Last Sunday I had the awesome experience of competing in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. I flew out Saturday afternoon and picked up my packet at the D.C. Armory. I took the Metrorail all both Saturday and Sunday. It was very convenient. On the train I met a lady who was volunteering to help out. Thank goodness I ran into her because I for sure would have got off at the wrong stop. Packet pick-up was like other packet pick-ups other than the Marines are all over the expo helping out. One part that was funny was when I was in the Brooks store shopping. I was looking for a shirt with the date on it that was not obnoxiously priced. I was able to find one, the lady who was working felt bad because they only had extra larges left. The shirt was a women's cut and I always have to go one or two sizes up in women's cut shirts. So I was happy.
Going back to check into the hotel I met another gentleman named Bill. Unfortunately Bill lead me the wrong way when we got off the train to go to the hotel. We walked a mile in the wrong direction before we realized we were going the wrong way. Oh well. The hotel I stayed at was the Capital Skyline, which did have a very nice view of the capital. However, the lady checking me in was not friendly and when I do Marine Corps again I will not stay there. I asked for late check out, she wanted to charge me $75, that is the most expensive shower I have taken, they wouldn't hold my luggage, etc. I grabbed dinner and made my way to my room for some rest.
Typical me, I got up early to eat and get on the train to head to the Pentagon. I met another lady, who insisted that only the blue line of the train was open, so I followed her. We talked to a gentleman on the train who told us to get off and transfer to the yellow line. By the time the yellow line got there we could have been there on the blue line. No matter. Once we got off the train we had to walk about a mile to get into the starting area. Once inside I took my back to the gear check and went to the white tent where they held a non-domination service. The gentleman giving the service was awesome and told us some motivational stories before we set out on our journey.
I walked from the tent to the starting line. As the choir sang the Star Spangled Banner, wounded vets skydrived down with American Flags. Talk about getting choked up. One of the flags was so big that it could be seen miles away by people. The race got started and it was packed. I figured after a few miles it would spread out. That would be the one thing I would say, I never felt like I got into a rhythm during the race. I would feel like I would get going and be right back in a pack of people. The Marines lined the course the whole way, handing out water and Gatorade, along with nutrition. People lined the course cheering us along the way.
The part of the race that struck me the most was between miles 12 and 13. For at least a half mile, maybe longer, there was a row of service pictures of men and women that were killed in action. One of the many times I lost it during the race. This was followed by a row of people lining the course with American Flags. During the race everyone was awesome, moving to one side or another as participants using cycles or wheelchairs would pass us. Many of those participants were vets wounded in action. The course passes through all the site of DC. We did not see any politicians which was plenty fine with me.
I did see some really funny signs. "You run better than the government." " You have stamina, call me." " You are almost there, that's what she said." People were very creative. I managed to keep my pace in the 9's until after the half marathon At mile 21, I decided I would walk a mile, well that turned into 4. At mile 22, I was trying to focus and I had my head down, a gentlemen called out to me and said hey Tri Smart, you got this, you are doing to do this. I smiled and gave him a fist pump. I know when I saw the line of military personnel killed in action that I was finishing this race. It might not have been pretty, but I was going to finish. I got to mile 25 and said I am running this in. The last part of the race finishes at the Iwo Jima Memorial. It is uphill. The Marines lined the finished cheering us the whole way to the finish and through the finish. They arranged so young children could run in and finish with their parents. I was overwhelmed and in total awe of my experience. I totally want to run this race again for many reasons, but the commrodary was awesome. Everyone was so nice and there to help one another.
Now that I have been on a break I am going to start to workout again, still taking time away from running and biking. Might explore some other exercise avenues for a little bit.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Age Group Nationals-I am very humbled
Yesterday August 10th, I was honored to competed in age group nationals in Milwaukee. To qualify you need to be in the top 10% of your age group in triathlon races or if the triathlon is a national qualifier then you need to be in the top 30%. Last I was able to qualify, so that I could register as soon as it was open. I decided I would do the Olympic Distance (1500 swim, 24.8 bike, 10K), as it is my favorite triathlon distance. I left for Milwaukee Friday afternoon. The expo was held outside the Milwaukee Art Museum and Discovery World. I picked up my race packet and ran into my friend Jeff. We chatted shortly and then I picked up my chip. When I picked up my chip I was handed a clear plastic bag. I was told this was what I was to bring my stuff for the race to transition, no backpacks or anything else. This was for security reasons, post Boston Marathon and considering we have been under a terror threat since the beginning of August. No big deal, well, the bag could have had handles or drawstrings. If that was the worse thing that happened this weekend, which is was, the weekend was pretty darn good.
I walked around the venue a little bit and listened to the race designers discuss the course. Lot of good information was presented and they answered questions. It was there that I saw two ladies, both in their mid 70s. They were competing in the Olympic Distance on Saturday. AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I hope I am still that energetic in my 70s. As I was walking back to my car, I saw my friend, Deb on a run. We chatted shortly and then went our separate ways. After checking into my hotel I met up with Jeff and Elizabeth for dinner. We ate a quiet little Italian place in Milwaukee. My nerves must have been going because I ate about half my meal before asking for a box. Normally I would polish that down.
I slept well Friday night and got up at 4:30 to get ready to head over to the venue. I arrived a little before 5:30, parked, and went to transition. Of course I was early and there before they opened at 5:30. Once they opened I went in and put my stuff down and set up. I sat down for a while because I didn't want to go stand around outside of transition. I met a nice lady in my age group named Deirdre. We chatted about races and how were feeling, our families, etc. A little before 7:00 I made a trip the little girls' room and then took what I was not going to use for the race and put it in my clear bag. We could not leave the bags in transition and had to bring them to a gear check table. A lot of people were upset at this whole idea. Sorry folks, I would rather have a what I considered small inconvenience then have some thing major happen.
The first wave was set to go off at 7:30. Unfortunately they were not given clearance for about 15 minutes and didn't go off until 7:45, thus pushing back all the other waves. Okay no big deal, the temperatures were not going to be obnoxiously hot and humid, high was 73 degrees when I was suppose to finish. I don't know for sure what pushed the start back. The only thing I can think of was that there was a stalled car on the bridge we were riding over, again probably security, safety first.
After the first wave went off, I hit the little girls' room again and met up with my friend Maxine, Jeff's wife. I had a great spot right by the mount your bike line. We got to see everyone we wanted. Coolest thing I saw was this girl nail a flying mount on to her bike. She got a lot of cheers from the crowd. It was really neat because we saw a lot of people attempt, but for sure not nail it. About 45 minutes before my wave I decided to head up by the pier. I ran into Jennifer Garrison, who is a superstud. We weren't sure of the time, but I told her that I thought we were still going off later than originally planned since we happened to be in the same wave. After that I met up with Amy. We talked a little bit before our wave was set to head onto the pier. Finally we were up.
I got in the water, they said that water was 69 degrees. I think not. I was freezing when I got in. Before we were set to go some guy who was suppose to be in the wave before jumps over us excusing himself and takes off. I guess he was in the bathroom when his wave went. So needless to say we were all set to catch him. The horn went off and I found a pack that I could swim with, just a little faster than me, but not so fast that I was sucking air on the swim. There was of course a little bumping going on, nothing major. Before I knew it we were turning around for the finish. Every buoy was on the right except the last one. We got to the last buoy right after going under the bridge and then I pushed in. We had to use a make shift ramp that was really steep, but we had great volunteers there to help us out. They said to lean forward, so I did, got right up the ramp. I made my way to transition. According to my results, which are still messed up, I was 33 out of 150 in my age. Okay, happy with that. Scary, I have kind of reversed my events in triathlon.
I got my stuff ready for the bike, took a swig of my inhaler and a gel and off I went. The bike course has some rolling hills, nothing bad and once you get up you are flying right back down. Even on the flats I was able to hold a nice speed. After the race I was chatting with a few friends and we all agreed that there was a headwind on the bike in every direction, which made sense because some clouds rolled in as I was getting ready to finish my ride. Amy, is an awesome athlete, so it was a surprise to me that I came out of the swim before her. I was like when is she going to catch me on the bike. I would say about 3 miles. We cheered each other along the way when we would see it other. I have said it many times, but I really love races where my Tri Smart teammates are there because we bring each other up. I also saw Elizabeth going under the tunnel making her way to the finish of the bike while I was on my way out. I made my way back and over the bridge and just let my legs get loose for the run after going up the bridge. I got passed by a number of ladies in my age group and a ton of 25-29 guys. They were hauling!!!!
In transition again, I grabbed a swig from my inhaler and a gel. Off to the run. My legs were a little heavy from the bike, so I started off slower than I wanted, but that was okay because after a couple miles I felt strong. I saw Amy a couple times on the run and we cheer each other and go. I was able to pass some people and I got passed by some people. I would see people along the way and then it became a little game for me to see if I could hold them off until the finish. During the course of the run I saw three ladies, all 70+ years. Amazing. As I would go by, I would tell them great job and how they were an inspiration to me. The run was flat, so it was great because I could pick up the pace as a I went along. The closer I got to the finish, the faster I wanted to go, but I could only go so fast, speed is still coming back. I got within a quarter mile of the finish and just left whatever I could out there. They announced my name as I was coming in. I let the guy take my chip after I finished and then walked up to a lady and said "Oh you look like you want to give me a medal." She told me " No, but Chrissie Wellington does." For those that do not know who Chrissie Wellington is she won every Ironman competition she competed in, I believe that is 9 or 10, with three or four of them being the Kona World Championships. So I got my medal from her and said "well thank you Chrissie Wellington. " I then made my way out of the finish area and chatted with my friend Dan for a little bit, before feeling cold and going to grab my sweats.
I have to say I know it is the national championships, but there are some mega fast people there, not only in my age group, but in general. It is an honor to get to compete there and very humbling. I enjoyed the venue a lot and since I am qualified for next year's event, I plan to compete there again. So much for taking it easy next year. :D
I walked around the venue a little bit and listened to the race designers discuss the course. Lot of good information was presented and they answered questions. It was there that I saw two ladies, both in their mid 70s. They were competing in the Olympic Distance on Saturday. AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I hope I am still that energetic in my 70s. As I was walking back to my car, I saw my friend, Deb on a run. We chatted shortly and then went our separate ways. After checking into my hotel I met up with Jeff and Elizabeth for dinner. We ate a quiet little Italian place in Milwaukee. My nerves must have been going because I ate about half my meal before asking for a box. Normally I would polish that down.
I slept well Friday night and got up at 4:30 to get ready to head over to the venue. I arrived a little before 5:30, parked, and went to transition. Of course I was early and there before they opened at 5:30. Once they opened I went in and put my stuff down and set up. I sat down for a while because I didn't want to go stand around outside of transition. I met a nice lady in my age group named Deirdre. We chatted about races and how were feeling, our families, etc. A little before 7:00 I made a trip the little girls' room and then took what I was not going to use for the race and put it in my clear bag. We could not leave the bags in transition and had to bring them to a gear check table. A lot of people were upset at this whole idea. Sorry folks, I would rather have a what I considered small inconvenience then have some thing major happen.
The first wave was set to go off at 7:30. Unfortunately they were not given clearance for about 15 minutes and didn't go off until 7:45, thus pushing back all the other waves. Okay no big deal, the temperatures were not going to be obnoxiously hot and humid, high was 73 degrees when I was suppose to finish. I don't know for sure what pushed the start back. The only thing I can think of was that there was a stalled car on the bridge we were riding over, again probably security, safety first.
After the first wave went off, I hit the little girls' room again and met up with my friend Maxine, Jeff's wife. I had a great spot right by the mount your bike line. We got to see everyone we wanted. Coolest thing I saw was this girl nail a flying mount on to her bike. She got a lot of cheers from the crowd. It was really neat because we saw a lot of people attempt, but for sure not nail it. About 45 minutes before my wave I decided to head up by the pier. I ran into Jennifer Garrison, who is a superstud. We weren't sure of the time, but I told her that I thought we were still going off later than originally planned since we happened to be in the same wave. After that I met up with Amy. We talked a little bit before our wave was set to head onto the pier. Finally we were up.
I got in the water, they said that water was 69 degrees. I think not. I was freezing when I got in. Before we were set to go some guy who was suppose to be in the wave before jumps over us excusing himself and takes off. I guess he was in the bathroom when his wave went. So needless to say we were all set to catch him. The horn went off and I found a pack that I could swim with, just a little faster than me, but not so fast that I was sucking air on the swim. There was of course a little bumping going on, nothing major. Before I knew it we were turning around for the finish. Every buoy was on the right except the last one. We got to the last buoy right after going under the bridge and then I pushed in. We had to use a make shift ramp that was really steep, but we had great volunteers there to help us out. They said to lean forward, so I did, got right up the ramp. I made my way to transition. According to my results, which are still messed up, I was 33 out of 150 in my age. Okay, happy with that. Scary, I have kind of reversed my events in triathlon.
I got my stuff ready for the bike, took a swig of my inhaler and a gel and off I went. The bike course has some rolling hills, nothing bad and once you get up you are flying right back down. Even on the flats I was able to hold a nice speed. After the race I was chatting with a few friends and we all agreed that there was a headwind on the bike in every direction, which made sense because some clouds rolled in as I was getting ready to finish my ride. Amy, is an awesome athlete, so it was a surprise to me that I came out of the swim before her. I was like when is she going to catch me on the bike. I would say about 3 miles. We cheered each other along the way when we would see it other. I have said it many times, but I really love races where my Tri Smart teammates are there because we bring each other up. I also saw Elizabeth going under the tunnel making her way to the finish of the bike while I was on my way out. I made my way back and over the bridge and just let my legs get loose for the run after going up the bridge. I got passed by a number of ladies in my age group and a ton of 25-29 guys. They were hauling!!!!
In transition again, I grabbed a swig from my inhaler and a gel. Off to the run. My legs were a little heavy from the bike, so I started off slower than I wanted, but that was okay because after a couple miles I felt strong. I saw Amy a couple times on the run and we cheer each other and go. I was able to pass some people and I got passed by some people. I would see people along the way and then it became a little game for me to see if I could hold them off until the finish. During the course of the run I saw three ladies, all 70+ years. Amazing. As I would go by, I would tell them great job and how they were an inspiration to me. The run was flat, so it was great because I could pick up the pace as a I went along. The closer I got to the finish, the faster I wanted to go, but I could only go so fast, speed is still coming back. I got within a quarter mile of the finish and just left whatever I could out there. They announced my name as I was coming in. I let the guy take my chip after I finished and then walked up to a lady and said "Oh you look like you want to give me a medal." She told me " No, but Chrissie Wellington does." For those that do not know who Chrissie Wellington is she won every Ironman competition she competed in, I believe that is 9 or 10, with three or four of them being the Kona World Championships. So I got my medal from her and said "well thank you Chrissie Wellington. " I then made my way out of the finish area and chatted with my friend Dan for a little bit, before feeling cold and going to grab my sweats.
I have to say I know it is the national championships, but there are some mega fast people there, not only in my age group, but in general. It is an honor to get to compete there and very humbling. I enjoyed the venue a lot and since I am qualified for next year's event, I plan to compete there again. So much for taking it easy next year. :D
Monday, July 15, 2013
Muncie 70.3
This weekend I competed in the Muncie Ironman 70.3. My friend Maxine picked me up and we were on the road before 8:00 Friday morning. It took a little over 4 hours to get to the convention center where packet pick-up was. We got there looked around for a little bit, brought a few things and then went back outside to eat some lunch. At 2:30 we went to the athlete's briefing to listen to the race director talk. He was hysterial giving us the rules relating to the events and what we should expect during the race. After were done there we went to the race venue to look around and rack our bikes for the night. There was not any rain predicted so it was okay for that night.
Afterwards we checked into our hotel and then made our way to dinner with Team Tri Smart. We went to a local Italian place called Johnny Carino. Food was good and company was even better. At dinner we shared a lot of laughs with those who came and stories of other races we have done.
Maxine and I are very similar in the fact that we like to be early to transition in the morning. Believe it or not we were not the first ones there at 4:30 in the morning. There were at least 20 other cars that were parked ahead of us. We hung out in the car until 5 and then made our way into transition and got our stuff set up.
Before the race started I met up my friends from Tri Smart friends to wish each other good luck. We listened to the national anthem and then the pros went off. I got in line to get ready for my wave to take off and chatted a little more with Maxine. The announcer was calling out names of people, most of whom had served in our military. My wave entered the water and the announcer calls out my name as I am talking to my friend Courtney. I was raisied my hand as he tells everyone that I have been a special education teacher for 12 years. I immediately felt my face turn bright red. I had forgot that I filled that out. Although I am sure at the time I filled it out I wasn't thinking my name would be called out. The horn for my wave went off. Those girls went out like they were swimming a 100 yard swim. Now the director said the water temperature was 75.5 degrees. I had a difference of opinion on that. I am one that likes to be hot and I was like whoa, this is way hotter than 75.5 degrees. In the process I let some of the girls that took off go, got myself together and calmed down. That helped a ton. As the swim continued I passed girls in my wave and guys from the wave in front of me. Now I know that some of those guys I passed were going to fly by me on the bike, but it is still fun to chase them down. I made the final turn into the finish and the sun was blinding. I was still able to look up and find my way to the finish area. I got out of the water feeling a bit discombobulated between taking in some water that also had a nice gas taste to it and running up to transition on a carpet that covered the stones. Since I was just getting over an injury in my hamstring I was looking down as I was running. All the sudden I heard "Go Lisa" from my friend MJ. I looked up to see where she was, but didn't see her until a few steps later. She asked how I was doing, but all I could muster was a thumbs up. I felt bad because I thought I was being rude. Usually I try to smile and say something. I got into transition and got ready to go out on the bike. I was happy with my swim of 33:55. My bike was not far from the bike out.
As I head out to the bike, the street was a little bumpy, but manageable. I got about 8 or 9 miles into the bike when fellow Tri Smart friend, Ryan came passed me. I gave him a go Ryan and continued to focus on my ride. Finally out to Highway 35. Awesome stretch of road. I was able to consistently keep my bike betweeen 18-20 mph. Loved it. Along the way came Courtney and we played cat and mouse most of the ride. There was one stretch of the ride that was a no passsing, of course people still did. Little did I know that at this point I had a bunch of guys behind, probably the ones I flew passed on the swim. Once we got off the stretch they switched gears and return the favor by flying pass me. Now this stretch off road was awful. Totally bumpy. Again Courtney and I were still playing cat and mouse. Each time we would go passed each other we would chat about our feelings on the road. General consenus we both had, the road sucked and really hurt our whoha. Finally made the turnaround and dealt with the bumpy road until we finally got back on 35 to head in. YAY, now I could cruise again. Maxine came by me at mile 40 with a bunch of guys drafting on her. I wanted to say something, but I chose to just say hi Max, keep it going. I hit the last aid station on the bike and grabbed some water. As I did a guy cut me off. Luckily I was able to gain control. I thought for sure I was going down. I regained my composure as well because believe me there were choice words that went through my head. On the way back I met up with Dario and Nora. I told them both that they were tough to catch.I got back into the bike in. Bike in was at a different spot than bike out. I had a bit of a trek to my area, so I walked my bike in and slowly got myself together. Bike time was 2:59:39. I was happy because my split were pretty even.
As I got ready for the run, I was a little nervous about it. My leg felt find, but I had not run a lot since mid June. I felt I would be okay to run 13.1 miles after biking because I knew I had trained hard with some added bike rides for this. Truthfully I wanted to just be done after the bike, but I knew deep down that the only reason I wanted to be done was because my stomach was starting to get screwed up. Well, too bad, I was not quitting because of that. For anyone who knows me, there are times in races or Bernie's basement that I just get sick and throw up. It is not something I plan for, but it happens. Of course who really plans to throw up in races. All my nutrition was the same as training. I don't know if I get so jacked up in races or what, but it happens. So anyway, I did a run/walk for the 13.1, seeing teammates and friends along the way. On my way out of transition I saw MJ with her camera ready to go. I smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She asked how I felt, I responded I'm a little tired, but I will be okay. This course has rolling hills that whole way. The volunteers were awesome. I took a few sprays of water from the hose and grabbed water and ice. My plan was originally to run until I hit the aid stations. That worked through the first four miles, then I would run/walk when I felt okay. As soon as I would feel nauseated I would walk again. Nora came by and bless her heart was willing to stay with. I told her to go ahead as I knew she was having an awesome race. Another issue I dealt was probably being dehydrated, which I don't understand since I drank the whole ride. I became a little nervous at the turnaround of the run because I had stopped sweating. That was not going to stop me. I saw Debbie before the turnaround and she was having an awesome run. After the turnaround Claire came by, also having an awesome run and looking solid. On the way back I also saw my BFF, Jim, Mike, Diane, Lee, Tim, and Kelly. I love doing races where the team is there because it is great to have that encouragement. With about 1 mile to go Dario came by and encouraged me. I made it through the last mile and got to the finish where I saw the team tent. I got some high fives from those at the tent and made my way to the finish. After I got done I walked back to the tent and took off my shoes as quickly as I could. I knew I had a blister on my left side heal of my left food. It was great to hang out with the team and watch everyone coming in.
We had a great showing at Muncie and was a ton of fun. I was so glad for all the encouragement and team spirit. A special thanks to MJ was being such an awesome and encouraging friend. I know just staying at the start was probably not how you wanted to watch the race, but it was great to have you out there. Big thanks to Maxine for an awesome weekend of friendship and putting all my stuff back in the car. I was for sure procrastinating on that one.
I am looking forward to getting my run back in order. It is kind of funny that when I started triathlon I got better as the race went on, now I have kind of reversed roles a little bit.
Afterwards we checked into our hotel and then made our way to dinner with Team Tri Smart. We went to a local Italian place called Johnny Carino. Food was good and company was even better. At dinner we shared a lot of laughs with those who came and stories of other races we have done.
Maxine and I are very similar in the fact that we like to be early to transition in the morning. Believe it or not we were not the first ones there at 4:30 in the morning. There were at least 20 other cars that were parked ahead of us. We hung out in the car until 5 and then made our way into transition and got our stuff set up.
Before the race started I met up my friends from Tri Smart friends to wish each other good luck. We listened to the national anthem and then the pros went off. I got in line to get ready for my wave to take off and chatted a little more with Maxine. The announcer was calling out names of people, most of whom had served in our military. My wave entered the water and the announcer calls out my name as I am talking to my friend Courtney. I was raisied my hand as he tells everyone that I have been a special education teacher for 12 years. I immediately felt my face turn bright red. I had forgot that I filled that out. Although I am sure at the time I filled it out I wasn't thinking my name would be called out. The horn for my wave went off. Those girls went out like they were swimming a 100 yard swim. Now the director said the water temperature was 75.5 degrees. I had a difference of opinion on that. I am one that likes to be hot and I was like whoa, this is way hotter than 75.5 degrees. In the process I let some of the girls that took off go, got myself together and calmed down. That helped a ton. As the swim continued I passed girls in my wave and guys from the wave in front of me. Now I know that some of those guys I passed were going to fly by me on the bike, but it is still fun to chase them down. I made the final turn into the finish and the sun was blinding. I was still able to look up and find my way to the finish area. I got out of the water feeling a bit discombobulated between taking in some water that also had a nice gas taste to it and running up to transition on a carpet that covered the stones. Since I was just getting over an injury in my hamstring I was looking down as I was running. All the sudden I heard "Go Lisa" from my friend MJ. I looked up to see where she was, but didn't see her until a few steps later. She asked how I was doing, but all I could muster was a thumbs up. I felt bad because I thought I was being rude. Usually I try to smile and say something. I got into transition and got ready to go out on the bike. I was happy with my swim of 33:55. My bike was not far from the bike out.
As I head out to the bike, the street was a little bumpy, but manageable. I got about 8 or 9 miles into the bike when fellow Tri Smart friend, Ryan came passed me. I gave him a go Ryan and continued to focus on my ride. Finally out to Highway 35. Awesome stretch of road. I was able to consistently keep my bike betweeen 18-20 mph. Loved it. Along the way came Courtney and we played cat and mouse most of the ride. There was one stretch of the ride that was a no passsing, of course people still did. Little did I know that at this point I had a bunch of guys behind, probably the ones I flew passed on the swim. Once we got off the stretch they switched gears and return the favor by flying pass me. Now this stretch off road was awful. Totally bumpy. Again Courtney and I were still playing cat and mouse. Each time we would go passed each other we would chat about our feelings on the road. General consenus we both had, the road sucked and really hurt our whoha. Finally made the turnaround and dealt with the bumpy road until we finally got back on 35 to head in. YAY, now I could cruise again. Maxine came by me at mile 40 with a bunch of guys drafting on her. I wanted to say something, but I chose to just say hi Max, keep it going. I hit the last aid station on the bike and grabbed some water. As I did a guy cut me off. Luckily I was able to gain control. I thought for sure I was going down. I regained my composure as well because believe me there were choice words that went through my head. On the way back I met up with Dario and Nora. I told them both that they were tough to catch.I got back into the bike in. Bike in was at a different spot than bike out. I had a bit of a trek to my area, so I walked my bike in and slowly got myself together. Bike time was 2:59:39. I was happy because my split were pretty even.
As I got ready for the run, I was a little nervous about it. My leg felt find, but I had not run a lot since mid June. I felt I would be okay to run 13.1 miles after biking because I knew I had trained hard with some added bike rides for this. Truthfully I wanted to just be done after the bike, but I knew deep down that the only reason I wanted to be done was because my stomach was starting to get screwed up. Well, too bad, I was not quitting because of that. For anyone who knows me, there are times in races or Bernie's basement that I just get sick and throw up. It is not something I plan for, but it happens. Of course who really plans to throw up in races. All my nutrition was the same as training. I don't know if I get so jacked up in races or what, but it happens. So anyway, I did a run/walk for the 13.1, seeing teammates and friends along the way. On my way out of transition I saw MJ with her camera ready to go. I smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She asked how I felt, I responded I'm a little tired, but I will be okay. This course has rolling hills that whole way. The volunteers were awesome. I took a few sprays of water from the hose and grabbed water and ice. My plan was originally to run until I hit the aid stations. That worked through the first four miles, then I would run/walk when I felt okay. As soon as I would feel nauseated I would walk again. Nora came by and bless her heart was willing to stay with. I told her to go ahead as I knew she was having an awesome race. Another issue I dealt was probably being dehydrated, which I don't understand since I drank the whole ride. I became a little nervous at the turnaround of the run because I had stopped sweating. That was not going to stop me. I saw Debbie before the turnaround and she was having an awesome run. After the turnaround Claire came by, also having an awesome run and looking solid. On the way back I also saw my BFF, Jim, Mike, Diane, Lee, Tim, and Kelly. I love doing races where the team is there because it is great to have that encouragement. With about 1 mile to go Dario came by and encouraged me. I made it through the last mile and got to the finish where I saw the team tent. I got some high fives from those at the tent and made my way to the finish. After I got done I walked back to the tent and took off my shoes as quickly as I could. I knew I had a blister on my left side heal of my left food. It was great to hang out with the team and watch everyone coming in.
We had a great showing at Muncie and was a ton of fun. I was so glad for all the encouragement and team spirit. A special thanks to MJ was being such an awesome and encouraging friend. I know just staying at the start was probably not how you wanted to watch the race, but it was great to have you out there. Big thanks to Maxine for an awesome weekend of friendship and putting all my stuff back in the car. I was for sure procrastinating on that one.
I am looking forward to getting my run back in order. It is kind of funny that when I started triathlon I got better as the race went on, now I have kind of reversed roles a little bit.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Expect the unexpected and roll with it.
Easier said than done sometimes, but this weekend I was able to just roll with everything. I had planned to race Tri Shark Triathlon and Leon's. I had signed up for those by the start of April. At the end of April a co-worker invited me to her wedding. So add that to the two races for this weekend.
Well, lets start with Tri Shark. On Friday I was at school helping out with a leadership conference. During our lunch I checked my email on the phone. I had two messages from the race directors at Tri Shark. The first one stated that they did not want to cancel the race and they would post pone as long as they could considering the weather conditions. The next one was canceling the swim due to ecoli levels being really high in the lake we were suppose to swim in. Okay, not happy, but a duathlon, sure why not. This was the second time I had signed up for a triathlon and it became a duathlon. The first was Steelhead in 2008 before it was Ironman branded.
I woke up early Saturday and meet BFF (Jim Quirk) and Amber to head down to the race. We had an awesome showing by Tri Smart there. We get there set up, take a team picture and then get ready for the race. I was in wave 5 and I lined myself in the front as running is my strongest of the three, well two areas yesterday. We take off and there were some fast girls out there. My wave consisted off all females 39 and below. I was happy with the first run, two miles, I averaged 7:32s. Great. Got on my bike and off I went. OH DEAR LORD!!!!!!!!! It was so windy out there. I of course didn't mind when it was at my back pushing me along. There was one point I went to pass a girl and I told her I was coming on her left. She apologized and I said why because the cross wind is pushing you to the left. She laughed and we went back and forth the rest of the race. The tailwind was so strong that when we had it, I ran out of gears. Then on to run number 2. I started off strong, but when I went to make the turnaround I could feel the first run in my legs. None the less I pushed through the finish and maintained 8:13 pace. It was great to see all the Tri Smart people on the turnaround and at the finish. In the end I took 4th in my age group and got a nice trophy from the race. From there I left with BFF to go pick up my packet at Leon's.
Due to security everyone had to pick up their packets in person. So we got there and I was feeling miserable. I started with a small headache at the end of Tri Shark and it just got massive by the time we got to Leon's. I decided to get my packet and head back home since I was going to a wedding. When I got home I took some Tylenol and laid down for just a few minutes. Then I got ready and off I went. The wedding was beautiful, loved the colors they chose. I danced for a few songs, namely Gangdam Style, yes I know it is lost its luster, but it is still fun and anyone who saw my Facebook post from Quarryman knows how well I dance. Slow songs came on and that is always my cue to exit the dance floor. All good. Time came for the bouquet toss and I caught it again. This is my 5th time catching a bouquet. I kind of had an advantage, everyone else was wearing stilettos. I wore slippers, needless to say I could run back and forth, which I did. Danced for a few more songs, then decided I was tired, time to go home and get rested
Woke up early again, got gas in my car and picked up Maxine. I was glad to have someone to ride along with. We got to the race sight and Maxine helped me put my rear wheel on my bike ( I suck at that stuff). We walked into transition after I got body marked and found a spot for my bike. We also got to chat with our old master swim coach, Steve. People from Tri Smart started to make their way into the transition area and we chatted, then all the sudden the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. I was like are you kidding me. Normally people wait to put their wetsuits on, nope we put them on to stay warm. We made out way off transition and took a team picture. Leon's does a great job paying honor to our country and service men and women. The girl that sang the Star Spangled Banner was awesome, then we had a fly over from the Lima Lima planes. Most of the guys from Tri Smart were in the same wave as me, so we hung out and talked until we got into the water. Now you know there is a problem when the water is the warmest part of your race. Today was that case and it was not because we were all peeing in it, that just helped. I jumped in and got myself positioned for the swim start and off we went. All the sudden I was like where the hell am I, the bouys are way to my left. So I swam that direction and got on course. I had talked to Maxine before the race because she had just been in the water and asked how it was. CHOPPY and she wasn't kidding. I felt like I drank half the lake. We made our first left turn and I could smell and taste the gas from the boats. I was like great, I am going to puke at some point in this race. As we made the last turn, Leon's has a huge American Flag at the finish, perfect for sighting. Got out of the water and made my way to transition with BFF, MJ, Maxine, and other cheering all the Tri Smart people on. I start to take my wetsuit off and I said to two other Tri Smart teammates, "umm you know it is cold when there is steam coming off your wetsuit and you after the swim. This is going to be an interesting bike ride." AND IT WAS. I didn't bring anything for my arms and to be honest I don't think it would have made a different because I am Captain Wimpy when it comes to the cold. CAN'T STAND IT. So I'm on my way and I see BFF and I was like hey by the way it is cold, he told me to speed up. The bike is a two loop course( although,it was long again this year, not by too much). Part of the bike course is on the closed down part of Cline Ave. It was brutal on that part, no other way to describe it. Just cold and rainy, it got to the point on the second loop that I was watching people because I could hardly see out of my sunglasses (I know it was not sunny, but they are protection too again flying debris, there was plenty). As I started the second loop BFF asked if I was warm yet, umm no, so I was told to go faster. I saw MJ and Michelle and they were funny because they were like oh go Lisa. Second loop was similar to the first. I think I managed to find and hit every pothole out there on both loops. As I was coming into the finish, there was Brax from Urban Tri Gear cheering me. He just makes me laugh because he is so into the sport. Got done and thought yay, time to run. Yeah, not so much. My legs were trashed. So I decided to just take it one mile at at time on the run. That ended up being a good plan. Again I got to cheer on teammates on the out and backs. The last stretch was the toughest because it is just over a mile and a half long and for a little bit of time I felt like the finish was not getting closer, but it did. Coming in were all my Tri Smart friends to cheer me into the finish. I got done and Leon was there to personally thank and congratulate everyone that finished. Yes, this race cost me a lot of money for an Olympic distance, but the personal touch that Leon has, makes up for the cost. I for whatever reason walked past where they gave the finisher medals. Oh well.
All and all despite that today was brutal, I am glad I raced. I feel that I have become stronger in some sense and it was fun no matter. I am going to sleep well. As a matter of fact, after I teach yoga in the morning, I am coming home and going back to bed. At least for one day I will do that, back to training on Tuesday. :)
Well, lets start with Tri Shark. On Friday I was at school helping out with a leadership conference. During our lunch I checked my email on the phone. I had two messages from the race directors at Tri Shark. The first one stated that they did not want to cancel the race and they would post pone as long as they could considering the weather conditions. The next one was canceling the swim due to ecoli levels being really high in the lake we were suppose to swim in. Okay, not happy, but a duathlon, sure why not. This was the second time I had signed up for a triathlon and it became a duathlon. The first was Steelhead in 2008 before it was Ironman branded.
I woke up early Saturday and meet BFF (Jim Quirk) and Amber to head down to the race. We had an awesome showing by Tri Smart there. We get there set up, take a team picture and then get ready for the race. I was in wave 5 and I lined myself in the front as running is my strongest of the three, well two areas yesterday. We take off and there were some fast girls out there. My wave consisted off all females 39 and below. I was happy with the first run, two miles, I averaged 7:32s. Great. Got on my bike and off I went. OH DEAR LORD!!!!!!!!! It was so windy out there. I of course didn't mind when it was at my back pushing me along. There was one point I went to pass a girl and I told her I was coming on her left. She apologized and I said why because the cross wind is pushing you to the left. She laughed and we went back and forth the rest of the race. The tailwind was so strong that when we had it, I ran out of gears. Then on to run number 2. I started off strong, but when I went to make the turnaround I could feel the first run in my legs. None the less I pushed through the finish and maintained 8:13 pace. It was great to see all the Tri Smart people on the turnaround and at the finish. In the end I took 4th in my age group and got a nice trophy from the race. From there I left with BFF to go pick up my packet at Leon's.
Due to security everyone had to pick up their packets in person. So we got there and I was feeling miserable. I started with a small headache at the end of Tri Shark and it just got massive by the time we got to Leon's. I decided to get my packet and head back home since I was going to a wedding. When I got home I took some Tylenol and laid down for just a few minutes. Then I got ready and off I went. The wedding was beautiful, loved the colors they chose. I danced for a few songs, namely Gangdam Style, yes I know it is lost its luster, but it is still fun and anyone who saw my Facebook post from Quarryman knows how well I dance. Slow songs came on and that is always my cue to exit the dance floor. All good. Time came for the bouquet toss and I caught it again. This is my 5th time catching a bouquet. I kind of had an advantage, everyone else was wearing stilettos. I wore slippers, needless to say I could run back and forth, which I did. Danced for a few more songs, then decided I was tired, time to go home and get rested
Woke up early again, got gas in my car and picked up Maxine. I was glad to have someone to ride along with. We got to the race sight and Maxine helped me put my rear wheel on my bike ( I suck at that stuff). We walked into transition after I got body marked and found a spot for my bike. We also got to chat with our old master swim coach, Steve. People from Tri Smart started to make their way into the transition area and we chatted, then all the sudden the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. I was like are you kidding me. Normally people wait to put their wetsuits on, nope we put them on to stay warm. We made out way off transition and took a team picture. Leon's does a great job paying honor to our country and service men and women. The girl that sang the Star Spangled Banner was awesome, then we had a fly over from the Lima Lima planes. Most of the guys from Tri Smart were in the same wave as me, so we hung out and talked until we got into the water. Now you know there is a problem when the water is the warmest part of your race. Today was that case and it was not because we were all peeing in it, that just helped. I jumped in and got myself positioned for the swim start and off we went. All the sudden I was like where the hell am I, the bouys are way to my left. So I swam that direction and got on course. I had talked to Maxine before the race because she had just been in the water and asked how it was. CHOPPY and she wasn't kidding. I felt like I drank half the lake. We made our first left turn and I could smell and taste the gas from the boats. I was like great, I am going to puke at some point in this race. As we made the last turn, Leon's has a huge American Flag at the finish, perfect for sighting. Got out of the water and made my way to transition with BFF, MJ, Maxine, and other cheering all the Tri Smart people on. I start to take my wetsuit off and I said to two other Tri Smart teammates, "umm you know it is cold when there is steam coming off your wetsuit and you after the swim. This is going to be an interesting bike ride." AND IT WAS. I didn't bring anything for my arms and to be honest I don't think it would have made a different because I am Captain Wimpy when it comes to the cold. CAN'T STAND IT. So I'm on my way and I see BFF and I was like hey by the way it is cold, he told me to speed up. The bike is a two loop course( although,it was long again this year, not by too much). Part of the bike course is on the closed down part of Cline Ave. It was brutal on that part, no other way to describe it. Just cold and rainy, it got to the point on the second loop that I was watching people because I could hardly see out of my sunglasses (I know it was not sunny, but they are protection too again flying debris, there was plenty). As I started the second loop BFF asked if I was warm yet, umm no, so I was told to go faster. I saw MJ and Michelle and they were funny because they were like oh go Lisa. Second loop was similar to the first. I think I managed to find and hit every pothole out there on both loops. As I was coming into the finish, there was Brax from Urban Tri Gear cheering me. He just makes me laugh because he is so into the sport. Got done and thought yay, time to run. Yeah, not so much. My legs were trashed. So I decided to just take it one mile at at time on the run. That ended up being a good plan. Again I got to cheer on teammates on the out and backs. The last stretch was the toughest because it is just over a mile and a half long and for a little bit of time I felt like the finish was not getting closer, but it did. Coming in were all my Tri Smart friends to cheer me into the finish. I got done and Leon was there to personally thank and congratulate everyone that finished. Yes, this race cost me a lot of money for an Olympic distance, but the personal touch that Leon has, makes up for the cost. I for whatever reason walked past where they gave the finisher medals. Oh well.
All and all despite that today was brutal, I am glad I raced. I feel that I have become stronger in some sense and it was fun no matter. I am going to sleep well. As a matter of fact, after I teach yoga in the morning, I am coming home and going back to bed. At least for one day I will do that, back to training on Tuesday. :)
Sunday, January 27, 2013
2013-ready to roll
It has been a few months since I have written a blog, not much to report. Like many members of Tri Smart I have signed up for Ironman Louisville and Ironman 70.3 Muncie. I have also signed up for Tri Shark in June. I plan on signing up for the Palos Half Marathon and the Marine Corps Marathon, also the 8 hour triathlon relay that we did last year. I was born on the 13th of the month of June, so I do feel that 2013 will be an awesome year.
Events started today with Tri Smart's swimapoolza at the Core in Lemont. This is the third year I have done it and I have enjoyed each one. You get to choose to swim 100x100 yards, 100x 75 yards, or 100x 50 yards. The intervals go off every 100 seconds. Two years ago I did 100x75 and I felt great the whole time. Last year I started off doing the 100s, but after 67 I had to move down to the 75s. This year I went back and forth with what I was going to do during the week, but when I woke up this morning I decided on the 75s. REALLY GLAD I DID!!!!!!!!! MJ, my awesomely good friend and coach told me yesterday that this was suppose to be fun and do what I wanted to do to have fun. That is great advice for me because there are time when my ego needs to get checked and realized that I do these kinds of events because I have fun, not to prove anything (well sometimes I have to prove something to myself). The reality is that I am not a professional athlete, nor am I going to be a professional athlete. I compete and do events because I have fun with my friends. We laugh, we encourage each other, today we got to catch up on what was going on with each other a little bit.
I got to the Core at 7 to have with some set up stuff. MJ went over the gist of things for swimapoolza and then we got in the water. The way this works is we do 50 of whatever distance you chose, take a 15 minute break, and then do the last 50. The pool is a six lane pool, so there were two lanes of each distance. I made up my mind and got in the lane I wanted to be in. Soon to join me were my friends, Sara, Jenny, Maxine, Liz, BFF (Jim) and a few others. Sara and I were laughing right before we started because the lane next to us was chatting amongst themselves. They were swimming 100s and planned to swim them in 1:15. Oh boy, like I said REALLY GLAD I CHOSE 75s. I might be able to a 1:15 100 out of my rear end one time, but to do the 100 times, no. So we started and I started to lead. I lead the first 25 of the first 50 we did. We'd get to the wall and chat a little bit with each other, then take off for the next interval. Sara lead the second 25 of the first set of 50. We had a pretty consistent pace the whole way. Then it was time for the 15 minute break. During that time we took a picture of everyone there and shared some stories of the first 50 intervals.
Now the break was over and we got back in. I went in front again. We lost some people from our lane to go swim the 50s and then as the second set of 50 was going we gained some people that were doing the 100s. I lead the first 3 and then one of the guys from the 100s asked if he could lead, sure go for it. He lead for a while and then a guy who came in from the 100s asked if he could lead. That was my oh boy moment for the day. I felt bad because I kept swimming up on this guy. I would wait at the wall before taking off, on my turns, anything, but I kept catching him. Finally when we got to start number 85 I asked if I could go back in front, so I lead until 90. With 10 left we had 8 people in the lane, so we decided to take turns leading the last 10 and wow did those go by. After we finished I was a little out of it and figured the showers were going to be packed, so I just say out of the pool, probably looking a little pathetic, but none the less, just coming back into my own. I chatted with my friend Sue for a little bit.
Afterwards, 30 of us went over to 3 Corners in Lemont. Again more fun times to catch up with people, laugh about anything and everything, just fun times. As I told MJ tonight between texts, I have never left a Tri Smart event or an event that Tri Smart was at not having a good time. 2013 is going to be a year full of fun and excitement. I am looking forward to many aspects of the year, socially, athletically, and everything.
Events started today with Tri Smart's swimapoolza at the Core in Lemont. This is the third year I have done it and I have enjoyed each one. You get to choose to swim 100x100 yards, 100x 75 yards, or 100x 50 yards. The intervals go off every 100 seconds. Two years ago I did 100x75 and I felt great the whole time. Last year I started off doing the 100s, but after 67 I had to move down to the 75s. This year I went back and forth with what I was going to do during the week, but when I woke up this morning I decided on the 75s. REALLY GLAD I DID!!!!!!!!! MJ, my awesomely good friend and coach told me yesterday that this was suppose to be fun and do what I wanted to do to have fun. That is great advice for me because there are time when my ego needs to get checked and realized that I do these kinds of events because I have fun, not to prove anything (well sometimes I have to prove something to myself). The reality is that I am not a professional athlete, nor am I going to be a professional athlete. I compete and do events because I have fun with my friends. We laugh, we encourage each other, today we got to catch up on what was going on with each other a little bit.
I got to the Core at 7 to have with some set up stuff. MJ went over the gist of things for swimapoolza and then we got in the water. The way this works is we do 50 of whatever distance you chose, take a 15 minute break, and then do the last 50. The pool is a six lane pool, so there were two lanes of each distance. I made up my mind and got in the lane I wanted to be in. Soon to join me were my friends, Sara, Jenny, Maxine, Liz, BFF (Jim) and a few others. Sara and I were laughing right before we started because the lane next to us was chatting amongst themselves. They were swimming 100s and planned to swim them in 1:15. Oh boy, like I said REALLY GLAD I CHOSE 75s. I might be able to a 1:15 100 out of my rear end one time, but to do the 100 times, no. So we started and I started to lead. I lead the first 25 of the first 50 we did. We'd get to the wall and chat a little bit with each other, then take off for the next interval. Sara lead the second 25 of the first set of 50. We had a pretty consistent pace the whole way. Then it was time for the 15 minute break. During that time we took a picture of everyone there and shared some stories of the first 50 intervals.
Now the break was over and we got back in. I went in front again. We lost some people from our lane to go swim the 50s and then as the second set of 50 was going we gained some people that were doing the 100s. I lead the first 3 and then one of the guys from the 100s asked if he could lead, sure go for it. He lead for a while and then a guy who came in from the 100s asked if he could lead. That was my oh boy moment for the day. I felt bad because I kept swimming up on this guy. I would wait at the wall before taking off, on my turns, anything, but I kept catching him. Finally when we got to start number 85 I asked if I could go back in front, so I lead until 90. With 10 left we had 8 people in the lane, so we decided to take turns leading the last 10 and wow did those go by. After we finished I was a little out of it and figured the showers were going to be packed, so I just say out of the pool, probably looking a little pathetic, but none the less, just coming back into my own. I chatted with my friend Sue for a little bit.
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