Ladies Sprint Tri - 5.12.13 Race Recap!

I really like this race - It is a great season opener and a way to shake out the cob webs. This year there were 135 triathlon registrants, up from last year. Last year, I placed 2nd in my age group and secretly, I was hoping I would place again. This is a small enough race that I actually have a chance to place. I have said it before, anyone can win/place if they pick the race 'correctly'!

Pre-Race - 
I didn't get as much sleep as I normally would. I left a work conference I was at and met my family at my inlaws. We went to my nephews drama play and didn't get home until 11pm. It was difficult to get to sleep even after I finally got into bed. Normally I would be in bed by 8pm. Alarm went off at 4:30am; got myself ready and woke up my husband and son. We packed up the car and we were ahead of schedule. We stopped for coffee and I sipped on my Skratch on the 30 minute drive. I drank about 6oz of Skratch and 1/4 up of coffee by the time we got to the race. I had a banana about an hour before the race and a cliff gel about 15 minutes before the race.

SWIM-
This was a seeded start meaning that you had to tell them how fast you *think* you would finish the 400 yards. I had seeded myself at the 10 minute mark. I was #105 into the water. They start a new person every 5 seconds. I had a difficult time finding a breathing rhythm and wound up breathing on every stroke for most of the swim. Although I did better than last years swim, I am still slow as molasses.I had much less anxiety though which is good.

Swimming
00:10:08 | 400 yards | 02m 30s / 100yards
Age Group:	11/27
Overall:	75/135 (pathetic)

What would I do differently?
Figure out how to swim faster or become a duathlete. (Not kidding!)

BIKE - 
This was supposed to be an 8 mile course. Garmin measured it as 7.21 miles. It was 2 loops with 9 hairpin turns. As soon as you got up to speed, you were forced to slow down and do a 180. The wind was terrible and there was a head or crosswind for about 80%. There was one section where I had a tail wind which allowed me to get going pretty fast. I felt like my shifting was very effective to try and maintain an even cadence and not power through the wind. I was VERY happy with the fact that not a single person passed me on the bike (or the run). I was able to track everyone down within eyeshot. My bike split was 6th fastest out of 135.Given the wind and all the hairpin turns, my average was only 16.2mph.

Biking
00:26:36 | 07.21 miles | 16.26 mile/hr
Age Group:	1/27 (Woohoo!!)
Overall:	6/135 (Woohoo!) - See SIDENOTE below!

What would I do differently?:
Try to drink on the bike. I was parched by the end.

RUN-
 There was a headwind or crosswind with gusts until the last 1/2 mile. I thought I was running much faster than I was. Definitely felt it pick up once the wind was at my back! Again, Garmin measured 1.82 miles, it was supposed to be 2 miles.

Running
00:16:01 | 01.82 miles | 08m 48s  min/mile
Age Group:	2/27
Overall:	20/135

What would you do differently?:
Practice running faster more.

Overall, I won second in my AG again. If I could fix my swim I may actually win my AG. Ahhhh...a girl can dream. I guess you always need something to challenge you and for me, swim it is!!

I was happiest with my bike performance! I feel like I have made a lot of gains in the bike! Sidenote: The top two bike finishers I highly suspect cut the course. I am not sure if it was on purpose or not, but they had times 3-5 minutes faster than anyone else this year or last. They also started their swim after me therefore with their bike times, they should have passed me - they didn't. So unofficially (and my coach agrees with this), I had the 4th fastest bike split!!

Next race.....EAGLEMAN!!!

Half Marathon Relay Race Recap - 5/5/13

Here we are in May and I beg to ask, WHERE IS SPRING???

Today was the first race of my season. I did the NJ Half Marathon Relay last year as well. For races that I have done before I always check back and see what my time was so, of course, I can try to beat it. Last year I did 6.9 miles with a 8:37 min/mile pace. That's not too shabby for this 43 year old! The gauntlet has been dropped - I need to beat 8:37 min/mile.

Tina and I arrive early. We even had time enough to stop at a hotel along the route to use the restrooms. This is our signature move....although I will use a portapotty if I have to, I prefer a clean bathroom and hotels are perfect for this! Thanks to the Holiday Inn, that is what I got.

Next stop, my drop off at 5:45 am. The race started at 6:50 and it is 46 degrees out (again, where is spring??). I was smart enough to dress appropriately with 3 layers on top, compression socks, and my skirted Athleta pants. AND I remembered gloves!!! While waiting I bounced around, stretched, ate my banana, waited, stretched some more. I had a Cliff gel about 5 minutes before the race started and washed it down with some Skratch.

I kept telling myself that this should/could be a training run. I had no taper for this run and was just finishing a 3 week build for my triathlon. I rode 45 miles and ran 2 miles yesterday. My legs were tired. I shouldn't put that pressure on myself. But that darn competitive nature of mine kicked in full force.

The national anthem was sung and then they did a round of Sweet Caroline in honor of Boston. The wheelchair races were off and then so was I. And I was really off....

First mile 7:56 min/mile
Second mile 7:58 min/mile
Third mile 8:37 min/mile (uh oh)
Fourth mile 8:38 min/mile (another uh oh)
Fifth mile 8:56 min/mile - who put two bridges in the same mile!!! It's a hill, get over it is what I kept telling myself
Sixth mile 8:44 min/mile - now I am averaging these miles in my head...
Seventh mile 8:34 min/mile
Eighth mile 8:11 min/mile - longer than last years race

So the average.....do you think I beat it?
7.02 miles
59:34 total time
8:29 min/mile average
8 second per mile PR for a total of 56 second PR!!!

That was close.
I wonder if I had tapered if I could have maintained the sub 8 min/miles??

The handoff went well to Tina. She was off. I walked about 1/2 a mile and then did a recovery pace the rest of the way. I met Tina at the finish and our total time was 2:00:23. She did a great 9:49 min/mile pace which gave her almost a 7 minute PR over last year!  Go Tina!!

We were 8 seconds from being the 3rd female masters team out of 31!! We were 6th last year, so we moved up 2 spots to 4th this year! This might be the reason we go back next year!!

Next week - my first TRI of the season!!! The Ladies Choice Super Sprint in Manassas, VA!!! I won 2nd in my AG last year.....the pressure is on!!

38 days and counting

 

 "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will."~~Vince Lombardi

 

Here I am!! The last month before Eagleman! I have been training specifically for this since October. Next month is June already and the countdown continues. I have moments where I think I am ready and moments I think I am crazy. Ready vs. Crazy?? Maybe a little of both. I know I can do each of the distances separately for sure....but can I add them together while racing?

Which brings up....Racing vs. Finishing. I think those are two different things. I am almost certain I can finish the distance, but I have been training to race. I have done speed work and tabatas in swimming, biking, and running. It is going to hurt...my legs, my lungs. I have to pace myself so I don't go too fast on the bike and have nothing left for the run. I need to fuel properly so I don't run out of steam, but so that I don't get stomach cramps either. There is so much to think about.

I think at this point, more than a month out for this race, I am in a good place thanks to my coach. She has told me what to do and I have done it. She keeps telling me that I am faster than I think I am. I hope she is right! LOL

I am so excited as racing season starts. I am SO excited as my friends who have also been training hard get to race their races. Let the season begin!!!!!

I want to qualify for Boston?

Boston is the only marathon in the world, short of the olympics and championships, that you have to qualify for. I just learned this.

I am doing my first marathon in October of this year. I have never run a marathon. Why would I think I could qualify for Boston.....anytime soon. I have no idea how fast I could/would run a marathon. I doubt you just double your half marathon time  - which my best is 2:04. I haven't run a half marathon in a year. I am pretty sure I could better that time and I would hope go sub 2:00.

I just looked it up. AFTER I age up to the next age group - next year - I would need to run a 3:55 marathon to qualify. That boils down to between an 8:50-9:00 minute/mile. Hmmm...I have no idea if that is doable over the next several years or not. I have read stories of women taking a year or two to really 'work' at qualifying.

If you don't know me well, you probably don't know that I LOVE a challenge. I LOVE being told that I can't do something because then I want to do it even more than ever.

( I was told in high school by an ignorant guidance counselor once that I would never go to anything more than community college. I was an A student in high school - I really never understood it and boy, did it tick my mother off!! The rest of the story......I went on to a 4 year college, then got accepted to 7 veterinary schools, graduated second in my veterinary class, went on to do an internship and a residency, and passed my board certification exam on the first try. What an a$$ that guidance counselor was!)

So, whether or not I can or will BQ is a story still to be told. I think I need to run my first full marathon and see how I like the distance.

Has anyone had to work hard to finish a challenge they started?

Ramblings...

49 days until Eagleman. Only 2 weeks until MY race season officially starts with the NJ Marathon Relay. One week after that I have my first triathlon in VA. I feel like I have a countdown going for everything....MCM is 189 days away. I hope I am not just wishing my days away.

We are just days after the tragedy of the Boston Marathon. I have never even fathomed that I could qualify for Boston, ever. Now, more than ever, I would like to actually BQ (Boston Qualify). I want to do this race. I want to be one of the thousands of runners that shows the world that runners can't be stopped. It has been evidenced this week. Just a day after the marathon bombings, the fitness pages of facebook had organized virtual runs and race shirt days. It was incredible how quickly everyone mobilized in support of Boston. I am proud to be part of that movement. Did I just say I want to BQ?

I received multiple emails in the days following Boston from other races that I am participating in regarding the increase in their safety measures. I am beyond heartbroken and devastated for the family of little Martin Richard, the 8 year old boy who died in the bombings as he was waiting for his father to cross the finish line. His sister lost a leg and his mother has a brain injury. I can not imagine the survivors guilt the father must feel - they came to the race to watch him. He is fine and his family is destroyed. I am not sure I would be able to live with that. I have had my family at many finish lines....and I love it. I love looking for them and hearing them cheer me on. I love my husband running his own 'race' to get the best pictures of me. He is totally there because of me. I am not sure how I would feel if he was injured or killed just because he was at a certain location watching me. Running in DC in October should be interesting. Mixed emotions.

We can't control these things and we can't let these 'bad' people 'win'. Just like after 9/11, we will go on. We will continue to run races and have our families support us. We will run for the runners in Boston who didn't get to finish their race. We will run faster and stronger to show the world that runners will not be stopped. Did I just say I want to BQ?

SKRATCH LABS HYDRATION MIX

I was lucky enough to get samples from Skratch Labs - a relatively new company for sports hydration. I was attracted to this product because I am always looking for all natural alternatives for training and racing. It is very hard to find products that are not overloaded with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners. According to their website, their mission is to "......use real world science and practice to create the very best nutrition products. Products that taste great, that are made from real all-natural ingredients, and that are designed to optimize performance and health for both sport and life".

Apparently, Skratch hydration products have been used by pro cyclists for some time. Story has it that the pros would secretly change out their sponsors' sports drinks with Skratch.

I was given samples of their excercise hydration mix in 4 flavors: lemon/lime, orange, pineapple, and raspberry. I have tried all but orange so far and in an unexpected finding, I liked the pineapple flavor the best. I am a big raspberry person so thought that would have been my favorite.

Although I have been sugar free (this go round) for over a month, when I have long training sessions (over 90 min) I am told by my coach that I should have a sports drink for the carbs and the electrolytes. I have tried all types of sport drinks and supplements and really, really, really do not like their tastes. I really prefer water over any sports drink. However, I did find the taste of Skratch very refreshing and although the first ingredient is cane sugar, it did not seem overly sweet. Calorically this stuff  also met my requirements; it has 310mg of sodium with only 20g of sugar per 16 fl oz., which is twice the sodium of Gatorade with one third less sugar.

I REALLY want to try apple and cinnamon hydration mix - limited edition winter flavor. I think I would like this flavor and they say it can be even heated up. I would imagine after a long run outside in the cold snowy weather we have been having that this would really hit the spot! Maybe I can get a sample of that too?? (HINT, HINT)

So all in all, I am very happy that I found Skratch Labs. I think I finally found a product that I can train with for my HIM. I am glad that it is not very sweet, it gives me enough electrolytes, and that I like the taste. For me, that is fantastic!!

Thanks Skratch Labs for the samples!!! (I was given these samples and not paid for my review).

EXCITED!!!!

I have exciting news for everyone! Look over at the sidebar---------> Do it now.....---------->

Do you see anything new over there? Look down a little....below the Sweat Pink Ambassador Badge that doesn't quite fit in the square (I never could get the circle into the square peg...)

Do you see it now? I'm a GIRL GONE SPORTY AMBASSADOR!!!!

It is sort of strange how I found out though.....I kept getting all these emails AS IF I was one, but never got an official invitation. Finally, I decided to reply to one of the emails and simply ask. She replied right away and said YES! I was selected back on January 2! The only thing that I can think of is that is the day we traveled home from Florida on the train and the email was sketchy at best!

So what is Girls Gone Sporty? It is a group of women by women who love athletics as much as I do! The organization is new, founded in 2011, but they've already got a great network of people. Check out their website where you can find lots of great information about the latest fitness trends, nutrition, product reviews and more.  And of course, as one of their ambassadors, I promise to keep you in the know!

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