Mad Monday Update 2/9 & DD Report

OK, so I had to modify my original "lame" post which only had the weekly numbers that BB called me out on. So now it actually includes a RR for DD....

Saturday I ran the Dirty Dog 10K which is pretty close to me (relatively) and I have had the pleasure of running for several years in a row now! This race is held out at Mosquito Lake in Cortland, OH. The last 2 years it has been below 10 degrees at the start so since it was in the 40's it actually felt pretty darn warm, despite a cool breeze.

I rode down in the mini van with BL and his normal posse and arrived to the race. I had an interesting dive into the woods over a huge snowpile to go to the bathroom prerace as there were not any facilities for that (B, did I not mention it wb a good idea to stop at BK on the way to go?. Guess it was no big thing for the boys!)

I grabbed a few pics, saw some familiar faces and peeled off a couple layers to run in just one long sleeve shirt (gasp!) which was a first for this race! We started on the lake (and no I was not worried about falling in or getting stranded like a bunch of silly fishermen)! Actually with the snow on the lake, it was much better traction than past years on an icy parking lot.

I went out by EG and MD (who were both taking it easy that day). I was a little nervous as I had not hit my inhaler and did not even have it so I wanted to make sure I kept my breathing within reason. The course was gorgeous as we trudged through that park offering wintery views of the lake and trees. The main paths had been packed down by snowmobiles or 4 wheelers and were not too bad. However whenever we would duck off the main path the pace slowed and everyone had to work a little harder.

I had not seen any girls up front and was content to just stay in my comfort zone staying in the vicinity of the little group I had started with. As I passed one guy he said I should save some energy for the stretch by the road coming up and he was right! As we turned onto the once-grassy field by ST RT 46, the snow was deep. I would guess 6 to 8 inches of snow the that front runners had broke through. I tried to perform the tire drill to stay in their footsteps but oftentimes it did not happen with my shorter stride. The stretch was tiring and I did manage to hold a steady pace, passing one runner while feeling the burn in my legs...definitely a strength training session in that stretch!

As we headed up the hill and looped back around to the water stop I noticed I had a shoe untied and I ran with it that way for awhile thinking perhaps I could run the last 2 miles like that. But after a quarter mile or so I finally stopped to tie not one but both shoes. I figured if I lost one in the snow it would cost me even more time!

As we made our way back I was still feeling good and was just keeping things in check. I always seem to think I am closer to the end than I actually am and we kept winding around and I kept thinking the finish was near. In addition to the winding turns, my garmin was also trying to trick me as it read 6.35 miles at the end, so I kept thinking that I would be stopping sooner than it turned out! Finally I could see the clock and I pushed it in a bit to finish in 54:25. 14/95 Overall, 1st Overall Female. All and all, a decent effort but not what I would call race pace which was in check with what I wanted to do there. I would venture to guess that most people were about 4 minutes slower this year just due to the snowy conditions verses last year.

A huge thumbs up to the RD and his wife for the work in putting on this race. They do a nice job, provide some really awesome random goodies in the bags (in our van alone, P got a nice running jacket, J got a ls wicking running shirt, b got a full face mask) and it is just a nice course to run that will challenge everyone a bit while offering some gorgeous scenery!




I think this is right....

Monday 2/2- Lunch, ran 4 miles, full body exercises (pushups, drips, pullups)
Tuesday 2/3- 7 Miles AM Ran, 2 hour Indoor Cycling Class (~30 miles)
Wednesday 2/4 - 5 miles eazy treadmill
Thursday 2/5 - 3 Miles Treadmill lunch, UBWO, DOT 5 mile run
Friday 2/6 - 3 miles ez treadmill, 10 miles mtn biked at Rays
Saturday 2/7 - 6.4 mile (ran Dirty Dog 10K trail run)
Sunday 2/8 - 16.6 mile run (~8:20 pace)

Core -2 sessions
Bike- 30 (Road), 10 (Mtn)
Ran- 53 Miles
Swim 0 :-(