my old high school track, do my workout and head back to the gym for some core training. Let's just say my core training ended up much shorter than planned as I was just spent from the track.
As I started my warm-up I took in all the changes at my ole alma mater...the addition on the high school, a paved parking lot that replaced a gravel one, all the new baseball and soccer fields which replaced the entire wooded area that was along the gravel road back to the track which used to be surrounded by woods. So much has changed and as I took a quick look at the track, I realized not much had changed with it. It was still cinders, still uneven and at this point in time completely covered with water in spots. Oh well, I was there and if I ran on the inside I was able to keep my feet out of the pools of water.
At the track I did (10) 400's with either 100 or 200 yard recoveries depending on how I felt. I started off fair and slowed down and managed to pick it up slightly at the end. My lungs ached and it was a slow 2 miles back to the gym. Knee ached but not too terrible. I think I am just getting used to the constant ache. My key is to just keep going b/c starting after stopping is the worst.
Sunday will be the Buckeye Half Marathon so we will see how that goes!
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Evil Wind, DaisyDuc explained & GLE report!
Well the evil wind off Lake Erie today made for a duathlon instead of a tri. I must admit a small part of me was disappointed yet this morning as the wind howled and I saw the white caps the weak swimmer in me was quite relieved that I would not be swimming in those waves. Yet, even as this made me relieved I was slightly concerned about my knee with my IT Band and running further on this new terrain.
Jodi, my hubby and I got up there early Saturday to hit the expo and the race meeting which was cool because I finally got to meet Tri-Eric and his wife in person for the first time, as well as TriFrog and some of the other Cleveland Tri Club peeps out up there.
I suppose I should mention that there was a debate going on to where my name 'DaisyDuc' orininated from. So here is the story, folks....which a few may not know. I gave myself the name DaisyDuc or rather Daisy Duck after my little red Ducati motorcycle. You see most Ducati owners refer to there Ducati's as Ducks so I just had to come up with a cute first name. I decided on Donald Duck's girlfriend, Daisy Duck, who was a woman who knew her mind, and it just seemed to fitting, so hence DaisyDuc.
After the meeting we headed to the pasta dinner and then out for some ice cream which was a bad idea. I had been planning to try not to eat dairy for 24 hours prior to the race, yet I am such an ice cream sucker that I decided, what the heck. I try not to write about this all the time as it definitely gets old (BELIEVE ME!!) but again the stomach acted up during the race. Next long day, I swear I will behave for certain, heck I really need to revamp my entire nutrition.
However the ice cream trip led to a nice drive over the bike course where we had the oppportunity to scope everything out and see how flat the course was. We talked about how fast it was going to be since it was so flat...boy, were we mistaken!
Sunday after getting up early we got the word that it would be a du and start early. At the very back Jodi and I started the run. I liked some parts like the packed sand along the beach and the grassy trails, yet the deep sand was killer. It was tough to start in the back as it was incredibly hard to pass people with the tight course. Knee did not feel too bad. Run one time 24:42-7:58 pace.
T1 uneventful -1:05
I hopped on the bike and quickly realized that this wind was not going to make for a fast race. I passed a few and got passed by several more although I think only 2 were females...2 too many for me though!! I drank water from the aerobars during the ride which worked out well. I need to practice stretching more often as the low bad pain really set in my mile 15 and it seemed to late. Finally I made it back in at 1:20:59 at an 18.4 mph pace.
T2-uneventful as well -1:04
10K race- legs a little tired but doing well. I wanted to make sure I saved enough for the second half so I took it easy for the first 5 K. There was some seriously deep sand at some points which definitely slowed the times down. About the time the second 5K started the stomach issues were kicking in with a vengeance. Every time I pushed alittle I started to wonder if I would make it to a bathroom. So I felt like I was holding back, but finishing without a problem was much more important than finishing the 10K faster. Knee ached but I think my Aleve was helping immensely. 10K 55:04-8:53 pace.
Total time 2:42:52, which put me at 5/12 in my age group. My performance could have been better, yet given the conditions, not too bad. Jodi and I rode home with elevated knees and ice packs from yet another enjoyable day of racing!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Good Luck IM Moo athletes
First off, I want to wish the very best of luck to the folks heading out to Madison. Some of the Cleveland area peeps heading out there that I will be watching include-
Sara Ziemnik 2198
Alan Wong 477
Trina Potts 2370
Rob Reddy 1270
Kar-Ming Lo 678
Jim Jacko 2039
Cassie Schumacher 2345
John Willse 1020
The perserverance and dedication I have seen from these individuals is inspiring and I hope eveyone is able to enjoy themselves out there!
For me, I am heading off to the Great Lakes Escpe up in Marblehead this afternoon with the hubby and Jodi. I am looking forward to getting away for a night and the whole experience, yet in all honesty I am really not expceting much out of this race in terms of how I will finish. My swimming training has been few and far between and I am still limping while I walk so I am not sure how great running is going to go tomorrow! Oh well, I imagine I will still enjoy myself, especially considering the Cleve Tri Club support that will be out there. The support and encouragement of this group has really made this season for me!
Sara Ziemnik 2198
Alan Wong 477
Trina Potts 2370
Rob Reddy 1270
Kar-Ming Lo 678
Jim Jacko 2039
Cassie Schumacher 2345
John Willse 1020
The perserverance and dedication I have seen from these individuals is inspiring and I hope eveyone is able to enjoy themselves out there!
For me, I am heading off to the Great Lakes Escpe up in Marblehead this afternoon with the hubby and Jodi. I am looking forward to getting away for a night and the whole experience, yet in all honesty I am really not expceting much out of this race in terms of how I will finish. My swimming training has been few and far between and I am still limping while I walk so I am not sure how great running is going to go tomorrow! Oh well, I imagine I will still enjoy myself, especially considering the Cleve Tri Club support that will be out there. The support and encouragement of this group has really made this season for me!
Friday, September 08, 2006
Perfect timing!!!!!
I am an auntie!!!!!!!Well thank goodness I am out of a job....momentarily anyway...hopefully!!!
My sis has been in the hospital for nearly 3 weeks now and on Tuesday she gave birth to two healthy girls who arrived 6 weeks early. Fortunately,with my flexible schedule I was able to be there with her. Alyssa Ann was born first at 5 lbs, 1 oz and Erin Eileen came out a minute later at 3 lbs, 2 oz. Tiny little Erin has been doing well. Alyssa had some difficulty breathing but things have significantly improved. Both girls will probably remain at the hospital for some time but all looks good. So all of us have been very excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have also been able to dedicate some additional time to my training...which has been going so so on account of my IT band flaring up constantly.
Training recently
Friday-10 mile run, which was supposed to be 16 but the pain was too much
Saturday-66+ mile bike ride in the rain---all good except for some bike short chaffing...biking does not hurt the knee, thankfully!
Sunday-5 mile fair run-lots of uphill, 1st AG, 4th or 5th female overall-not bad! Knee was not too bad!
Monday-no training-headed to husband's supermoto track time
Tuesday-no training-sis caught me just as I was heading to workout, so I changed to hit the hospital!
Wednesday-Upper body & ab workout (so sore from it) and 17 mile bike ride to & home the gym.
Thursday-18 mile run...pathtically slow and painful. A day later now and I am struggling to walk due to IT band. But made it through!!!
Friday--taking off!
Tomorrow-5K scheduled...may skip to rest up for big Great Lakes Esccape on Sunday!!
Anyway must run...meed to escort sis to get stuff ready for check out!
Monday, August 28, 2006
Playing in the rain!
Well yesterday was my first bi which was a 5K run followed by a 12.5 mile bike.
Part I.
The knee ache:
I am assuming it is iliotibial band syndrome. I have never had trouble with my right leg, ever. It is always something with the left leg...some times the pain is inside my knee, sometimes outside, sometimes the hip flexor...but never any trouble with my good right leg. Not any more....
The start:
Last Sunday, I ran the Perfect 10 miler race. This race was far from perfect as a few miles in things started churning in my stomach. At the 6 mile mark I hit the bathroom which cost a couple minutes but at least I was able to finish without any more trouble. I was just not feeling great with my stomach issues which continued for the rest of the day. When I got home, my hubby asked if I was alright as apparently he was also having issues....I suppose something we ate was off. At any rate, I had finished the 10 miles in 1:24, a far cry from by 1:17 at the beginning of the season. Bummer...and then as if that was not enough that night a knee pain set into my right leg. With a couple light days the pain went away until...
The 15 miler:
Saturday's 15 miler went well. Felt great, time flew, but 3 miles to the end the darn pain came back. Spent Saturday evening icing the knee and got everything ready for Sunday's bi.
Sunday's Biathlon
Sunday, I awoke with a sore knee, nothing awful but definitely there and felt with every movement. I was not sure what to expect as my 8/5 5K was disappointing as was my 8/20 10 miler and now my knee hurts too! It was pooring outside yet for some reason I still felt giddy because I was looking forward to doing my first bi. I caught up with some pals before the start and was off. I felt a little off because I was missing my headphones but I figured that messing with them at transition would not be worth it. As I ran my knee ached. I started looking at my watch 7 min...no mile marker, 8 no mile marker, about 9 in, I decided that there was not one. This was sort of bothered me because I was not sure where I was at. The course turned around twice on the run and I could see that I was in 4th and 5th female for most the way and was pushed into 6th right at the end which I did not worry about. As I came in for the 5K I was excited to finally break 22 minutes! 5K time 21:54 and into transition.
In transition, I was trying to hurry as I knew many others were not changing shoes but I figured I always ride in my bike shoes so that even if it may cost some time to put them on, I did not want to change things on race day. 45 seconds later I was back out on the course in the rain and unsure of where I was versus the other females now I just started pedaling. My legs and lungs ached but I just tried to slow my breathing down and concentrate on a high steady cadence. A few men passed me and then one girl with a Cleveland Mountain Biking Jersey on passed and as she went by, she cheered me on. That chick ruled! I did not get to talk to her later but she really helped me as I pedaled the last 7 miles or so doing everything I could to try to keep her in my sights. I thought perhaps I may have a chance to catch her at the end but a car cut me off and I lost some momentum there and I just ran out of time. Total biking 39 minutes at just under a 20mph pace. Total time was 1:01 and I am still not sure what place female overall I was, but I am guessing 5th.
In retrospect, I was pysched to pick up my first in my age group award in my first bi. I really enjoy the running and biking events b/c my swimming is not there to really hold me up. More than anything I was excited that after two poor races, my time was redeemed here on my run. The only bad thing is my knee continues to hurt. So today I bought a IBS band and a streching band and I plan to spend more time stretching & icing and hope that I can get this issue worked out!
Part I.
The knee ache:
I am assuming it is iliotibial band syndrome. I have never had trouble with my right leg, ever. It is always something with the left leg...some times the pain is inside my knee, sometimes outside, sometimes the hip flexor...but never any trouble with my good right leg. Not any more....
The start:
Last Sunday, I ran the Perfect 10 miler race. This race was far from perfect as a few miles in things started churning in my stomach. At the 6 mile mark I hit the bathroom which cost a couple minutes but at least I was able to finish without any more trouble. I was just not feeling great with my stomach issues which continued for the rest of the day. When I got home, my hubby asked if I was alright as apparently he was also having issues....I suppose something we ate was off. At any rate, I had finished the 10 miles in 1:24, a far cry from by 1:17 at the beginning of the season. Bummer...and then as if that was not enough that night a knee pain set into my right leg. With a couple light days the pain went away until...
The 15 miler:
Saturday's 15 miler went well. Felt great, time flew, but 3 miles to the end the darn pain came back. Spent Saturday evening icing the knee and got everything ready for Sunday's bi.
Sunday's Biathlon
Sunday, I awoke with a sore knee, nothing awful but definitely there and felt with every movement. I was not sure what to expect as my 8/5 5K was disappointing as was my 8/20 10 miler and now my knee hurts too! It was pooring outside yet for some reason I still felt giddy because I was looking forward to doing my first bi. I caught up with some pals before the start and was off. I felt a little off because I was missing my headphones but I figured that messing with them at transition would not be worth it. As I ran my knee ached. I started looking at my watch 7 min...no mile marker, 8 no mile marker, about 9 in, I decided that there was not one. This was sort of bothered me because I was not sure where I was at. The course turned around twice on the run and I could see that I was in 4th and 5th female for most the way and was pushed into 6th right at the end which I did not worry about. As I came in for the 5K I was excited to finally break 22 minutes! 5K time 21:54 and into transition.
In transition, I was trying to hurry as I knew many others were not changing shoes but I figured I always ride in my bike shoes so that even if it may cost some time to put them on, I did not want to change things on race day. 45 seconds later I was back out on the course in the rain and unsure of where I was versus the other females now I just started pedaling. My legs and lungs ached but I just tried to slow my breathing down and concentrate on a high steady cadence. A few men passed me and then one girl with a Cleveland Mountain Biking Jersey on passed and as she went by, she cheered me on. That chick ruled! I did not get to talk to her later but she really helped me as I pedaled the last 7 miles or so doing everything I could to try to keep her in my sights. I thought perhaps I may have a chance to catch her at the end but a car cut me off and I lost some momentum there and I just ran out of time. Total biking 39 minutes at just under a 20mph pace. Total time was 1:01 and I am still not sure what place female overall I was, but I am guessing 5th.
In retrospect, I was pysched to pick up my first in my age group award in my first bi. I really enjoy the running and biking events b/c my swimming is not there to really hold me up. More than anything I was excited that after two poor races, my time was redeemed here on my run. The only bad thing is my knee continues to hurt. So today I bought a IBS band and a streching band and I plan to spend more time stretching & icing and hope that I can get this issue worked out!
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Quick Update!
So what has Daisy been up to you might ask?
Well things have continued to remain super duper hectic! I suppose that is how many of the tri folk out there feel but lately this has just been much more so than normal for me!
My last day with my full time job is Thursday 8/31. Pretty much most of my firm will be let go then and at this point I am looking forward to getting away from what has become a poor work environment. Fortunately, the company has tried to do as much as possible with giving us a heads up that it was coming, time to interview, and a month's serverance. I have spent as much time as possible researching companies and lots of talking and meetings. Things are going well and I remain optimistic that something will work out here in the next month which is my goal.
Also I have been spending quite a bit of time at the hospital with my sis who is pregnant with twins and not technically due until 10/17. For a number of reasons her docs would like to keep her at the hospital until the babies are born (no clue when that may be but hopefully they can wait a little while longer for their sakes) so that they can closely monitor things. Clearly she is not happy about this but taking it in stride and at least she will have her older sis there even more often without having to work the next month!
Last weekend did a 10 mile race which went OK, not quite the speed of my 10 miler earlier in the season but I suppose my training is not where it was earlier in the season either. I have started to work on my marathon training. I am behind where I should be...but I felt good throughout my entire 15 mile run today, which was helped in large part to my company and our conversation. I am totally pysched that I will have much more time to put towards my training in the next month...so hopefully my shortcomings in the last few weeks will bounce back.
Anyway doing my first bi tomorrow and really looking forward to it and keeping my fingers crossed that everything else will work out!
Well things have continued to remain super duper hectic! I suppose that is how many of the tri folk out there feel but lately this has just been much more so than normal for me!
My last day with my full time job is Thursday 8/31. Pretty much most of my firm will be let go then and at this point I am looking forward to getting away from what has become a poor work environment. Fortunately, the company has tried to do as much as possible with giving us a heads up that it was coming, time to interview, and a month's serverance. I have spent as much time as possible researching companies and lots of talking and meetings. Things are going well and I remain optimistic that something will work out here in the next month which is my goal.
Also I have been spending quite a bit of time at the hospital with my sis who is pregnant with twins and not technically due until 10/17. For a number of reasons her docs would like to keep her at the hospital until the babies are born (no clue when that may be but hopefully they can wait a little while longer for their sakes) so that they can closely monitor things. Clearly she is not happy about this but taking it in stride and at least she will have her older sis there even more often without having to work the next month!
Last weekend did a 10 mile race which went OK, not quite the speed of my 10 miler earlier in the season but I suppose my training is not where it was earlier in the season either. I have started to work on my marathon training. I am behind where I should be...but I felt good throughout my entire 15 mile run today, which was helped in large part to my company and our conversation. I am totally pysched that I will have much more time to put towards my training in the next month...so hopefully my shortcomings in the last few weeks will bounce back.
Anyway doing my first bi tomorrow and really looking forward to it and keeping my fingers crossed that everything else will work out!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Juggling act...
So much to do, so little time.
Full time job, part time consulting, training, and all the other normal things that life throws at you....if only I did not require sleep maybe I could fit this in..??..
Last week I was informed at my full time job most everyone would be losing their job soon. I have known for some time this was coming, I guess I was just hoping for more time. More time to have a new job already set up, more time to figure out the best match. As much as I appreciate the owners for trying to give us a heads up and going against what would make the best business sense for them to keep it amongst themselves...it does not make it any easier for myself or my co-workers as we come to work full of anxiety. I have been here for over 6 years. I have never lost a job before. When is the day? Are we going to get a severance? Who else can I network with in the industry? So many questions, and no easy answers. The only definite thing I can grasp is that I need to keep making contacts.
Apparently Cleveland area is not the hot-spot for a lot of investment-related jobs....but if I wanted to move to Atlanta, NY, or PA, I could have a job right now. However there are many good people, good firms, and satellite office opportunities here so I will just keep at it and surely something will turn up, as moving is not an option at the moment. So feel free to drop me a line if you have any finance or investment related contacts in Cleveland.
Training has been significantly impacted. Job searching and networking is time consuming. I was frustrated on Saturday that although I still got a second place age group award, my 5K at 23:19 was my slowest of the year.
This weekend we host the annual corn party at my place which should be 100+ guests. I am really looking forward to the fun times to be had with family and friends, but the preparation is an unbelievable amount of work. And as I lay awake exhausted in my bed with worry, I try to think that this career transition will probably be a good thing and we will get through it as the saying says when one door closes, another one opens, right??
Full time job, part time consulting, training, and all the other normal things that life throws at you....if only I did not require sleep maybe I could fit this in..??..
Last week I was informed at my full time job most everyone would be losing their job soon. I have known for some time this was coming, I guess I was just hoping for more time. More time to have a new job already set up, more time to figure out the best match. As much as I appreciate the owners for trying to give us a heads up and going against what would make the best business sense for them to keep it amongst themselves...it does not make it any easier for myself or my co-workers as we come to work full of anxiety. I have been here for over 6 years. I have never lost a job before. When is the day? Are we going to get a severance? Who else can I network with in the industry? So many questions, and no easy answers. The only definite thing I can grasp is that I need to keep making contacts.
Apparently Cleveland area is not the hot-spot for a lot of investment-related jobs....but if I wanted to move to Atlanta, NY, or PA, I could have a job right now. However there are many good people, good firms, and satellite office opportunities here so I will just keep at it and surely something will turn up, as moving is not an option at the moment. So feel free to drop me a line if you have any finance or investment related contacts in Cleveland.
Training has been significantly impacted. Job searching and networking is time consuming. I was frustrated on Saturday that although I still got a second place age group award, my 5K at 23:19 was my slowest of the year.
This weekend we host the annual corn party at my place which should be 100+ guests. I am really looking forward to the fun times to be had with family and friends, but the preparation is an unbelievable amount of work. And as I lay awake exhausted in my bed with worry, I try to think that this career transition will probably be a good thing and we will get through it as the saying says when one door closes, another one opens, right??
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Sweet Corn Ride!
Saturday I decided to hit the bike shop in preparation for Sunday's century ride. I picked up a new pair of bicycle gloves which are way better suited than the dirt bike gloves I have been wearing because a) they have more padding in the right places and b) they are cooler as they are fingerless versus my full fingered dirt bike gloves. Also thanks to my blogger friend recommendations, I also purchased a ProDesign waterbottle and mounting kit for my bike...which I now highly recommend!!
Saturday evening I got everything rounded up, filled my bike tires, mounted the bike on the car rack and was all set to go. Woke up Sunday morning, had some oatmeal and was on the road by 5:45 AM. Upon arrival around, I got all my gear on and headed down to registration and waited for the CTC gang to arrive. There was a fairly large pack of us that started off the day together which seemed to spread out fairly early on. I felt fine and was enjoying my company throughout the ride. We hit the first waterstop and I downed a gatorade, had a half a banana, and hit the restroom and was back off. Miles seemed to fly by and before long we were at the next rest stop. There was a group of 8 of us that remained together for the majority of the ride. We stopped at all the stops and at each I drank at least a bottle of gatorade and filled up the three bottles on my bike.
Oh and FYI, one of my bike bottles was fruit punch gatorade which I had froze the night before. It was leaking all over the place first thing that morning, so perhaps I should have drank some before I froze it. Thank goodness I had put the bottles in a Walmart bag to carry out to my car or my car would have been a mess!
At lunch at mile 62, we took a longer break and sat down in the shade to have our sack lunch and I had a sandwich and chips.
Back out on the road for another 30 hilly miles. It was now quite hot out and we are in the hilliest portion of the course. Our group started to spread out and I just remained focused on getting to the next stop. I found it much easier to try to keep as much momentum going as possible to make getting up the hills a little easier. I felt fine physically the entire way through except my feet were extremely sore from pushing my petals and I could not wait to give them a break. Oh and my neck and back were also causing me some discomfort.
I heard along the way that many were suffering from dehydration but with my 3 bottles on the bike that I continued to fill, I always had something to drink, even if it was extremely warm. I saw another CTC member which had crashed out in the ditch and I felt bad for him having to deal with that on this long hot ride.
At the 92 mile rest stop relaxed for a bit over some water and gatorade and started to look forward to the end. There was another rider that had taken a serious spill and his leg was swollen and road rashed. I thought about this older man as he was bound and determined to finish the course despite his injury and in the back of my head I kept thinking if he is going to make it dealing with that injury, I should have no room for complaints. This final section of the century went by pretty fast. I spent some time trying to catch up as I was a little behind leaving the rest area since I was trying to take care of my water bottles. The end finally came, however my mileage was at 102 so not sure where that extra came from but I kept thinking the end would be sooner than it was, which is never good!
I grabbed some horribly sweet lemonade and had a chance to see some other riders come in. We finished in approximately 7.5 hours including all of our leaisurely stops. Unfortunately I had to leave right after the event as I was late for a birthday party, so I missed out on the buffet dinner. Darn, because I am sure that would have been fun too.
All in all, I felt that it was a fairly consistent effort which went pretty well with no real issues to speak of which I was thankful for. It was a great day with great people and I really enjoyed the experience.
Order of my discomfort immediately after the race:
#1 feet (which hurt to push the car pedals on the way home, thank god for cruise control)
#2 back and neck
#3 front seat area (perhaps I need an adjustment or new seat)
#4 legs a bit tired
However upon returning home, in my shower my butt bolted to the front of that list...guess all the time in the saddle had resulted in some chaffing. Guess that is why so many other use that lubricant stuff and baby powder...perhaps something to consider in the future!
Saturday evening I got everything rounded up, filled my bike tires, mounted the bike on the car rack and was all set to go. Woke up Sunday morning, had some oatmeal and was on the road by 5:45 AM. Upon arrival around, I got all my gear on and headed down to registration and waited for the CTC gang to arrive. There was a fairly large pack of us that started off the day together which seemed to spread out fairly early on. I felt fine and was enjoying my company throughout the ride. We hit the first waterstop and I downed a gatorade, had a half a banana, and hit the restroom and was back off. Miles seemed to fly by and before long we were at the next rest stop. There was a group of 8 of us that remained together for the majority of the ride. We stopped at all the stops and at each I drank at least a bottle of gatorade and filled up the three bottles on my bike.
Oh and FYI, one of my bike bottles was fruit punch gatorade which I had froze the night before. It was leaking all over the place first thing that morning, so perhaps I should have drank some before I froze it. Thank goodness I had put the bottles in a Walmart bag to carry out to my car or my car would have been a mess!
At lunch at mile 62, we took a longer break and sat down in the shade to have our sack lunch and I had a sandwich and chips.
Back out on the road for another 30 hilly miles. It was now quite hot out and we are in the hilliest portion of the course. Our group started to spread out and I just remained focused on getting to the next stop. I found it much easier to try to keep as much momentum going as possible to make getting up the hills a little easier. I felt fine physically the entire way through except my feet were extremely sore from pushing my petals and I could not wait to give them a break. Oh and my neck and back were also causing me some discomfort.
I heard along the way that many were suffering from dehydration but with my 3 bottles on the bike that I continued to fill, I always had something to drink, even if it was extremely warm. I saw another CTC member which had crashed out in the ditch and I felt bad for him having to deal with that on this long hot ride.
At the 92 mile rest stop relaxed for a bit over some water and gatorade and started to look forward to the end. There was another rider that had taken a serious spill and his leg was swollen and road rashed. I thought about this older man as he was bound and determined to finish the course despite his injury and in the back of my head I kept thinking if he is going to make it dealing with that injury, I should have no room for complaints. This final section of the century went by pretty fast. I spent some time trying to catch up as I was a little behind leaving the rest area since I was trying to take care of my water bottles. The end finally came, however my mileage was at 102 so not sure where that extra came from but I kept thinking the end would be sooner than it was, which is never good!
I grabbed some horribly sweet lemonade and had a chance to see some other riders come in. We finished in approximately 7.5 hours including all of our leaisurely stops. Unfortunately I had to leave right after the event as I was late for a birthday party, so I missed out on the buffet dinner. Darn, because I am sure that would have been fun too.
All in all, I felt that it was a fairly consistent effort which went pretty well with no real issues to speak of which I was thankful for. It was a great day with great people and I really enjoyed the experience.
Order of my discomfort immediately after the race:
#1 feet (which hurt to push the car pedals on the way home, thank god for cruise control)
#2 back and neck
#3 front seat area (perhaps I need an adjustment or new seat)
#4 legs a bit tired
However upon returning home, in my shower my butt bolted to the front of that list...guess all the time in the saddle had resulted in some chaffing. Guess that is why so many other use that lubricant stuff and baby powder...perhaps something to consider in the future!
Friday, July 28, 2006
Yes, the vacation started off great...here is us, broke down on the side of the highway and still managing a smile!
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Posted by Picasa
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Wednesday Riding
Last night went to my normal Wednesday New Vision Cycling workout down in Cuyahoga Falls. Last night's workout was 2.5 mile warm up, (4) 5 mile flat-rolling hills TT intervals, followed by a 2.5 mile cool down.
I was not feeling real motivated to go, but I knew if I skipped it, I would feel guilty...so off I went.
Turnout was decent, as usual, around 30 riders or so and it was mid 80's so it did not take long for me to start pouring sweat. They sent us off for our 5 miles at 10 second intervals. Here are my times-
14:08 (21.23mph)-caught up quickly to the rider in front of me and probably should have passed sooner as I probably drafted too long
14:38 (20.5mph)-tried keeping up with pair that passed me but lost them on the final hill
14:43 (20.39)-this one felt lonely as the way the order worked out no one I could catch & just one that smoked me and was gone in no time
14:56 (20.09)-tried like heck to keep up with other female who passed me, but I was running on fumes
My chest and lungs felt very tight and tired after the first 5 miles, let alone the way they felt at the end. When I stood up to get up the small hill at the end of the last 5, I had to sit back down because my legs said no. Definitely not negative splits but fairly consistent. Let's just say I slept well last night!
All in all, another fine workout conducted by this group. I continue to enjoy this structured bike workout and find myself pushing much harder than I would otherwise.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Clev Tri Recap
Well race day driving downtown I was nervous. I luckily found a free place to park so things were off to a good start.
Like usual I overpacked and had way too much stuff to carry so I was real happy after my long walk to finally get to the transition area. Fortunately there was plenty of room on the first rack so I set up my little area amongst many familiar faces. I set my extra bags alongside the fence so they would be out of the way and I was ready to go with plenty of time to spare...this would turn out to be a good thing given the port-o-potty lines.
Prior to the race I had a chance to hang out with some fellow Cleveland Tri Club members and check out the super sprint and sprint races going on. I suited up into my wetsuit and really did not have the chance to get too nervous with all the friendly banter between the ladies in the wave. With the start I was off. As usual I felt good for the first 4 minutes and then I started to slow down and tire some. I had been a little nervous about getting beat around in the water but all swimmers seemed courteous. The floating balls we had to swim around seemed like forever between them.
Last week I had practiced swimming the distance twice while on vacation in Alabama. When I got tired then, I just flipped over and did the backstroke. While I feel a little silly doing it in a tri, I went ahead and did it anyway because I knew it would get me through it. I figure I swam about half the course on my back flipping back and forth trying to not get off course. It was not pretty, but I still saw white caps behind me so at least I was not last. I was so happy to be pulled from the water at the end of the swim course and happy to see our Clev Tri Club president, Andrew with encouraging cheers as on the dock. Total swim time 39:00 min 198/267 competitors...ouch, yes there was much catching up to do!
All down hill from here as the swim is the only part I really stress about!
Into transition one as I try to catch my breath from that exhausting swim. All goes pretty smoothly yet it still took 2:00, so could improve on that. In my defense that was my first time trying to do a quick transition in getting off my wetsuit.
Out to the bike course...as usual it took a few minutes to calm down from my swim and then I started to get into a decent rhythm. The course was not the most interesting. It was essentially an 8 mile loop three times and it felt like there were no flat sections of the bike. You were either climbing or descending, yet none were real steep, which was fine with me. The nice part was the constant crossing paths of you and the other racers. It was good to see all my pals out on the course.
The bad thing was, I was able to tell how far behind I was right away. I guess even though I know I am a weak swimmer, I did not realize just how far behind I was. Luckily, my biking is OK so I was able to make up some ground and pass quite a few people before T2. I could have went faster but I did want to make sure I saved my legs for the run. Another thing I need to practice is drinking on the bike. I kept trying to drink my Gatorade Endurance yet everytime I did I swear I lost so much time and really slowed. I ended up getting 3/4 of the bottle down. I see other racers with the liquid in front by the aerobars and was wondering if that type of setup may be better for me. Thoughts?? Anyway total time was 1:24:15 (164 out of 267 overall).
T2, uneventful, back out in 54 seconds.
Many racers felt that the road surface was brutal and wished for trail shoes. We were running two boring loops on a road that had been scraped in preparation for repaving...I guess it did not bother me as much as most. As usual had heavy legs at the beginning but pushed on. I managed to pass of few, get passed by a few. I was actually disappointed with my run time, yet two things were really bothering me besides the general fatigue at this point. A) I could feel my insides twisting and I was nervous if I pushed to hard that I would be in dire need of a bathroom before the end of the course. B) I was really missing my Ipod. My music really pushes me through races & runs and I just plain know I run faster with my tunes.
I walked through a couple water stops to take in some fluid since I was pretty thirsty. I tried to pick it up a bit at the end and was annoyed I had not started my kick sooner as there was a girl in my age group that finished 6 seconds in front of me and I just ran out of ground to catch her. But with that extra exertion towards the end I knew my fear of possibly needing a bathroom was not in my head, b/c as I crossed the finish line I was in hot pursuit of the closeet bathroom. Hello, when will I learn pizza the night before races is an absolute no no for me???? Enough on that.....anyways..........Total 10K 55:28 (143 out of 267 overall).
After the race, chilled with the other Cleveland Tri members at the tent and watched many of the gang win many awards. It was such a wonderful wrap-up to the gorgeous morning! I ended up 5/13 in my division and 18 out of 58 gender and 150 out of 267 overall which was OK....plenty of room for improvement!!! So no hardware for me but I got my first Olympic tri under my belt!
Like usual I overpacked and had way too much stuff to carry so I was real happy after my long walk to finally get to the transition area. Fortunately there was plenty of room on the first rack so I set up my little area amongst many familiar faces. I set my extra bags alongside the fence so they would be out of the way and I was ready to go with plenty of time to spare...this would turn out to be a good thing given the port-o-potty lines.
Prior to the race I had a chance to hang out with some fellow Cleveland Tri Club members and check out the super sprint and sprint races going on. I suited up into my wetsuit and really did not have the chance to get too nervous with all the friendly banter between the ladies in the wave. With the start I was off. As usual I felt good for the first 4 minutes and then I started to slow down and tire some. I had been a little nervous about getting beat around in the water but all swimmers seemed courteous. The floating balls we had to swim around seemed like forever between them.
Last week I had practiced swimming the distance twice while on vacation in Alabama. When I got tired then, I just flipped over and did the backstroke. While I feel a little silly doing it in a tri, I went ahead and did it anyway because I knew it would get me through it. I figure I swam about half the course on my back flipping back and forth trying to not get off course. It was not pretty, but I still saw white caps behind me so at least I was not last. I was so happy to be pulled from the water at the end of the swim course and happy to see our Clev Tri Club president, Andrew with encouraging cheers as on the dock. Total swim time 39:00 min 198/267 competitors...ouch, yes there was much catching up to do!
All down hill from here as the swim is the only part I really stress about!
Into transition one as I try to catch my breath from that exhausting swim. All goes pretty smoothly yet it still took 2:00, so could improve on that. In my defense that was my first time trying to do a quick transition in getting off my wetsuit.
Out to the bike course...as usual it took a few minutes to calm down from my swim and then I started to get into a decent rhythm. The course was not the most interesting. It was essentially an 8 mile loop three times and it felt like there were no flat sections of the bike. You were either climbing or descending, yet none were real steep, which was fine with me. The nice part was the constant crossing paths of you and the other racers. It was good to see all my pals out on the course.
The bad thing was, I was able to tell how far behind I was right away. I guess even though I know I am a weak swimmer, I did not realize just how far behind I was. Luckily, my biking is OK so I was able to make up some ground and pass quite a few people before T2. I could have went faster but I did want to make sure I saved my legs for the run. Another thing I need to practice is drinking on the bike. I kept trying to drink my Gatorade Endurance yet everytime I did I swear I lost so much time and really slowed. I ended up getting 3/4 of the bottle down. I see other racers with the liquid in front by the aerobars and was wondering if that type of setup may be better for me. Thoughts?? Anyway total time was 1:24:15 (164 out of 267 overall).
T2, uneventful, back out in 54 seconds.
Many racers felt that the road surface was brutal and wished for trail shoes. We were running two boring loops on a road that had been scraped in preparation for repaving...I guess it did not bother me as much as most. As usual had heavy legs at the beginning but pushed on. I managed to pass of few, get passed by a few. I was actually disappointed with my run time, yet two things were really bothering me besides the general fatigue at this point. A) I could feel my insides twisting and I was nervous if I pushed to hard that I would be in dire need of a bathroom before the end of the course. B) I was really missing my Ipod. My music really pushes me through races & runs and I just plain know I run faster with my tunes.
I walked through a couple water stops to take in some fluid since I was pretty thirsty. I tried to pick it up a bit at the end and was annoyed I had not started my kick sooner as there was a girl in my age group that finished 6 seconds in front of me and I just ran out of ground to catch her. But with that extra exertion towards the end I knew my fear of possibly needing a bathroom was not in my head, b/c as I crossed the finish line I was in hot pursuit of the closeet bathroom. Hello, when will I learn pizza the night before races is an absolute no no for me???? Enough on that.....anyways..........Total 10K 55:28 (143 out of 267 overall).
After the race, chilled with the other Cleveland Tri members at the tent and watched many of the gang win many awards. It was such a wonderful wrap-up to the gorgeous morning! I ended up 5/13 in my division and 18 out of 58 gender and 150 out of 267 overall which was OK....plenty of room for improvement!!! So no hardware for me but I got my first Olympic tri under my belt!
The story before the Cleveland Tri
Back about 10 months ago there was a sign at the gym. One of the trainers was looking to get a group of individuals together to train for a triathlon, the Cleveland Triathlon. As one of the gym regulars, the lady at the front desk asked if I might be interested as they were not getting many takers. I thought about it for a week or two because I wanted to make sure that if I signed up for this, that I would see it through. After some time and research I decided that even though I had never done a tri, was not much of a swimmer and did not own a bike, I wanted to do the Olympic Tri. All in all there was 4 us who had signed up.
I spoke with the three others about it several times yet we never ended up organizing any training together. The trainer ended up leaving the gym and there was no group training....but I had made the commitment, so I had to see this through.
I talked to my college roomie, Sara, about getting involved in tri's and she referred me to the Cleveland Tri Club. I joined the tri club and got a great deal with the club discount on my bicycle at Bike Authority, one of the club sponsors. I did not take my new bicycle out for some time due to the weather and not having a trainer. I had not regularly rode a bicycle since I was a kid, and although the first several rides were not pretty, I have come to really enjoy riding.
I started swimming at my gym's 15 yard pool. I went to a swim training with the club which was a reality check. I had thought to purchase goggles the day before but did not think to purchase a swim cap. I had just hoped to not stick out too bad but without a cap it was inevitable. I was so tired afterwards and just felt as though I was really out of my league. My swimming remains weak, yet I know I have come along way from January.
Lastly there was the running....my only comfort zone. I have cut back on my running and did more crosstraining (biking and swimming) in 2006. Somehow this has helped me to drop my running times!
In this journey to complete my first Olympic tri, I have decided to take on a few other firsts such as my first duathlon, & my first sprint tri, a 62 mile bike ride (& a century ride coming up this weekend!!). All of this was set in motion 10 months ago to complete the olympic distance Cleveland Tri, which I finally acheived on Sunday!!! Race details to come.........
I spoke with the three others about it several times yet we never ended up organizing any training together. The trainer ended up leaving the gym and there was no group training....but I had made the commitment, so I had to see this through.
I talked to my college roomie, Sara, about getting involved in tri's and she referred me to the Cleveland Tri Club. I joined the tri club and got a great deal with the club discount on my bicycle at Bike Authority, one of the club sponsors. I did not take my new bicycle out for some time due to the weather and not having a trainer. I had not regularly rode a bicycle since I was a kid, and although the first several rides were not pretty, I have come to really enjoy riding.
I started swimming at my gym's 15 yard pool. I went to a swim training with the club which was a reality check. I had thought to purchase goggles the day before but did not think to purchase a swim cap. I had just hoped to not stick out too bad but without a cap it was inevitable. I was so tired afterwards and just felt as though I was really out of my league. My swimming remains weak, yet I know I have come along way from January.
Lastly there was the running....my only comfort zone. I have cut back on my running and did more crosstraining (biking and swimming) in 2006. Somehow this has helped me to drop my running times!
In this journey to complete my first Olympic tri, I have decided to take on a few other firsts such as my first duathlon, & my first sprint tri, a 62 mile bike ride (& a century ride coming up this weekend!!). All of this was set in motion 10 months ago to complete the olympic distance Cleveland Tri, which I finally acheived on Sunday!!! Race details to come.........
Monday, July 24, 2006
The last two weeks.......
(Pic compliments of cleveland.com)My goodness time sure does fly! My house is trashed, my bags are still packed, and the laundry is overflowing. Just never enough time!
Anyways here are some of the things that have kept me so busy!
-Vacation in AL 7/15/7/21
-Working fulltime job overtime leading up to vacation trying to squeeze in two weeks or work in one weeks time.
-Working side consulting work trying to get ready for vacation and taking much of that with me on the road...thank goodness for lap tops and zip drives!
- Sister's baby shower, graduation party, and a funeral
-Some taper training on vacation....if only I had a lake like that to swim in all the time.
-My first olmympic tri!!!
-------------------------------------------
Quick tri stats, a write-up to come later...hopefully!
Total time 1.5K swim, 24 mile bike, 10K run = 3:01:35 (150/229 overall, 16/47 females, 5/13 age group)
Swim 39:00 (198/229 overall rank) -so much work to do here, not only is my time slow but the amount of energy I need to use on my pathetic splash of a swim really costs me!
T1 -2:00 - not super fast, but trying to regain composure
Bike-1:24:15 17.1 mph pace(164/229 overall rank)- must practice drinking better without slowing so much, started weak after the swim
T2 - :54 uneventful
Run- 55:28 (143/229 overall rank)- fair, held back due to stomach issues and not wanting to have melt down on the course....was in hot pusuit of bathroom at finish.
While the competitive side of me will inevitably focus on what I could have did better...for now I will focus on the fact that I finished my first olympic tri! The conditions and day could not have been better. It was a great experience without any major trouble and the support of the Cleveland Tri Club (which really represented) and all the wonderful people just made the the experience even better!!
Major props to so many other Clev Tri Club members out there who all had great races at both our Cleveland tri and others such as Tri-Eric completing their ironman races!!
Pictures and more to come when I can get to it!
Monday, July 10, 2006
A run to remember....
Slept in a bit Sunday morning and dragged myself out of bed to go for a run. I need to start going longer on my runs in preparation for my fall marathon so I had figured I would hit the Headwaters trail from Garrettsville to Mantua for a leisurely 12 mile run.
I had a clif bar washed down with some Propel on the way. I decided since it was so humid to try on a fuel belt that I had got in one of my race bags some time ago. Good thing I was not bound and determined to use it because as I pulled it out I realized it was a large. Although I tried to make it work after a couple steps I turned around and put it in the car as I knew this was going to bug me.
And then I was off enjoying the scenery which is absolutely beautiful. The bugs were biting (& I have the marks to prove it today!!) and it was bugging the heck out of me but I just cranked up the tunes and trudged on between swatting bugs. For awhile I felt like I was just trying to out-run them. At mile one I was at 7:05. I thought I better slow down as I wanted to make sure I did not fizzle later by going out too fast. After several miles of consistently trying to slow down but continuing to hold the same splits I just gave up and ran whatever felt comfortable. The last two miles I picked it up a bit because I was getting excited for some liquids. The miles were pretty even splits and I finished my 12 mile run in 1.27.15 at a 7:19 pace and felt as though I was not even pushing hard. Perhaps it was the scenery, perhaps it was the sheer enjoyment of blowing off some stress, the nice path, the good tunes...whatever it was I will take it. Felt great the whole time and afterwards....Hopefully I will feel this good come next race day!
I had a clif bar washed down with some Propel on the way. I decided since it was so humid to try on a fuel belt that I had got in one of my race bags some time ago. Good thing I was not bound and determined to use it because as I pulled it out I realized it was a large. Although I tried to make it work after a couple steps I turned around and put it in the car as I knew this was going to bug me.
And then I was off enjoying the scenery which is absolutely beautiful. The bugs were biting (& I have the marks to prove it today!!) and it was bugging the heck out of me but I just cranked up the tunes and trudged on between swatting bugs. For awhile I felt like I was just trying to out-run them. At mile one I was at 7:05. I thought I better slow down as I wanted to make sure I did not fizzle later by going out too fast. After several miles of consistently trying to slow down but continuing to hold the same splits I just gave up and ran whatever felt comfortable. The last two miles I picked it up a bit because I was getting excited for some liquids. The miles were pretty even splits and I finished my 12 mile run in 1.27.15 at a 7:19 pace and felt as though I was not even pushing hard. Perhaps it was the scenery, perhaps it was the sheer enjoyment of blowing off some stress, the nice path, the good tunes...whatever it was I will take it. Felt great the whole time and afterwards....Hopefully I will feel this good come next race day!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Good bye, my beloved shower!
Good bye old office and good bye to my bad ass bathroom!
It is with sadness that we relocated offices across the highway. No more shower which I am thinking means no more lunch time workouts. I have been doing these lunch time workouts through out all weather conditions 95% of my working days for the last 4 years or so. Now I am at a loss as to what I am going to do on my lunch breaks. Can't afford to shop or go out to lunch everyday. I feel like I need to get the blood flowing and see some daylight still. Walk maybe?
On top of losing that time slot for working out, I have taken on some independent consulting work in addition to my full time job. This too is really eating into my workout times lately.
So my goal for the week is to re-evaluate my schedule and try to come up with a way to maximize the hours in my day while keeping my sanity and still getting to spend some quality time with the hubby...lately it seems he just sees me on the computer!
It is with sadness that we relocated offices across the highway. No more shower which I am thinking means no more lunch time workouts. I have been doing these lunch time workouts through out all weather conditions 95% of my working days for the last 4 years or so. Now I am at a loss as to what I am going to do on my lunch breaks. Can't afford to shop or go out to lunch everyday. I feel like I need to get the blood flowing and see some daylight still. Walk maybe?
On top of losing that time slot for working out, I have taken on some independent consulting work in addition to my full time job. This too is really eating into my workout times lately.
So my goal for the week is to re-evaluate my schedule and try to come up with a way to maximize the hours in my day while keeping my sanity and still getting to spend some quality time with the hubby...lately it seems he just sees me on the computer!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Tag
I'm It...
I have been tagged by Lana...so here goes:
four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Marketing Manger
2. Financial Analyst
3. Rec Center Coordinator
4. Geauga Lake Lifeguard
and an extra #5 for Lana, Kmart clerk...not so fond of Kmart either!
four movies I watch over and over:
1. Old School
2. Heat
3. Super Troopers
4. most comic book movies, Xmen, Spiderman, Superman, Blade
four places I have lived:
1. born & raised in Ravenna OH
2. 4 yrs college in Oxford, OH
3. several suburbs in Cleveland/Akron Area..North Royalton, Parma, Shaker Hts, Stow, Kent
4. settled out in the Amish boonies of Parkman township
four TV shows I love to watch:
1. 24
2. Prison Break
3. CSI-all
4. Hogan Knows Best
four places I have been on vacation:
1. Mexico-Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, Cancun, Mazatlan, Ixtapa
2. Great Smoky Mountains - NC, TN
3. Canada-Niagara Falls, Toronto
4. Florida-Miami, Daytona
four websites I visit daily:
1. http://blogger.com
2. http://clevetriclub.com
3. http://yahoo.com
4. http://newsnet5.com
four of my favorite foods:
1. Ice Cream
2. Cheese
3. Seafood
4. Steak
four places I would rather be right now:
1. The beach
2. Riding motorcyles
3. Beach Volleyball court
4. Hanging with friends
four favorite bands/singers:
1. Korn
2. The Used
3. Dropkick Murphy's
4. 50
four bloggers I’ll Tag
1. qcmier
2. Elizabeth
3. trisaratops
4. Jodi
I have been tagged by Lana...so here goes:
four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Marketing Manger
2. Financial Analyst
3. Rec Center Coordinator
4. Geauga Lake Lifeguard
and an extra #5 for Lana, Kmart clerk...not so fond of Kmart either!
four movies I watch over and over:
1. Old School
2. Heat
3. Super Troopers
4. most comic book movies, Xmen, Spiderman, Superman, Blade
four places I have lived:
1. born & raised in Ravenna OH
2. 4 yrs college in Oxford, OH
3. several suburbs in Cleveland/Akron Area..North Royalton, Parma, Shaker Hts, Stow, Kent
4. settled out in the Amish boonies of Parkman township
four TV shows I love to watch:
1. 24
2. Prison Break
3. CSI-all
4. Hogan Knows Best
four places I have been on vacation:
1. Mexico-Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, Cancun, Mazatlan, Ixtapa
2. Great Smoky Mountains - NC, TN
3. Canada-Niagara Falls, Toronto
4. Florida-Miami, Daytona
four websites I visit daily:
1. http://blogger.com
2. http://clevetriclub.com
3. http://yahoo.com
4. http://newsnet5.com
four of my favorite foods:
1. Ice Cream
2. Cheese
3. Seafood
4. Steak
four places I would rather be right now:
1. The beach
2. Riding motorcyles
3. Beach Volleyball court
4. Hanging with friends
four favorite bands/singers:
1. Korn
2. The Used
3. Dropkick Murphy's
4. 50
four bloggers I’ll Tag
1. qcmier
2. Elizabeth
3. trisaratops
4. Jodi
Friday, June 30, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
SummiTri Race Report
Woke up at 5:15 to start race day. Thankfully I had spent Saturday evening loading up the bike and all my stuff so I had very little to think about that morning. I had to take a picture that morning for all you people out there that thinks NE Ohio is cloudy all the time. This day was absolutely a gorgeous morning for a race with bright sun in the 60's.
The race was to start at 7:15 for females and 7:20 for males. It was a 500 yard swim and thankfully I had practiced this before. As we made our way into the water, I knew I would not be fast but I was hoping to not get hit bad and not fall too far behind. With the tone, I was off. It started off OK and then I could feel my form just falling apart. I felt like I was kicking and splashing around some little kid at swim lessons. As I neared the turnaround I saw my 52 year old friend, Carol who has not swam in three years already heading back (yeah she is one of those natural swimmer folk...she was the 4th female out of water, swam with no goggles, and half of it on her back.) Anyway as I made my way back I heard the men start. There wake from the men going down made some little waves for us and then I started to get really nervous. They were closing on me fast. All I could think was, "Please let me get out of the water before the men catch up as this is hard enough without them." Thankfully, I made it out just in the nick of time as they were on my heels on the way into transition. I was not the last one out of the water, but there could not have been many females behind me.
Both transitions seemed uneventful and pretty quick. I was exhausted after my splash in the lake. I can't figure out why but my legs were really exhausted. Too much frantic kicking? I don't know. So as I took off on my bike, it took me at least 5 minutes to just collect myself after the swim. As I rode I saw a guy laid out on his back. Apparently someone was backing out of their driveway and hit him. Poor guy...I thought. I guess he was pretty much OK but you could not say the same for the bike. At any rate the bike portion went by fast. I was ablet o make up some ground and many of the men passed me here. Into transition which felt fine and back out for two loops around the park. With my heavy legs I still felt pretty good. Honestly I think I was just relieved to be back to my comfort zone...running! I kept a decent pace and started passing people. Then when I got to the front of the park entrance I wondered why there was no cone turnaround. Crud, I missed it. It turns out we practiced it wrong and so without paying attention and just doing what I practiced I totally missed it. I saw the one girl I had passed rounding the corner giving me a strange look as I said that I totally missed that cone---oops....I could tell on my second lap that it was clearly marked and I was just paying any attention. So then I was mad that I added on extra distance and lost ground. Oh well, as they say, shit happens! So I continued on and picked up the pace. As I came around for my second loop I was happy to see my friend Carol in the distance who was on her first lap. I cheered her on and headed to the finish line and collect my trophy.
I would think I would feel happier about the fact that I did my first tri and I was the 5 out of 23 females. However, I was more frustrated than anything. I was frustrated that my swim really put me far back and frustrated that I could tell my swim affected my biking and I just did not feel as strong on the bike as I expected, and frustrated I missed the stupid cone on the run. In retrospect...stupic missed cone, no biggy. Bottom line, my swimming is very weak and that is where I need to focus.
Monday, June 26, 2006
I'm a triathlete!
Well folks, guess who finished her first tri?
Tough one, huh! Yup, Sunday completed the Summi Triathlon. I did not get any splits and neither did the people running it, but finished 500 yd swim, 11 mile bike, and 5 K run in 1:14:39 for 2nd in age group and 5 out of 23 females. All in all, it was OK. My swim time & positioning afterwards was awful but made up ground later. Guess I know where I need to work.........
No time for write up now as circumstances that will probably continue may have me quite busy for awhile.
Tough one, huh! Yup, Sunday completed the Summi Triathlon. I did not get any splits and neither did the people running it, but finished 500 yd swim, 11 mile bike, and 5 K run in 1:14:39 for 2nd in age group and 5 out of 23 females. All in all, it was OK. My swim time & positioning afterwards was awful but made up ground later. Guess I know where I need to work.........
No time for write up now as circumstances that will probably continue may have me quite busy for awhile.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Track workout, take 3!
Yesterday did a lunch time run comprised of a 5 K at an 8:33 pace. Then in the evening I headed out to Independence for the Southeast Running Club track workout. It was my third track work out of the year. My last track workout I did by myself and I can tell from my times that I must not push myself nearly as hard when I do track workouts by myself. Last night at the track I felt extremely winded, my lungs & chest hurt, and I was exhausted...but this has been the case with every track workout so far so I kind of am beginning to expect this. Again I was the slowest person there...but I was there so I will take some credit for that! Liz lead the workout and as usual, she helped push me along. Thank you Liz! I must admit I stole the log setup from her so I would not have to retype things and adjusted as appropriate with my slower times and missed 800.
My Log for the night:
2 mile warm up
1*(800,400,400)
6*400
1 mile cool down
walked most of the recoveries tonight so total mileage 6.75 but probably only "ran" around 6.0 miles
8:20
8:47
3:09.90
1:35.89
1:37.92 tummy ached & slowed a bit before leaping fence to hit library bathroom (dang last night's Mexican dinner wanting out right then)
Skipped an 800 with the group
1:35.48
1:34.91
1:33.79
1:31.00
1:29.82
1:27.09
9:11
All in all, I felt tired but was pleased to see consistently lower times which I think was only possible due to the slow recoveries. I definitely plan to complete 1 track workout per week going forward to try to help my speed. Furthermore I have decided to do the FIRST marathon training program (thanks to Lou) for my Columbus fall marathon and track workouts are a part of the plan.
Total distance for the day 9.75 miles
Monday I did manage to get in a swim of 1650 yards but sadly I skipped my bike workout on account of those storms that rolled through. Yeah, total slacker again because if I would have just waited an hour or two instead of going out for Mexican I could have got it in...but the hubby insisted that Mexican sounded way better and it did!
Today I have the afternoon off to train with a friend so I am looking forward to it...more on that at another time!
My Log for the night:
2 mile warm up
1*(800,400,400)
6*400
1 mile cool down
walked most of the recoveries tonight so total mileage 6.75 but probably only "ran" around 6.0 miles
8:20
8:47
3:09.90
1:35.89
1:37.92 tummy ached & slowed a bit before leaping fence to hit library bathroom (dang last night's Mexican dinner wanting out right then)
Skipped an 800 with the group
1:35.48
1:34.91
1:33.79
1:31.00
1:29.82
1:27.09
9:11
All in all, I felt tired but was pleased to see consistently lower times which I think was only possible due to the slow recoveries. I definitely plan to complete 1 track workout per week going forward to try to help my speed. Furthermore I have decided to do the FIRST marathon training program (thanks to Lou) for my Columbus fall marathon and track workouts are a part of the plan.
Total distance for the day 9.75 miles
Monday I did manage to get in a swim of 1650 yards but sadly I skipped my bike workout on account of those storms that rolled through. Yeah, total slacker again because if I would have just waited an hour or two instead of going out for Mexican I could have got it in...but the hubby insisted that Mexican sounded way better and it did!
Today I have the afternoon off to train with a friend so I am looking forward to it...more on that at another time!
Monday, June 19, 2006
Slacker!
I was a total slacker the last two days! Saturday was the planned day off and before I could exercise on Sunday I just had to get the upstairs picked up including major laundry that needed done, last week's that still needed put away, and let's just say before I knew it, it was time for the day's activities and an unplanned day off! Strange, I feel like such a slacker after two days in a row off...it has been quite some time since this has happened!
But alas Monday has arrived and I already hit the pool bright and early to start the week off right. Upon arrival at the gym, I took a look at the dark pool. That was strange as I thought that perhaps there was lightning in the area that I was unaware of (as it was raining outside). Noooo! I really need this swim after my last bad session on Thursday. Well, there was no sign about a lightning closure so I went to ask the worker. It turns out I could swim but they could not turn the lights on because for some reason they did not have the key to the utility room where the lights were. They apologized and I said with a smile that it would not bother me at all. I was just happy I would be able to get my swim in. I was worried with slacking in this department that my form was totally off.
As I eased into the dark pool day light was peaking in the windows and the dim lighting was actually to my liking this morning as I swam alone in the pool. Although I plan to work on bilateral breathing, I reverted back to breathing on the even counts and felt my rhythm (might not be that great...but at least it is what has been working for me) seem to come back....thank goodness. I was not sure after Thursday and I really needed a confidence builder for my first tri coming up this Sunday.
The quickie weekend recap...Friday the BBQ and bonfire was a hit. Lots of food & beer were consumed with many friends!
Saturday I awoke to pick up the house a bit. We ran around picking up things and meeting friends at the motocycle dealership and for lunch and then we had to get ready for a wedding. The wedding was very nice and my sis was in it. I missed the best picture of the night which was my sis and dad comparing bellies, but my sis sure looked cute, belly and all in her bridesmaid dress! We left the reception a bit early to do some more running around (last minute father's day shopping) and called it a night after some Cold Stone (not that I really needed that after the wedding cake but ....)
Sunday was a ton of running around visting husband's parents and our friends with cute 5 month old baby. Mom is 6 ft, dad is 6 ft 5in, so this baby is growing fast! Then we headed to my sister's place for a bbq with the family.
Felt like a total slacker over the weekend, but sure enjoyed getting to spend so much time with family and friends! It is a recovery week this week, so we'll just say I was easing in to it!
Friday, June 16, 2006
TGIF!
Thank goodness it is Friday! I feel like there has been much I have been juggling this week and I am ready to slow down and spend some time with family and friends over the weekend. At 5, I will head out the door, ride my motorcycle 28 miles home, check on my poor kitten (who got declawed and fixed this morning), clean the house, make some food for this evening's bbq, and get ready for my friends arriving at 7. Yeah, this sort of busy evening just seems par for the course this week, but when my friends arrive and I chill with some good food and conversation it will all be worth it!
Today I was only able to manage a 4.5 mile run on my lunch hour which went really well. It was a lot better than my 4.5 mile run I did on Thursday. Thursday's run was tiring as I think Wednesday's biking kicked my butt. I think today also went better as I finally relaxed for an evening and ate a good dinner last night, which I needed as I just could not seem to keep my hunger at bay this week. Today was supposed to be more swimming and biking, but I will squeeze that session in another time as today all I had at my disposal was some running shoes!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
If only I could swim like a fish...
5:00 P.M. Tuesday, I left the office out on my motorcyle with a back pack stuffed to the gills with my wetsuit, towel, running stuff, showering stuff and more. I drove across town through rush hour traffic and a ton on construction. I was happy to get in to the town of Bay Village where our tri club was holding a swim training in Lake Erie. I had arrived a bit early and took off all my gear and chilled on the beach for awhile and listened to the lifeguards banter. I had called TriSara to make sure where we were meeting. Time kept ticking by and I started to wonder where everyone was and then my phone rang and it was TriSara wondering where I was....I was at the wrong beach! Oh well, at least I was in the right town so I was not far.
Then I had to gather up all my crap and re-stuff it all into my backpack and hop back on my motorcycle to find this other beach...oops, my bad! I am now late for the training. As I arrive at the right beach, I really struggle to get my wetsuit on. My zipper comes completely apart at the part at the bottom and getting it together and zipped was proving to be quite a challenge for me to do by myself as everyone else is already swimming. Finally, I make my way into the water and start my swim. First swim in the wetsuit and I am liking this added buoyancy as I can use every bit of help I can get in the water. TriSara helped me with some pointers including the notion that it would be very helpful if I tried to breathe opposite instead of every 2 or 4 strokes as I currently do. All in all, it was a short swim (maybe 500-600 yds) but it felt OK with the exception of my goggles that were leaking like crazy...what gives? Maybe I should not have worn them to the bar!!
To sum the lake swim up, not too bad. Water was not the cleanest by the beach and the slippery rocks at the entry were not my friends. I like the wetsuit. The thought crossed my mind that it would make for an excellent X-men costume except after trying to get it on Tuesday, I now know that I would be a sweaty mess trying to wear that all night and it would be a pain in the butt if I had to go to the bathroom...so much for that bright idea!
At any rate this morning I finally made it to the pool for a short swim. I have been slacking a bit in the pool which is where I need to focus the most. I tried trying to breathe opposite every 3 strokes. This was extremely uncomfortable for me. It was definitely not my best swim. Not only was my breathing making my swim uncomfortable, I felt like my lower body was still sleeping. It just did not want to work and I felt all over the place. I am going to try to resolve to get my ass to the pool at least 3 times a week as it is where I am the weakest. I was happy to tighten down my goggle straps and they quit leaking.
I am thinking my lower body stayed in bed this morning during the swim as it was pooped out from yesterday. Yesterday I did a 11 mile loop on my bicycle at noon and then I went down to the Wednesday training session with New Vision Cycling. Every week more and more people come! We started with a nice warm up to the start of the training session. We did 5 climbs of a 2.5 mile hill which were supposed to be at a Zone 5 and then the recovery periods were the return trip. These were supposed to be time trials but I did not bother timing myself yesterday. At any rate, each climb was exhausting but I got them all in. It seemed like no sooner would I get to the bottom and I barely had time to take a drink and I was heading back up again. My favorite part of these sessions is the final recovery and cooldown knowing I had put in a solid day's training. All in all 42 biking miles for the day. Scheduled time was 124 minutes, actual time on the bike was approximately 160 minutes. And then as I finally hit the hay for the day, I fell into a deep sleep yet woke up dreaming (or was it a nightmare) about hill repeats...........
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Final Sunday in June Tidbits
A few statistics from Sunday in June ride 2006.
Total Registration: 600 with only 25 no-shows
Volunteers: On site adults 295
T-shirts: ~ 130 purchased entire order used or sold!
More than a mile of elevation gain on the century route!
Elevation climb on 62 mile route: just over 3000 feet
Quite a well-run event! Thanks Cleveland Touring Club and all volunteers!
-----------------------------
Training for 7/13 (scheduled 77 min run, completed 91 min for a total of 10.5 miles)--trying to catch up on my running time today.
5:50 AM - 6 miles at 8:33/Mile pace, ab workout
noon- track workout 40 minutes 0.75 M warmup, (4) 800's with 400 recovery (ok, these aren't fast but it is today's second workout), 0.75 M cooldown
800 #1 3:39, 800 #2 3:41, #3 3:50, #4 3:36
Notes: Well I was tired and sweating good. Speed work really kicks my butt and is new to me...but trying to work on it. There was a poor lawnmower dude who had to wait on me several times as he was trying to mow the inside of the track as I ran.
Tonight will be my first Lake Erie open water swim which I will be doing with the Clev Tri Club and my first time in my wetsuit. Hope it goes smoothly...always get nervous about something totally new and out of my comfort zone.
Total Registration: 600 with only 25 no-shows
Volunteers: On site adults 295
T-shirts: ~ 130 purchased entire order used or sold!
More than a mile of elevation gain on the century route!
Elevation climb on 62 mile route: just over 3000 feet
Quite a well-run event! Thanks Cleveland Touring Club and all volunteers!
-----------------------------
Training for 7/13 (scheduled 77 min run, completed 91 min for a total of 10.5 miles)--trying to catch up on my running time today.
5:50 AM - 6 miles at 8:33/Mile pace, ab workout
noon- track workout 40 minutes 0.75 M warmup, (4) 800's with 400 recovery (ok, these aren't fast but it is today's second workout), 0.75 M cooldown
800 #1 3:39, 800 #2 3:41, #3 3:50, #4 3:36
Notes: Well I was tired and sweating good. Speed work really kicks my butt and is new to me...but trying to work on it. There was a poor lawnmower dude who had to wait on me several times as he was trying to mow the inside of the track as I ran.
Tonight will be my first Lake Erie open water swim which I will be doing with the Clev Tri Club and my first time in my wetsuit. Hope it goes smoothly...always get nervous about something totally new and out of my comfort zone.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Sunday in June Update
Woke up Sunday morning with a sore back and calves from my busy Saturday of aerobics, cleaning the house & car, and a host of other chores that needed done. I guess my plan for taking it easy Saturday just ended up utilizing other muscles that I typically do not use! My cold was quite a bit better but still blowing my nose...darn as if it doesn't run enough normally on the bike!
I grabbed some water and a Clif Bar and was off to Burton for the start of the ride about 7 miles up the street. I had debated quite awhile whether I should just ride my bike there, but I figured that I may not be happy with that decision when I had to ride home so I opted for the car.
Upon arrival, I grabbed my packet and saw several other Clev Tri Club members and Su who apparently was back in town for the weekend. The weather was actually sunny and a cool 55. After some debate and figuring it would warm up a little bit I opted to just wear my tri top (though most others had long-sleeves on) which was a good idea. I was only cold for about 5 minutes and comfortable the rest of the morning!
The ride seemed very leisurely in its nature in that there really did not seem to be an official start and people just kind of went off as they were ready. This made for a nice spread out start where there were not all kinds of people in a large group at the beginning. Jodi, another CTC member and I, rode the entire course together. We went out of Burton down a nice hill which chilled me a bit and then we started to get into a nice rhythm. We kept a steady pace, good conversation, and the miles just flew by.
Not too far into the course I hit some decent sized potholes and my gatorade went sailing. Thankfully it was a cool morning and Jodi let me have one of her bottles--what a lifesaver!! We rode out of Burton into Middlefield, past my house in Parkman and did not need to stop at the food/aid station that they had set up there at the park. We continued on through Garrettsville and in to Nelson. I was excited to hit the hill in Nelson which Jodi and I had climbed half of the previous week which we would get to ride down the entire monster. As I sailed down I chanced a look down and read 43!!! and I had to take a second look...43 still!! Woohoo--new top speed which blew my 37 out of the water!
As we progressed along the course people were occasionally stopped to take random pictures of the Amish, the animals, or the cars racing at the Nelson Road Course. It was a nice course with much to see...until the gravel road. What? Why would they send us down this road? We slowed down as there were some thick areas of gravel and we were nervous about wiping out or getting a flat. First time riding on that surface for both of us, but we managed to make it through with no problems.
As we approached Parkman the second time we still felt good and did not need to stop at the aid station but we dropped a block down to stop at my house to use the rest room. Heck that was nice as the port-o-potties had lines and I so would prefer the bathrooms at my house. After some brief re-fueling we were back off for the last 13 miles. As we headed back north the winds picked up quite a bit. We pushed on and before long we were riding up the big hill at the end of the course passing all the people walking up with their bicycles. 62 miles down in a total of 3 hours 50 minutes (including stops) which would average out to 16.2 mph. Not bad! We passed many people out there on the course and were only passed by a couple females. I felt strong the entire ride and encountered no major issues. My back was sore but I think a lot of that was due to the fact that I was sore before I started the day! So all and all, a great ride which I think was due in large part too my great company..thanks Jodi!
After the ride we met up with two other CTC peeps, Matt and Brooks and we headed to Blazing Bills for beer and a burger. What a great way to wrap up a great morning!
New long ride, new top speed...things are going good!
-------------------
In the hopes of attempting to track my workouts better, I am going to try to log them daily.
Thursday-painful lunch time run of slow 4 miles--cold kicking my butt
Friday-rest
Saturday -75 minutes aerobics
Sunday- 62 miles biked-3 h 50 m-16.2mph
Monday - Lunch time run 4.5 miles half on grass / half sidewalks 38:39 (8:35/M). Despite sore legs felt extremely good and better than usual.
I grabbed some water and a Clif Bar and was off to Burton for the start of the ride about 7 miles up the street. I had debated quite awhile whether I should just ride my bike there, but I figured that I may not be happy with that decision when I had to ride home so I opted for the car.
Upon arrival, I grabbed my packet and saw several other Clev Tri Club members and Su who apparently was back in town for the weekend. The weather was actually sunny and a cool 55. After some debate and figuring it would warm up a little bit I opted to just wear my tri top (though most others had long-sleeves on) which was a good idea. I was only cold for about 5 minutes and comfortable the rest of the morning!
The ride seemed very leisurely in its nature in that there really did not seem to be an official start and people just kind of went off as they were ready. This made for a nice spread out start where there were not all kinds of people in a large group at the beginning. Jodi, another CTC member and I, rode the entire course together. We went out of Burton down a nice hill which chilled me a bit and then we started to get into a nice rhythm. We kept a steady pace, good conversation, and the miles just flew by.
Not too far into the course I hit some decent sized potholes and my gatorade went sailing. Thankfully it was a cool morning and Jodi let me have one of her bottles--what a lifesaver!! We rode out of Burton into Middlefield, past my house in Parkman and did not need to stop at the food/aid station that they had set up there at the park. We continued on through Garrettsville and in to Nelson. I was excited to hit the hill in Nelson which Jodi and I had climbed half of the previous week which we would get to ride down the entire monster. As I sailed down I chanced a look down and read 43!!! and I had to take a second look...43 still!! Woohoo--new top speed which blew my 37 out of the water!
As we progressed along the course people were occasionally stopped to take random pictures of the Amish, the animals, or the cars racing at the Nelson Road Course. It was a nice course with much to see...until the gravel road. What? Why would they send us down this road? We slowed down as there were some thick areas of gravel and we were nervous about wiping out or getting a flat. First time riding on that surface for both of us, but we managed to make it through with no problems.
As we approached Parkman the second time we still felt good and did not need to stop at the aid station but we dropped a block down to stop at my house to use the rest room. Heck that was nice as the port-o-potties had lines and I so would prefer the bathrooms at my house. After some brief re-fueling we were back off for the last 13 miles. As we headed back north the winds picked up quite a bit. We pushed on and before long we were riding up the big hill at the end of the course passing all the people walking up with their bicycles. 62 miles down in a total of 3 hours 50 minutes (including stops) which would average out to 16.2 mph. Not bad! We passed many people out there on the course and were only passed by a couple females. I felt strong the entire ride and encountered no major issues. My back was sore but I think a lot of that was due to the fact that I was sore before I started the day! So all and all, a great ride which I think was due in large part too my great company..thanks Jodi!
After the ride we met up with two other CTC peeps, Matt and Brooks and we headed to Blazing Bills for beer and a burger. What a great way to wrap up a great morning!
New long ride, new top speed...things are going good!
-------------------
In the hopes of attempting to track my workouts better, I am going to try to log them daily.
Thursday-painful lunch time run of slow 4 miles--cold kicking my butt
Friday-rest
Saturday -75 minutes aerobics
Sunday- 62 miles biked-3 h 50 m-16.2mph
Monday - Lunch time run 4.5 miles half on grass / half sidewalks 38:39 (8:35/M). Despite sore legs felt extremely good and better than usual.
Friday, June 09, 2006
First Organized Long Ride!
Matches (my lazy golden retriever) & I were out walking on Tuesday night and I noticed all the paint on the roads in preparation for the Sunday in June ride that I signed up for.
How exciting!!!
Out in my little town of Parkman we don't see a whole lot in the way of events that go through the neighborhood, so this is awesome!
This ride is touted as 'A Scenic Bike Ride through the Amish Countryside'. Our general area is the fourth largest Amish settlement in the world. There are routes consisting of 25, 50, 62 and 100 miles and in total they are anticipating around 600 riders for the event. What a wonderful way for many to come see the area that I call home! So, Sunday bright and early I will be embarking on my longest ride of the season yet which will be the 62 mile ride and am looking forward to it!
This week has been good and bad. Wednesday, I had a great bike training day with the Wednesday night group down in the Valley which we did a total of 28 miles which comprised of:
-a 3 mile plus warm up
-a 10 mile out and back time trial starting from Hampton Hills Park (14.27 (5M split) /29:00 total)
-a 8 mile one way time trial with 5 miles on the flat and a 3 mile hill climb (??, this 8 felt much harder than previous 10)
-a 5 mile recovery/cool down ride back to Bolanz Rd. (Enjoyed immensely!)
The bad rolled in late Wednesday night when I started feeling a little off....by Thursday I awoke with a stupid cold. Thursday's run was slow, shorter than normal, and took all the effort I could muster. My chest felt tight and I sweat buckets. Today (Friday) I am taking the day off to try to gain some strength back. I may take off tomorrow too depending on how I feel. It is not so bad that I can not exercise, but would rather get healthy ASAP and feel good for Sunday's long ride!
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Ramblings of the last day and a half
(Picture at Nelson Ledges State Park about 3 miles from my house)I never knew sighting was so hard until this year when I started swimming with my head in the water.
I can't believe how lucky I was when I lived in Stow & Kent to have the gorgeous Munroe Falls park and the Valley so close by, and at the time I never even took the time to appreciate them.
I can do a open water swim (first one was Monday night) with only hitting the rope a few times.
I still love the water and do not mind the temperature as much as others...although I find myself thinking about doing tricks in the water and goofing around as opposed to working hard.
I can contemplate turning around and going home for an extra hour of sleep even while already on my bicycle...although if I would have turned around I would have missed an extremely gorgeous ride and the wonderful feeling from accomplishing it!
I hate bugs! One little one tormented me nearly the entire hour I was on my motorcycle as it flew in my eyeball right as I started riding before I flipped my face shield down. Then when I got out of the water biting flies decided I made for a good dinner!
I love the nice tan that comes along with training...even if it looks silly when I put a bathing suit on with them crazy tan lines.
I never complain about the heat and sun as I wish for it all winter.
I like the feeling of sweat dripping off me because I know I worked hard for it.
Northeast Ohio really offers some gorgeous scenery.
The tri community in this area is extremely supportive and I am so thankful for all the new people I have met.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Busy Weekend and a PR!
Time sure flies when you are having fun!! Started off the weekend a little early and left work at noon on Friday. First stop, Bike Authority. The owner, Sherman totally took care of me for a very overdue bicycle tune up. I had some time to kill so I figured I would test out the bike with a 16 mile loop in the valley. However, Cleveland's typical weather decided to make her return to remind us all that we should expect clouds and rain, so the minute I parked to start my ride, the drops started to fall. After some clothing debate I was off. I was slightly troubled because my bike computer was not registering data and after five minutes or so I thought to check the magnet. Problem solved!
Next stop, sister's house for a shower as it is conveniently located in the area, unlike mine out in the boonies!! Then it was off to my mom's retirement party. 36 years of teaching and the long journey has finally come to an end. My mom taught high school spanish for 32 years and then moved to elementary / middle school technology teacher for the most recent four years. It was a hard decision for her to retire as she has really enjoyed the switch in teaching subjects and grades. To her credit, she was a fantastic Spanish teacher and now also an extremely helpful and knowledgeable technology teacher. That was one huge switch for her which she handled well! I have often thought that high school foreign language teachers, particularily ones in less affluent districts, have an extremely rough job. I give her a lot of credit for the amount of time, work and effort she has put in over the years and know she will continue to do many new wonderful things in this next chapter of her life. Her party, put on by her co-workers was very nice and I was the official photographer!
Next stop, to the other side of town for Su's going away party. What can I say, cheap good beer and good friends. Yes, many of us decided to wear tri-gear to commemorate TriSaraTops 10,000 blog visitor. Yes, we were tri-geeks and enjoying every minute of it! Strange, that in a full bar on happy hour we must have scared others off because I did not even hear any comments about our phat get-ups! And then I finally made my way home.
Saturday, Jodi made it all the way out to my house for an easy brick. I had a nice 26.5 mile loop planned out that took us by Nelson Ledges Park, a short steep hill, my hometown of Garrettsville, past Hiram college, out into Amish country and back home. Then I grabbed my dog, Matches, my old running buddy who has gotten lazy on me and we went for a 3 mile run. He made several pitstops to lay down and lick the grass, but before long the training session was over. It amazes me how much quicker time flies when you have someone to pass the time with! So glad Jodi came out!
Sunday was the Solon Yates 5K Run which is one of the races on my Road Race Series which counts for points. My goal for the race was to break 22:00, which I suppose was a somewhat aggressice goal as my last 5K I set a PR of 22:56. However that 5K was in 20 degrees and I have trained quite a bit since February so I thought breaking 22 was totally in the realm of possibility.
The weather was typical cloudy with a chance of rain and about 55 degrees. I woke up early, made my race playlist with all my favorite songs, drove 25 minutes while eating my Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Clif bar and did a short warm up. And with the buzzer I was off. I started off trying to keep up with a fellow Clev Tri member that I knew was a lost cause. I decided rather quickly that I better ease off or I may suffer the consequences later. I was feeling pretty good at mile one (6:53) rocking out to my playlist. A few females had passed me ,which is recently bugging me a lot more than it used to...and I just figured I would try to get them later in the race. Mile 2 had some small rollers and a couple other girls passed me. My chest and legs felt tight and I pushed on. At about 2.5 miles, I started to pick up speed and passed both girls who had passed me the previous mile. Into the home stretch I continued my push to the finish on the track. I rounded the the corner and saw the clock at 21:50's....as hard I could push, no luck breaking 22 as I crossed at 22:07 (7.08/mile pace). NEXT TIME!
Oh well, it is a new PR! I finished 2nd in my age group and 13 out of 211 females (74 of 419 overall). This year has been somewhat ground-breaking in terms of my times starting to drop. Last year my Solon 5K time was 24:04 and the year before was 24:11. Not only that, I managed to shave nearly 50 seconds off my best 5K...so I will take it!
Next stop, sister's house for a shower as it is conveniently located in the area, unlike mine out in the boonies!! Then it was off to my mom's retirement party. 36 years of teaching and the long journey has finally come to an end. My mom taught high school spanish for 32 years and then moved to elementary / middle school technology teacher for the most recent four years. It was a hard decision for her to retire as she has really enjoyed the switch in teaching subjects and grades. To her credit, she was a fantastic Spanish teacher and now also an extremely helpful and knowledgeable technology teacher. That was one huge switch for her which she handled well! I have often thought that high school foreign language teachers, particularily ones in less affluent districts, have an extremely rough job. I give her a lot of credit for the amount of time, work and effort she has put in over the years and know she will continue to do many new wonderful things in this next chapter of her life. Her party, put on by her co-workers was very nice and I was the official photographer!
Next stop, to the other side of town for Su's going away party. What can I say, cheap good beer and good friends. Yes, many of us decided to wear tri-gear to commemorate TriSaraTops 10,000 blog visitor. Yes, we were tri-geeks and enjoying every minute of it! Strange, that in a full bar on happy hour we must have scared others off because I did not even hear any comments about our phat get-ups! And then I finally made my way home.
Saturday, Jodi made it all the way out to my house for an easy brick. I had a nice 26.5 mile loop planned out that took us by Nelson Ledges Park, a short steep hill, my hometown of Garrettsville, past Hiram college, out into Amish country and back home. Then I grabbed my dog, Matches, my old running buddy who has gotten lazy on me and we went for a 3 mile run. He made several pitstops to lay down and lick the grass, but before long the training session was over. It amazes me how much quicker time flies when you have someone to pass the time with! So glad Jodi came out!
Sunday was the Solon Yates 5K Run which is one of the races on my Road Race Series which counts for points. My goal for the race was to break 22:00, which I suppose was a somewhat aggressice goal as my last 5K I set a PR of 22:56. However that 5K was in 20 degrees and I have trained quite a bit since February so I thought breaking 22 was totally in the realm of possibility.
The weather was typical cloudy with a chance of rain and about 55 degrees. I woke up early, made my race playlist with all my favorite songs, drove 25 minutes while eating my Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Clif bar and did a short warm up. And with the buzzer I was off. I started off trying to keep up with a fellow Clev Tri member that I knew was a lost cause. I decided rather quickly that I better ease off or I may suffer the consequences later. I was feeling pretty good at mile one (6:53) rocking out to my playlist. A few females had passed me ,which is recently bugging me a lot more than it used to...and I just figured I would try to get them later in the race. Mile 2 had some small rollers and a couple other girls passed me. My chest and legs felt tight and I pushed on. At about 2.5 miles, I started to pick up speed and passed both girls who had passed me the previous mile. Into the home stretch I continued my push to the finish on the track. I rounded the the corner and saw the clock at 21:50's....as hard I could push, no luck breaking 22 as I crossed at 22:07 (7.08/mile pace). NEXT TIME!
Oh well, it is a new PR! I finished 2nd in my age group and 13 out of 211 females (74 of 419 overall). This year has been somewhat ground-breaking in terms of my times starting to drop. Last year my Solon 5K time was 24:04 and the year before was 24:11. Not only that, I managed to shave nearly 50 seconds off my best 5K...so I will take it!
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