How Sweet
Black and Whites
In Black and White
I was having a little too much fun tonight when I found out my digital camera could take black and white shots!
My Newish Blog
Wow it is SOOOOO much easier to publish photos to blogger than to tblog. I am going to temporarily try out this new blog site and eventually decide between this and tblog for all my updates and photos.
Freaking Sweet
I got my Marathon DVD from Boston today. It is awesome! They did a great job with the elite coverage as well as getting some individual shots of myself at the starting line, 10k, 15k, half, 30k, 40k, and finish.
Really a nice way to commemorate my first Boston, although a bit pricey
Really a nice way to commemorate my first Boston, although a bit pricey
Quick Swim
Didn't do much yesterday but managed to get in a 15 minute swim. I guess that it's better than nothing.
Tonight is a track workout. I want to work on getting my track pace down to 6:00...
Tonight is a track workout. I want to work on getting my track pace down to 6:00...
My Body is going on strike
Went to the track tonight. I was having a great workout until the tail end. I even had some ladies to keep me company tonight, which probably helped me to be faster than two weeks ago.
My hamstring was a little sore during the race on Sunday and it felt about the same tonight. Well the last set of 200s did it in. I couldn't even finish the workout. Which really blows.
It is frustrating to feel so good and be capable of running quick but then hurting yourself and not being able to run at all
Oh well this is probably my body saying Hello Freak I need a break! So I am going to take it easy for the rest of the week. Nothing fast. Lots of ice and lots of stretching.
Here is how the workout went until I crapped out:
mile warm up
1200: 4:48.06
600: 2:21.22
600: 2:19.64
400: 1:31.40
400: 1:30.91
400: 1:31.12
200: 43.58
200: 42.55
200: 43.87
half mile cool down
My hamstring was a little sore during the race on Sunday and it felt about the same tonight. Well the last set of 200s did it in. I couldn't even finish the workout. Which really blows.
It is frustrating to feel so good and be capable of running quick but then hurting yourself and not being able to run at all
Oh well this is probably my body saying Hello Freak I need a break! So I am going to take it easy for the rest of the week. Nothing fast. Lots of ice and lots of stretching.
Here is how the workout went until I crapped out:
mile warm up
1200: 4:48.06
600: 2:21.22
600: 2:19.64
400: 1:31.40
400: 1:30.91
400: 1:31.12
200: 43.58
200: 42.55
200: 43.87
half mile cool down
Blossom Run
Yesterday was the Blossom 5.25 mile run. Blossom is a huge weekend in Chagrin Falls. They have a carnival, hot air balloon race, parade, Chagrin Falls High School Reunions, and tons of parties.
I have been going to my in laws family friends parade party for 4 years now. We always have a good time and get to eat great food! The parade is a typical parade with a few marching bands, a few bagpipe bands, one kazoo band!, tons of cars with political figures and Blossom queen and attendants, the calliope is my favorite and has always been at the end of the parade since I have started coming to Blossom.
This year I decided to do the 5.25 mile race (need to get ready for the Strawberry Run 8k!). It is a pretty hilly course but I did okay and managed to squeak out 1st in my age group. There were about 1800 runners there including the man who won the Cleveland Marathon last week.
I came in at 37:57 about 7:14 pace. I want to run 6:30-6:45 pace at the Strawberry run so I have some serious work to do during the next month. (Beyond my Chicago Tri training!)
After the race I had a funnel cake and later some vinegar fries! You have to love carnival food! My legs have been feeling pretty achy since before the Memphis Tri. They feel pretty crappy this morning. But I have been eating lots of junk food and drinking plenty of beer and wine....so, I think it is time to go without alcohol for the next few months, and I need to start eating better.
Today I want to try and swim but we are going to go check out the Blue Heron nests I think.
I have been going to my in laws family friends parade party for 4 years now. We always have a good time and get to eat great food! The parade is a typical parade with a few marching bands, a few bagpipe bands, one kazoo band!, tons of cars with political figures and Blossom queen and attendants, the calliope is my favorite and has always been at the end of the parade since I have started coming to Blossom.
This year I decided to do the 5.25 mile race (need to get ready for the Strawberry Run 8k!). It is a pretty hilly course but I did okay and managed to squeak out 1st in my age group. There were about 1800 runners there including the man who won the Cleveland Marathon last week.
I came in at 37:57 about 7:14 pace. I want to run 6:30-6:45 pace at the Strawberry run so I have some serious work to do during the next month. (Beyond my Chicago Tri training!)
After the race I had a funnel cake and later some vinegar fries! You have to love carnival food! My legs have been feeling pretty achy since before the Memphis Tri. They feel pretty crappy this morning. But I have been eating lots of junk food and drinking plenty of beer and wine....so, I think it is time to go without alcohol for the next few months, and I need to start eating better.
Today I want to try and swim but we are going to go check out the Blue Heron nests I think.
Cycling and my poodle kitty
Went in to work early today so that I could get out
to pick up my kitty from his date with the groomer.
Milford has been getting lazy with his self grooming
and won't let me brush his mats out. So as a last
resort he went today and got a lion cut.
The poor thing had to be sedated and he looks pretty
funny now. But I think he actually likes it, and as a bonus
I saw him grooming himself twice tonight!!!
Since I was back at a reasonable hour tonight I went
and rode bike with A and friends. I thought I was
going to go for a 40 minute ride but we ended up doing
closer to 2 hours and 24 miles.
I felt great and the weather outside is beautiful.
After:
I survived
Well I survived my second Olympic distance triathlon! And it turned out to be a lovely day.
I surprised myself during most of the event and ended up with good splits out on the course. The new bike was a godsend and cut about 12 minutes off my bike time from Chicago!
The day turned out to be cooler than expected which was great. I was very worried about the heat. The water temp however was not cool. It was a balmy 80 degrees, which meant no wetsuit!
I still managed to swim very well and this race had a time trial start, which led to a much less crowded swim. I still had lake scum in my tri top when I got back to the hotel and finally showered
A huge and pleasant surprise was two of my sorority sisters showing up to support me in this endeavor. They had to wake up at 3am in order to get there and see me compete. I was very grateful for their support. I couldn't ask for better sisters!
Hopefully they enjoyed themselves. I am sure there was lots of eye candy out on the course. Triathletes are hotties!!!
My hubby also came to Memphis with me and was a great spectator!!! He was there for me as I headed out on the run when I was feeling pretty crappy but he lifted my spirits!
The drive down and back was long but the weekend was very nice and worth the time spent getting there and back.
All of our participants did great and I am very proud. They are very generous and I hope they enjoyed the end result of all their training and fundraising efforts.
Stats:
Swim: 26:50
T1: 2:27
Bike: 1:18:44
T2: 2:10
Run: 50:10
Total 2:40:20
I surprised myself during most of the event and ended up with good splits out on the course. The new bike was a godsend and cut about 12 minutes off my bike time from Chicago!
The day turned out to be cooler than expected which was great. I was very worried about the heat. The water temp however was not cool. It was a balmy 80 degrees, which meant no wetsuit!
I still managed to swim very well and this race had a time trial start, which led to a much less crowded swim. I still had lake scum in my tri top when I got back to the hotel and finally showered
A huge and pleasant surprise was two of my sorority sisters showing up to support me in this endeavor. They had to wake up at 3am in order to get there and see me compete. I was very grateful for their support. I couldn't ask for better sisters!
Hopefully they enjoyed themselves. I am sure there was lots of eye candy out on the course. Triathletes are hotties!!!
My hubby also came to Memphis with me and was a great spectator!!! He was there for me as I headed out on the run when I was feeling pretty crappy but he lifted my spirits!
The drive down and back was long but the weekend was very nice and worth the time spent getting there and back.
All of our participants did great and I am very proud. They are very generous and I hope they enjoyed the end result of all their training and fundraising efforts.
Stats:
Swim: 26:50
T1: 2:27
Bike: 1:18:44
T2: 2:10
Run: 50:10
Total 2:40:20
Off to Memphis
About to make the 11 and a half hour drive to Memphis!
Lets hope for cool weather on Sunday!!!
Lets hope for cool weather on Sunday!!!
Night Owl
I've been very busy at work and my social calendar has been quite busy so it has been hard to squeeze in workouts lately during the week. So I just went out for a quick but easy run. Just 20 minutes to get my legs into running mode.
I am going to try and get in a 30 minute easy swim tomorrow and then another 20-30 minute run on Thursday.
Then Friday we are driving all day so I won't be doing much more until the race on Sunday.
I am not expecting big things this time. I will probably end up with a similar time as Chicago, but only because of the new speedier road bike. I think my swim will be about the same or a little slower than Chicago and I think my run may be as much as 6-8 minutes slower than Chicago. Hopefully the new bike will shave 5-10 minutes off my bike time.
I hope everyone does well! I am excited to see how my mentees do!!!
I am going to try and get in a 30 minute easy swim tomorrow and then another 20-30 minute run on Thursday.
Then Friday we are driving all day so I won't be doing much more until the race on Sunday.
I am not expecting big things this time. I will probably end up with a similar time as Chicago, but only because of the new speedier road bike. I think my swim will be about the same or a little slower than Chicago and I think my run may be as much as 6-8 minutes slower than Chicago. Hopefully the new bike will shave 5-10 minutes off my bike time.
I hope everyone does well! I am excited to see how my mentees do!!!
3 day hiatus
Working out just wasn't in the cards Thursday through Saturday. Too much work and too much life to deal with
I finally did get out this morning with A, S, and K. We went down to lock 29 and rode about 28 miles. We did about half of it leisurely and about half at a good pace. There is a 13 mile loop and at 6.6 you can stop and look at the great blue herons nesting! It was really fascinating. Their nests were in these huge trees and you could see one tall heron in each nest and if you looked closely you could see several tiny necks bouncing around in the nest Really neat! I didn't count the nests but there were at least 3 huge trees full of them. Maybe like 30 nests!!!
I am hoping they will still be in the nests for a little while so my husband and I can go down and see them together.
I am pretty exhausted and it is manifesting in irritability with many small things. So I need to get in some naps this week and get my apartment organized before Memphis so I can be cheery again
I finally did get out this morning with A, S, and K. We went down to lock 29 and rode about 28 miles. We did about half of it leisurely and about half at a good pace. There is a 13 mile loop and at 6.6 you can stop and look at the great blue herons nesting! It was really fascinating. Their nests were in these huge trees and you could see one tall heron in each nest and if you looked closely you could see several tiny necks bouncing around in the nest Really neat! I didn't count the nests but there were at least 3 huge trees full of them. Maybe like 30 nests!!!
I am hoping they will still be in the nests for a little while so my husband and I can go down and see them together.
I am pretty exhausted and it is manifesting in irritability with many small things. So I need to get in some naps this week and get my apartment organized before Memphis so I can be cheery again
Swimming & Fundraising
Just got out of the pool. I was exhausted this morning and couldn't drag myself out of bed. So I did my workout tonight.
Just did a 5 minute warm up. About 10-15 minutes of drills. A set of kick, pull, then free
And then 10 "40 yd" (Approximate as I have no idea the size of our pool) sprints on 45 second splits (about 6 seconds rest for each one). Then I did a short kicking cool down for a total of 35 minutes of swimming.
Fundraising plans for Columbus are starting to get under way. I am in the planning stages for a poker party, miniature golf outing, and a mud wrestling party! Any other fun ideas are more than welcome!
Just did a 5 minute warm up. About 10-15 minutes of drills. A set of kick, pull, then free
And then 10 "40 yd" (Approximate as I have no idea the size of our pool) sprints on 45 second splits (about 6 seconds rest for each one). Then I did a short kicking cool down for a total of 35 minutes of swimming.
Fundraising plans for Columbus are starting to get under way. I am in the planning stages for a poker party, miniature golf outing, and a mud wrestling party! Any other fun ideas are more than welcome!
This evenings Track Workout
My left hamstring is a little off. I think I overworked it a bit this weekend. So I went to the track tonight under the condition that if started to feel worse I would stop.
It didn't get worse but pretty much stayed at the same level of pain as when I started so I did the whole workout.
1 mile warm up
3* 400
3* 800
3* 400
1 mile cool down
I did almost everything at 6:40 pace.
Splits:
400's
1:38.39
1:38.08
1:38.65
800's
3:20.38
3:28.52
3:26.00
400's
1:40.31
1:38.91
1:27.38
It didn't get worse but pretty much stayed at the same level of pain as when I started so I did the whole workout.
1 mile warm up
3* 400
3* 800
3* 400
1 mile cool down
I did almost everything at 6:40 pace.
Splits:
400's
1:38.39
1:38.08
1:38.65
800's
3:20.38
3:28.52
3:26.00
400's
1:40.31
1:38.91
1:27.38
Saturday Regatta and Trail Running
Saturday was a long day. I drove about 4 hours down to Athens to see my baby sis row. It was a pretty nice day and the drive wasn't too bad except for being by myself and being extremely tired. I left around 6:30 because she was supposed to row at 11.
I made a few wrong turns in the park and pulled in around 10:45 so I ran out along the lake in my jeans to try and catch as much of the race as I could. I made it out as far as I could before the trail takes a turn around the lake and waited for her heat to come by.
About 5 minutes later they did so I cheered and started running along side trying to keep up as they rowed in to the finish. I managed to see most of the race. The places seemed pretty much cemented by the time they got to me anyways. Unfortunately they didn't qualify for the finals but at least I got to see her row. I hung out for awhile and then did a 45 minute run on the trails. I got completely muddy. My shoes are a mess!
I probably ran a little too fast but it was nice to get out on the trails for a change.
Didn't get home until around 9:45 pm. I ate some dinner, did some laundry, then headed to bed.
I made a few wrong turns in the park and pulled in around 10:45 so I ran out along the lake in my jeans to try and catch as much of the race as I could. I made it out as far as I could before the trail takes a turn around the lake and waited for her heat to come by.
About 5 minutes later they did so I cheered and started running along side trying to keep up as they rowed in to the finish. I managed to see most of the race. The places seemed pretty much cemented by the time they got to me anyways. Unfortunately they didn't qualify for the finals but at least I got to see her row. I hung out for awhile and then did a 45 minute run on the trails. I got completely muddy. My shoes are a mess!
I probably ran a little too fast but it was nice to get out on the trails for a change.
Didn't get home until around 9:45 pm. I ate some dinner, did some laundry, then headed to bed.
Sunday 5 k race and Bricks
Sunday morning woke up around 7 and headed over to Independence for the 6th annual Mom's Day 5k race. E.M. puts this on in memory of her parents and I wanted to support. There were quite a few people there and the race course was certified and not too difficult.
I, like the idiot that I can be managed to lock my keys in the car right before the race. I had my husbands’ car because I can fit my bike in the back and it is safely locked up while I am running. Well I grabbed MY truck keys and locked the doors...so after the race I had to find a cop to come unlock the door for me. He totally jacked up the passenger side lock, but at least I got in the car I guess.
So I ran the race trying not to think about my locked car. I did okay but not as well as I hoped to do. I guess I really shouldn't have expected much since I haven't done many track workouts this year. I ran around 21:45 and still got 1st in my age group. Must not have been too many girls there in my age group. I am not sure because I missed the awards while the cop was unlocking my door But S grabbed my award. A managed to take 3rd in her age group and also got an award.
After the race we headed over to the towpath and hopped on our bikes. I rode north and back about 13.5 miles with A, S, and K. We were taking it easy most of the way and S and K had to jet after the first loop. But A and I headed out for one more loop to get in 26 miles. We rode pretty fast...I could barely keep up with her! I am not feeling very strong on the bike yet that is for sure. But by the second loop I was having a much easier time starting and stopping and I didn't fall at all.
After the ride I ran one mile hard. My legs felt awful, and it took me about 8 minutes to run the mile. I headed back in and walk/jogged for about 15 minutes as a cool down.
Tonight is the kickoff for the Fall TNT season. Looking forward to meeting my Columbus team and my Chicago mentees!
I, like the idiot that I can be managed to lock my keys in the car right before the race. I had my husbands’ car because I can fit my bike in the back and it is safely locked up while I am running. Well I grabbed MY truck keys and locked the doors...so after the race I had to find a cop to come unlock the door for me. He totally jacked up the passenger side lock, but at least I got in the car I guess.
So I ran the race trying not to think about my locked car. I did okay but not as well as I hoped to do. I guess I really shouldn't have expected much since I haven't done many track workouts this year. I ran around 21:45 and still got 1st in my age group. Must not have been too many girls there in my age group. I am not sure because I missed the awards while the cop was unlocking my door But S grabbed my award. A managed to take 3rd in her age group and also got an award.
After the race we headed over to the towpath and hopped on our bikes. I rode north and back about 13.5 miles with A, S, and K. We were taking it easy most of the way and S and K had to jet after the first loop. But A and I headed out for one more loop to get in 26 miles. We rode pretty fast...I could barely keep up with her! I am not feeling very strong on the bike yet that is for sure. But by the second loop I was having a much easier time starting and stopping and I didn't fall at all.
After the ride I ran one mile hard. My legs felt awful, and it took me about 8 minutes to run the mile. I headed back in and walk/jogged for about 15 minutes as a cool down.
Tonight is the kickoff for the Fall TNT season. Looking forward to meeting my Columbus team and my Chicago mentees!
Friday Bike Ride
Friday Night I headed down to North Royalton and rode bikes while K and B ran. I managed to ride for an hour and 25 minutes before it got dark and probably did just under 20 miles. I felt okay but I was still having issues with stopping at lights. It is not the most comfortable position when you are surrounded by cars and you are not comfortable on your bike or with your new shoes yet
Swimming :)
Dragged myself out of bed a little late this morning and missed the warm ups at the TNT swim. But I managed to get a good workout in and did the warm ups as my cool down
Run down as I remember it:
50 kick no board
50 kick with board
50 kick with strokes on every breath
50 kick on our backs
50 catch up
50 slow arm recovery
25 kick, 25 catch up, 25 slow arm, 25 sprint
25 sprint, 25 slow arm, 25 catch up, 25 kick
200 with 30 seconds rest
150 with 20 seconds rest
100 with 10 seconds rest
50 hard
50 easy breast stroke
200 with 30 seconds rest
150 with 20 seconds rest
100 with 10 seconds rest
50 hard
100 meter medley (fly, back, breast, free)
50 easy
300 cool down
Total: Around 2000 yds
Tonight cycling!
Run down as I remember it:
50 kick no board
50 kick with board
50 kick with strokes on every breath
50 kick on our backs
50 catch up
50 slow arm recovery
25 kick, 25 catch up, 25 slow arm, 25 sprint
25 sprint, 25 slow arm, 25 catch up, 25 kick
200 with 30 seconds rest
150 with 20 seconds rest
100 with 10 seconds rest
50 hard
50 easy breast stroke
200 with 30 seconds rest
150 with 20 seconds rest
100 with 10 seconds rest
50 hard
100 meter medley (fly, back, breast, free)
50 easy
300 cool down
Total: Around 2000 yds
Tonight cycling!
More on the Florida Weekend
So after our group swim we were free to do whatever we wanted until dinner. I spent that time making posters for everyones doors and soaking up some rays. At this point I had about 4 different burn lines from Boston and the walk the previous day. I was getting some pretty interesting looks from passerby!
I am totally not artistic at all but I made signs for everyone in Chicago and I think they appreciated it so I figured I would do it again this year. Amie and I signed them all and before the pasta party we put them up on everyones doors. We made a "special" sign for Coach K with a drawing of him in a speedo with clearly labeled six pack. Hopefully he liked it!
At the TNT Pasta parties you are welcomed by all the coaches, mentors, and staff cheering wildly for you as you walk in to dinner. So I got to partake in the cheering this time around. It was pretty fun watching everyone come in. There were so many participants this year that they had to have two pasta parties.
After the pasta party I went and chilled with Coach K and some of the other coaches from Washington D.C. I sure am not good at making new friends. I think I managed to piss off most of them there.
Apparently a lot of serious triathletes and even marathoners are not appreciative of Team in Training. They call us the "Purple Menace" (EUGS take note I think they are on to something with this name!) Because we apparently are not good for the sports.
From a triathletes view I guess they don't want anyone new coming into their sport and are irritated if there are newcomers in a race that may get in their way or slow them down two seconds if they have to pass them. And I guess a lot of marathoners are peeved because TNT was a major contributor to the idea of walking a marathon.
IMHO I think that is all CRAP!!! Anything that gets people off the couch and onto a race course is good by me. I know personally I never would have gotten the nerve to do my first triathlon if Team in Training hadn't sent me a flyer and offered coaching etc. Plus what kind of egotistical jerk doesn't want to introduce more people to their sport? Personally I think they are just mad because a lot of us "Purple Menacers" are kicking their butts!
Anyways so some of these coaches were siding with that opinion and I told them I thought that was crap. So they didn't like that.
Also I noticed the head DC coach dipping! And I asked him why he was doing it. He got very defensive. I still think it is awfully ironic though. He is an Ironman Triathlete and he coaches for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. And he is partaking in a habit that is almost guaranteed to cause cancer. But that is just me.
Anyways I need to learn to turn my filter on around new people (this is definitely made more difficult by alcohol consumption). Had they known me they probably wouldn't have been so offended by me. Oh well!
More on race day soon!!!
I am totally not artistic at all but I made signs for everyone in Chicago and I think they appreciated it so I figured I would do it again this year. Amie and I signed them all and before the pasta party we put them up on everyones doors. We made a "special" sign for Coach K with a drawing of him in a speedo with clearly labeled six pack. Hopefully he liked it!
At the TNT Pasta parties you are welcomed by all the coaches, mentors, and staff cheering wildly for you as you walk in to dinner. So I got to partake in the cheering this time around. It was pretty fun watching everyone come in. There were so many participants this year that they had to have two pasta parties.
After the pasta party I went and chilled with Coach K and some of the other coaches from Washington D.C. I sure am not good at making new friends. I think I managed to piss off most of them there.
Apparently a lot of serious triathletes and even marathoners are not appreciative of Team in Training. They call us the "Purple Menace" (EUGS take note I think they are on to something with this name!) Because we apparently are not good for the sports.
From a triathletes view I guess they don't want anyone new coming into their sport and are irritated if there are newcomers in a race that may get in their way or slow them down two seconds if they have to pass them. And I guess a lot of marathoners are peeved because TNT was a major contributor to the idea of walking a marathon.
IMHO I think that is all CRAP!!! Anything that gets people off the couch and onto a race course is good by me. I know personally I never would have gotten the nerve to do my first triathlon if Team in Training hadn't sent me a flyer and offered coaching etc. Plus what kind of egotistical jerk doesn't want to introduce more people to their sport? Personally I think they are just mad because a lot of us "Purple Menacers" are kicking their butts!
Anyways so some of these coaches were siding with that opinion and I told them I thought that was crap. So they didn't like that.
Also I noticed the head DC coach dipping! And I asked him why he was doing it. He got very defensive. I still think it is awfully ironic though. He is an Ironman Triathlete and he coaches for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. And he is partaking in a habit that is almost guaranteed to cause cancer. But that is just me.
Anyways I need to learn to turn my filter on around new people (this is definitely made more difficult by alcohol consumption). Had they known me they probably wouldn't have been so offended by me. Oh well!
More on race day soon!!!
Evening Bike Ride
Went to Bedford and rode bikes with A tonight. Not sure at all how far we went but we rode for an hour and 20 minutes. I have a feeling we didn't go very far, but hopefully we went at least 16-18 miles
Oh well at least I am getting practice on the new bike and in the new bike shoes. And I didn't fall tonight! So that is an improvement.
Oh well at least I am getting practice on the new bike and in the new bike shoes. And I didn't fall tonight! So that is an improvement.
Morning Swimming
My left calf has been bothering me so I am skipping the track workout tonight and swam this morning instead.
I just did 30 minutes in the pool. Mostly drills and about 10 minutes of intervals.
There have been some interesting characters in the pool the past two times I have went. Perhaps I am going too late for the usual morning adult swim crowd...
I just did 30 minutes in the pool. Mostly drills and about 10 minutes of intervals.
There have been some interesting characters in the pool the past two times I have went. Perhaps I am going too late for the usual morning adult swim crowd...
Boston Aquarium
Finally got a moment to post some more pics
Upside Down Jellies
Cute little Blue Frog
Sea Turtle
Penguins
Fun Times in St. Petersburg
I feel like I am falling way behind with the blogging. Sorry!
April 22nd through the 25th I was in St. Petersburg Florida with most of the Team in Training Spring Triathlon team. The rest of the team (as well as myself) will be competing in Memphis on May 22nd!
While I would much rather have been competing in the triathlon I did have a great time in Florida despite being only a spectator
We all went out for lunch at the end of the pier as soon as we got to Florida and I tried Mahi Mahi for the first time. Lunch was good but we were rushed because we needed to get everyone’s bikes unloaded from the truck. After unloading bikes we headed over to the expo. Everyone got their race packet and we perused the booths. They were giving a free beer with registration so I ended up getting free drinks from everyone
A few of the girls got wetsuits and I picked up two dri fit "Iron Girl" tees for A and I.
We decided to go to dinner at an Oyster Bar. I tried Oysters on the half shell for the first time and had some great Salmon! Afterwards T and I went to a piano bar. We had a drink and watched the free entertainment. It consisted of a piano player and a middle-aged lady dancing to "You can leave you hat on" on top of the piano. I don't think this was an uncommon thing for her. It was very amusing. I can't even put into words the whole scene. Just imagine a little too tight jeans, a cowboy hat as her prop of choice, some serious stripper dance moves, and about 20 middle-aged adults watching.
The next morning I got up and ran with coach K. That was my first run after Boston and I felt pretty shitty. I just did 40 minutes.
After the run everyone went down to the beach to get our feet wet. I decided to do the group swim with everyone even though I wasn't competing. First thing I see is a fin diving under water. I am like oh great! So I looked a little closer and luckily it was a dolphin playing just offshore, not a shark. I have a really evil imagination and can freak myself out easily in open water. So I was glad that it was a dolphin and not a shark
They had already started putting up buoys for the race the next day so we swam out along the buoys. I have never felt so horrible swimming! The combination of salt water, waves, and my own lack of being in the water lately made for a very ugly swim. I really thought I was going to vomit and was having a very hard time navigating. To top it off I stepped on something that wriggled under my feet. NOT my idea of fun!
So I was a little disappointed in the swim but started to feel better on the walk back.
Time is catching up with me again. I promise to post more on St. Petersburg later!
April 22nd through the 25th I was in St. Petersburg Florida with most of the Team in Training Spring Triathlon team. The rest of the team (as well as myself) will be competing in Memphis on May 22nd!
While I would much rather have been competing in the triathlon I did have a great time in Florida despite being only a spectator
We all went out for lunch at the end of the pier as soon as we got to Florida and I tried Mahi Mahi for the first time. Lunch was good but we were rushed because we needed to get everyone’s bikes unloaded from the truck. After unloading bikes we headed over to the expo. Everyone got their race packet and we perused the booths. They were giving a free beer with registration so I ended up getting free drinks from everyone
A few of the girls got wetsuits and I picked up two dri fit "Iron Girl" tees for A and I.
We decided to go to dinner at an Oyster Bar. I tried Oysters on the half shell for the first time and had some great Salmon! Afterwards T and I went to a piano bar. We had a drink and watched the free entertainment. It consisted of a piano player and a middle-aged lady dancing to "You can leave you hat on" on top of the piano. I don't think this was an uncommon thing for her. It was very amusing. I can't even put into words the whole scene. Just imagine a little too tight jeans, a cowboy hat as her prop of choice, some serious stripper dance moves, and about 20 middle-aged adults watching.
The next morning I got up and ran with coach K. That was my first run after Boston and I felt pretty shitty. I just did 40 minutes.
After the run everyone went down to the beach to get our feet wet. I decided to do the group swim with everyone even though I wasn't competing. First thing I see is a fin diving under water. I am like oh great! So I looked a little closer and luckily it was a dolphin playing just offshore, not a shark. I have a really evil imagination and can freak myself out easily in open water. So I was glad that it was a dolphin and not a shark
They had already started putting up buoys for the race the next day so we swam out along the buoys. I have never felt so horrible swimming! The combination of salt water, waves, and my own lack of being in the water lately made for a very ugly swim. I really thought I was going to vomit and was having a very hard time navigating. To top it off I stepped on something that wriggled under my feet. NOT my idea of fun!
So I was a little disappointed in the swim but started to feel better on the walk back.
Time is catching up with me again. I promise to post more on St. Petersburg later!
This Weekends Workouts
I have been hectic busy but here is a summary of this weekends workouts.
Saturday went to Peninsula and planned on running 5 miles with A. We got lost and ended up running 9 miles instead. In the cold rain I was pretty peeved around 4 miles but I ended up feeling pretty good the last few miles, probably because they were downhill
We had planned on riding bikes that afternoon but the rain kept us from getting out. So we went and ran Sunday morning in Solon. We only did 5 miles since we had run long Saturday. I didn't feel great but we still ran around 9 minute miles. I was running late so only doing 5 worked out for meeting everyone at the Bagel shop.
A and I went to North Chagrin yesterday afternoon and rode bikes. We did 20 miles really slow! I am a little dissapointed that I am not faster but hopefully that will come with practice.
Today is a rest day and man could I use it. I fell asleep last night and was out cold till morning.
I don't know if I wrote about it here but I signed up to fundraise and participate in another TNT event. I am going to run the Columbus Marathon in October and raise $2000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
I am also going to mentor for the Chicago Triathlon. So I will be keeping busy this summer.
If anyone has any great fundraising ideas let me know because I want to try and raise most of the money without asking for direct donations this time around.
If you want to donate click the TNT link under cool sites on the right hand side of the page.
Thank you to E.M. for my first donation!!!
Saturday went to Peninsula and planned on running 5 miles with A. We got lost and ended up running 9 miles instead. In the cold rain I was pretty peeved around 4 miles but I ended up feeling pretty good the last few miles, probably because they were downhill
We had planned on riding bikes that afternoon but the rain kept us from getting out. So we went and ran Sunday morning in Solon. We only did 5 miles since we had run long Saturday. I didn't feel great but we still ran around 9 minute miles. I was running late so only doing 5 worked out for meeting everyone at the Bagel shop.
A and I went to North Chagrin yesterday afternoon and rode bikes. We did 20 miles really slow! I am a little dissapointed that I am not faster but hopefully that will come with practice.
Today is a rest day and man could I use it. I fell asleep last night and was out cold till morning.
I don't know if I wrote about it here but I signed up to fundraise and participate in another TNT event. I am going to run the Columbus Marathon in October and raise $2000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
I am also going to mentor for the Chicago Triathlon. So I will be keeping busy this summer.
If anyone has any great fundraising ideas let me know because I want to try and raise most of the money without asking for direct donations this time around.
If you want to donate click the TNT link under cool sites on the right hand side of the page.
Thank you to E.M. for my first donation!!!
OCR 2
Took my new ride out for a test "drive" through Cuyahoga Valley tonight. The rain held off and the sun stayed up long enough for me to get in 16 miles in an hour.
Not as fast as I would like to be going but I have like 3 weeks to get faster before Memphis ;) I need to get my body back in riding shape. My hands hurt a bit and my neck and back were definately not up to par. I am still not completely used to the new handlbars yet. And riding in the drops downhill still scares me to death. But I think I can handle the new shoes and clipless pedals.
I need to swim in the morning so I have to cut this short. This weekend is packed but hopefully I will finally find some time to write about the actual MARATHON this weekend!
Not as fast as I would like to be going but I have like 3 weeks to get faster before Memphis ;) I need to get my body back in riding shape. My hands hurt a bit and my neck and back were definately not up to par. I am still not completely used to the new handlbars yet. And riding in the drops downhill still scares me to death. But I think I can handle the new shoes and clipless pedals.
I need to swim in the morning so I have to cut this short. This weekend is packed but hopefully I will finally find some time to write about the actual MARATHON this weekend!
TNT Swim
Dragged myself out of bed early this morning to Peak Performance for the TNT morning swim workout.
Had a strawberry bananna Power Gel gu for breakfast. Uggh. That and my chimichanga from last night do not mix well during a morning swim.
warmed up with an easy 200 swim
did 50 kickboard drill
50 kick without board
100 catch up drill
50 slow arm recovery
50 sculling drill
200 easy
150 medium
100 medium hard
50 all out
50 backstroke easy
3 sets of
50 breast easy
50 free medium
50 free all out
50 cool down
total yards approximately 1550
I would like to get up to around 2500 before Memphis. YIKES!
Off to work.
Had a strawberry bananna Power Gel gu for breakfast. Uggh. That and my chimichanga from last night do not mix well during a morning swim.
warmed up with an easy 200 swim
did 50 kickboard drill
50 kick without board
100 catch up drill
50 slow arm recovery
50 sculling drill
200 easy
150 medium
100 medium hard
50 all out
50 backstroke easy
3 sets of
50 breast easy
50 free medium
50 free all out
50 cool down
total yards approximately 1550
I would like to get up to around 2500 before Memphis. YIKES!
Off to work.
Boston Race!
Okay here is the scoop on Boston FINALLY!
Woke up at 5 am Monday morning and couldn’t fall back asleep. So I showered grabbed my stuff and headed down to the subway. It was completely empty! One other runner got on the train at my stop.
So all my stressing the night before was a HUGE waste of time. I got to the girls hotel way early so I ate a bagel and banana and hunkered down on a sofa with a copy of Runner’s World.
About an hour later the girls came down and we headed to Boston Commons to get on the bus! Yes that’s right big yellow school buses are the official transport to the start of the Boston Marathon (Unless you are a pro of course they get those fancy shuttle buses, with police escorts!)
We got in line and saw some of the guys. MG, SG, and a friend of theirs got in line with us. We pissed some lady off when MG “accidentally” jumped into a middle of a bus line but we ended up finding a shorter line anyway.
So it took about a half hour to get on the bus and once on it was another 45-60 minutes before we got to Hopkinton. I just relaxed and listened to everyone else’s conversations. I found out you can actually enter the Boston Marathon without qualifying through certain charities. I don’t know how much they have to raise, but I hope it is a lot!!! These people are certainly much better than the bandits though
All a part of the traditions of Boston though so I just took it all in.
Most people hang out in Athlete’s Village once they get to Hopkinton but my club goes to a church and lounges in the basement. This ended up being really nice for me because I think I might have freaked out being around 20,000 other runners for two hours before the race. The church atmosphere was pretty low key and I was able to eat, sunscreen up, and take care of any pre race jitters, etc. without worrying about anything else.
About 30 minutes before the start B, R, and I went and dropped off our bags on the yellow buses then headed to our Corrals. Corrals in Boston are by number so I was in the 13th Corral, far behind the Elite runners!!!
I realize then what a newbie I am to marathoning
The guys had told me to pin my gels to my shorts and tuck them in. Which works great as long as you pin your gels on the top above where the actual gel is
I actually punctured both my gel packets on accident and realized in the start that I had some gel sticking to my thighs and the inside of my shorts
After about 5 minutes in the Corral they started the national Anthem and about then you start to realize how amazing this is standing in a crowd of 20,000 other runners getting ready to run the granddaddy of all marathons. The elite women at this point are already about 25 minutes into their race. And the gun is getting ready to go off.
All this excitement builds up and then you realize how much different this start is than other races. In no race I have ever done has it taken over 12 minutes to actually get to the starting line. So it was slightly anticlimactic but still really amazing after you come over a small hill and hit the starting line you look out in front of you and all you can see in front of you is road filled with waves of runners. Absolutely incredible.
From there until Wellesley everything seems pretty similar. The crowd never thins out and it is rolling hills with a net decline until the half way mark. Surprisingly my IT Band wasn’t bothering me at all and my shoulder didn’t feel too bad. My feet started to blister REALLY early in the race, like mile 3. So I knew that wasn’t going to look pretty when I finished.
Right before I got to Wellesley College I could feel my legs chafing. It was about 71 degrees on the course and not a lick of shade to be seen. Luckily just as I thought to myself “this is going to get ugly” I heard the medical tent volunteers crying out “Vaseline!” I sprinted so quickly over to their side of the road and grabbed a Tongue Depressor covered in Vaseline and smeared it all over my legs. Nice visual huh?
I added that mess to the gel on my shorts and continued on.
Shortly after the Vaseline stop I hear this roar of sounds. At that point you can’t see where it is coming from about a half mile away you see the Wellesley College Girls! They are all lined up on the right side of the street held back by a fence. Most of them are leaning far over the fence high fiving runners as they go by. Others are holding signs like “Kiss me if you’re from Oklahoma.” They are all cheering at the top of their lungs. I had been running on the left the whole way so far but moved over to the right to high five pretty much all of the girls. Their energy was so amazing. It gave you this incredible boost of energy. Which is good but sad because you are going to need that energy a lot more in just over a mile.
All this time I have been getting water and Gatorade from the stops every mile on the left and walking through the stops. No need to waste energy trying to gulp down water while running too fast. I made it to Boston now that I was there I should try to enjoy the ride.
Most of the water I took ended up getting dumped over my head. I was feeling pretty hot and it seemed to help. I also jumped at anyone who had ice and held it in my hands for as long as I could stand to help keep cool.
Shortly after Wellesley and the half waypoint you start to add in some serious up hills to the rolling hills. At this point my quads were pretty much already a wreck from all the downhills, and my left calf started to bother me.
The rest of the race I pretty much ran water stop to water stop. I didn’t feel good but I could have felt worse for sure. I didn’t walk at any point except through the water stops. And I made it up the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill in pretty good time. I think I ran a 9:22 mile up Heartbreak. So I was happy with that.
I was expecting my parents and David to be pretty close to the finish but they ended up being a little before the 26-mile mark. I heard my mom screaming as I passed, I turned and waved, then trucked on up the small incline before you turn onto Boylston Street and can finally see the finish line.
I didn’t have any amazing last mile splits like I did in Richmond, but I was still proud, and unlike Richmond I was actually happy as I crossed the finish line. And despite the stresses I have been having I have been pretty happy since!
After the marathon my legs felt pretty bad, but I was expecting that. I walked along with the crowd, grabbed some water, took off my chip, got my Mylar Blanket, and traded my chip for my finishers medal! And trekked over to the buses.
I got a frozen smoothie drink from some volunteer and spent most of that time trying to open it. Finally before I grabbed my bag I had to have a volunteer open it for me
He had a hard time too so it wasn’t just post marathon jitters keeping me from the frozen deliciousness ;)
I got my bag and headed to the family meeting area. I threw my stuff down near the H sign and worked on getting out of my shoes, into flip-flops. Out of my soaked sports bra into my Boston tank, and tried to stretch a bit. My parents and David showed up as I finished off my smoothie and was getting ready to start looking for them.
I got a phone call from my favorite aunt ;) you know who you are
wishing me well. I definitely felt loved at that moment.
We walked all the way over to Boston Commons to avoid the mad rush to the subway near the finish.
Got back to our hotel and our handicap room payed off. I was able to sit on the edge of the tub and spray my legs with ice cold water. My baby sis called while I was spraying, and I was glad to hear from her. Her support at this point in my life is very important to me and I am blessed to have such a great sister. We have not always gotten along but I am glad we come together when it really counts.
After I talked with her for a bit David and I met my parents down at the pool. I dipped my calf in the hot tub and took a lap around the pool then we got ready to go out for dinner.
We met a bunch of the SERC group at Joe Tecces. I had three beers and a steak! I felt I definitely deserved it! We had a good time and it was nice to hang out with everyone after doing the marathon together. Everyone from SERC did well and I am proud to call them all my friends. I can’t express how blessed I am to have met up with such a great group of runners.
I was pretty wiped out after the three beers and multiple trips to the restroom (of course stairs were involved). So we headed back to the hotel. Climbing down the stairs to the subway was a trip! I must have looked horrible.
We packed our stuff (well David did anyways, and I attempted to help), and then headed to bed. We had to be up really early to catch our flight home. I actually made it to work and managed to work 6 or 7 hours before I couldn’t manage anymore
Since being back I have run twice and I can tell my quads are still sore but I feel pretty good and am looking forward to the summer racing season. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this. I really appreciate your support!
Woke up at 5 am Monday morning and couldn’t fall back asleep. So I showered grabbed my stuff and headed down to the subway. It was completely empty! One other runner got on the train at my stop.
So all my stressing the night before was a HUGE waste of time. I got to the girls hotel way early so I ate a bagel and banana and hunkered down on a sofa with a copy of Runner’s World.
About an hour later the girls came down and we headed to Boston Commons to get on the bus! Yes that’s right big yellow school buses are the official transport to the start of the Boston Marathon (Unless you are a pro of course they get those fancy shuttle buses, with police escorts!)
We got in line and saw some of the guys. MG, SG, and a friend of theirs got in line with us. We pissed some lady off when MG “accidentally” jumped into a middle of a bus line but we ended up finding a shorter line anyway.
So it took about a half hour to get on the bus and once on it was another 45-60 minutes before we got to Hopkinton. I just relaxed and listened to everyone else’s conversations. I found out you can actually enter the Boston Marathon without qualifying through certain charities. I don’t know how much they have to raise, but I hope it is a lot!!! These people are certainly much better than the bandits though
All a part of the traditions of Boston though so I just took it all in.
Most people hang out in Athlete’s Village once they get to Hopkinton but my club goes to a church and lounges in the basement. This ended up being really nice for me because I think I might have freaked out being around 20,000 other runners for two hours before the race. The church atmosphere was pretty low key and I was able to eat, sunscreen up, and take care of any pre race jitters, etc. without worrying about anything else.
About 30 minutes before the start B, R, and I went and dropped off our bags on the yellow buses then headed to our Corrals. Corrals in Boston are by number so I was in the 13th Corral, far behind the Elite runners!!!
I realize then what a newbie I am to marathoning
The guys had told me to pin my gels to my shorts and tuck them in. Which works great as long as you pin your gels on the top above where the actual gel is
I actually punctured both my gel packets on accident and realized in the start that I had some gel sticking to my thighs and the inside of my shorts
After about 5 minutes in the Corral they started the national Anthem and about then you start to realize how amazing this is standing in a crowd of 20,000 other runners getting ready to run the granddaddy of all marathons. The elite women at this point are already about 25 minutes into their race. And the gun is getting ready to go off.
All this excitement builds up and then you realize how much different this start is than other races. In no race I have ever done has it taken over 12 minutes to actually get to the starting line. So it was slightly anticlimactic but still really amazing after you come over a small hill and hit the starting line you look out in front of you and all you can see in front of you is road filled with waves of runners. Absolutely incredible.
From there until Wellesley everything seems pretty similar. The crowd never thins out and it is rolling hills with a net decline until the half way mark. Surprisingly my IT Band wasn’t bothering me at all and my shoulder didn’t feel too bad. My feet started to blister REALLY early in the race, like mile 3. So I knew that wasn’t going to look pretty when I finished.
Right before I got to Wellesley College I could feel my legs chafing. It was about 71 degrees on the course and not a lick of shade to be seen. Luckily just as I thought to myself “this is going to get ugly” I heard the medical tent volunteers crying out “Vaseline!” I sprinted so quickly over to their side of the road and grabbed a Tongue Depressor covered in Vaseline and smeared it all over my legs. Nice visual huh?
I added that mess to the gel on my shorts and continued on.
Shortly after the Vaseline stop I hear this roar of sounds. At that point you can’t see where it is coming from about a half mile away you see the Wellesley College Girls! They are all lined up on the right side of the street held back by a fence. Most of them are leaning far over the fence high fiving runners as they go by. Others are holding signs like “Kiss me if you’re from Oklahoma.” They are all cheering at the top of their lungs. I had been running on the left the whole way so far but moved over to the right to high five pretty much all of the girls. Their energy was so amazing. It gave you this incredible boost of energy. Which is good but sad because you are going to need that energy a lot more in just over a mile.
All this time I have been getting water and Gatorade from the stops every mile on the left and walking through the stops. No need to waste energy trying to gulp down water while running too fast. I made it to Boston now that I was there I should try to enjoy the ride.
Most of the water I took ended up getting dumped over my head. I was feeling pretty hot and it seemed to help. I also jumped at anyone who had ice and held it in my hands for as long as I could stand to help keep cool.
Shortly after Wellesley and the half waypoint you start to add in some serious up hills to the rolling hills. At this point my quads were pretty much already a wreck from all the downhills, and my left calf started to bother me.
The rest of the race I pretty much ran water stop to water stop. I didn’t feel good but I could have felt worse for sure. I didn’t walk at any point except through the water stops. And I made it up the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill in pretty good time. I think I ran a 9:22 mile up Heartbreak. So I was happy with that.
I was expecting my parents and David to be pretty close to the finish but they ended up being a little before the 26-mile mark. I heard my mom screaming as I passed, I turned and waved, then trucked on up the small incline before you turn onto Boylston Street and can finally see the finish line.
I didn’t have any amazing last mile splits like I did in Richmond, but I was still proud, and unlike Richmond I was actually happy as I crossed the finish line. And despite the stresses I have been having I have been pretty happy since!
After the marathon my legs felt pretty bad, but I was expecting that. I walked along with the crowd, grabbed some water, took off my chip, got my Mylar Blanket, and traded my chip for my finishers medal! And trekked over to the buses.
I got a frozen smoothie drink from some volunteer and spent most of that time trying to open it. Finally before I grabbed my bag I had to have a volunteer open it for me
He had a hard time too so it wasn’t just post marathon jitters keeping me from the frozen deliciousness ;)
I got my bag and headed to the family meeting area. I threw my stuff down near the H sign and worked on getting out of my shoes, into flip-flops. Out of my soaked sports bra into my Boston tank, and tried to stretch a bit. My parents and David showed up as I finished off my smoothie and was getting ready to start looking for them.
I got a phone call from my favorite aunt ;) you know who you are
wishing me well. I definitely felt loved at that moment.
We walked all the way over to Boston Commons to avoid the mad rush to the subway near the finish.
Got back to our hotel and our handicap room payed off. I was able to sit on the edge of the tub and spray my legs with ice cold water. My baby sis called while I was spraying, and I was glad to hear from her. Her support at this point in my life is very important to me and I am blessed to have such a great sister. We have not always gotten along but I am glad we come together when it really counts.
After I talked with her for a bit David and I met my parents down at the pool. I dipped my calf in the hot tub and took a lap around the pool then we got ready to go out for dinner.
We met a bunch of the SERC group at Joe Tecces. I had three beers and a steak! I felt I definitely deserved it! We had a good time and it was nice to hang out with everyone after doing the marathon together. Everyone from SERC did well and I am proud to call them all my friends. I can’t express how blessed I am to have met up with such a great group of runners.
I was pretty wiped out after the three beers and multiple trips to the restroom (of course stairs were involved). So we headed back to the hotel. Climbing down the stairs to the subway was a trip! I must have looked horrible.
We packed our stuff (well David did anyways, and I attempted to help), and then headed to bed. We had to be up really early to catch our flight home. I actually made it to work and managed to work 6 or 7 hours before I couldn’t manage anymore
Since being back I have run twice and I can tell my quads are still sore but I feel pretty good and am looking forward to the summer racing season. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this. I really appreciate your support!
Morning Swim
Memphis in May Tri is less than a month away so I have to get my swimming and cycling into gear.
I swam for 30 minutes this morning. Mostly drills and some short intervals. The pool wasn't empty and I felt like I was going to vomit when I got out. I also felt like that when I swam in Tampa Bay this weekend. Maybe I need to take motion sickness pills before swimming, but they make me sleepy...Hopefully my body will get a clue quick that swimming is going to become routine again.
I swam for 30 minutes this morning. Mostly drills and some short intervals. The pool wasn't empty and I felt like I was going to vomit when I got out. I also felt like that when I swam in Tampa Bay this weekend. Maybe I need to take motion sickness pills before swimming, but they make me sleepy...Hopefully my body will get a clue quick that swimming is going to become routine again.
More Boston
The 2nd morning in Boston I woke up around 9 and went running with K and W. They were kind enough to wait for me to take the T over to the hotel, but the rest of the guys decided they were going to the expo early. We ran for about 45 minutes through a park and along the beach. It was really nice out, but my shoulder was still bothering me pretty badly.
After running my parents and David came over to the guys hotel and we ate breakfast, then headed to the expo.
I had been having trouble with my right arm. So at the Expo I had the guys with "The Stick" roll out my shoulder and neck. What a wonderful thing! My arm instantly felt worlds better. So my dad bought me "The Stick" and I have been using it to massage my shoulder, hamstrings, and calves!
The Expo was packed so I got in line to get the official Boston Marathon Jacket. It is really nice, embroidered and wind proof. After I got the jacket I went on a mission to find a tank top for the marathon and something to hold my gels in during the race.
I found the Adidas area and couldn't help myself and got myself another Boston Jacket, this one is lighter but more sporty and fitted, and a Boston Tank/Sports top.
By that time we were supposed to be meeting outside so I headed out.
We went to lunch with K and JG and B and his brother met us there. I don't think I have ever waited so long for food in my life. We waited about 30 minutes for a table. Probably another 30 before ordering and about an hour for food. K didn't get his SALAD that he ordered till after we were all done eating. It was ridiculous. We ended up getting 50% off the bill.
After lunch I went back over to the Expo to get a free Adidas poster that had all the names of the Boston entries on it. And took a picture of my name on the wall.
Then we headed back over to the hotel. My husband and parents took a nap and then we went out to eat over near Fanuil Hall. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but I got really good shrimp pasta. We went to the Cheers replica bar but by then it was late so we headed back to the hotel and I crashed while my family played cards.
Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to the Freedom run. This is a fun run that is about 2.8 miles long. There were so many people there! It is free and you get a free T-Shirt if you get there early enough. Unfortunately the shirts only came in large or extra large so my shirt came down to my knees. Curses on being 5'4"! I ran with B and his brother and my parents walked the run. It was really fun and amazing to see all the people running through the streets of Boston. And the finish was right where the marathon would finish the next day.
SERC club members met after the race and we took some group photos at the marathon finish line. This seemed to be a common thing because there were tons of people doing it.
After the Freedom Run my husband and parents and I went to check out the aqaurium. It was pretty amazing. I wish we would have had time to see the I-max movie but we just had enough time to tour the aqaurium.
Then we went for a qucik lunch where I ordered everyone clam chowder in a bread bowl but then realized that wasn't want everyone wanted. SORRY! But it was really good clam chowder and it hit the spot! We saw some cool street performers and a great high school jazz band from New York. Then I had to head to the "T". While getting on I saw the girl that I had run Youngstown half marathon with. I stopped and we chatted about the race and her friend gave me some great advice for the next day.
The whole reason for qualifying so early in my running career was that the running club I am in lost two members last year. One in a cycling accident and another to leukemia. Both these men were in their later 40s early 50s and both were great runners and huge Boston fans. The team wanted to get as many people to Boston as they could in their memory. We had a memorial service at the John Kelley statue Sunday and we were supposed to meet there at 3.
I had no idea how far away the John Kelley Statue was from where I got on teh "T" near Fanuil Hall, but it was over 25 stops! I knew there was no way I was going to make it in time so I told my parents to call K on their way to the hotel and let him know I was running late. Well about two stops in I see the girls waiting to get on so they hop on and we are running late together!
We get to about 4 stops away from the last T stop near Boston College and our driver hops off the train and starts running. No explanation, nothing! We have no idea where the heck she is going. Someone on the train says sometimes the driver will get off to go to the bathroom or get a beverage. We are like this is nuts! We are late and we have no driver on the train. D goes up to the front and we take some candid shots of her "Driving" the train! Then a few Boston College students tell us we should get off and hop on the shuttle to Boston College. We follow their advice and get on a shuttle a few minutes after our driver jetted. She still hadn't come back when we got on the bus. We had no idea how far the John Kelley statue was from Boston College but we knew we were nowhere near getting there on time. It was already 3:15!
We started asking a bunch of the students if they knew where John Kelley statue was and finally one pointed us in the right direction and said it was about a half mile away. Well we are hoofing it when B sees a large van. She jumps into the street and waves her arms frantically. This lady lets us in her van and we ask her if she can drive us to the statue. As we are driving we see about 5 of the SERC guys walking towards the statue. We get them to jump in the van. So now there are about 7 of us piled in the poor ladies van. And she is driving us along. About a mile away she is forced to drop us because the streets are closed in preperation for the marathon the next day. So we still have to hoof it about another half mile before we finally arrive at the statue.
We had a very nice memorial for our members and then it was time to head back because we had 6:30 reservations at Vinny T's. We got to hike up Heart Break Hill and after what seemed like forever we finally got to the "T" and rode straight to the restaurant. My legs were tired just from walking up Heartbreak Hill . I was starting to get nervous about the next day.
We met everyone at Vinny T's and crammed all 30 of us at a table for about 20. It was close quarters but I think everyone had a good time and the food was great.
I made arrangements to meet the girls at their hotel the next morning and headed back to the hotel for the night. I set out all my gear and got ready for bed.
Man this is a long story!!! To be continued when I have more energy!
On a totally different note I had a track workout tonight which I was super late to, so I just got in a mile warm up, a 200, 5 100's and a mile cool down.
Been Awhile
I have been hectic busy at work and with Team in Training since Boston so I haven't had much time to dedicate to blogging
So maybe I can finally give you the full dish on Boston, or at least start to.
We left for Boston Friday morning (the 15th) and arrived around 9am. Luckily B was already there and he met us at the airport and helped us navigate the "T" to our hotel. We checked in and then headed out for some "touristing.”
We all wanted to check out the duck tours so we made our way across town to locate that and get tickets. We ended up timing it perfectly and were able to get on a tour within 20 minutes of buying the tickets. Our guide was very fun and entertaining. He was English (or at least had a strong English accent) and was full of knowledge about Boston. For those of you that are unaware a Duck is a WWII vehicle designed to travel on land and in water. Very useful in beach assaults.
So we rode around Boston checking out many historical sites and receiving a wealth of information about the beginnings of the USA. As we passed others walking on the streets or other ducks we were ordered by our captain to "Fire the Canons" which resulted in a loud "Quack Attack" on our part. It was definitely silly but still entertaining and I had fun.
We took the duck out onto the Charles River and the captain let the little kids drive the duck. It was neat, but quite chilly
I was glad we arrived in Boston early and were able to do the duck tour. It really made the rest of the trip more worthwhile knowing more background on Boston.
After the tour we had lunch at Legal Sea Foods. Excellent Chowder! I had a FABULOUS salad too. It had a very tasty dressing, apples, avocado, lemon, shrimp, red peppers, goat cheese, lettuce, tortillas, etc. It was great.
Then we walked around Boston Commons and checked out the end of the Freedom Trail.
My parents got in around 6pm so we met them at the airport and then went out for dinner at a great Italian restaurant a few blocks away from our hotel in Cambridge. I ate what felt like a million mussels and ordered eggplant Parmesan. I didn’t come close to finishing my meal and there was no refrigerator at our hotel so I felt pretty guilty.
After dinner we played cards then headed to bed.
Well that was day 1 in Boston! Hopefully I will have time to post on the rest of the trip soon! I am off to the track.
Boston Pics
John Kelley Statue
I cannot remember the name of this church but the building is
considered one of the top 10 buildings in architectural design
(according to our duck tour guide) because of all the ornate details.
I could not get a good shot of the whole church but it was reflected
well in this building across the street.
The Freedom Trail is a red line connecting sixteen historic sites between Boston Common and The Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.
I cannot remember the name of this church but the building is
considered one of the top 10 buildings in architectural design
(according to our duck tour guide) because of all the ornate details.
I could not get a good shot of the whole church but it was reflected
well in this building across the street.
The Freedom Trail is a red line connecting sixteen historic sites between Boston Common and The Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.
Our hotel in Boston was right above the Kendall stop on the "T" While waiting for the train at the Kendall stop you can amuse yourself by playing the Kendall Band. This is a series of three instruments controlled by handles running between the subway tracks. This is a pic of the Chimes.
Adidas was the big sponsor of the marathon this year and they had posters up all around Boston. In addition to all the ads they gave out free posters at the expo that are printed with every Boston entries name on them. They also had huge black boards up in the expo with every name on them. Here is mine
These pics are from The Granary Burial Ground in Boston
These photos aren't nearly as artsy as Chicalookate's but I thought of her as I walked through the burial groud.
Some Background on the site:
With its massive front gate, the Granary Burying Ground serves as the final resting place for may notable Revolutionary-era patriots, including three signers of the Declaration of Independence: John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine and Samuel Adams. Also buried here are Peter Faneuil, Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin's parents and the victims of the Boston Massacre.
Boston
Gotta make this one a quickie, I promise the whole detailed Boston story soon!
I had a blast in Boston and finished the race in under 4 hours!
Official time 4:02:27
Net Chip Time 3:49:50
Overall place (I believe the stats are based on Official time) 8613
Gender Place 2223
Division place (35 and under) 1671
Me and the girls after the race
MarthonFinish Photo
Last Night's Track Workout
Whatever I do this week won't really make a huge difference on Monday. Basically I just need to keep my running legs without injuring myself further.
So I wasn't really sure what to do at the track last night.
Decided to mix it up a little.
I did a mile warm up easy. Then 8*400
I did the first one fast with MG 1:21
then tryed to do the rest at a fast marathon pace (2:00)
I did the next 6 at 2:00 to 1:45 per quarter
and the last one fast at 1:25
Then I did a mile and a half cool down easy.
My right shoulder was killing me and the pain was going all the way through to my hand. I think I probably have a pinched nerve. So I have been taking ibuprofen and last night took a muscle relaxor. It feels a little better today but my hand is starting to go numb... As if my leg injuries weren't enough
Tonight I am going to rest and then the rest of the week nothing hard or over 5 miles. We leave for Boston Friday morning.
So I wasn't really sure what to do at the track last night.
Decided to mix it up a little.
I did a mile warm up easy. Then 8*400
I did the first one fast with MG 1:21
then tryed to do the rest at a fast marathon pace (2:00)
I did the next 6 at 2:00 to 1:45 per quarter
and the last one fast at 1:25
Then I did a mile and a half cool down easy.
My right shoulder was killing me and the pain was going all the way through to my hand. I think I probably have a pinched nerve. So I have been taking ibuprofen and last night took a muscle relaxor. It feels a little better today but my hand is starting to go numb... As if my leg injuries weren't enough
Tonight I am going to rest and then the rest of the week nothing hard or over 5 miles. We leave for Boston Friday morning.
It finally happened...
I finally took a spill on the bike, or rather off of it I guess. A and I did a workshop this afternoon for a few of the TNT ladies on how to fix a flat tire on your bike. We had a good time and I think it was helpful. It helped refresh me too and I had a much easier time with it this time around. I just took my hybrid tires with and A brought her mountain bike for the ladies to each practice on. Everyone was able to get the tire off remove the tube and put it all back together in under 15 minutes so that is great.
Afterwards we rode our bikes a few miles on the all purpose path mostly for everyone to get used to their road bikes, we are all newbies. There was a pretty big hill and one of our members wasn't up right away so I stopped to wait, then tryed to turn around from a stand still position and my bike just fell over with me still attached to one pedal. I scraped my elbow, but not too badly. And the bike and my legs were fine so I am not too worried about it. I am sorta glad it happened right away, now I won't have to worry about it as much.
Afterwards we rode our bikes a few miles on the all purpose path mostly for everyone to get used to their road bikes, we are all newbies. There was a pretty big hill and one of our members wasn't up right away so I stopped to wait, then tryed to turn around from a stand still position and my bike just fell over with me still attached to one pedal. I scraped my elbow, but not too badly. And the bike and my legs were fine so I am not too worried about it. I am sorta glad it happened right away, now I won't have to worry about it as much.
5 Mile Bedford Race
Went out to Bedford this morning to do "Bud's Run." It was a 5 miler with pancake breakfast afterwards, my kind of race!
I took an Ibuprofen before the race today just to prevent too much inflamation. Not sure if it was that or the endorphins but my IT band held up fine today.
Ran for 12 minutes to warm up before the race with some of the SERC guys. Then stretched a bit and headed over to the start with A. Quite a few people from the club showed up today so that was nice.
It was absolutely beautiful out. Sunny with a breeze. Around 50-60 degrees. I think it is almost 70 out now.
The race started at 9 and I told A I would take the first mile easy and then start to fall into a groove later in the race. So much for that theory. I didn't feel like we were running very hard but our first mile split was 7:17. So we backed it off a bit for the next mile coming through around 7:55. The third mile was a little faster and had a small hill 7:42. After the 3rd mile A fell back a little, the whole 4th mile is up hill. I was feeling good so I passed two women and three men going up that stretch with a 7:28 mile. The last mile was about half up hill and the rest flat, finishing with one lap around the Bedford high school track and I ran that last one in 7:26 for a total time of 37:50. I am happy with that. Considering I was planning on running 40 or slower.
Did a couple miles afterwards with B and D for a cool down. There was a killer hill on that loop. Glad that wasn't part of the race
So total mileage for the day was probably 8-9 miles.
Afterwards they had awards, there was also a 2 mile race and they gave out awards for that then for the 5 mile race. We had 6 SERC women there, and at least 5 SERC guys. Every single one of us got an awardIt was pretty sweet. The winners in both the womens and mens race were from our club and B took 1st womens masters. I got first in my age group and A took second in hers so that was great.
After that we all went down to the cafeteria and had pancakes. They were pretty good.
It is so nice out. We are going on a bike ride later, and I can't wait to try out my new bike and shoes!
I took an Ibuprofen before the race today just to prevent too much inflamation. Not sure if it was that or the endorphins but my IT band held up fine today.
Ran for 12 minutes to warm up before the race with some of the SERC guys. Then stretched a bit and headed over to the start with A. Quite a few people from the club showed up today so that was nice.
It was absolutely beautiful out. Sunny with a breeze. Around 50-60 degrees. I think it is almost 70 out now.
The race started at 9 and I told A I would take the first mile easy and then start to fall into a groove later in the race. So much for that theory. I didn't feel like we were running very hard but our first mile split was 7:17. So we backed it off a bit for the next mile coming through around 7:55. The third mile was a little faster and had a small hill 7:42. After the 3rd mile A fell back a little, the whole 4th mile is up hill. I was feeling good so I passed two women and three men going up that stretch with a 7:28 mile. The last mile was about half up hill and the rest flat, finishing with one lap around the Bedford high school track and I ran that last one in 7:26 for a total time of 37:50. I am happy with that. Considering I was planning on running 40 or slower.
Did a couple miles afterwards with B and D for a cool down. There was a killer hill on that loop. Glad that wasn't part of the race
So total mileage for the day was probably 8-9 miles.Afterwards they had awards, there was also a 2 mile race and they gave out awards for that then for the 5 mile race. We had 6 SERC women there, and at least 5 SERC guys. Every single one of us got an award
It was pretty sweet. The winners in both the womens and mens race were from our club and B took 1st womens masters. I got first in my age group and A took second in hers so that was great.After that we all went down to the cafeteria and had pancakes. They were pretty good.
It is so nice out. We are going on a bike ride later, and I can't wait to try out my new bike and shoes!
Yesterday's run
Got out yesterday morning to the valley run. We ran on the towpath since it is nice out now and all the snow has finally melted. Managed to get in around 6.5 miles in under an hour.
It was a good run, my IT Band was a little sore but not horrendus.
This morning I am heading to Bedford for a 5 mile race.
It was a good run, my IT Band was a little sore but not horrendus.
This morning I am heading to Bedford for a 5 mile race.
Wild Night
Last night was pretty eventful (for my life anyways).
Got out of work around 5:30 and headed down to Peninsula to look at bikes. I tried out the Fuji Roubaix and the Giant OCR2. Bikes must not usually be built for my size because I could barely reach the handlebars on that Fuji (it was a 52). The OCR2 was an XS and it fit perfectly 
(For a road bike) I am still not used to road bike geometry but hopefully I will adjust quickly.
I took the bike out and it felt good. It will take awhile to get used to the clipless pedals and the speed but I am sure I will be loving it soon. Check it out!
I also got some new sunglasses (I broke my last pair just before Richmond), bike shoes (the OCR came with clipless pedals!), extra tubes, a hitch to put on my truck to hold the bike, some cages and water bottles, and a bike stand, I figured my hubby wouldn't be so upset with the new bike if I could store two bikes in the space of one.
The guys at Century Cycles were very nice to me and hooked me up so that I was able to bring the bike home last night.
So I got home hauled the bike and my gear up to the apartment and headed back down with my husband to get the bike stand. I am out the door and moving along the sidewalk when I hear this loud flapping noise and look and see a huge goose coming right at me. I screamed holy hell and ran out of the way. My husband seemed to be okay and thought I would be able to get the stand out of the truck without incident.
Got the stand and started heading back inside. My husband was fine but as soon as the goose saw me he came after me again. So I am running for the door but I could hear him almost on top of me so I started running around the yard, still carrying this huge box with the bike stand in it, (near our pool) screaming and my husband is chasing the goose telling it to get away from me.
It stops flying at us over by the pool and David tells me to get inside. As I am heading for the door it attacks again this time going after David. It was horrible. It landed right on his head, luckily he ducked out of the way before the goose did any damage with his feet or beak, but he pulled his neck trying to get out of the way. So we get inside and I am completely out of breath and David can't move his neck. I can't imagine what some one would have thought if they had found us in the hall like we were.
So that was probably the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, yikes! I don't know if I will be able to get to my truck safely this morning. I am worried that the goose has a nest near there.
So we get in the apartment and I start putting together this bike rack, well "some assembly required" took me most of the time it took us to watch I-Robot to complete. I get it up and realize the space I wanted it isn't larger enough for the bikes. So I have to do some brainstorming. I end up moving our cabinet out of the kitchen breakfast nook area and into our dining room and installing the rack in the kitchen. I get it up and start putting the first bike on and realize this is way more trouble than it is worth. So I take the rack down and end up just putting both bikes in that space sans stand. There is plenty of room that way and I don't have to worry about the stand crashing down on anyone.
Hopefully I can return the stand, but if not I guess I will keep it until we get a house and garage that I can better install it in.
Thank Goodness for more Daylight!
It is so nice to be able to go running after work and have it not be dark.
Went to EC and ran on the trails for 5.5 miles. It was pretty warm out so I had a difficult time. Hopefully I will acclimate to the heat ASAP before Boston.
First track workout of the season
Ahh the wonderful feeling of burning lungs, tired arms, and overworked muscles! Must be spring, finally!
It was so warm tonight (around 70) and sunny. Not my ideal weather for a track workout but much better than 32 degrees and covered in snow like it was this weekend.
I didn't do so hot tonight but I will take it.
Did a mile and a half warm up.
Then 4*800 and 2*400
Then a mile cool down.
Splits in order
3:09
3:17
3:29
3:28
1:44
1:27
The last quarter I pushed it and I was cruising until I came around the last curve and got Slammed by this huge gust of wind. I don't think I have ever felt anything like that. I was so focused on running fast (trying to stay with the guys since they were doing an 800) when that wind hit me it felt like everything instantly drained from me including my focus. It was really bizarre.
I stretched a lot today before and after the workout and my IT Band didn't feel too bad.
I also had a huge lunch today, I think I almost lost that on the third 800.
Pilates
Didn't manage to find time to run yesterday but decided I needed to do something before heading to bed so I got in an abs pilates workout. I also did some stretching for my IT Band and heated it.
My left calf is a little tight again. Do the frustrations never end
I am going to try and keep it stretched out today and hopefully I will have a good run tonight.
My left calf is a little tight again. Do the frustrations never end
I am going to try and keep it stretched out today and hopefully I will have a good run tonight.
Boston Info
Oh I completely forgot I got my Boston welcome packet and I am bib number 13052. There are going to be over 20,000 runners this year! Completely nuts! I am starting to get really nervous, especially because I am not healthy.
I know it will be awesome no matter what. They are so high tech now. I can set up 6 of my friends/family to receive text messages when I pass every 5k mark during the race (plus the halfway mark and the 20 mile marker) Also they now take not only photos of you, but video too so I can order a DVD with coverage of me running in the marathon!
Running with Rammstein
Got out today by myself in the afternoon for a run. Couldn't drag myself out of bed for the SERC or TNT run. It has been a blah kind of weekend. I spent most of it sick and laying on the couch. But at least I got caught up on some crappy TV ;)
I managed to get off the couch finally this afternoon, did a thigh and abs pilates workout as a warm up then headed out for my run.
I managed to get in 6 miles today without too much trouble. I just ran from the apartment out 3 miles and back. Took my MP3 Run out with me. I desperately needed some motivation. The injury and horrible weather have been bringing me down this weekend. So I uploaded some choice songs from Rammstein's Mutter CD to my mp3 player and headed out. Something about German Heavy Metal just seems to help me get into the groove. I especially like Feuer Frei!, they used that in the XXX soundtrack, pretty sweet. The knee held up pretty well. I have been heating my IT Band at night to loosen it up, not sure if it is helping but it isn't making it any worse. The knee was a little sore but it stood up to the workout despite the hard core winds. It was supposively 42 out but the windchill had it at 28. It was very windy to say the least.
After the run David and I went to the pool. I did some drills and swam some laps with the pull buoy, but my arms were really sore, no idea why though...
We had a huge winter storm this weekend starting Friday night sometime. We had three power surges on Saturday which kicked off our pilot for the heater. Didn't notice until we woke up this morning shivering. Thankfully they are really good about coming out to fix things as soon as we call.
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