Miles for Hope 5K run and 15m Bike

Clearwater
September 21, 2013

Gina and I headed up to Clearwater very early race morning, getting there just over an hour early. We met Sara, our team captain, to get out bibs, chips and shirts, then headed back to the car to get ready. We were going to run the 5K first, which was chipped timed, then bike the 15 miles, which was not timed. We brought our bikes over to the small bike area next to the run start/finish. They were not real bike racks, so you could not "rack" your bike. We ended up leaning out bikes against the bushes boarding the road and the Scientology Resort area that was right next to Coachman Park. We later saw one of the security guards from the scientology compound come over and look at all the bikes against "his" bushes. He finally left after giving everyone the evil eye.

After a bit of a late start we were off running. We headed up a small hill before turning right. After a couple of blocks We made another right turn and then started our run up the steep bridge. My time was pretty good up to this point. I tried not to slow down to much, I was hoping to PR! As I started my down hill run, I picked up the speed, and felt like I was flying! I looked at my watch at one point and saw that I was at a 6:56 min mile pace! WOW! I started to catch up to Gina a little on the down hill, but she pulled ahead again on the flat road. We made a u-turn a little bit after the bottom of the bridge (missing the first and only water stop), then made our way back over the bridge. My time slowed down even more on the second up hill, but I kept working as hard as I could to run fast. Made up time again on the down hill. We came off the bridge, made the left, ran a couple of blocks, then made the last turn, down the hill and through the finish line. Got my PR by 15 seconds!! So happy.

Finish time: 25:15

We got over to our bikes, taking our time to get going since the bike part was not timed. Then, we made our way back over the bridge and tried to find the flags that marked our course. It was not easy. There were no bike lanes in some areas. It was pretty scary with the cars not giving us much space to ride. Thankfully we didn't get lost, but we did have to stop quite a few times to look at the map I brought with me.

When we got back, we found out that Gina got 2nd in age group and I got 3rd for our 5K run. Pretty cool. A great morning of racing. :)

Venice Triathlon

Venice, FL
August 31, 2013

The Swim: Venice Triathlon. Pretty good swim this morning. I felt calmer and stronger out there then last time. I did have a couple of women near me that I couldn't shake, so I just went with it, trying to draft off of the one ahead of me. :) Swim was a little long according to Garmin. I didn't stop it until we hit the mat, a little up the beach. Should have been 440 yards. 14:43; T1 - 2:12

The Bike: 3 loops for the bike. Not a fan. Most of the road was smooth, but there was a section at one end that was rough. No course marshals out there. People were drafting like crazy, though it was hard not to ride close to others with everyone out there at the same time because of the 3 loop thing. Forgot to stop my garmin when I came into transition. 48:10; T2 - 1:15

The run: Felt pretty good for the first mile. The heat started getting to me in mile 2. I could hear this woman behind me breathing funny. I could not shake her! I would slow down, so would she. I would speed up, so would she. Sigh. Her loud breathing was annoying! Kicked it in hard at the end and left her in the dust. :D 27:05

Finish: 1:33:23

Sea Dog 5K

August 18, 2013
Clearwater, FL

I headed up to Clearwater super early the morning of the race. It was a little over an hour drive. Normally I wouldn't drive so far for a 5K, but I was also going to be working, promoting the TriRock Clearwater race, so I figured why not!

I got to the race about an hour or so before start time. The race start was next to the Sea Dog Brewery, which was were packet pickup was. We had a big parking lot to park in, which was good, as it looked like this race was going to to have a lot of runners! I picked up my shirt and bib, then headed back to the car to relax a little and finish getting myself ready. I looked all over the car and through my purse, looking for my music player, but could not find it. It was going to be a quiet run. Thankfully, I had stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom, before getting to packet pickup. The lines for the Porta-potties were crazy long! I by-passed the lines and headed over to the start area. They had signs on the side with min miles posted. I put myself between the 8 and 9 min mile signs. I wish everyone would pay attention to these signs and line up accordingly! Everyone gathered on the road next to the brewery and soon we were off!

It was a pretty hot and humid morning, so going into the race, I wasn't expecting much. I started off with a pretty good pace and just decided to go with it for as long as I could. We ran down the street, then turned to the left, onto a 4 lane road. They had one lane closed off for the runners. We were on this road for a short bit, before turning left into a neighborhood. We hit the half-way point in the neighborhood. I was still feeling pretty good. Not overheated, which I worried about in this humidity. I started picking out runners just ahead of me and then trying to catch up to them. We finished our loop through the neighborhood before heading back out and back to the brewery. From looking at the race map, I knew we didn't finish were we started. We were going to have to run a loop through the parking lot, to the finish line. I'm glad I looked, that way I didn't start my final speedy push to early. I picked off one runner after another. Feeling strong. I made my way into the parking lot, made the left turn, then a quick right, followed by two more rights, before seeing the finish line and pushing forward to a strong finish. I knew when I saw my time on my watch (25:40) that I was somewhere close to my PR, so I got back to my car and looked it up on my phone. I missed a PR by less than 10 seconds! I wonder if I knew what my PR was going into this run, if I would have been able to push it just a little bit more to get that PR. Not sure. I feel like I gave it my all. And with these conditions, I feel like I DID PR! Going to work on speed over the next months and hope to get a great PR soon. :)

Official Chip time finish: 25:35

Top Gun Triathlon

July 27, 2013

Me and Carolyn before race start.

Just a quick post about this race. It's a great race, very well run, lots of volunteers. I was not feeling it today. 


Swim (440 yards): Ug, why was my swim 3 minutes slower than last year! It was pretty choppy this morning. I had a hard time moving in the correct direction. I felt like I was getting tossed all over the place. Every time I would look up to see where I was, it didn't seem like I had moved very far. The men in the wave after mine, caught up to us just before turning around the last buoy. I was just trying to survive out there for the last bit of the swim in! Transition included the run up the beach and through the parking lot. Time - 11:30; T1 - 3:54
Bike (10 miles): I felt pretty good on the way out, but once we turned around and made the turn to the north, hitting the wind, I slowed down a lot. Just wasn't feeling it today. I could have pushed harder, but just didn't. I watched for friends already out on the run portion, yelling out when I saw someone. I realized if I was doing that, I probably didn't have my heart or head in the race. Time: 31:55; T2 - 1:35
Run (5K): The run started out great. My first mile was under 9 mins. Once we got off the sidewalk and onto the sand, I slowed way down. It didn't feel like I did, but I looked at my watch when I got to mile two and saw that it was a 10 min mile! So, I tried to pick up the pace a bit. I did manage to pass at least 5 women in my age group during the run. Passed one woman just was we got into the parking area and headed to the finish. Time: 29:59
Finish - 1:18:55
Not sure what lead to the funk I was in today. Maybe it was the heat (80s at start), lack of speed work, working out to much during the week, or the low calorie diet I've been on for a month. Possibly all were factors. Need a new plan for the next tri at the end of August. 




24 out of 55 in age group

Englewood Triathlon

July 13, 2013

Carolyn and I are on the road early, heading down to Englewood. It's raining most of the way down to the race, but weather forecast shows the rain will move out by race start. Hope they are right! We get to the race location faster than we thought. It is super dark out still. There are two guys trying to set up the fencing around the transition area. Not sure how they can see what they are doing. There are no lights for them! We head over to a table that looks like packet pickup and learn we have almost half an hour to wait. Pickup was a little later than we had thought. We go back to the car to hang out for a bit. At 5:45, we walk back over to get our packets. We get our bibs and shirts, but learn that the company in charge of timing is not there yet to give us our chips. So we head back to the car to hang out, get our stuff ready and grab our bikes. By the time we get done with this, we see that a long line has formed near the packet pickup. We head over and find out it is for body marking and chip pickup. I have never seen a single line that long before for body marking! After waiting for about 10 minutes, a woman comes over and tells people to form 3 lines for the body marking. Finally I get my numbers marked and head right over to get my chip. We head into transition and find our spots. I get everything set up, then we head to the bathrooms before going on to the beach.

Swim (400 meters): Carolyn and I were in the last of 4 swim waves, so once we got on the beach, we had a few minutes to wait as we watched each wave go off. The water was pretty choppy, but it looked like we were going to be swimming with the current. We got lined up just behind the first row of swimmers and soon were off! Right away I realized it was a mistake to start so close to the front. I could not stretch out and swim with all the people around me! I stopped, while I could still stand, and let the mass go ahead. Finally I was able to swim, with just a few people left around me. I made it around the first bouy, turned to the right and headed north. I had one lady swimming right behind me. She kept hitting my foot with her hand. This was very annoying because there was NO ONE around us! I picked up the pace a little to get some space from her. Soon, I could see a the majority of the swimmers way ahead of me, no one around me and just a small group behind me. I got off course briefly, swimming our a little to much, but got it corrected, soon making my way around the second buoy and swimming into shore. Just off the beach, we hit the timing mat. We then had to run through the parking lot into transition. There were little tiny gravel pieces to run over that did not feel good on the feet. ouch! Once I got to my bike, I dried off my face, put on my sunglasses and helmet, dried off my feet and then put on my socks and shoes before grabbing my bike and heading out of transition. Swim - 11:44. T1 - 2:10 (#10 out of 12 in the swim! yikes!)

Heading out to ride 13 miles.

Bike (13 miles): Heading out on the bike, I got a good pace going pretty quick. I kept checking my garmin to see my speed, but realized since I had changed it to multisport, it wasn't showing my speed, but my overall time. :( I wasn't sure how fast I was going, but I was going fast enough to start passing people. I managed to pass over ten people before getting to the turn around! There were a couple of giant puddles we had to ride around, but otherwise the course was pretty good. The first few miles were on nice, smooth road. Then we got to an older section of road, which was not as smooth. We got to the turn around, which was a very sharp turn. The three riders ahead of me actually got off their bike and walked it! I rode it slow, then picked up the pace and passed all 3 of them right after the turn. :) By now I am super hot and just dripping in sweat. Yuck! We had a bit of headwind going back, but not too bad. I managed to pick off a few more riders before turning back into transition. I racked my bike. Took off my sweaty tri top and swapped it for my lighter tank, that already had my bib attached. Switched my helmet for a visor and headed out of transition. Bike - 45:51, T2 - 1:00 ( moved up to 4th out of 12 on the bike!)

Run (5k): We pass by the finish line as we head out of transition. Some of the first athletes are finishing as we head out! We run out of the parking area, cross the street and then turn left at the corner. Across the street, I can see runners heading in the other direction. I yell out to Ren and then Patti. They are way ahead of me! I am feeling pretty good and passing people who are struggling in the heat. Just a bit before the turn around, I see Carolyn on the other side of the road. I hope to catch up to her before the end of the race. I make the turn, and pass by the water stop, since I have my hand held bottle. It's about half a mile back to the main road, where we turn left, away from the finish. I pass a few more runners, before I need to slow down myself. I am getting cramping in my side. We head south for a bit, then turn to the right, running down a side street, before joining up to the main road again. I stop at the last water stop, refilling my water bottle and dumping a cup of water on my head. It was nice and cold! It felt great. It gave me a little boost to pick up the pace again. I managed to pass a woman who was in my age group, about a block before the finish. I powered it in and finished strong! Run - 29:47. Finish 1:30:34. 4th overall finish!

I find Carolyn just past the finish line. We grab water bottles and find a shady spot near her bike. The woman I had passed a few blocks before the finish comes in and is not looking good. Her friend takes her over to another shady spot and is soon yelling for medical. I go over the the finish area and yell for medics too, but it takes 4 or 5 times of me yelling at people for someone to actually come over! I show them where the woman is and they rush to her. She seems to recover after a while. Didn't find out what happened. But since it was so hot, I'm sure the heat was a big factor. We head out of the transition area looking for food. The only thing that looks any good is at the Smoothie King table, where they have little sample cups. I end up with two of those before we head over to check results. I see that I have 4th in age group and Carolyn gets 6th in hers. We take a few photos before the rain hits. Happy that it held off! The rain lasts for only a few minutes. It's time to pack up. We head to transition, which is not being watched by volunteers! Anyone can walk in a grab whatever they want! Thankfully, all our stuff is still there. We pack up and head home. A good day of racing. :)

Tracy's Fat Ass Marathon

The small group of runners for the marathon and half marathon.

June 17, 2013
Marathon day 2.

I got to sleep in a little this morning, which was nice. I had gotten everything packed and ready to go last night, because I needed to check out when I left. I was not going to be able to come back and shower before driving back to my mom's house. I got dressed, grabbed my bags and headed downstairs. After checking out, I went across the street to get a cup of coffee from Starbucks, then picked up my mom's car from the garage next to the hotel, plugged in the address for the race and headed out.

I arrived at the park just before 7 am. The race start was 8am. Normally I would probably want to be earlier than this, but today, I could have taken my time, because race set up/bib pick up started at 7:45! It was a small race, so this worked out fine. Everyone got their bibs, we gathered for a few group photos and then went to the start line, which was next to the aid station. Tracy gave us the go ahead and we were off!

Trent, Lesley and May. Both Lesley and May were
on their 3rd marathon in 3 days!

I started at the front of the pack. I don't know why, because I soon realized I was getting caught up in the speed of the faster runners and should slow down. I told Lesley, who I had just met and who was running day 3 marathon!, that I was going to pull to the side and take a photo. Quickly I was one of the last runners of the group.

Surprisingly, I only felt tight for the first mile or so. There was a long downhill in the first part of that loop, which my quads were not happy about, so I ran down that slowly and gently. Soon, I was in a nice, easy paced run. I had my camera with me, so I just enjoyed taking photos of the lake and the other runners. Since most of the runners were going to reverse direction every lap, before I got to the end of my first lap, I saw runners coming back towards me. I took more photos, then put the camera away for a while. I probably took too much time at the aid station (12:58 mile), but I enjoyed chatting with the other runners and the volunteers. I was pretty much running on my own out there, only seeing other runners every once in a while. Very different then the massive crowds of the day before! The second lap went well. I didn't even bother trying to run up the long, steeper hill, but I was able to run some of the lower "hills". Hills for me, probably not for the locals. :)

Miles 1 through 9 - 10:38, 10:47, 11:54, 11:08, 12:58, 11:56, 11:21, 13:17, 11:39

I met Lance before the race. He was wearing
a Half Fanatics skirt! :)

It wasn't until about mile 10 or so, that I started to feel like I was stiffening up. But, I was able to keep at it, even though my pace started to slow down a lot. Once the half marathoners finished, there were not many of  us racers out there. There were, however, other runners doing their own thing. I had one older couple stop and ask me what we were doing. They were very impressed when I said we were running a marathon!

Lap 3 and 4 came and went. Just getting slower and slower, but determined to finish! I enjoyed seeing other racers when they would pass by behind me or from the other direction. It felt like I was running a trail race, a lot of solitude. And once you see the surrounding area a few times, not much new to see. During the middle of lap 5, I had to stop at one of the porta potties. I had seen the truck stop and clean it on an earlier lap, so I managed to have a semi clean potty spot. :) Just before going in there, I had crossed path with Leslie and another runner. We seemed to be on the same pace during the entire race, but when I got up to the aid station, they had already been through. I had fallen behind. Trent, Marathon Man, had just finished the marathon, so I hung out for a couple of minutes and took a photo with him. I did have to hurry him along, letting him now I still had a lap left. :)

Miles 10 through 21 - 13:44, 12:19, 13:10, 12:30, 16:30, 13:08, 12:35, 15:57, 13:10, 16:34, 13:58, 15:51

As I headed out for my last lap, I saw others coming towards me, about to finish up. May gave me a high five as she powered up her last hill. Amazing pace she had going for day 3! This last lap was by far my slowest lap. I pretty much walked the entire time. I did managed a very slow shuffle early in the lap, but my muscles were pretty stiff and it hurt to get in the running motion. Walking didn't really seem to hurt, though, so I tried to keep my walking pace faster. I pulled the camera out and took a bunch of pictures along the course. I just enjoyed the wonderful weather and great views. My last run in the cool temps, since I was heading back to humid Florida in a couple of days. I walked up the last big hill, saw the finish line in the distance and decided to try and run it in. Finally I finished! So happy to be done with day 2. A few people were still there hanging out. So I got to chat and take photos with them, before Tracy and the volunteers started packing things up.

Miles 22 through 26.2 - 14:56, 15:57, 16:47, 16:22, 16:08, 7:04 (I had 26.5 on garmin)
Finish: 6:02

With May (left) and with Race director Tracy.

What a great weekend in San Francisco. So happy to have completed my goal of running two marathons in 2 days, which has made me a 4 star maniac. Not sure I'll ever advance higher than that, but you never know, I may try 3 in 3 days next time. :)

4 Star Maniac!

San Francisco Marathon

June 16, 2013

Double race weekend was finally here! I was so excited and nervous as I drove up to San Francisco Saturday morning. Of course I realized as I was driving that I had forgotten the battery for my little camera I was going to carry with me during the race. It was still charging away back at my mom's house! I decided that if I saw a Best Buy or Target just off the highway, before I reached S.F., I would go buy a new one. I've been wanting one for a while anyway. Mine is a few years old and the battery doesn't hold a charge for very long. So, just before S.F. I see a Best Buy in a shopping center to my left. I end up going in and finding a nice camera with tons of battery life and that takes higher resolution pictures for a great price. And it's pink! :)

A few miles after the start.

I head into S.F. after that, finding a parking spot near the running store that is offering shuttle service to the expo. This was more of a sporting goods store. It was huge! 5 floors! I got on a shuttle right away, and a few minutes later, we were at the event. I went for my bib first. Thankfully I looked at it as I was walking away from the table, because the name on it said "Ted". Um, that's not me!! I took it back and got the right bib. Mine said "Go Maniac" :) Next, I headed over to the shirt tables. Not a good sign when no volunteers are at the table for large and xl shirts. I ask a girl at the size small table about the shirts. She said they were out of med, lg and xl! Shirts had run small, so they let people size up the day before. They would mail me one or I could choose a mens shirt. They looked the same, so I got a men's. It fits ok, the sleeves are short though. Next, I walked through the official race gear shop. I bought a visor and a purple shirt with the race logo. Then I headed out to the main shopping area of the expo. Crazyness! I bought a rubber race band with  my future goal time of 4:30. I wasn't going to wear it for this race, but it would be great for a future race to help me set a pace. :) After wandering around a bit and trying samples (I forgot to get lunch!), I headed back outside and caught the shuttle back to the Sports store. I wandered through there a bit and bought a couple of things. They had pretty good prices and they were items I can't get at my local running store. Finally I was able to plug in the address to my hotel and head on over there.

I got checked into my hotel, got everything unpacked and then went in search of food. I walked down to were the race start was, the Ferry terminal building, which has shops and restaurants. I ended up finding a gluten free shop. So, I ordered a sandwich and headed back. Since I didn't have any lunch, I was pretty hungry. I was a little worried about getting enough carbs in, the sandwich was kind of small, so I stopped at McDonalds and got a large order of fries. :)

I enjoyed my dinner while looking out at the great view I had from my room and then went down to the lobby to meet my brother, who was in town from Portland to volunteer the next morning with his dad. It was great seeing him, it's been a couple of years! We went to Walgreens, to buy a pair of long socks for me, which I was going to wear on my arms the next morning. I forgot to bring a pair of arm sleeves. Then we went back to the hotel bar and hung out and talked for a while. Got back to my room and was in bed by 9pm. I didn't sleep very well, so I was feeling pretty tired when I got up at 3:45 the next morning. I went down to the loby to wait for Jeff and the other marathon maniacs staying in the hotel, but they hadn't showed by 4:35, so I walked over to race start by myself. I didn't want to miss the pre race photo! They ended up making it in time for the photo then we all started making our way to the corral area. I had over an hour to wait until my corral was going to start, so I ate my power bar and then stood in line for the porta potty. I then headed to the corral and hung out with a marathon maniac from WA and another lady from Portland, who was on a quest to become a Maniac. It's such a beautiful morning out, clear and cool. No fog at all yet. Finally our corral made the walk to the start line and then we were off!

The first few miles are along the water front. We pass by the Coit Tower on our way to Fisherman's Wharf. Within a couple of miles, we are in the Presidio area and soon, making out way up the first big hill, mile 5. I plan on walking most hills. I don't want my legs to be shot before tomorrows race. We finally get to the top and start running over the Golden Gate bridge. You would think the bridge is flat, but I can feel a slight up hill for a little while. The space is tight for the runners. We have one lane heading over the bridge and the runners coming back have one lane. It gets hard to run around runners at certain spots. finally we make it to the other side and hit a water spot at the Vista Spot, which is mile 7.5. I stop to snap a photo, grab water and a snack and also refill the bottle I am carrying. Then, head back over the bridge.

Heading back over the bridge, we have a slight down hill and then it's right back up again. You can kind of see it in the photo. I plug away, running the flat sections, so that I can walk the up hills. Some of the grates on the bridge are covered with rubber mats. They are not flat, so you have to watch your step when running over them. One woman almost falls on her face right next to me when she trips on a mat. Thankfully she catches herself and is OK. We head off the bridge, turn to the right and then turn left and run up a huge hill! I run a little bit up it, because the water station is just before the middle, walk through the station and to the top of the hill. As we are running back down the other side, I see Jeff and his girlfriend ahead of me. It takes me a while to catch up to them, but I do. They haven't trained for this run, so are walking a lot of it. We wish each other luck and I continue on.

Miles 1 through 10 - 9:07, 9:24, 10:27, 9:39, 9:58, 12:52, 9:55, 10:35, 10:17, 11:05

Cute doggies cheering us along. :)

We then turn away from the coast, heading toward Golden Gate Park. Lots of uphills, with very few downhills. I remember this from the time I ran the half a few years ago. I feel bad for the halfers. The last 3 miles are mostly up hill with a little bit of flatness! We head into the park, where the half marathoners split off. We have a wide road to run on now and a much smaller marathon group of runners. About a mile in, we pass by the start line of the second half marathon. The last corral had just started. So we have the slower runners/walkers on our left. We split from them briefly, when they add a loop, and then join again. We run in the park until mile 19! Finally we pass the finish line of the first half group. I would have loved for someone to toss me a banana. We see the finished runners with their food and mylar blankets. That is no fun!

Miles 11 through 19 - 10:04, 11:59, 11:42, 10:11, 12:41, 12:15, 13:44, 11:05, 13:07

Then, we run down Haight street. Lots of interesting shops there. :) The course is fairly flat for a while, so I am able to run more. But my quads are feeling pretty sore from running all the downhills. I decide to slow the pace more and walk even more. I want to be able to complete the marathon the next day!

I look forward to getting to mile 23. My brother had said he should be between mile 23 and 24. So, for the entire mile, I am looking closely at all the volunteers, but unfortunalty, I don't see him anywhere. :( That was a bummer.

Miles 20 through 24 - 11:59, 12:13, 11:46, 13:04, 14:13

Just past mile 24, we are running along the waterfront again. We pass some cool bands. The rest of the course is flat, so I am trying to run as much as I can, but my legs are hurting! All I can think about are my 110% compression tights waiting for me in my room. Not food, but compression! That's how sore my muscles were feeling!

Soon, I see the AT&T ball park in the distance. We turn to the right, run around the backside of the park and head towards the Bay Bridge, which was near the finish line. I get to the mile 26 sign and take a look at my Garmin. It reads 26.5! I was way off. So rough running a longer distance than 26.2. I used what little kick I had left to run the last quarter of a mile hard, finishing with a big smile on my face. Day 1 was completed!

Miles 25, 26 and .8 - 16:00, 12:57, 8:50

Finish 5:19