Mr. Matches

My doggies name is Matches. The husband thought it would be funny to say 'We were playing with Matches' and the name took. Originally we thought he may be a show dog as my mother in law breeds and shows golden retrievers...but Matches (Burning Down the House-formal name) ended up on the short side, so he is just our lil buddy!

When Matches was younger he used to run with me. However the runs got longer and it was too much for him, so I left him at home. He got lazier and lazier. Now I can barely get him to walk a half mile before deciding it is break time when he lays down on me. Sometimes a belly rub can coax him to move on but it is only a matter of time before he lays down again!

So this week I have been working from home and decided to spend some time with him. Monday we went for a walk to the post office. In total it was about a 3/4 mile walk. 3 breaks.

Then Tuesday I jogged him 1/2 mile up the road to the park. It was just me and the township worker who was mowing the grasss. I tied Matches to the fence as I started into my scheduled workout. It was supposed to be 6 400's. I ran around the path which circled all the baseball fields. My guess is that it is closer to 600 meters. I ran 4 loops easy to warm up and then started into my sprints. After my sprints I would grab some water and Matches would get excited as I would come over and untangle the leash he always manages to get wrapped around his paws.

Every lap you could see he was just begging to come but I knew it was too much for him. After I was finished with my sprints I untied Matches to take him with me for the cool-down...or so I thought.

He sprinted two laps as fast as he could as if to show me he could do it too. It was all I could do to keep up while I held him back some. As we jogged towards home he was tiring fast. I tried to encourage him on when he looked like he was about to lay down. About 150 yards from the house it was enough. He laid down in the middle of the road. After some time we finally made it home. Mr. Matches then proceeded to collapse on the floor after draining his water dish for a nap.

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PS---Leaving for Chicago soon!!! I am looking forward to just enjoying the course with the cousin, Arlene!!! Even though Arlene did go to OU, (Ewww for us Miami U folk) this chick is da bomb! We just need to make sure there is beer at the finish line as we run for beer!!!

The forecast is calling for Mostly Sunny with a low 67 and a high of 88....guess we will not have to worry about being cold!!! I think we are planning to line up around the 9:30 pace group so hopefully we will finish in 4:15 or so!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!

PSS--GO TRIBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH KENNY!!!!

Win Some, Lose Some

Saturday the 5 Fast Femme Fatale Freaks walked away with second place in the Akron Marathon Relay with a time of 3:02:47, with a 6:58 pace!!! They only lost to Kent State cross county...but we will be back next year to go after them!!!! It was quite a morning! Beautiful day, lots of friends, and free beer! All I can say about this relay team is CHICKS RULE!!! It was an absulute blast and I highly recommend this race.

Congrats to all the other finishers that day...Salty with your sick fast relay, Brian and Adam with their mary's, Brandon with your half mary, running friends Bob, Pat and Jen on their halfs, my cousin and high school friend completing their first mary's in under 5 hours, and so many others!!!
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After the relay, I headed downtown Cleveland for a picnic with the Cleveland tri Club!!
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Sunday I had another wake up call in the 4 o clock hour. This day was just plagued from the start I think. I had a major panic attack upon arrival to my destination. I had checked in and went to put on the numbers only to find out my helmet was not in my bag. I was so screwed and I had drove over 100 minutes to get to this race.

I had taken everything out of my bag earlier this week to let things dry out. I have no idea how my helmet never made it back to my bag!

Luckily I walked by one of the bicycle support vehicles, John from Trek Bicycles out of Columbus was handing out free water bottles and asked if I needed one, and I asked if there were any chancce he had any extra helmets. My little savior for the day said he had personal ones in the car and let me borrow one!!!

So I waited around and finally it was time to start. The 8K run started with a steep one mile ascent and then the descent sized rollers just kept on coming. This was the last chance du to qualify for worlds and the field was amazing. The women in my wave were moving. They had the course marked in KM and I really could not think what the conversion was to figure out how my pace was at the time. Only the last mile seemed kind...definitely a very challenging run course. As I came into transition in 37:25 (7:07 pace) I grabbbed the bike and took off.

I took in a gel which ended up on my aerobar pads and all over me somehow! A few miles into the course and onto the chip and seal. 3/4 of the course was crappy chip and seal. It was jarring everything like my aerobottle like crazy and it just felt like I could not keep speed up as well on this surface. Several of the chicks came blowing by me on their sweet bikes with race wheels and disc wheels and I just kept thinking, my bicycle is not even in the same league. Oh well, I was doing my best to keep up.

After the grade 8 climb I was sailing down one of the descents and I dropped my chain...crap! After greasing up the fingers I was off again. But then I ended up dropping my chain again .....and again! By the third time I was frustrated. It was costing quite a bit of time and several women had passed while I was pulled over.

My back was killing me!!! The rollers and hills kept coming. I was hating the road surface for much of the course.

And then things went from bad to worse. I screamed ouch in pain. I had been stung by a bee in the inside of my bike shorts on my groin. I was not sure if the bee was inside or outside my shorts. I had compression shorts on so I did not think it could be inside but I could not get it out of my head that the bee was trapped in there and would be stinging me more. I was having issues my chest felt tight immediately. I thought about stopping in transition for some Benadryl just to make sure I would be OK but then I just wanted to get this stupid course done even if my time was going to be a real disappointment at this point.

Finally I pulled into the transition 2:07 later...a pitiful time which averages out to 17 mph. I suppose all my issues had taken their toll.

Out for the run. Only problem was at this point, I was not in it. I was tired, pissed, and my leg kept hurting from the stupid bee sting. There was a girl ahead of me and everytime she would walk, I started walking up these big hills. My chest felt so tight and I was so dehydrated as I had run out of water on my bicycle and I was just dying for the water stops. It was one of the most miserable runs of the year. One volunteer was so great with inspiration. Seriously I ran one section of the course by the turnaround just for him as he was saying to keep up the pace,I would pass at least 5 people. I started to get some motivation back. Volunteers really can make a difference. I legged out that last mile descent well but I had such a pathetic start the first 4K that it did not help my time that much. I finished the second 5K in 45:29 (~9:08 pace) and a total time of 3:30:07.

I am a Powerman...only thing is I just felt so crappy about the whole performance. Oh well, I kept going and finished what I started. Also I finished out the Battle of Ohio Long Course Du Series. Now it is just a waiting game to see if this performance will knock me out of first. We shall see!

For now my leg is still killing me from my second stupid bee sting on the bicycle this year. It is nice and red and swollen!

This week will be a nice easy week leading up to Chicago marathon with my cousin!! I am so excited!!!!

25 of 32 down

So the season is still going...



I was thinking about a post on the Cleveland Tri Club forum. It was pick your top 5 of 2007. While my season is not yet done, I had to think a minute as there are so many to choose from!!! Perhaps next year I will spend a little less money and focus on quality over quantity. But for this year, racing has just been plain too much fun (except river run half when I was sick)!

YTD top 5 have been in no particular order-
Youngstown 1/2 marathon--I like the challenge of a hilly race early in the year!
Cleveland marathon-just because I got my BQ!
GCT Half-enjoyed going the new long distance
Twilight Trail Run-loved running with the girls and the post race beer afterwards!!
Portage Lakes Du- Great course, lots of familliar faces and just felt great!

Beautiful Ohio

This weekend my husband I decided it was time to take a weekend away for ourselves. Usually most weekends, my husband does competition shooting and I do some sort of exercise thing.

We left out Saturday afternoon (after I snuck in a long run!!) for a 200 mile trip down to Hocking Hills on our motorcyles. It was just gorgeous! We took the scenic route through many country roads and towns.

After a few stops we pulled into the cutest little cottage for our evening stay.


The place included pretty much everything you could want-full kitchen and bathroom with all towels, kitchen utensils, fireplace, dvd player, hot tub, two different patios, and all sorts of other comfort amenities!

It is always nice to enjoy some quality time with the spouse in an extremely beautiful part of Ohio. We stopped off in Berlin on our way home for some very tasty country cooking. Finally we made it back home with some very tired bodies from all the miles on the motorcyles....I may need a hot tub at home now!

Random Numbers and Tidbits

Portage Lakes Sprint Du---thankfully HFP did not loose my splits like I did!

5K #1 - 20:42 (6:39/mi)
T1 - 1:06
13 m Bike - 38:33 (19.3 mph)
T2 - 1:00
5K#2 - 22:07 (7:07/mi)

Random thought: Although my preference is warm hot summer weather, my body definitely likes these cooler temps with low humidity for exercising!!!

Friday ~ 40 ish mile bike ride
Saturday ~ 18 mi run
Sun ~ Spint Du ~ 7 mi ran, 13 mi bike
Mon ~ easy 6 mi run
Tues - 5 mi speedwork ran

I had a super in shape aerobics instructor last week that made me think I needed to refocus.

Several pounds have crept on over summer as I have really ate pretty much whatever I wanted.

I watched the biggest loser and thought if they can, I can.

I decided to get my act together and clean up my horrible diet. No more salmon caesar salads for lunch daily, no more two starbucks frappachinos a day, no more nightly chicken wings, burgers and fries. Ramped up exercise a bit more. Dropped 8-9 pounds in a week. I think I must have weighed in on a heavy day the morning after a big dinner or something. I am feeling so much better already...now to just stay commited.

Riding the Rollercoaster

First and foremost, a huge thank you to Mallie who is the Rockstar of blog designs!!! She totally has pimped out my blog and I am soooo lucky she took the time to apply her mad skills to this site which was definitely in need of some TLC!!!

So last weekend and most of the week, the cold definitely had me down. The half marathon was rough and I felt crummy. I took Monday off entirely and my chest felt too tight to run on Tuesday, so I hit hard bodies class. I made it through class that day although my cold had me sweating as if I was working out in a sauna!

Wednesday I ran a whole 3 miles still feeling off. I just had no motivation.

I was starting to feel a bit better by Thursday however I still just had no desire to get in a normal workout so I did 1.5 miles on the treadmill before a hard bodies class at lunch and then another mile in the evening before hitting a interval aerobics class. I had such a nice time just doing something different although my calfs screamed for the next 3 days from doing so many toe raises in class.

Friday things started to finally turn up. I met a couple friends for a gorgeous 2.5 hour bicycle ride through some very hilly roads. The weather was just perfect and again I was rejuventated by my training which I had been lacking all week. As the evening rolled around MT called to see about the weekend long run. I hated to risk not performing well on Sunday but I figured we could just do an easy long run Saturday. So we met at noon out in Mantua to run the soft, flat Headwaters Trail. The temps had cooled and we easily picked off the miles at a decent pace. I felt great and 18 flew by so fast!

Sunday I awoke early to head out to the Akron International (Portage Lakes) Duathlon. My muscles remained a little sore from the prior workouts and the cold was not totally gone, but I was ready to go. I had signed up for the short course du. It was a crisp morning and I was thankful I would not be doing the swim as the transition out of the water to the bicycle was going to be a cold one! I lined up next to a fellow teammate who was doing the long course du (& she incidentally went on to win it!!!) and I said that I was going to try to pace off of her if I could keep up. I must be a cold weather person as things felt good. Mile one 6:32. Mile 2 was pretty much an uphill grade 7:11 and then Mile 3 was back down 6:14. Last 0.1 mi was 38 sec. I felt good and stayed within 5 steps of my teammate the whole way. It had to be one of my best runs of the year and then I headed into transition for my bike.

I had started the morning which was around mid 40 with a tri top and shorts and arm warmers. My hands had been cold all morning so I put on the only gloves I had which were big thick fleece ones. I thought I might need them on the bike but after the first run my hands were so sweaty that I had them off at the transition entrance and rode with no gloves at all. My legs felt incredibly tight on the bike but I was keeping a decent pace through the rollers. Over the 13 miles I never saw another female and passed several guys and several guys passed me. I have been having trouble getting my bike sensor to stay put on my wheel and of course it did not work during the race so I was guessing my mileage as the miles were not marked.

As I pulled into transition, I quickly changed shoes and headed off on the run course. I thought I was in front but there had been one girl (who I think ended up a DNF) ahead of my teammate and I on the first run and I was not sure if she was doing the sprint and might be in front of me. So I took off. The legs were tight but I plugged away increasing turnover and feeling generally good. After all the international du's this year, it is a huge mental boost to only have a 5K to run! As I passed the first mile I was close to 7 min mile pace which I was happy with. I was passing men as I ran the course and as I started up mile 2, I was happy to not see any women still as the the course has 2 out and backs and you can see who is in front and behind you. As the downhill mile 3 started, I saw the sprint tri female leader about 3/4 of a mile back and knew even she could not catch me. I came across the line holding around a 7 min mile pace for 5K #2 and finished with a total time of 1:23. I was the first female across and was so excited that for once I had felt pretty good during the race.

I was a little upset that as I tried to save all my splits that I took perfectly, I managed to clear them. Ooops! I hung out for a little while cheering on fellow friends before I had to head out for the day. It was a fantastic day and I left Portage Lakes feeling totally re-energized in spirit! It was just what I needed after having such a dismal week!

Under the weather

I should have known...

I was so tired last week, yet I dragged myself out of bed Friday morning to go to the gym. Usually on this long drive downtown I manage to wake up, but not this day. I turned the air conditioning on and painfully struggled to stay awake and drive. Once at the gym, as I rode the bike and the sweat started to flow, I finally woke up. However as I left the office around noon to work at home for the remainder of the afternoon, again I was so tired driving. I stopped on the way home for some much needed caffeine, thinking that must be the problem.

However about 5 I started to feel sinus pressure and then the sneezing started.

Just what I wanted as I headed into my busy weekend!

We headed out for some Friday night Mexican and after a couple Dos Equis my sinuses started to feel better. But I awoke Saturday morning for the 9 mile Potato Stomp feeling like a cold was setting in.

I had got to the race early and went for a nice warm up. However the race started 30 minutes later than anticipated so it had only really succeeded in making me damp while I waited.

Yes, in keeping with usual style, I headed out too fast and then struggled to hang on.

Mile 1-6:36
2- 6:40
3- 7:45
4- 7:39
5- 8:04
6- 8:08
7- 7:58
8- 6:45 (short)
9- 8:33 (long)

I originally had signed up for the course as it was close to home and the fact that they gave away prize money to the top 5 overall males and females. I came away with #4 overall female and $25. I felt I could have done better but perhaps the cold was holding me back. Overall the Potato Stomp was a challenging course with lots of rollers which never ended. It was a humid day and I was soaking wet. Thankfully as I crossed the finish line about a mile from the starting line, they handed out embroidered towels which I wiped the sweat from my body.

The race was not chipped and it took quite awhile before all the results were tallied up and I sat there shivering through the awards as my dry clothes were parked a good way up the road. I finally made my way home and was cold and hungry. The sick related off feeling just continued to get worse as the day wore on and as I went to bed at I started to consider skipping the Sunday half marathon.

I awoke early Sunday morning. I probably should have just stayed in bed. My legs were sore from the prior day. I was so congested. It was raining. But, I had said I was going to do this and meet a friend and I hate not following through on something I said I would do. So off to the 1/2 marathon I went.

I did a short warm up while I debated whether to just run for fun or to go out in seek of that PR as usual. Yeah, as usual I lined up for the PR.

With the start after the previous day's fade, I planned to run an even race and hold back at the beginning. Mile one, 7:12. Right where I wanted to be. As I went into Mile 2, I knew I was in trouble. My legs were so sore. I had hoped after mile 1 they might loosen up but it was not happening and they just felt like heavy tight bricks. 7:22. I was already looking forward to the end and my chest started hurting. Mile 3-7:23. Mile 4-7:52...already slowing down. I was wet. My legs hurt. I felt awful and congested. My head was not even in it and I just plain did not care. I just wanted to be done. My headphones quit working at mile 5 which was my the one distraction keeping me somewhat happy.

Now I was bored and I just plodded along. I started walking the water stops and I watched as females passed me that I had not lost to all year. I did not care...much.

I skipped the water stop at mile 12 just wanting to get done and finished in 1:48:25. It was a disappointing time, yet I was just glad to be done. If nothing else, I did pick up my participation points for my Hermes Road Race Series. Jeez, I was just exhausted. After running around with family for a few hours afterwards I went home to collapse on the couch. The cold has set in and as I type this on Monday I feel like crap. Needless to say, I skipped an AM workout today and slept in.

I am anticipating a very light, easy week! I suppose it is time to take it easy for a bit and get healthy before next weekend which will just be a nice short du!

Weekends rule, especially the long ones!

Saturday was awesome! I met some friends out in the valley to ride the metric century STOMP ride on the most beautiful day!!! Morning coffe was good, volunteers were cheery, conversation was fun, the ride flew by and I even got to pet a donkey! Yup, definitely a good morning!

Then I headed over to fulfill my auntie duties with my girls. They turned ONE on September 5th!!!

ALYSSA!!!

ERIN!

Sunday I woke up bright and early to run a spirited 15 mile run with SERC and my running girls!!!

Sunday afternoon and Monday was filled with motorcycle riding and picnics!!! Weekends rock...it is just too bad they fly by so fast!!

On tap for this weekend is the 9 mile Potato Stomp Run and then the River Run half marathon! Bring it on!!!

Best of luck to all my other peeps out there racing this weekend including my ole roomie, TriShannon doing IM Wisconsin and my running gals doing the Punxy 50K!!!

OUCH!

Yesterday, I hit the gym just after 6 AM to start my track workout on the treadmill. I was still tired and my legs and joints felt tight.

The best thing is after a mile or two when things finally loosen up and you feel like your self again. I ran a nice solid track workout with various longer intervals 1K-2K-1K-1K. Then I cooled down at a 8 minute mile pace feeling rather comfortable. I love how that pace feels so comfortable when I am done, but the same pace would have felt uncomfortable in my warm-up.

Running my interval workouts on the treadmill at the gym always seems to garner a few looks wondering why I am pushing myself so darn hard. I have only been at this new gym a couple weeks and I suppose they are not used to me yet. I was a disgusting sweaty mess, but I felt good.

Later around lunch I was still feeling frisky, so I returned to the gym for something different. A Hard Bodies Class. I did lots of core work, abs, pushups, shoulder and chest exercises and lots of lunges. Oh my butt and ab muscles are sore today! Yet, I am stoked about it...I just love the opportunity to do something different on occasion and with new people. I may have to make this a weekly showing!

The quick and dirty

Gosh, has it been so long since I posted??

Time flies when you are busy!

So after the half, I had an easy day Monday with an easy spin on the bike. By Tuesday I was feeling back to normal and resumed the regular schedule. Last weekend composed of a 16 mile run with regular running pals, Bob and Espeed and then I capped off Saturday night with our family's annual crazy Corn Party. I will just say it was mad fun, craploads of people, drunken karoke, hillbilly games, lotza food, and the best part was that this year it was at someone else's house!!! Sunday was recovery day...more from alcohol than runnning!!!

This week continued on the regimen although definitely switching things around a bit as mornings got messed up a couple days on account of sleeping in. Oops! This weekend friggin rocked. 20 miles of tough trail running with the gals on Saturday which left me a bit tired and dirty!! Sunday I awoke and met the Cleveland Touring group for 103 mile bike ride over to PA and I felt pretty great the whole way. We averaged a brisk pace of 18.8 mph the whole way. Needless to say, there was a lot of helping each other out drafting. I learned that in this company I am not much of a puller. Today my bicycle never would let me shift into the small gear, yet I managed to make it up all rolling climbs with no trouble. It was my first century of the year and I cannot believe how pain free I feel! Last year after the sweet corn century I was all sorts of sore. Granted it was hot and much hillier, but dang I am stoked that I feel good after today's ride, especially considering how sore I felt after yesterday's run!

Oh by the way, I am almost finished with the first book I have choose to read in years (the last several years I have only read text books required of me), Lance Armstrong's, It's Not About the Bike, My Journey Back To Life. This book is so addicting that perhaps it has impressed me so much that not only is Lance forever my idol, I may just start reading more books again for fun. "How about them apples?"

GCT Half Iron Race Report

Friday night I did not sleep well. I awoke and started overthinking the race.

Saturday, I hit the expo quickly. I purchased a new bicycle computer as mine had been acting up lately and I could not get the speed and distance to work. Unfortunately when I got home I had the realization that it would not mount on the bar I needed it to. Crap! So we made an emerency stop at Dick's that night and bought another computer. However that computer would not mount on properly either! Bummer! So I was going to go with no computer. Grrrr!

After a short, but good night's sleep, I awoke around 4:15 to get ready. I was still not awake and managed to hit the door a little earlier than planned. No one was on the roads except a couple cops which I passed. On my way I realized I had managed to forget my water and gatorade so I made a pitstop at 5AM in Chardon at a gas station. I had to laugh as I overheard a girl say to the other worker as she looked at me, "Oh I feel guilty now. I am going to have to work out when I get off." I suppose they don't get too many crazy exercise people in there at that hour of the morning on a Sunday.

As I drove up to the race I snacked on a generic lowfat fruit and grain bar and chugged a Rockstar to wake up.

I parked right next to transition (the bonus of getting there early!) and started setting up. I had not really prepped the day before so it was taking me some time to put the numbers where they belonged. All this extra swim stuff in my transition area had me scratching my head on the best way to put it all out. The area was tight and I set my transition bag out of everyone's way over by the fence. However one of the officials made a beeline to tell me that I could not have stuff there that it had to be in my space. OK. I personally would prefer everyone to keep any excess crap out of the way since transition area is so tight, but whatever. Since I parked close, I ended up just taking some stuff back to my car and adding a few other things to the transition space.

The morning flew by as I chatted it up with other CTC folk and before long Brandon and I started on the long walk down to the start. Thank goodness he had talked me into departing when we did, as it took us a long time to walk down the shore to the start. I was feeling SOOOO lucky as I peered out into the calm lake on this gorgeous morning!

After a quick dip in the water to wet the goggles and get a feel for the water temperature, I lined up with my age group for the start. I remained nervous but felt somewhat calm as I glanced around and saw familiar faces of Mickey (the best RD) and my other CTC friends. I started in the second wave at 7:03 AM. As I darted into the water I started swimming hard out to the first buoy. It took a long time to get out to it and by the time I rounded the bouy, my form started to go. Gosh, the end looked unbelievably far away. People were splashing all around me and I was slightly anxious. I decided to take some rest breaks of 5 to 10 second breast strokes to catch my breath and remain calm. I swam bouy to bouy and even caught some caps from the wave ahead of me. There were people from the waves behind me catching me. I had to stop to let out a giant burp which was probably part water, part Rockstar! So ladylike! A funny thing happened about half way through. I finally got into a rhythm. I started taking less breaks and felt much more relaxed. As I rounded the last buoy, I started to get really excited that the swim was almost over and I did fine!!! 1 mile swim was 38 and change. Wahhooo!!! Yeah, anything under an hour was going to be cool by me on this day!

As my feet hit the sand I was taking it in and not really pushing too fast. I smiled for a picture and was excited to see all the spectators on the beach!! Unfortunately as I ran to transition I could not get the sand off my feet. I took so much time trying to get it off and was getting frustrated. After wasting a ton of time trying to get the sand off, I gave up and proceeded to Body Glide my feet as this year has been filled with blister issues. I left transition over 4 minutes later.

When I pulled my bicycle on to the road, a girl was ahead of me going slower than I wanted to go. Two guys passed us, but I did not want to pass her as I heard you could get penalized for passing in the park. So I just hung tight. As I went out on the course, I felt like I was going so slow. Was I tired from the swim and just trying to adjust or what? Later I would realize it was just a headwind that I would take advantage of on my return trip. While I was on the bike I made an effort to start drinking. The day was heating up so I alternated between my water and my gatorade. I was riding pretty conservatively as I wanted to make sure I had plenty of strength and energy left for this long event. At 10 miles in, I was at 33 minutes. I climbed the one decent hill on the course and then I rolled up on some spectators who were none other than MT and Espeed. Oh I was stoked to see them! They had even made signs!!! Oh they are the best!

At 20 miles in, I was at 66 minutes. Consistent anyways! It was slower than I would have liked, but the goal here was to have a nice steady day. I was really taking it all in and enjoying myself thanking the cops and volunteers as I made my way through the course. As I was starting the second lap, Jodi caught me to my surprise. I had assumed she was already ahead of me as I figured that even though she was in a later swim wave, that she would have swam by me! I passed her back as I told her that she realized it was going to be impossible for me not to try to keep up with her! I guess her goal of lighting a fire under my butt had worked! Sometimes when I am out in the course I start relaxing a bit too much and can use people like Jodi out there to keep my head in the game!!!

On lap two I had my first successful bottle grab of some water on the bike and I refilled my aerobottle. I cheered as I circled around to see the girls, espeed and MT again! They were going nuts, as was I, and I saw the cop directing traffic just laughing at the display! They rock!

As I neared about 48 miles in, I took a gel. I had two short loops to go still on Heisley road. I enjoyed seeing all my friends at Snakebite racings water stop. They were a spirited bunch!! I grabbed a second water on one of my loops. During these two loops and much of the last 15-20 miles, two other ladies and I kept passing each other periodically. The short two loops on the freeway had some good bumps which were not feeling so good on my lady parts at this point in time! Finally, I pulled into the park to the next transition area. 56 mile Bike time 3:02 and change. ~18.5 mph My biggest complaint at this point were my feet which felt bruised from pushing the pedals!

When I got into transition the first thing I did was pop open my cooler to chug half a blue Rockstar! Oh my was it soooo good! Mmmm! And then it was out to the run as I left transition 3 minutes later. My transitions were slow but I figured I just wanted to take my time to do what may prove to be important in them!

As I headed out onto the run, I went out behind one of the ladies I had went back and forth with on the bike. She looked pretty strong and I just followed her pace. I was hot and wanted to keep my energy high so at the first stop I took a gel and had some water. Dang, I was thirsty! As I made my way down by Pickle Bills I saw my girls again. Wooohoo! I was again re-energized and hooting it up with them while they briefly kept me company! With renewed energy I passed the lady in front of me as we got into the hilly portion of the course. I missed some of the mile markers and other hit my watch a little late but here the splits as I hit them.

Mile 1 7:57 Another rockstar burp!
Mile 2 8:51
Mile 3 9:00 Oh crap, my feet are blistered already I can tell and I had to adjust my stride!
Mile 4 8:13
Mile 5 9:49 (hit late)
Mile 6 7:27 (started late)
Had to love the energy at the turnaround as I threw my hands up in excitement!!
Mile 7 8:47
Mile 8 10:10 I hit the bathroom! First pee of the day since I started! No bike peeing for me at this point! Saw TR and wanted to catch up to him to see if he had anything funny to say, but alas my stop put me back.
Mile 9 9:56
Miel 10 8:45
Mile 11 9:19
Mile 12 9:14
Mile 13.1 8:31 little pick up at the end!!

Total time 1:56 and change ~8:50 /mile pace. All in all I felt solid the whole way through. The volunteers were fantastic!! I really think I could have went faster on the bike and run. However I wanted to play my first half safe. Plus I definitely tried to take it easy on my feet with my blisters!

Final time was 5:43:06! This ended up putting me in 5th and I got 1st in my age group! I am happy to take that for my first half! I do like this distance a lot and nothing can beat a half iron debut in your own town with all your peeps around!

I had totally winged the nutrition and strangely it worked out fine.

Totals include-
-3 bottles of water, 1 fruit punch gatorade and one gel on the bike.
-2.5 gels, water at nearly every stop, and one glass of gatorade.

At the end, I felt pretty good. However, as the day wore on, I got more sore by the minute. I started to get rather uncomfortable to the point I could not sleep well that night as I was in quite a bit of pain.

-------

Monday I felt better. I did an easy 25 minute spin before sitting in the hottub. Lots of stretching!

Tuesday I ran a 5 mile treadmill workout at various speeds averaging out to an 8 minute mile pace. I really felt fine and back to normal already!

I came, I saw, I conquered!

Well so I did not conquer the race, but at least my goal!!!!!!

More later...Final time 5:43 and change. 5th female overall and 1st in my age group!!!

My goal was to break 6 and so I am stoked with the outcome.

No major trouble except for some sandy feet causing more dreaded blisters on my poor sore feet!

I had the best day due in no small part to so many awesome people out on the course!!!

More details later.... I am quite exhausted!

Half iron eve!

Well the longest event for me ever is tomorrow.

I would be lying to say I was not nervous.

I know I can do it.

It is really far.

I have not stuck with a plan so the whole thing sort of feels like I am winging it.

The swim is even more of a hail mary but seems a little better lately.

I could have trained more.

I could have raced less.

I could have tapered better.

I think the run is going to be hot.

I've got about 12 hours to come up with my nutrition strategy. Hmmm?

But the time is here, and there is no time like the present to suck it up and give it my all.

I'm off to packet pickup.

Where to start?

So much going on and always so little time to catch up. So we will start at the beginning!!!

Twilight Trail Run

Thursday, I had signed up to do the Twilight Trail run with some of my running gals and we divided up into two female teams. Team Two Trail Freaks consisted of Solar Squirrel and Espeed. MT and I were Team Pimp My Stride. A couple days earlier I had made up some generic tanks for us to show our spirit at the race!

At least we would look good!!! We were just plain pysched to run in these bad arse breathable cotton tanks!!!



Just before the race it rained enough to make things quite messy on the trails. The race had an age graded start which made things interesting. I was SOAKING wet before I even started from sweat and between the heat that night along with the hills, it just zapped my energy. However us ladies held strong and our two teams walked away with first and second overall female team awards! The best part was due in large part to MT's kick butt performance, our team won free Brooks shoes!!! (Which I bought already and I totally love as much as my Asics Kayanos!! SCORE!!!)



This race was not one of my fastest runs, but it was one heck of a good time! I enjoyed a totally different sort of cooldown after that race!!!! mmmmbeer!



Independence 5K

Saturday when I woke up I knew as I warmed up my legs were still tight from Thursday night's trail run. Things were heating up fast and lately I have learned my breathing seems to be affected with the heat more than I like to think.

I lined up at the start and with the start I was off. Quickly the road race series female leader surged ahead with another girl and I was on their tails hoping to hang on. Mile one 6:17. As we looped around during mile 2, I could feel my legs tightening and fell off the other ladies pace. Mile 2, 6:44. My tunes were not helping me and I was pretty spent and about a half mile before the end MT closed in on me. My breathing was becoming more labored and I finished 6 seconds behind her as I worked to catch my breathe. Oh this heat and humidity really hurts my lungs. Mile 3.1 (1.1 miles), 7:44. Final time 20:42 (6:39 pace). It was not my best time, but coming off the Thursday run and given the heat, it was a pretty decent run.

At this point I should note that MT is kicking butt at the moment and her run times continue to drop....now I am going to have to step it up I suppose. Darn her and her 23 year old long legs!

Burning River Update

Whatever I comment on this will simply not suffice for what these ultrarunners endured.

The Burning River 100 is a new 100 mile run held in Northeast Ohio that travels through several of the region’s most scenic areas, including the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Cleveland Metroparks and the Metro Parks, serving Summit County.

Starting at Squire’s Castle in Willoughby Hills, the run follows the scenic Cuyahoga River Valley Corridor and finishes in Cuyahoga Falls. The course definitely has some tough terrain and they would not come to the aid station I was volunteering at until they were 91.3 miles in.

Espeed had organized the aid station and I can tell you this girl really gives back to this sport. She was up all night running around like crazy trying her best to make sure every runner coming through had the very best of care. Seriously, I give her mad credit! Our station was festively themed Hot Fiesta Party on the Burning River and we had a bunch of decorations, foods, and music to complete the feel! I worked the station from 9:30 PM to 1:15 AM and saw 6 runners.

The race had started at 5AM with 144 people and 68 finished. The course was incredibly tough and it had been such a hot humid day. I can only imagine how it wore on the runners. I felt so much for those runners as I can only imagine the pain some were feeling. The strength it took for those people to keep going just blows my mind. These runners who endured so much to finish really accomplished quite a feat! The most amazing thing was the overall male and female were both from my running club!!! How cool is that to get to run with some truly talented runners???

August already????

Wow, this summer is going by wayyyy too fast!

Things have been crazy hectic and although I have been getting in the workouts, they have been scattered at random times and have left me just feeling a bit out of sorts.

Saturday was an awesome day. I ran the Buckeye Trail for the first time ever with the girls. All went amazing well with the new running surface for me. Yet, with such fantastic company of the gals, I think it would have been impossible not to have a great day. We were targetting to get in 16 miles. However after a 12 mile loop and heading out another 30 minutes, I was calling shenanigans on Espeed's 2 mile turnaround to get in the total 16. We ended up going out 3 miles before turning around, so we ended up with 18 for the day. I am sure I was a bit fatigued by the end of the day as I kept tripping as I must have started dragging my feet the last couple miles!

Sunday I awoke with a stiff back and tight quads. Just perfect for the start of Sunday's Century Ride. I had stopped in at the bike shop the prior day only to hear that they changed the course this year to make it as absolutley challenging as possible. Fantastic!

Upon my arrival, there was no one I knew that was heading out for 100, except for one speed demon on Team ER who I could never keep up with. So I headed off on my own which was sort of a bummer. (OK Jodi I am missing you!!!) But all was fine until my computer quit working 4.9 miles in. Crap again! Two guys breezed past me with the green 100 mile bracelets, so I thought I would try to keep up. All was going well. I was enjoying the ride and talked with a few others out on the course and my legs were loosening up nicely. We hit the first stop at around 23-24 miles in. I grabbed some pretzels and some water and hopped back on the bike talking with another CTC member. That CTC member rocked by the way. I recognized him from Wednesday night cycling. This year he was turning 60. It was a big year-First grandchild, first half ironman year and today was his first century...quite amazing his acccomplishments at 60!!!

Another few miles down the road and I knew something was wrong. A flat. Luckily I have had my share of these this year so I said I was fine and started to change out my tube. However every flat has always had a regular pump nearby for me to utilize. This time I was not so fortunate. Luckily I had 4 of these CO2 tubes. However I had no idea how to make these work. Just as I was scratching my head, some more familiar faces rode up and stopped by. Yeah, what perfect timing!! However no one had used these tubes before. Then I had the realization you need a tool to pop these tubes (which I did not have!). Duh, now I know! However we were having trouble getting this to work and one guy had a hand pump so we used that too. What an ordeal to just pump up the tire! And then as we took the pump off the tip popped off and I knew it would not hold 70 more miles. Not only was the tip off, there was a weird bump or bubble in the tire that I could not see but I could feel riding down the road. I was going to just take it easy and hit the bike shop in Pennisula and change out this tube.

Upon my arrival I was saddened to see the store was closed for another 2.5 hours. Crap! Then I saw the free air sign! Woohoo! So I changed out the tube. I went to pump it up but then had the realization that the pump was not one I could use with my valves. It worked fine for the guy on the hybrid riding down the towpath but I was SOL. Now what??

I sat there debating who to call. After a bit, I thought to look at the map and saw the SAG phone numbers! I called and they were coming!! YEAH! After awhile they arrived and I said I needed a pump. They did not have one (seems like a logical thing they may want to carry wouldn't ya think) but they could take me to the start to have the bike sponsors pump it up. Well as that was my best option, I took it! Back at the start they were pumping it up and no sooner did they pump it up, it exploded! I think this day is jinxed! Lucky for me I was now back at my car so I went for a third tube. During this time Eddy's checked my tire and rim and everything was fine, so I am not sure why everything was being so difficult. However this third time was the charm and alas I was ready to ride again.

Now I was very behind. The 100 was out as I had other places to be that day. So I cut down a few roads to ride the last half of the 50 mile course. Since I was not riding 100, I made it a point to push through my miles as hard as possible. It felt good to pass lots of riders as I climbed the hilly course.

At the end of the day I ended up with only 60 miles, but still ended up enjoying myself. By finishing early I got to eat lunch and hang out with some friends who had done the 50. I was glad I had went back out to tack on the last 30 miles as the thought did cross my mind to just call it a day when I was having so many flat issues! What a day!

Monday I had a overdue rest day. Tuesday was a fantastic swim with TriSaraTops followed by a kick butt track workout with Espeed and MT!

This week on tap I have a fun team trail race Thursday night, a 5K Road Race Series race Saturday and then some volunteering at the Burning River 100 mile race! Time is flying by!!!!!!!

Things that make you go hmmm????

So after a bit of slacking at the tail end of last week which I will just call a taper, I headed down to Columbus Saturday night to meet up my ole college roomie, Liz. Not only am I thankful to have such a nice place to stay before my big Fat Rabbit Event #2, but it is such an added bonus to catch up with friends!!!! Bonus!

After a nice relaxing evening I woke up around 5 to head to Antrim Park in Columbus where the event was being held. I got there just before 6 and started the process of hitting the lines for package pickup, body marking and then headed back to the car to gather everything up before the race. As I waited I scoped out the competition. There were not many ladies doing the duathlon and I chatted with one lady who said she was nervous as she was a runner but not so much a biker (she was planning to do 7 marathons just this fall...wow, I was knew I would have to watch this chick on the run) Time flew and before I knew it, it was go time!

After a late start, the long course duathlon people were off. The men quickly pulled ahead I tried to run a conservative pace for once! I was running with one other guy and we made a little short talk. The run was on a limestone path around the lake which I enjoyed and then out onto a bike path before the turnaround. All seemed to be going well and I was happy to be out in front. At the turnaround I scoped out my competition. The next closest chick who I will call super running chick that I had been chatting with before the start, was not too far behind. About a mile from the end, my stomach felt a little off and I was nervous about how things were going to hold up throughout the morning. As we headed into transition we had to run quite a long way up this grassy hill, just before the hill super running passed me, but I was hit the mat just 6 seconds behind her- 5K Run 1 time 21:56 (7:03 pace-a little slower than FRR #1 time of 21:03)

Super running chick told me nice run in transition and I said the same to her and then I left transition before super running chick. T1- 1:12:05

Once I pulled out onto the road, my aerobar pad went flying. Oh well, what could I do. I kept going and tried to settle down into my groove. All seemed to be going fine. The bike course was a 5 loop course, half of the loop was on the highway, which seemed fast. With all the other people out on the course doing the various distances, things were a bit congested at times. However by my final lap the sprint competitors were done and things had thinned out quite a bit. On the bike I got passed by 4 or 5 women...still need to focus more time in the seat!!! With each one I focused on their legs to see what event they were doing....all doing the olympic tri. One of the ladies I went back and forth with several times but as we came into the final stretch, she had pulled ahead. I was a little bored and singing little songs in my head to try to motivate myself to keep pushing hard. I could feel tightness in my hamstrings and groin again and I was consciously trying to make sure I did not overdue it and have the same issues as last time. As I came into T2, my seat area was happy as it was getting sore! It was probably nothing like many of the some of the new ironmans felt, but uncomfortable just the same! (YEAH IRONMAN JEN--CONGRATS)

Bike time 1:12:05 (40 K/ 24.854 Miles at 20.7 mph) A little better than last race!!

Run 2- As I started into the 10K I was intent on holding my lead. I was the lead female and I wanted to keep things pretty conservative to make sure I made it through the rest problem free. As I passed the 5K turnaround I was totally wishing I was turning around there as I was ready to finish already!!!! As we journey on the bike path, we made a right to head down the ramp and into the a park area. It was nice scenery and I caught up and passed the female that I had leap frogged with on the bike. Where the heck was the turnaround. It was tough knowing I still had to go back all this way that I have already ran!! Just before the turnaround my spirits were lifted as Trial went by. He asked how I was and I just said I was tired. He said to stay on his heels and I kept at them for a minute before my sketchy stomach seemed to twist and I thought I did not want to push it and have some major intestinal temper tantrum present itself. One foot in front of another and I started thinking that I was going to walk through the stop around 4 miles in and take in some gatorade and hope it would give me some more energy. At this point the only thing I had was probably 8 ounces of water on the bike (in addition to my SOBE energy drink and my generic 130 calorie Lowfat Mixed Berry Bar I had pre-race). After the turnaround, I took note of the women out toward the turnaround to see how far back super running chick and other faces I had saw were and I did not see any contenders that were close enough to make me nervous.

I was thirsty so I treasured my gatorade and then continued on. The cop at the corner made me smile when he said I did not have far to go...the little things sometimes do really matter!!! As I came around the lake I could hear the announcer and I was set to finish it in strong. The stomach felt off, but I knew the port-o-potties were close now!!! Run 2-10K -48:44-8:00 pace.

I crossed the line in 2:25:35. I was stoked that I thought I took first overall female in the du. However after the race, they said I was second. It is not that I mind second place but I never saw this female...so I am totally perplexed. Supposedly she finished the first 5K 30 seconds ahead of me. I saw all the people take off which was not a big group. Then I saw everyone at the first turnaround and never did I see a female in front of me. I don't think I would have missed another female. The bike split of #1 female was impressive 1:02:05...fastest female split of olympic tri and du. So I am still perplexed and wonder if I missed this person or if perhaps this person was a male and not a female. Hmmm? Not sure, but totally perplexed. I really don't care about the plaque or placing (since obviously this person is not in the series)...but now I am so friggin curious as to whether I was wrong or the classification or something else was off. Why do I fixate on these things? So I guess I got second overall female, but just maybe first. At the awards this Christine (maybe it was Chris???) was not there so I could not figure it out then either!!!

Anyways, enough with that. It was an improvement over last race. Again, I really felt I did not perform on my second run and much of this I attribute to these darn repeating stomach issues. I am really going to have to concentrate on my diet these next several weeks leading up to my half. I have slacked in this area and definitely pay for it!! Darn my love of cheese and plenty of other things that are definitely not quality pre-race nutrition foods!

Never a dull moment!

Thursday night friends were in town and the night got very late...especially for me who is in bed typically before we even left to go to the local bar! So I took Friday off from working out!

Saturday I mapped out a 50 mile route on my bicycle. I have gotten so accustomed to having company for rides longer than 25 miles that I was not really looking forward to it. However a couple miles in and I was having a good time. However, I ended up on a rough road which jarred the bike so bad that my computer would not register. Grrr! It has not been working lately and I had just finally got it to finally start working before I left. It had only worked for 7.1 miles and despite my best efforts I finally conceded defeat and continued on with my ride. I so badly wanted to see my speed and mileage. The miles flew by and after a brief pitstop to see my little nieces I arrived home feeling good after yet another windy ride.

After a quick shower I hopped on my motorcyle and the hubby and I rolled our motorcyles through the gorgeous valley and had lunch at Gasoline Alley, a very cute restaurant / bar out in Bath area. My butt was tired that night for sitting on it for so long!

Sunday, I woke up early to go meet my ole running buddy for our first long run for the fall training season. On the FURMAN FIRST advanced schedule I have been following, I was already up to 20 miles. So I went out early to get in 6 before I met Bob for the plannned 14. As usual I was running a little late and was intent on getting it all in. So, I quickly set out on the towpath at a pace just under 8 minute miles. Although it was relatively cool, it felt so humid and I was sweating my butt off in no time. Before long I was back to the start just soaking wet from sweat and met my partner. We kept a very easy pace and took lots of water breaks. The towpath was soooo crowded, not at all like our winter training runs where we rarely saw others out there. I don't know how many times we had to fall in single file and the dust from the bicycles was blowing around us on the dry humid morning. Finally we arrived back to the start and we stretched as we tried to quit sweating!

First 20 of 5 down!!! The thing though is, I really don't need to train so hard this time around for my fall marathon as I will be running with my cousin at whatever pace is comfortable for her. So while I am following the training plan for fitness, I am allowing myself some flexibility with it as it is definitely overkill for the pace I will be running. At any rate, I am really looking forward to experiencing the marathon with the goal only of supporting my girl through 26.2 miles!

The rest of Sunday I went to my sisters to veg by the pool as I switched between my raft, the water and the lounge chair. Now that is a perfect way to spend a day after a 20 miler!!! Nice and relaxing!!! Oh I love this weather!!! Summer is my time!

Monday, I met with a swim coach for some tips!!!! Yes folks, I actually might put a little focus on my swim!!! It is amazing how the smallest things can make such a difference in the way things feel. Here are some take away points for me-

1) The thing that seemed to make the biggest difference was consciously pushing my head to chest further down in the water to bring up my tail end.

2) I also keep my arms very rigid typically so she had my loosen things up and think about putting my arms in to a shirt sleeve.

3) I need to work on not turning my head so far...only one eye coming out of the water.

4) Must focus on quality swim sessions...not just straight sets. Straight kicking with fins or kickboard would be good for me.

5) Must get in more time and yards.

So I will be trying to focus on this!!!

Tuesday did a short track workout on the treadmill (running late again!!). Consisted of warm-up, 3X1600's with 1 minute recoveries and a short cooldown. Only 5 miles total, although I had hoped to get in closer to 7 on the day.

Slept in Wedneday morning as I was sleepy but hopefully I will get in some quality training later today!

This and that!

First off, those of you who wondered what socks I bought, it was women's (they had men's too) Nike performance socks. They came in 2 pair packs at Dicks for $12ish. They are little no show, no cotton little treasures. I knew I was all good when I put in 5 miles Friday and followed that up with 17 Saturday and there were no problems. My feet are beginning to look normal. However normal or not, I am going to stick with this anti-blister regimen!!! Really this has been such an ordeal that it is such a FRIGGIN RELIEF to FINALLY have this problem kicked!

Sunday I was sooooo exhausted. I had these training plans set for Sunday but I totally blew them off. I was sooo tired. I slept in. This getting up a lot earlier for the AWESOME new job is taking a toll on me. I told my husband I was sleeping in when he left around 7 and rolled over and pulled the covers up over my head and drifted back off to sleep. I rolled over and was in total shock to see the clock read 10AM. I cannot even remember the last time I slept in that late!!

I rolled out of bed and decided I would at least get in a little training and rode my bicycle out to my parents (13 miles + one way). I felt like I was riding like a turtle. The wind was all in my face and it was already 90 degrees. I finally got to my parents and was going to be angry if the wind quit while I was there. I stopped in and had some juice, played with my litle shiba inu doggie, and my little nieces since my parents were babysitting (so darn cute). After an hour or so I hopped back home and sailed with the wind the first 12.5 miles.

And then...something flew in my jersey and got me in the boob. Ouch, I thought I was getting stung all over! My hand reaches down trying to get this thing out without crashing. Now of course this would be the moment a bunch of traffic is coming the other way and I can only imagine what they saw or must have thought. But at least I kept my shirt on! I finally stopped as I whinced in pain. I never did see what got me. A bee, a wasp, super horsefly, spider???? All I know is I was hurting. I am not allergic where I can't breathe but I get really bad reactions where the sting area (no stinger) was a huge swollen white mark the size of a dime and then my entire entire chest was burning hot and bright red all over my entire chest. Oh it messed me up for the day after the Benadryl knocked me out. It is now Thursday and still swollen, itching and ANNOYING!!!!!

So the rest of the week has been so so. Some good days, some not so good. Work has been cutting into the workout time to a degree and evenings have been busy so that has not helped me get in the training. Then I swear that sting was plaguing me on my run Tuesday and my chest still ached. Redemption came Thursday morning when I banged out a 7 mile run a decent pace and felt great!

The TriFecta

Body Glide + Baby Powder + New Expensive super sweet socks = zero blister issues!!!!! Enough to make my day!!!!

BUSY!

OK the new job is going to be cutting into the blogging, so just jotting down some quick details before I forget them.

Sat June 30 - 15 miles on Headwater Trail. Gville to Mantua and back. Started Chicago marathonn training

Sun July 1- 60+ miles bike, Greater Cleveland Tri Course plus some hills thrown in for good measure. 35 minute run after. Good training day with the boys!!! Actually felt good when done!!!

Mon July 2 - 60 min spin class

Tue July 3 - 3 mile run-24 min; 20 min stationary bike

Wed July 4 - North Canton YMCA July 4th Race 5 mile race. (Hermes Road Race Series Race) A little disappointed that I was over a minute off PR. I think the blisters and tight muscles are still plaguing me!

Splits
Mile 1- 6:18
Mile 2- 7:01
Mile 3- 7:09
Mile 4- 7:14
Mile 5- 6:58

Total time - 34:42 (6:56 pace) Huge field (2000 + runners) Was in top 10 females. Placed 2nd in age group. The silver lining though is I think I was the top female from Road Race Series so I will get max race points!