Maybe Going Back to my Marathon Running Roots for a Few Months (Part 1)

Ron, my Dad and I before MCM 2010

To marathon or not to marathon….that is the question?? This exact question came up last night at the DC Tri Club, “Plan Your 2013 Race Schedule” seminar. Eight of us from the DC Tri Snapple Team sat on the panel and answered members’ questions about how to plan your race season. I was quiet when this question came up because I am debating this myself. I do know that now that it is ‘off-season’ I will be focusing on my weakest link….swimming and adding in some yoga or pilates two times a week. This has to become a habit for me since core and functional training is key to preventing injury. And, it will definitely play a huge part in my marathon training if that is indeed what I decide to do.

The marathon in question is the VA Beach Shamrock Half, March 17, 2013. Ron and I did the half marathon a few years ago and had a great time. There was a big house that a bunch of us shared and it was the first time that I had ever been to VA Beach. The weather was perfect that weekend. Here are the pros and cons for this race.

Pros:

·         We can make a fun weekend out of it and share a house with friends.

·         I mentioned it to my Dad and I think he’d be pretty easily persuaded to come out for it. Plus, he’s never been to VA Beach.

·         The finish line is a blast with green beer, Irish soup and relaxation on the beach!

·         Flat and fast course.

Cons:

·         I’ve heard the 2^nd half of this race is pretty damn boring. Hmmm

·         You have to train through the winter.

·         How will this play into my tri season next year. (I’ll get into this in part 2 of this blog.)

My main reason for wanting to do a marathon at the end of Winter is because my dad and I would love to go back to Boston together in 2014. I’ve done Boston three times now, 2001, 2003 and 2005. My favorite year racing the Boston Marathon was in 2003, when my dad and I experienced race weekend and race day together! Not too many people can say they did the Boston marathon with their dad and I want to be able to say I’ve done two Boston marathons with my dad! Now, we both just need to qualify. ;)

My dad chilling after MCM in 2010

My dad just did the Des Moines marathon and unfortunately, did not feel good the second half.  He was running with the 3:35 pacers the first half. Cramps and fatigue took over his body but he did not give up and still finished around 4 hours and took 5^th finish place in his age group! He’s beating himself up for not having a ‘good day’ but you can’t help it if your body is just not feeling it race day. My dad’s ‘bad day’ is still amazing! The qualifying time for his age group is 3:55 and he is definitely in shape to do a 3:30 something marathon still. Heck, two years ago he ran Des Moines in 3:35 and then two weeks later ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 3:41! Here is where I brag about my dad a little bit. He doesn’t give himself nearly enough credit for his abilities and everything he has accomplished over the years! My dad is one tough, inspiring athlete and this marathon finish was number 23 for him! Back in his prime marathon years, my dad had several sub-3 hour marathons and two of those were a time of 2:47! That’s just over 6:20 pace! Very impressive! I can’t imagine what going that fast would feel like!

I started running with my dad when I was five years old. He still has a picture he drew of the two of us running out to the bridge by where we used to live. It was about a two mile run. Then I remember entering into some 5k’s and 8k’s as I got older. My brother, Tyler, even got into it when he was younger and we have a funny picture of my cousin Derek and my Dad holding him up by the arms running a mile race. My brother never got the running bug quite like I did but displayed his talents on the soccer field growing up and is currently the Assistant Coach for a high school team in South Dakota. In fact, they just won the state Championships!

 

My dad and I before MCM 2010
 

Growing up I did track but didn’t really enjoy it. The all out sprinting is not something I could really get into. I found out my Junior year of college that I enjoy long distance. I signed up for a marathon training class and did my first marathon in 1999. I was hooked from that point on. My dad has truly inspired me over the years and finding out that I got his endurance genes, I couldn’t resist seeing how far I could push myself. Hence, how I found my passion for long distance triathlon.

(I'm not trying to leave my mom out! :) She does not enjoy running but we enjoy doing other activities together such as traveling, shopping....you know womanly stuff ;) I'll be blogging about our NYC trip in November!)

That brings me to my original question....should I go back to my marathon roots and train for a marathon this winter? I’ll get into that in part 2 so you don’t have to keep scrolling down to read. Plus, my lunch break is over. J

Last Tri of the Season....Poconos 70.3 Race Report

Pocono Mountains

 

I am actually writing this race report just a few days after my race…new record! Well, I tried…I wrote half of this report a few days after my race but it is now over a week and I’m just finishing. I had good intentions!

I haven’t been a very good blogger since I started my blog for several reasons: 1) It just takes time and I don’t take time out to write a whole lot 2) Sometimes it’s hard to put your personal experiences out there for everyone to read. Blogging is a great way to reflect on your experiences and to keep friends and family up-to-date and hopefully a little entertained. I write in hopes that I can keep friends and family inspired and/or motivated in their own healthy endeavors and to give others an idea of what a certain course is like in case they are looking to do that same race in years to come. This is how I’ve learned about many races I’ve done in the past!

I have learned over the years that you can continue to do well in this sport with great determination, dedication, a good life balance and most importantly a humble approach! I have had many humbling experiences over the years and continue to learn, grow and be inspired by the many great athletes I meet, from the new triathlete to the elite. We all have good and bad days or even good and bad seasons. This season I feel like I personally had more down’s than up’s and I’m truly thankful to have had the race I had at Poconos 70.3. It reminded me of why I do this sport and the importance of keeping things in perspective and to not lose site of the most important thing….have fun while doing something you love and leading a healthy life!

Why Poconos?

Well, I had signed up for the National Harbor 70.3 which was to be held the beginning of August in the swamplands of DC. I have to say, I am happy this got canceled because I really could not have suffered through another HOT race this year. I had to figure out another 70.3 race to do that was within driving distance.  So, I went to the Poconos 70.3 website to read through the course information. Last year the swim had been canceled because of water contamination and I had heard horror stories about the bike course. This year, the swim and bike course had been completely revamped. The swim was in the spring fed-lake at the former Tamiment Resort and Golf Club, the bike course didn’t have as many crazy steep climbs and was mapped out on better roads, and the run course remained the same. Plus, I had never been to the Pocono Mountains and heard it was beautiful!

Pre Race

Ron and I left for PA Saturday morning and decided to take the more scenic route rather than going 95 most the way. This is one of those races that you need to read through the entire athlete guide and figure out logistics ahead of time because T1 and T2 were in different places which required a lot of driving around the day before the race. I got my bike checked out at check-in to be sure my wheels were on properly. I borrowed a sweet set of Zip 808’s from my good friend, TrevorAlbert. Thanks again Trevor! It made me want a set of race wheels ever more but not sure that’s happening anytime soon. While I was running around one of the vendors asked Ron what my bento box on my bike was for. He said, “Oh you know it’s to store food in….like peanut butter sandwiches, ham and cheese, maybe even some beef brisket.” The guy didn’t know how to take Ron and of course Ron being in his jokester mood held a complete straight face the whole time. Then I show up and the guy is looking at me like I’m crazy or something. When we walked away Ron told me the story. Ha! No wonder the guy was confused. He thought I was going to have this big ol feast on the bike!

After dropping my bike off, Ron and I drove the course. I like to do this now for any of the longer distances I race so I’m mentally prepared the next day. We had been in the car for quite some time that day so when we drove by a bakery with about 15 miles of driving to go, Ron wasted no time at all to pull over and get some apple pie! He deserved it spending his Saturday doing my boring race prep with me. Next stop was T2 where I dropped off my running bag and then it was time to meet up with our friend, Melanie, to eat a delicious pasta dinner.

Race Day

Rather than messing with the shuttle to the start line, Ron told us that he would drive Melanie and me to the lake. There were only 100 parking spots and by time we got there all the spots were taken. So, Ron drove out to the bike course to find a spot to cheer us on. It’s a good thing he drove us because the race ended up getting delayed a few minutes because a few of the shuttles had gotten delayed. One pre-race stressor avoided! The delay was much appreciated since there were only 20 bathrooms for over 1000 people! I was standing in line and still had to pump my tires, put on my wetsuit and drop off my morning clothes bag!

Swim

 I think one of the most painful parts of the race was walking on rocks, barefoot to get to the swim start! Here’s a tip for those of you doing this race next year: buy cheap flip flops to wear to the start and then toss. It will save you from some very cold, sharp pain on the bottom of your feet! Once I got to the start, I ran into Caroline, whom I had met at book club where fellow Snapple DC Tri teammate, Mindy Ko had introduced us. Nerves are high before any race start and it was nice to bump into her, chat and try to forget about being nervous for a bit.

The water temperature was a chilly 64 degrees so I opted for my long sleeved Xterra wetsuit. We started in the water so had a few minutes to adjust to the temperature. Once we were off and I put my head in the water, I was relieved to find that you see could far enough ahead to pick out feet to draft off of. All my swims this year have been in dark, murky water which I think tends to mess with me mentally. I got into my groove quickly, was surprised the cold water didn’t really affect me and noticed that I was fairly calm. Right away I found feet to draft off of. I lost her for a bit and could tell someone was actually drafting off of me. What?! That never happens! I think this same girl sped up a bit after the turn around so then I started to draft off of her until the last 100 meters when she sped up. This felt amazing and I actually enjoyed the swim! I had the fastest 1.2 mile swim ever! I looked at my watch and couldn’t believe that it read 33 minutes. That’s about 5 minutes faster than my last half Ironman swim.  I do think the swim was a bit short because I’ve read some of my other friend’s race reports and they also had their fastest swim ever. But, hey I’ll take it! I know being able to see feet to draft and the long sleeved wetsuit definitely played into my time as well. I usually can’t keep up with the fast swimmers to draft and lose them right away. I’m not going to be so timid at the start of the swim from now on so I can find those feet right away!!

My swim set the tone for the rest of the race. I had a huge smile on my face when I exited the water and was ready to get on the bike. It was a decent distance from the swim exit to T1 and before leaving transition you had to make sure that all of your swim gear was in your bike gear bag or it would not be brought back to the finish line. Everyone was in the same boat, so the T1 times were slower.

Swim Time – 33:50

Bike

Bike profile: http://www.ironmanpoconomountains.com/sites/default/maps/elevation2012.pdf

The bike leg started with a long, fast four mile decent. Weeeee! This is a great way to start and gives the heart rate a chance to go down a bit from the swim and rush onto the bike. Speaking of heart rate….my heart rate monitor did not work correctly the entire race!  I have had some major problems with the ‘new and improved’ Garmin heart rate strap. I do not get the need for companies to continuously feel they have to change and upgrade their products all the time when they work perfectly fine the way they are. I had NO issues last season when I was using the hard strap that came with my Garmin when I purchased it. After awhile, it’s just inevitable that straps get nasty, smelly and rinsing them out just doesn’t work anymore. So, I was forced to buy the new strap. Anyway, it was just really weird because during the bike, my HR was reading at a resting state the whole time and then on the run it was reading like I was maxing out. Of course, neither one of the readings were true. Luckily, I’ve done several half Ironman races and know my body well enough to keep from racing too hard. I went strictly on how I felt this race!

Back to the bike…after the long decent, you go out nine miles and then come back in for ten before the rolling hills start to greet you. During this time, you get rolling hills until the end. There were a few short steep climbs where I had to get out of the saddle and a few times where I did not think I needed to gear down and it ended up being steeper than I thought so had to stand up. During this portion of the course, I saw the beautiful foliage and mountains, deer running along the side the road in a field (luckily they stayed there and did not venture out to the road!) and a sinkhole in the road. A grumpy woman had informed Ron and I the day before when we drove the course that the sink hole was there. She went on and on about how she could not believe they would make part of the race course on that road. I was starting to get a bit worried that there would be tacks in the road the next day. No tacks luckily! I also saw this same woman sitting in her front yard watching the race so guess she got over her anger about the course.

They had made a wooden pass through over the sinkhole where we had to go single file. It was not crowded so it did not slow me down too much. Then late on, at the top of one of the climbs, I saw a creepy Criminal Minds unsub type of man. He had on some big safety goggles, held a leaf blower and stared out at the riders with a killer look on his face. Seriously, it was scary looking but actually made me crack up after I had passed. The theme song to Criminal Minds got in my head ‘do do doooo do’. Ok so if you do not watch Criminal Minds you probably have no idea what I am talking about but it gave me a nice chuckle. I was just having a blast and taking it all in! Luckily, all that man had in his hands was a leaf blower!

I did not see many women until about mile 40. I had finally caught up to the faster swimmers and started to see several women in my age group around mile 50. I saw Caroline and she was looking strong. Over a mile from the finish, I had to swerve around a 19 year-old who was trying to clip out of his shoes too early and was weaving around the road.  This is why you practice this technique before you  race!

In T2 I struggled just a bit to get my long sleeved jersey off over my Garmin, but that was the only delay. I was anxious to see how my legs would feel on the run.

Bike Time – 2:42:33

Run

I’m including my run from my Garmin because the Garmin shows the true run course. I was warned about this run but the race website didn’t really explain that there were several hills that were about a mile long! Don’t pay attention to the heart rate. It was way off and not working most the time! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/229228431#.UHhEquRW76w.email



How I felt the whole race!

Throughout the entire run I was running with mainly men from the 40 and up age groups since they were in the swim wave ahead of me. When I got to the first hill, I got a feel for how my run would go and luckily…my legs showed up for a good run! The first half I passed a few more women in my age group along with some women in the two age groups up from mine. Several times women said to me as I passed, “Oh good you’re not in my age group!” I gave them a thumbs up and encouraged each woman I passed. This course is an out and back so I kept watching for anyone in my age group coming back on the other side of the road. I saw all the pro women including Beth Schutt, who was looking strong and raced to 3rd! Once I got to the turn-around I was pretty stoked….I didn’t think I saw anyone in my AG ahead of me and I was actually first in my AG! That has never happened in a half Iron distance race so I didn’t want to get too excited and jynx myself.  After about a mile or so I started to see a few girls in my AG. I knew they were most likely too far back to catch me, but I didn’t want to let myself think I didn’t need to keep up with my pace. You never know when there’s some sub 7 minute mile runner trying to reel you in. On the way back in I also so several DC Tri and Snapple Club members and cheered them on. It was nice to see some people from DC! I saw Melanie on her way to the finish, and she told me to go get that championship slot. Thanks for the encouragement Mel! I just couldn’t believe that I was feeling so good on this run!  Even the long hills did not bother me. Sure they slowed me down a little but didn’t seem to bother my legs much. With about three miles to go I passed a 60 year old man who said to me with a chuckle, “You know this isn’t a 5k right?” I just smiled and told him I just want to see that finish line!

There was one shorter steep hill before mile 11 and then it was pretty flat the last two miles. I could hear the announcer as I got closer and just started to kick it in. I heard Ron cheer me on and I had a huge smile on my face as I ran down that last block. Wow, had I really won my age group?! Ron ran up to me, confirmed my place and gave me a big hug. I cried tears of joy and was just in awe! We later found out that I was the 3^rd amateur woman.

Run Time – 1:36:51

Total – 4:58:45

The few weeks leading up to this race I finally felt my body peak the way it is supposed to. I have not felt this going into any of my races this year. Coach Mackenzie had asked me a few days before the race how I was feeling and if I was ready for the race. I told her, “I feel giddy and am so excited to race. Finally!” Yes, I said giddy. It’s weird how you just know when your body is ready to go and you have this gut feeling that the day will go well. I had this feeling at Ironman Louisville and it was nice to finally feel it again. I was thankful that everything fell into place…excellent weather, smooth, clear lake, good nutrition, a fun and challenging course and my body felt healthy. It just goes to show that patience, persistence and a positive attitude can go a long way!

After the race I got to hang out with Mel, Caroline and Ron. The line to claim the Worlds slot was long and the beer tent was conveniently located right by the line. Hmmmm….So, I enjoyed a nice beverage to celebrate while I waited (maybe followed by a few more while waiting for the awards ceremony ;)

Caroline, me and Mel

 

Caroline got 2^nd in our age group so she got a championship slot. Mel also had a great race placing 5^th in her AG and got a slot as well. We are all excited to be heading to Vegas next September!

I never thought I'd get one of these cool awards! Very nice  finisher medal too!

 

And now, let the off season begin!! Also, time to get some new bike shoes! Yes, I raced with these hoping the clips would clip in for one more ride. Thankfully, they held out. Ha!

 

Waterfall on our hike at BushKill Falls

HyVee Triathlon

I wrote this several weeks ago and posted to the DC Tri Snapple Blog but forgot to post here....

 

I’m originally from Iowa so I have wanted to do the Hy-Vee Triathlon since they announced it back in 2010. Last year was the first year it became the 5150 series championship race for both pros and amateurs. Age group athletes have to qualify at a previous 5150 series race in order to race in the championship race. I had qualified in 2011 at the DC Triathlon but did not do a qualifying race this year since DC Triathlon got canceled. So, I raced in the age group race.

Some of you not from the Midwest might ask, “What the heck is Hy-Vee?” Well, it is the best employee-owned chain of supermarkets throughout the Midwest! And, apparently ranked 48th in 2011 on Forbes magazine’s annual list of the largest privately owned companies in the US. Plus, it is the largest employer in the state of Iowa. Now that you have a little background of what Hy-Vee is, you’ll understand why their race has the best sponsors and swag! This race only cost $99 and you definitely get your money’s worth. (For those of you that don’t race, I say ‘only’ b/c there are some Olympic distance races out there that cost close to $200 and then of course your longer races will run you $200 all the way up to $650 for the IM distance!) Race swag included a backpack, visor or hat, jersey and tons of great samples from the race sponsors.

My main priority for going to Iowa over Labor Day weekend was to visit my family and a few close friends. I knew this race was going on the same weekend so it worked out to ship my bike back to race and get in a long ride with my dad the day after. (Which only cost me around $65 one way this time….yes!!) A couple of days before the race my dad let me know that he had been asked to be in a relay and would be doing the bike portion. He was very excited to finally see what he could do on the bike in a race. He’s put in tons of miles on the bike, but has only done running races. (Too many to count but for marathons I believe he is up to 20 now with another one coming up in October!)

I flew into Des Moines the Friday before the race and picked up my race packet that day. Since bike racking was on Sat. and my parents live an hour away, I had emailed ahead of time to get permission to rack my bike the morning of the race. Race morning I walked up to the transition entrance and showed my email so my dad and I could get in to rack our bikes. I was already a little stressed because traffic was pretty bad coming in on the one road that led to the lake. Even though there was well over an hour before our race started, we had to be out of transition the same time as the championship races since they would be coming in from the swim. The woman hesitated, made me dig in my bag for my email, sighed and then said something about people giving permission for things they shouldn’t…..then finally let us in. At least she was the only grumpy volunteer I encountered all day!

The transition was huge and divided up into three sections: 5150 championship, age group and relays. We had to be out at 6:30 and my wave didn’t start until 7:45 since the championship race started first. So, I just relaxed and watched the swim for an hour hoping to pick up some tips or get some kind of magic swim mojo sent to my body before my swim. (I don’t think it worked!)

The swim was at Grey's Lake and a time trial start. Four of us were sent off every few seconds. I felt like I was doing pretty well on the way out and there weren’t too many people around most the time. Then the chop started to slow me down on the way back in. It definitely wasn’t a spectacular swim! At least the water was cool enough to use my Xterra wetsuit again!

The bike was flat at first and then gentle rolling hills. My legs were definitely feeling the 90 mile hilly ride I had done the weekend before in Reston. I was not tapering much for this race and just wanted to have fun and not worry about my time or trying to get any PR’s. I will try to be more competitive at my last big race this weekend in Poconos.

As I was riding, I tried to find my dad on the course but did not see him. The swimmer on his relay was a few minutes faster than me and they had started in the wave before me as well. My dad and I ended up having about the same bike split time, right around 21 mph ave. He’s a machine!

Halfway through I did see a crash that should not have taken place. As I was getting ready to pass a few people, all of a sudden I see this guy riding right into the guy in front of him. I was so baffled at what happened and how it happened! Guess he wasn’t paying attention at all and I would have been ticked off if I were they guy he ran into! They were ok at least. Just goes to show, you have to pay attention at all times and always be aware of your surroundings.

Once off the bike and onto the run, I could tell my quads weren’t going to cooperate. They were screaming for most of the bike and that unfortunately, that did not subside on the run. The first mile felt good but then I had to slow to a little above 7 min. pace rather than a little under. Shucks! No 6:50 pace this time. It wasn’t even a hilly run course! The leg speed just did not show up for most of the run. There is just one short steep hill and guess where it was……right at the end 100 meters before you turn to go to the finish line! Ah well…at least my dad was right there at that hill cheering me on telling me to go try to catch the runner in his relay.

As I got my finisher slip of paper, I found out that I got first in my age group! This made me very happy considering I didn’t have the speediest race. I got a cool medal in a box and then a few weeks later found out that I got a free entry into next year’s 2013 5150 series championship race. Woo hoo! That means I’m going back to visit my family next September and racing against some crazy competition. This will definitely inspire me to get my arse in the pool this winter and finally try to get my swim times down. My dad is also inspired to learn how to swim well enough to do an open water swim and wants to do the triathlon next year instead of a relay. Good times to be had! :) I’m very blessed to be able to share the love of this sport with my dad!

I spent the rest of my time at home hanging out with my mom and dad. The next day my dad and I went for a long bike ride on the open Iowa roads. Love that! Then, my mom and I visited the cool lego sculptures at the Reiman Gardens in Ames. It's always so nice to spend great qualify time with my family!!