Random Updates

• A quick trip to Vegas (my first! and probably only!) followed by a 10K are all that separate me from my two weeks of rest.  And I can not wait.
• But I will still have to go to the gym and pretend to work out.  In order to see my gym/church boyfriend.
• Speaking of which, I think I led him to believe that I run 20 min/miles.  I'm slow but not that slow.  But when I tried to explain I started to sound defensive.  So I let it go.
• Next time I see him I'm going to ask him his name.  Or should I first tell him my name?  How does that go?
• Also, what do you call the person who collects the money in church?  Because he did that this weekend and almost touched my boob with the collection basket.  I might bring this up as well.  The fact that he was in church and served as the [money collector?].  Not that he almost touched my boob.
• It is finally getting cold out.  Which is good because I have so much skiing planned this year. But bad because I might have to turn on the heat in my apartment.  I made it through November and was going to try for December with no heat. But right now my hands are numb from the cold.
• I am so tired and hungry that I wonder (again) if I have a thyroid issued.  But I'm always accused of having one (an issue stemming from the thyroid) and never actually found to have one.  So I should probably just eat a cheeseburger.  Except the NYT scared me away from ground beef.  Another reason to hate the NYT.
• Goodnight.  

In the Name of Love

The first time I noticed him he was talking to a guy in the gym and querying when his expecting wife was due. It was appealing in a someday sort of a way. As in someday, I hope that my husband goes to the gym. And I hope that he is friendly with the other guys at the gym and remembers if their wives are pregnant and queries as to their well being.

The next time I saw him we shared an elevator with two other people. He was wearing scrubs and explaining his job selling medical devices to his neighbors. And, particularly because their questions were annoying, he seemed nice. I added that to the someday list: gym, friendly, nice.

I assumed, for whatever reason, that he had a wife (probably because of all those someday characteristics), but the third time I saw him was in church. And he was alone. And the wheels started spinning.

Following that there was one random elevator conversation (about running) and some cyber stalking on my part.

And then, the fourth time I saw him, it was love. It was love because in addition to being a gym going, friendly nice guy that goes to church (alone and doesn't wear a wedding ring so might be single), he roots for my college's football team.

Since it was love, when I saw him in the gym on my way home from work tonight, I had to make an appearance. So I put on my cutest gym clothes (and some lip gloss) and went to the gym. The problem was that the plan called for a bike (which I wanted to do on the trainer while I watched house) and a swim (which I never really intended to do) so I decided on an upper body/core workout. I think it was a good choice because I caught him looking at me while I did sit ups and I'm sure he was impressed with my push ups (he spent some time in the armed forces). Despite him being on the treadmill we commented on last week's game and the likelihood that my team will get a new coach.

I timed it so that we'd leave together and we talked more. About football. And he still doesn't know my name. And he might have a girlfriend. But I'm pretty sure its love and he's the one. I'll keep you posted. Hopefully I'll be lifting weights in the name of love again sooner rather than later, because I'm ready for someday.

T-Man Race Report (FINALLY)

So, I'm only 2.5 months late on this one ... there is so much other fun stuff to blog about that I finally decided to just get this out of the way.

The Days Before

I left work early the Friday before the race and embarked on my solo journey to NH.  Packing had been quite an adventure because I was headed for a week long vacation immediately following the race.  As was typical for my summer, as soon as I started out on the drive it started torrentially raining and I needed gas before I left NJ (no self pumping for me) so I was forced to deal with getting gas in the torrential rain - which in and of itself isn't that bad, but I also needed snacks and water.  Anyway, the attendant had a million questions for me about my braces and how much they were and weather they were covered by insurance because his wife apparently had bad teeth that needed to get fixed.

I didn't think that excessive conversation with the gas station attendant necessarily boded well for my trip but a few hours later I saw the most stunning rainbow which I figured did bode well - or at least well enough to negate the gas station attendant.  It took close to 8 hours but I made it to NH where Marty was waiting for me in our SPACIOUS (seriously, huge) room.  We made a plan for the morning and headed to bed.

In the morning we swam and I felt good - the water was warm and clear and we got out and were drying off to bike when I bee started buzzing around me.  I tried to shoo it away and then I tried to run away from it and then I ran into the water because it would not leave me alone.  It continued to fly around my head but eventually seemed to loose interest.  Or not.  Because as soon as I got out of the water it came right back and actually stung me through my bike shorts!  Bastard.  Finally Marty had to gather up my stuff and I sprinted out of the water towards our bikes finally eluding the bee.

After the bee incident we biked the run, got lost driving the bike course and spent most of the rest of the day doing normal pre race stuff.  After dinner we got ready for bed and even though it made me slightly nervous I took an actifed (which had no adverse effects) and slept like a baby.  

The morning started off smoothly until we hit traffic a mile from the race and couldn't get in to onsite parking.  Marty had an earlier wave and was getting nervous so I finally kicked her out of the car and headed to park on my own.  I would have been cutting it super close but the whole race was delayed because of a car accident on the bike course so as it was I had plenty of time to get ready and go for a nice swim warm up.

Swim - 39:38

Awesome is really the only way to describe this.  I just felt great, I drafted, I swam hard I got out of the water and saw that there was still a chance of going sub 40 and basically took a girl out crossing the line.  Strangely, I think this girl was Marty's friend.  Fortunately she survived my brute force;)

T1 - 3:37

Wet suit strippers rock.  I got in and out of transition as quickly as I could - making sure to put on my multi sport mastery socks and headed out on the bike ride.

Bike - 3:40:25

Someday I will go sub 3:40 on a 70.3 bike.  Due to our failure to read a map well enough to drive the course, the hilliness of this course caught my by surprise. It was no Rev3, but it was also far, far from flat.  My way of getting through these bikes is generally to keep the computer on cadence and time and to check my progress at one hour and then every 30-45 mins thereafter.  This worked well through 3 hours and 3 gatorade bottles but then sort of backfired.  At 3 hours I knew I was close to being done (relatively) and never started the fourth gatorade bottle (which also had my salt tabs mixed into it).  I just kept thinking I was "almost there" and add to that some stomach queeziness, I had no desire to shuffle around my bottles to get more gatorade.  The last 20 minutes of the bike seemed never ending and I couldn't have been happier to arrive in ...

T2 - 3:26

In and out as fast as I could.  I stopped for sunscreen and was careful to make sure that I had everything I needed.

Run - 2:26:19

And this is when the missing gatorade comes back to kick me in the ass - or legs as the case may be.  The run at this race is fun (except for the part where you have to run right past the finish line before running an additional 6.6 miles) - its a double out and back with awesome local fans.  I started off WAY TOO fast and soon realized me legs were on the verge of cramping.  I basically binged on salt tabs for the first 3 miles and managed to survive but it was close.  I manage to run the whole way (except for water stops and one steep hill) which was a huge goal but next time I will start off super slow and aim for a negative split.  I kept a close eye on the time to make sure that sub 7 hours didn't slip away - I knew the key to that was to avoid things that might make it hard to start running again.  Like walking and porta pottying.  With 2 miles left the guy I had been playing cat and mouse with all run totally cramped up and became that guy sitting on the side of the road unable to move.  I wanted to avoid that fate so I didn't stop for any reason until I hit the finish line in 6:53!!

For the last few miles of the race I really had to pee but didn't want to stop and no matter how hard I tried could not pee while running.  When I finally finished I was sooooo hot and nauseous that a porta potty would not have worked so bee lined straight to the lake where I managed to cool off and finally pee.  The lake was full of race finishers though so I decided not to go under since I was likely swimming in a bunch of gatoradey pee.  Gross.

I felt like death for a good hour or so after the race but eventually recovered enough to be super pleased with my sub 7 performance (guess the chatty gas station attendant wasn't a bad omen after all).  And super happy to have a week at the beach to celebrate.

NJ State Triathlon

So, I told myself no more blogging until I wrote race reports for NJ State and Timberman.  Sadly I have just not been motivated to write those reports ... they're in my head, but getting them down on paper, not what I want to do after a long day.  BUT I love going back to my race reports before each race so ... here we go:

Pre Race

Paying the extra money to sign up for day of race packet pick up was huge.  I got to hang out the beach Saturday and shoot across the state to Mercer County Sunday morning.  For my Saturday pre race workout I actually did a 5k (don't tell Liz) - I took it slow though.  Sunday morning I woke up early to torrential rain.  Seriously.  But hoped it would clear and headed to the race site. I was running way late but while transition closed at 7 am (or something) my wave didn't go off till 9 so I wasn't too stressed out.  I eventually got my transition set up, found Sara (& Scott) and sat around.  And sat around some more.  And when the sprinters had all gone off and the oly was gearing up to start I got in a solid swim warmup.  This is SOOO important for me and I was glad to have done it (plus, once I was wet I was FREEZING and since the water was warmer than the air, the water was a good place to be - I'd soon be wishing for some cool air though).

Swim

('09 =34:07; '07 = 36:11)

I love the swim at this race.  Its super well marked in a lake where they row crew so you can follow the little crew buoys the whole way.  And its basically not wetsuit legal and I'm kind of a big fan of non wetsuit swims so ... I got in and swam.  It wasn't a bad swim, but I felt I could have done better.  Again and again I come back to needing to not be so set on finding clear water and to be willing to just get in there and draft, draft, draft.  But, it was a 2 minute pr so I'll it.

T1 ('09=2:42; '07=?)

Not much to do without a wetsuit to take off.

Bike

('09=1:22:39; '07=1:37:20)

Woah, what a difference 2 years and a coach make.  Liz told me to keep my cadence up and I did and it worked.  Once I got on my bike after the world's longest run from transition, I seriously felt like I was flying.  Its an at times technical but flatish course and after Philly and certainly Rev well ... you know why I felt like I was flying.  I also noticed that the day was heating up (which was expected due to the late start) and while I was thrilled to have such a solid bike, I was more than ready to just get off the bike and see what I had left for the run!

T2 ('09=2:30; '07=?)

No socks.  Read to run.

Run ('09=1:01:16; '07=1:08:37)

WHY DO NOT STAND ALONE 10Ks FIT INTO MY SCHEDULE?  I soooo want to do one.  Anyway, I was trying to chase down a sub 3 finish and that motivated me right up until I knew it wasn't going to happen.  I was trying to run a race that I could finish and that took precedence over trying for an arbitrary time goal.  And it was hot and well, hot.  And while its mostly flat there is some grass and path type running and again its technical so a sub 1 hour run was not meant to be.  But I did my best and again, was pleased.

TOTAL: 3:03:12

If you're wondering if I'm haunted by those 3 minutes and 12 seconds, the answer is YES.  I played all the "if I had just" games and for awhile I really, really wanted another oly in the season to chase down those minutes (thank God, I didn't find one, I was DONE after T-man, but I'm getting ahead of myself) but there were none to be found so I decided to just focus on what I did do and not what I could have done.  And once I did that I was super pleased with my performance.  It was totally a day in which everything just came together and while I'll totally be chasing those minutes next year its seriously an arbitrary goal that doesn't take away from an otherwise great race (and I'm really bad at beating PRs so I'm trying not to make it more than it is).

Up next ... Timberman!

Local Sprint Triathlon

There is something nice about waking up in your bed at 9 am the day of a triathlon.  And having a margarita and glass of wine the night before the triathlon.  And leisurely eating some cereal and pumping your tires with your sister and then asking dad for a ride to the race start.

Of course, a NOON race start also means the race could get a little toasty, but we were on an island and it was a sprint so it all worked out.  I don't normally sprint because I don't like that "(metaphorical) balls to the wall" feeling, but my sister wanted this to be her first race and I can't say no to the first timers, so I said yes.

Transition was on a tennis court a long, long run from the water.  I helped my sister get set up and we played around in the water getting comfortable. She had barely trained for this race but the training she had done was mostly for the swim and with me and every time she kept up with me stroke for stroke.  I was a little afraid she'd beat me, but I resisted the urge to deflate her tires;)

It was an in water start (mostly because you had to walk out mostly the distance of the swim before the water was deep enough to accommodate our arms!).  Despite being 9 years apart, my sister and I were in the same wave (it was a small race) -we started mid pack to the outside of the buoys and I had this idea that if my sister stayed just behind me and to the right I'd block her from the fray.  It didn't work  I lost her and she freaked out a little - next year she'll beat me in the swim though. For me though, except for one instance when I swam RIGHT INTO a 65 year old man (who the lifeguard subsequently begged to get out of the water and who refused and went on to finish the race), the swim was uneventful.  There was some water running in the end and I finished the .25 miles in 10:56.  I don't sprint though so I have no idea if this was a good time.

T1 was in a tennis court far, far away.  I was traveling to T1 and/or in T1 for 4:39.  Stupid wetsuit.

The bike was frustrating.  I wanted to go faster but this was before I knew about the high cadence secret.  So I got through it.  14 miles in 49:33.

T2 was fast!  1:33.

The run was fun because it was out and back so I passed my sister twice and tried to get the people around me to cheer her on.  The run was also long.  I passed the 3 mile mark and had a chance at sub 30 - fortunately I knew that we really weren't that close to the finish so I didn't go all out - which is good because I ran for 4 more minutes finishing up the run in 31:15 and the inaugural running of the race in 1:38:06.

Definitely do this race again - it was a super fun long weekend away in one of my favorite places.  I wonder if I can go 8 minutes faster if I forego the margarita.  I wonder if it is worth it:)

Amazing

I can complete a half ironman and drive home 3 hours and go out to dinner after but one scary early morning phone call followed by 45 minute of minor chaos leaves me wiped out for the rest of the day.

Don't ever get old kids. Ever.

Answer Me This ...

The most recent edition of Triathlete Magazine (or whatever the free one that comes with your USAT membership is called) has an article about GI distress.  One of the suggestions is that you know where public restrooms are on your run and if you're running on trails (which presumably have no public restrooms) you bring an emergency kit of zip lock baggie, toilet paper and ... lighter.

So ... tp, got it.  Baggie, sure why not.  But what exactly are you supposed to do with the lighter?  I assume (no ass pun intended) that you're not burning the tp because that's got to be what the baggie is for, right?  So that means you're either lighting a fire to poop by, or sending up smoke signals or burning your poop.  None of which seem obvious enough to warrant no explanation? 

In other news, I'm two race reports behind.  I'll get them done before the next race.  After the last race I was on cloud 9 for awhile but seem to have since succumbed to the post race blues because now I just want to strangle everyone.  Everyone.

LONG Ride

(July 4th weekend - still catching up)

Fourth of July weekend the plan called for a 3 hour bike ride … I was leaving from the beach and knew that my usual “follow the MS Ride” route would not take 3 hours I decided to get creative on mapmyride. I searched for a 45 mile ride and found one that began and ended in a place I was familiar with that was 50 miles ... close enough I figured and made my own cue sheet from the map. The morning of the ride, I loaded up with gel and gatorade and was out the door by 8 am.

The first 10 miles or so were on my usual route and I felt fine. I was only traveling with the cue sheet, not the map and around 10 miles tried to visualize where I would be on the map – and that’s when I realized that I forgot to account for the fact that I started my ride 5 miles before the 50 mile mapped ride “officially” began and would be ending it about 5 miles away from my final destination. And like that my 50 mile ride became 60.

The next 15 miles were off my usual route and less than straight – I thought about doubling back to keep the distance down but wasn’t sure that I’d be able to easily reverse the directions in my head. I also wanted to hit the hills that were yet to come on the complete course. I was hopeful that I would at some point know where I was and be able cut out some miles by taking a direct route home. If not, I had an extra gel and money so I figured I’d be fine.

At about the 35 mile mark things were still going fine and I estimated I’d come in around 3:30, go for a run off and enjoy the rest of the day having done some solid training. And then, just as I was feeling good about my direction following ability, I realized I missed a turn. I doubled back and still couldn’t find the road I was looking for. I tripled back and having added another 6 miles to my already too long ride, started to panic. So I pulled out my phone and used the gps function which told me I was only 1 mile away – I quadrupled back and STILL COULD NOT FIND it. And the fact that I was by myself and miles away from home on a hot summer day started to freak me out even more. So I had the gps give me turn by turn directions and realized that the road I was looking for had two names, only one of which was on the street sign I had ridden by 4 times already.

Unlost but realizing I was going to be on my bike for a long time (both in terms of hours and miles) I decided to stay focused and get home as quickly as I could. I was still doing ok, and thankful for a passing shower when I hit the head wind. Ouch. Before long I was down to my emergency gel, conserving warm Gatorade in the middle of farm country without a 7-11 or gas station in site and I still had at least 15 miles to go. But I was fine, more or less, and didn’t think it was worth using a “help come get me” card with any of my friends. So I pressed on and eventually made it home having covered just over 70 miles in just under 5 hours.

And was never so grateful for GPS and the emergency gel!

Philly Tri

(Sunday, June 28th … yes, I’m late)

Going in to this race I was fired up. I was exactly 3 weeks post Rev and I had finally stopped laughing at the bizarreness of the hills and coming to grips with the fact that I in fact rode my bike up those hills. After that an Olympic Tri seemed like pie (and it rhymes too). Plus, I was doing this race with a good friend (S) and she was handling logistics – all I had to do was be at her house the day before the race. She had arranged for our hotel and a ride for us. When I arrived we were both wearing the same 5 year old JCrew skirt – what are the odds? S and her friend K were doing their first oly race and I was psyched to be there with them. It kind of reminded me of the small handful of random science and math classes that I took over the year and actually understood – I would help friends learn the material as well and wind up acing the test. Talking S&K down and through the race didn’t leave me much time to worry about things myself and I sort of went on auto pilot right until the gun went off and it worked.

Anyway, we made it to packet pick up and then back to the hotel and dinner where another of their mutual friends freaked them out about the “hilly technical course.” Um yeah, it was a hard course but there were never going to come in first and they were always going to grind up those hills so why freak them out un-necessarily? Whatever. For a variety of lame reasons we didn’t get much sleep that night but got up and to the start rather un-eventfully.

One of my only gripes about the race is that Transition was at the bottom of a hill right next to the river and the trek in and out was long and tiring. But we made it down, got set up and body marked (I only advised S&K when asked but politely suggested that they might want to forego rinsing their feet off with water and then applying baby powder before putting on socks – I mean really, who comes up with these things?). We had to take a short bus ride to the swim start and S&K opted to porta potty before getting on the bus – I opted to do whatever had to be done to get myself in that river before my wave started. It was my first ever river swim and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that … it was fine though. The water was warmish and we were swimming with the current. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as clean but there was nothing floating in it (that I saw) and compared to the Hudson it was narrow and calm so I wasn’t really worried. Although, I will say that without S&K to distract me I started getting nervous for the first time all day.

We waited around for a bit – monitored the earlier waves (this was a BIG RACE) to see what the current did to them and then we were called down to the dock …

The Swim
(27:05)

Clearly this was with the current. We slid off the dock and into the water and I positioned myself to the left (the outside of the turn line) and about ¾ of the way back. I breath mostly to my left and S breaths mostly to her right and strangely we were together breath for breath, stroke for stroke for several minutes. Eventually though I decided I was lolly gagging and was READY TO BE OUT OF THE WATER so I picked it up and we got separated (she would only finish 20 seconds behind me though – go S). I was happy with the swim but I still maintain that I can do better if I just get a bit out of my comfort zone. Someday.

T1
(3:45)

Not great but not bad either. I did not put baby powder on my feet;)

Bike
(1:40:53)

As promised, the course was hilly and technical. But the hills were shortish up and over in 3-5 minute fellas – no Rev type monsters. And there were flats. Where you could go more than 12mph. Seriously, I saw numbers like 18 and 20! It was a two loop course which I don’t really like but at least you know what to expect on the second loop … and for awhile I fully expected that if I picked it up just a little bit on the second loop I could come in under or at least really close to 1:30 and then I flew by K who had crashed (but was up walking around and talking to volunteers) - I yelled back to her to ask if she was ok and she said she was and I should go on. So I did but immediately wondered if that was the right move … I had more or less decided that she was in good hands and there wasn’t much I could do when I found myself at the bottom of a big hill in a high gear and shifted too fast and dropped my chain and COULD NOT get it back on – I had tried to get it back on without dismounting and got it jammed in their good. When I finally had things fixed I decided to walk the few yards to the bottom of the hill and start over. I also said good bye to 1:40. But at least K was okay (although her race was over).

On the next hill I found myself behind a young man whose shorts at ripped right up the center of his ass. Nice fella. He apologized to me for the view.

T2
(3:04)

Um, this was a big race with a big transition area.

Run
(1:01:19)

Early in the run I saw S’s husband and indicated that K had hurt her hand (seemed like the body part least likely to cause alarm – K had actually scraped up much more than her hand) and was probably not finishing the bike … fortunately a friend went to retrieve her from medical. The run was weird in that it was flat. I almost don’t know what to do without some terrain changes to keep me on my toes. So I ran and ran and it was hot and got hotter and my water proof watch had decided to fill with water so I had to really strain to see splits and overall time. By now I was feeling Rev in my legs and wile I would have loved to come in under an hour I was pleased with just over. I crossed the finish line and would have loved to jump into a tub of ice. Unfortunately there was not one available.

So I drank some water, ate some bread and waited for S who had stopped to be with K for a bit but then decided to finish her race. And she did finish strong.

So in all, it was a solid 3:16 performance and 12 minute PR. I don’t think I’ll do this specific race again because its big and technical and at the bottom of a big hill (seriously, walking up the hill to the car was probably the hardest part of the day! S&K had husbands to carry their crap but I was on my own!) but I know that without any mechanicals and without having done Rev 3 weeks prior I can continue to improve!

Up next … why you should never leave home without an emergency gu and a gps …

Since Rev ...

At first it was tiredness, like can't keep my eyes open past 9pm tiredness that kept me from updating. And then it was work insanity. And now its a combination of the two.

I am so tired, but there is so much work to do.

But I hope to find time over the long weekend to write more because ... there was this race in philly that I've just got to tell you about.

Happy weekend kids!

Rev3 Part 2

or, If I could just dive through it, it'd be so much easier.

We left as I got out of the lake with a minute or so PR.  I trotted into T1 and in 4 minutes and 56 minutes I was on my bike (a PR by 30 seconds ... ha, ha. Go me!) ....

THE EPIC BIKE

And I peddled and peddled and peddled and then peddled some more.  We drove the course the day before and I obviously looked at the elevation profile but nothing prepares you for being at the base of a mountain on your bike until you are in fact at the base of a mountain on your bike with nowhere to go but up.  

Strangely, it reminded me of playing in the ocean. You're having fun and then a big wave comes and you think "Ok. It was fun but now I'm ready to be done.  I'd like to get out of this ocean."  But you can't because the wave would crush you, so you take a breath and dive through the wave.  It tosses you around a bit but you come out the other side and then ride the next manageable wave home to shore.  On the bike however you would wind a corner and there would be a huge mountain and I'd think "Ok.  I'm ready for T2 now.  Getting off the bike would be great."  But alas, mountains separated me from T2 so I took a deep breath, peddled (very slowly) up the mountains, got beat up a bit and then came out the other side.  And eventually, just shy of 4 hours and 20 minutes later I was done (although, in my defense that included a 2-3 minute pottty break).

And even though it took about 37 minutes longer than the last race of this distance, the course was SO MUCH harder so I still call it a victory.  For example, I initially decided that my goal for the bike would be 4 hours which is only a 14 mph average which considering that I was either going 4 miles up hill or 30 miles down hill for the whole race, was actually aggressive ... I was right on pace though through 2 hours/28 miles and at 3 hours I wasn't too far off at 40 miles.  The next 10 miles were mentally challenging, but I got through them in 45 minutes ... which meant that 4 hours wasn't going to happen but I should have been close.  Except that the last 6 miles is when the course goes from hard to brutal.  The math reveals that the last 6 miles took over 30 minutes and I can tell you that nothing unusual happened in that time - no mechanicals, cramps or bonks.  It was just brutal, grueling, hot, achey and ALL UPHILL and I was so done ... 

I remember early in my college career after one of the first home football games my roommate summed up the day by saying she was hungover before she was even done tailgating.  And sort of, that's how I felt in the last 6 miles of that bike.  Except I was sore before I even stopped working out.  Grinding to the finish my legs just ached.

But I made it and while it wasn't a PR it was a victory.

T2

4 minutes and 13 seconds.  A minute longer than last time but I think its because I had to apply my own sunscreen and wow, thank goodness I did because the few spots I missed were crispy!

THE "ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME?!?" RUN

If only the whole run had been downhill ... the first 2 downish/flatish miles were great and ticked off in 9:42 and 9:52 and I thought "this might not be so bad."  And then I rounded the corner and the course became totally ridiculous.  When it was flat or down I ran and I ran well but there were SO MANY portions of the course that were up bizarrely steep hills it was ridiculous.  I held on for mile 3 coming in at a respectable 10:26 but after that finishing became the name of the game.  The miles ticked off in 12-14 minutes each and the goal of finishing under 7 hours and 30 minutes was replaced with the goal of beating my previous Half IM run time.  I ultimately missed this goal by 2 minutes and 30 seconds but the fact that I continued the run after it took me by the finish with 3 miles left is a small victory in and of itself (seriously, that was the cruelest part of the run ... seeing the finish and knowing you still had well over 30 minutes left ... but we got a cool finishers tee shirt so I'm glad I kept going ...).  The last mile of the run was probably the only truly miserable part of the day - I remember seeing some rocks in the shade and thinking that they were probably cool and if I could just sit down and cuddle up to them and close my eyes it would be a nice nap ...thank God I didn't do that;)  

I finished up (finally) in 7 hours and 51 minutes and just wanted for someone to please take me somewhere not in the sun with a place (rocks or otherwise) available for sitting.  Sara was like a mirage bounding (or so it seemed) down the hill and directing me to the shade (and the seats and the food).

And that was that.  Post race thoughts, what I've been doing for the past week and what's next (unlike last year, I actually have some races I intend to participate in on the horizon) are yet to come.  I will tell you now that next year there are going to be some  flat races on the schedule.  Or at least one.  Its pretty much an order from Liz!

Rev3

or, It appears I AM actually doing a Half IM today.

Before I can tell you about Rev, we need to talk about Harriman.  The race in and of itself would really warrant no attention at all, except that it messed with my head right up until the gun went off at Rev.

I thought about discussing Harriman in a typical race report format but I never got much beyond the alternate title of "or, At least I got a bathing cap."  So in summary, I was excited and ready for that race and then they cancelled the swim due to fog.  That sucked because I like swimming.  It sucked more because they made it a duathlon.  And that change threw me for a loop, so to speak.  Desperately hoping the fog would miraculously disappear and refusing to accept that I would have to run 1.5 miles BEFORE I biked 26 miles and ran 6.2 more, I somehow failed to warm up.  My day thus began with a 1.5 mile sprint instead of a warm up followed by a swim (ie, a TRIathlon).  This might not seem like such a big deal, and in some circumstances it would not have been a big deal but, on a tough course with a smaller field it left me in almost last place from the start.  

So, even though I PR'ed the bike and the run (despite some pretty scary fog situations on the bike) and even though I remember (thanks to my race report from last year, which is why I'm writing this down now) to bring extra water on the last run and had pretty decent race execution, the race was frustrating to say the least and left me grumpy.  And no matter what I did, I could not shake the triathlon grumps.

The fact that 2 weeks before Rev I hurt my neck and didn't do much of anything didn't really help matters.

I wasn't grumpy enough to bail on the race, but I was grumpy enough to be unable to accept that it was really happening.  It was just not something I could get my head around.  Maybe because I've just been busy, or because I've raced at this site or because the field was smaller so things were less hectic, but even after the practice swim on Saturday and witnessing the insanity that was going to take up 69.1 miles the next day, it all seemed kind of pretend.

The morning of the race was like clockwork.  With just me and Sara in the room (ie, no non-racers) we got ready and fed and out the door without worrying about waking others at 5 am.  We got to the race site easily and did the normal bathroom, transition, body marking stuff.  I even went for a quick practice swim.  And before I knew it I was standing on the beach waiting for the gun to go off ...

The Swim

I was pretty much as calm as could be.  Per usual I waited for everyone else to go before finding some calm water to call my own.  I think I need to be more aggressive in these swims and not be so afraid of getting touched.  I have some less than 1/2 IM open water swims coming up and I think I'm going to have to try getting in there.  When the guys from the wave behind us (2 minutes back) caught us, things got a bit crazy and I survived.  I never freaked out, so I should be able to handle some 30-34 yo girls, right?

Eventually, after cruising along and feeling like the swim would never end, I decided to go faster.  Funny how that works, right?  I never really went fast, per se, but I went faster.  My average HR for the swim was 142.  I'm not sure how swimming HRs work, but I feel like I can go faster if I get over my fear of getting hit in the head or stranded in the middle of the lake/ocean/river.   Regardless, in 42ish minutes I was done.  It was a swim PR of roughly a minute, but I know I am capable more than a minute faster than I was in RI (even without any waves to bring me home).  Buy bygones kids.  We'll get that one next time.

And on that note, while I'd love to tell you about the bike and run, I'm tired.  So, to bed I go.  More later.   

Because she asked ...

I think it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said something to the effect of  "people will come in and out of your lives, but true friends will leave a mark on your heart."*  I have friends.  And then I have friends that have left a mark on my heart for reasons I really can't explain.

S is a true friend.

We first met when our mother's decided that in an attempt to make our transitions to high school less awkward we should join the field hockey team and enlisted the local gym teacher to give us some lessons in my backyard.  We both made the team and played for one year.

Field hockey wasn't our thing and really, there was no escaping the social awkwardness.

We did however both swim on our separate swim teams and we spent our summers life guarding.  And let me tell you ... those were the days.

But I digress.

S is now a triathlete and I take some responsibility for that.  I encouraged her to sign up for her first race and brokered the deal pursuant to which she bought Sara's first bike and made it hers.  I convinced her to sign up for her first oly race, which she DNS because she wound up pregnant - which was good (the pregnancy - not really the DNS). 

But she is back in the swing of things and I will be with her for her first oly in a few weeks.  I also knew that she was planning on her first 1/2 marathon a few weeks ago.  As is typical of my life lately, I got the weekend of her race mixed up and told her I was going to be in town for it and would be there to cheer (I in fact had plans to be in town the next weekend).

When S asked if I wanted to run the race with her, I couldn't say no.  So I said yes, only sort of querying as to whether it fit within the plan (it sort of did).  As a result I was with S for literally every step of her first 1/2 marathon.

And let me just say, we've come a long way since field hockey in my backyard.

I was there to run with S, not to beat any records.  So the goal was to beat 2:30 and we did with 7 minutes to spare. In the beginning I thought I'd stay with her for a few miles, maybe half the race, maybe even the first 10 miles and then I'd see what I had left.  But as we ticked off and talked through consistent rainy 11 minute mile after consistent rainy 11 minute mile I really had no desire to go off and suffer on my own.  I did have the desire to make sure that S met her goal.

I remembered back to when I started running and would meet my group one night a week and every Saturday.  I thought of the people that stayed one step ahead of me offering up distracting banter through my first 10K, my first 1/2 marathon and my only marathon.  I remember those friends fondly even if they didn't really leave a mark on my heart.  

So together we ticked off the rainy miles one by one.  I was with S when ran further than she ever had before, I was with her when she ran longer than she ever had before, I was with her when with 1 mile left she was ready to be done and I was with her when I lied about where the finish was (I was really confused, I THOUGHT it was right there) and she started her sprint to the finish too soon and thought she'd have to walk in it - she didn't, I slowed down so she could catch up and with puking a distinct possibility we finished strong together.

So despite the crappy conditions, it was a good day, a fun day, with a friend.  And really that is why I do this.  For the friends (and the license to eat).

Subsequent to my race with S I did my first multi-sport event of the season.  And, um, wow.  More on that later this week.

*Yeah, I know that the real quote states that "many people will walk in and out of your life, but true friends will leave footprints in your heart."  The cheese factor there is a bit too high for me though.

Coming Around and Maybe Even Buying In ...

I'm still livid. But after I saw the front page of the NY Times print edition, I'm willing to consider that maybe the President himself didn't know about yesterday's debacle (b/c, in my mind, the NY Times covers for the President). And while I'll never be down with the administration (so to speak) I will respect the President if he does the right thing. I'm not sure what the right thing is, but it definitely involves personal accountability, making sure people with decision making power are qualified to make those decisions and not sweeping this under the rug. It wasn't just a photo op or a bit of poor planning. It was a really big deal.

I guess we'll just have to see but wanted to update to clarify that while I'm livid I remain an intelligent rational person.

If I didn't, I'd be no better than the brain washed masses (and the fact that I can't resist these digs, means that I'm getting back to normal);)

And then they told us to say "cheese" and smile ...

It started off good. At least for a Monday. I swam before work and made it in before my office mate. Both good accomplishments. Especially for a Monday.

Despite the fact that my corner office on the 37th floor has a view of the Statue of Liberty we keep the blinds closed to keep the glare off our computer monitors and to manage the temperature in the warm weather. I had finished my breakfast and was diving into the week’s first project when I heard what I assumed to be a cruise liner honk its horn. Loudly. I figured a boat cut it off and decided that when I finished my thought I would open the blinds to investigate. It’s fun to watch the water traffic interact.

Before I could finish my thought our IR guy came storming through my section of the office yelling “I’m getting the FUCK out of this office.” And I thought, “wow, his Monday is NOT off to a good start.” And then he re-phrased, “EVERYONE get the fuck out of the building.” One of the partners was running close behind him yelling “Everyone out, we’re evacuating now. GO!”

And so we did.

A coworker behind me yelled “Get in the elevator NOW!” And so I did. Although, I wondered at the time whether it was a bad choice. It could have been, but it wasn’t. Thankfully. As we piled into the elevator one of my co-workers said (or so I thought) “… was with a bomb and then he came back with another bomb.” And for second I thought a disgruntled investor or former employee had come to our offices claiming to have a bomb. It seemed a bit silly and farfetched but would maybe explain why the IR guy was freaking out initially.

7 floors and an eternity later, the elevator opened and a hysterical woman got on. I thought she was going to faint, or hyperventilate or puke or some combination of the 3. And then I realized. It wasn’t a bomb. It was a bomber. Trailing a plane flying erratically and dangerously close to our buildings. And the poor scared woman thought she was living through hell for a second time.

30 long floors later the doors opened and we got out and ran. As fast as we could.

I saw the plane and the jets come by for another pass. The noise was deafening. I called my mother to let her know that for now I was ok but to call my father and sister and the city and tell her we were under attack. Because if the plane had mechanical difficulties, I’d like to think they wouldn’t scramble jets to shoot it down, right?

We knew that we were not in our evacuation spot, but the evacuation spot was in the direction of the plane and it didn’t seem to make sense. Of course we also knew that we were backed up against the river so if the plane crashed and the monster cloud of dust came our options of where to run were limited. I figured in a pinch I could swim, but I knew the water was cold. And murky. And rough. I wondered if I should take my shoes off. I wondered how far west the plane would get. I wondered if they would shoot it down before it came back.

And then. Nothing. No news was being reported anywhere. It was as if it hadn’t happened. We met up with coworkers who had walked down the 37 flights. We were told it wasn’t an emergency. It was NEVER AN EMERGENCY. We could go back to work and call our local representatives or our President (THE President) if we had questions. And finally we learned that it was just a photo opportunity for the administration. Because the administration and its President aren’t already full of themselves. Because they don’t already have enough bull shit propaganda to continue to brain wash the masses.

Later, there was some blame placing and lame apologies. Excuses of ignorance. And it seemed like we were just so supposed to say cheese and smile for the camera. But I can’t. Because I’m livid. To put it mildly. There are no good excuses. No apologies will make it better. Even with the proper publicity, no one with half a brain would think that this was a good idea to do in an area with so many people who remember too much about the last time the planes flew by. It is inexcusable. And miles below the virtually non-existent expectations that I had for the next 4-8 years.

So in addition to livid, I’m terrified. And unlike the masses who buy into the propaganda and treat our President like the second coming oblivious to the fact that he is not qualified preside over a country in the best of times, much less in the worst of times, I’m not going to say cheese and smile.

I aim to please ...

and my fans (fan?) have been clamoring for a blog entry.  So, a blog entry they will get.  Except I don't have that much interesting to say.

I could talk about how Friday I met THE CUTEST boy who I kinda want to marry (today, I'm sure I'll be on to a new flavor by next Friday) and I knew that I liked him when I realized I was being really mean to him.  Because that is how I show affection - through biting sarcasm. Normal, no?

Or how on Saturday I rode my bike inside for almost a million hours and 20 minutes short of a million hours, there was huge BOOM and I would have dove under the table had I not be connected to my bike - turns out I got a huge gash in the tire and it exploded.  BOOM!

Or how tonight, after I got the tire fixed, I was in the elevator in my building with my bike still wearing my work suit and some guy asked if I rode my bike to work (in my suit? with my work bags?  um, no. ).  He was obviously flustered by my beauty. 

Or how after the elevator incident, I realized that Whole Foods charged me $.99 for the ridiculously expensive steak I bought (b/c I was soooo tired today and blame it on low iron) that was .99 lbs.  I feel kind of bad about that, but I'm not about to go back to the store.

So yeah, those are the things I could tell you, but they're all kind of boring.  Thus, the silence.  But I have a few monster training weeks and then the summer coming up and those things always yield good stories so I'm sure I'll be back soon with more!

69 Seconds

I ran a four mile race on Sunday and beat my (5 year old) previous best time by 69 seconds. In addition, I negative split the run and 3 of the 4 miles were sub 9 minutes per mile (which for me is smoking).

I was pleased. To say the least.

And then, after a nap, I celebrated and found myself having some post brunch drinks in a bar where 3 of the four boys I've flirted with in the past year were also enjoying post brunch drinks. And it was interesting. A fun end to a fun weekend.

In other news, my first half ironman is 2 months from tomorrow. Talk about interesting ...

Some Things Never Change

As I've mentioned before, my first foray into swimming was before the era (but certainly not error) of jammers (although, naming them 'jammers' certainly does seem like an error or funny depending on whether or not you're wearing them).  The only option for the guys was the good old fashioned speedo. And whether you're wearing a speedo or swimming next to someone wearing a speedo, when you're in high school, its awkward.

So the "real" swimmers, wore gym shorts out of the locker room and mastered the art of going from on deck in gym shorts to in the pool in a speedo in one fluid motion.  Impressive really.

Fast forward to the present and jammers exist so the guys don't have to do magic tricks to spare themselves the indignity of strutting (or me the horror of observing them strut, because face it, I'm not in high school anymore but some things are still awkward) around the pool in speedos (this is a particular blessing to me when the old dudes who shouldn't be strutting in anything less than a snuggie decide to go for a swim).

Anyway, recently there have been two "real" swimmers at my pool.  To be clear, I'm not a "real" swimmer, but I've spent enough time with them to know one when I see one: they do all four strokes, they flip turn and have amazingly streamlined push offs, they pay attention to the pace clock and for some odd reason the girls like to pull their bathing suit straps off their shoulders whenever they can (I respect and admire the real swimmers and all, but honey, you're shoulders aren't so big that they can't be contained by your swimsuit's lycra straps).  On Monday, the girl real swimmer was there but initially her usual male counterpart was not.  She was finishing her workout as a youngish non-descript guy came into the pool - he was wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt so whether he was her real swimmer friend was unclear.  

He put on a cap and jumped in the pool in his gym shorts.

It appeared, from the gym shorts, that he was not a real swimmer and I wanted to tell him that the cap could not possibly cut down on enough drag to make up for the baggie gym shorts.  And then, he took them off to reveal ... a speedo.  Which definitely, without a doubt, made him a real swimmer who was rusty on the old out of the shorts into the pool maneuver and who somehow hadn't learned of jammers (or maybe he had, and realized that even with a few extra inches of leg, jammers don't leave enough to the imagination).  

Sick is Over Rated

or, thank God for DVR.

or, at least it was a rest week.

And I was doing so well, with eating and workouts and life ... and then a mysterious achey, hot/cold fever.  

But at least its not during the progressive cycling class thingie.  Or the summer.  And in fun news, Sara and I are planning to video tape ourselves swimming and biking to send to Liz.  If it isn't too mortifying, or technically challenging, maybe I'll post some footage here;)

That's it.  Just trying to kill the hours until the next nap/tv show I can tolerate.  Ergh.

Girly

It would appear that I've gone all girly on you with this layout ... bear with me..  It might not last.  Or it might.  I've got to sit with it for a bit.  Just figured it was time for a change.  If you have an opinion on the matter, I might listen to it (depends on who you are;)!

Outside

Today I rode my bike outside.  24ish miles or 4 loops of Central Park.  As I got in my car to drive home I kind of, sort of, maybe a little bit, wished I still lived in NY rather than 2 miles away.  Anyway, I still remember how to drink and ride.  Sadly I did not suddenly learn a method for getting off my bike that does not jeopardize my unborn children.

Tomorrow, I might be really crazy and run outside.  Maybe I'll even wear shorts!

That's all I got though.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Puking: The Good and The Bad

I think I've stated before that I swam prior to my relatively recent foray into triathlon. For many years growing up I wore a back brace 23 hours a day - if I was in the water, with its reduced gravity, I got an extra hour. A bonus. Any actual swimming time counted as exercise, which didn't even count toward the extra hour. Double bonus.

Until high school I only took advantage of this exercise hour in the summer - swimming on the local pool's swim team. Starting freshman year, I began swimming through most of the fall and winter. I was by no means fast, but I was reliable, generally for a third place finish. Sometimes fourth. I helped fill the lanes and became comfortable in the water. I liked the quiet punctuated with inter-set gossip. And it was a sport that didn't require coordination of the eye hand variety. Triple bonus.

Fast forward to my recent foray into triathlon. I was nervous jumping into the pool having not swam a lap essentially since college when I would occasionally visit the University's pool. My return to the chlorine was far from triumphant - I was horribly out of shape and had no speed, but I knew what I was doing. The mechanics were rusty but there. I'm not sure my triathlon career would have lasted this long if I was picking up swimming from scratch.

And, for the past 2-3 years, as I've continued to practice and read the TI book and drill, drill, drill, the kinks of worked themselves out, and while I'm sure that if I actually saw my stroke I'd be horrified, it at least feels good. Smooth. Fluid. And I still look forward to the quiet of the black line (almost as much as I miss the inter-set gossip, but alas, my town is lacking in non-NCAA caliber master's teams).

In addition to working out the kinks, I've apparently built up some speed.

Liz occasionally has us do "swim tests" which consist of 10 100s with 10 seconds rest between each. You time yourself for the whole set, subtract 90 seconds from that time (for the rest) and dived by 10 to get your base pace (or something like that) per 100.

My first swim test was over a year ago and it was fine - acceptable to me.

My second swim test was this past December - almost exactly one year after the first test and in that year I dropped 30 seconds off of my total time or 3 seconds per 100. To a normal person, 3 seconds is nothing. But, to a swimmer, 3 seconds per 100 is a fair to good improvement to make over the course of a year.

After my second swim test, I did a timed 500. The 500 used to be my second favorite event when I swam in high school (my favorite was the 200) and I REALLY wish I knew what my best time was from back in the day. But, since it was from the dark ages, before everything was electronic, I suspect I'll never know. Anyway, for the timed 500, my average time per 100 was the same as my average time per 100 for the test which was ... good to very good. Because, while the timed 500 is (obviously) only half as long, there is no rest. I was please. Very pleased. And curious.

And then, this month, we re-tested. I saw the test on the schedule in the middle of a week in the middle of our craptastic winter and I was, in a sick, sick way, looking forward to it. I was actually a bit sleepless the night before the test - I had intended to do it in the morning but that plan was foiled by snow that would have made the trip to and from the pool too long for a pre-work workout. I worried that my plan to reschedule in the evening would be foiled by ice, but mother nature cooperated and I started the workout just before 8 pm.

I started the warm-up and almost bailed on the test. My arms were heavy, my legs were tired I worried that I hadn't waited a full hour since eating my banana, I worried that I hadn't eaten enough through out the day ... was I feeling light headed? I decided I was just worried about the degree to which I would be crushed if I hadn't gotten at least a little bit faster in the month since my last test and decided to just do it.

I almost bailed after the first 100 - I thought I was going to puke or wet my pants, but then I realized that I had swam those laps in a time 15 seconds faster than the base pace from my previous test. I chalked it up to that and continued a bit more controlled. The test is sort of a mind game to me - the first 100 always feels good until I stop and want to die. I'm 'fresh' so I go out too fast and then reign it in a bit for #2, which is better. On #3 I focus on the fact that I'll be half way done in 2 more 100s. #4 is all about survival and #5 means I'm half way done - I've made it that far so I can finish. #6 is super exciting because when its over I'm over half way done. #7 is the hardest but #8 isn't too bad to get through, because after that there are only 2 100s left! #9 is the light at the end of the tunnel, its okay to kick a little harder. And then #10 is all out, breathing less, pulling faster and stopping the watch while trying to get in as much air as possible and feeling like I'm going to puke. Its a good almost puking feeling though.

I looked at my time and knew it was faster than the test one month ago, which was good. But subtracting 90 seconds and dividing by 10 is hard with an oxygen deficit. I was unwilling to get too excited about the improvement until I got back to the locker room where my phone has a calculator.

I took a few more breaths and prepared for my cool down. While doing so I noticed the creepy guy. The creepy guy is an overweight, older, hairy man who I see when I swim at night or on the weekends. My pool is in a gym in a condo complex and right off the pool is a sauna and a steam room. The pool deck is kept warm and surrounded by lounge chairs so some people come to the pool just to steam and, well, lounge. I think creepy guy lives in the building and he seems to come to lounge most nights. He showers, but never gets in the pool, he saunas and then sits in a lounge chair and I always think he's watching me. But I convinced myself that he wasn't watching ... he was just watching the pool where I happened to be. Plus, I'm pretty generic looking in cap and goggles - could he really know it was me from one day to the next?

Apparently, yes.

After my cool down I went to grab my towel and he spoke. To me. I was SO OFF GUARD. I asked him to repeat himself and he said ... "I see you here swimming alot. Did you swim in college?"

And for the second time in my 1 hour workout I felt like puking. But this time, not in a good way.

ANYWAY, back in the locker room, I did the math on my phone's calculator AND ... 30 seconds faster. Again. That's 3 more seconds faster per 100. 3 seconds faster in a month. That's very good to great in my book.

So yeah, I'm pleased. To say the least. I wonder when they'll ask me to be on the olympic team? He, he.

Now if only I could feel this way about riding a bike ...

Happy weekend folks. Stay warm ... the sun has to come out eventually, right?

Tests, Plans, Weather and Other Non-Sequiturs

I went to college in Northern Indiana and many of my college friends have settled down in Chicago - as a result of, or maybe in spite of this, I have on several occasions given fairly serious thought to moving there.  Like to live.  Except the coldest I have ever been in my life has been in Chicago in February - so cold that I can still remember getting back to the apartment where I was staying, watching in horror as the person I was staying with struggled to get the keys out and the door open and when I was finally in the apartment, sitting there with my coat on wondering if there was a legitimate way to stay both in Chicago and in the apartment until Spring.  I think the horrific weather (and the fact that I'm not licensed to work there and my family is here and by the time I really was ready to maybe move there most of the people I would have wanted to be spend my days with were married) play a big role in why I never pulled the trigger on that whole moving to Chicago thing.  Anyway, when its gets so cold here in the East that its all they talk about on the news and walking the four blocks to lunch* leaves me so tired and cold that I just want to crawl up on the couch in reception and stay there until Spring, it makes me happy that I don't live in Chicago - it might be 15 here but its 15 below or something crazy there.

But, the weather gives me a good reason to stay in on a Friday night and blog.  And, if nothing else, I'm thankful that I wasn't standing in the Hudson River recently - when the plane crashed they said that air was 18 and the water 40 - only 14 degrees cooler than the water in this race.

Kind of crazy that I did the race in the first place knowing that the water was going to be that cold.  Crazier still that I'm thinking of doing the race again ... especially with this weather we're having -  the lake might be even cooler this year.  Anyway, for the spring/summer I'm thinking something like this:

• The Harryman (freakishly cold water) - olympic (more or less) distance - May 16, 2009
• Rev3 (super hilly) - Half IM - June 7, 2009
• Philly Tri - olympic - June 28, 2009
• NJ State - olympic - July 26, 2009
• Timberman - Half IM - August 23, 2009

I'll train with a fairly intense (for me) bike training group in March and April and train for a half marathon in October ... so it'll be busy (especially June) but hopefully fun.

I've been trying to be diligent about training and was super happy with my tests - I improved from all of last year's tests especially in swimming and running (I mis-recorded last year's bike test results so it was hard to know how this year compared to last) perhaps proving that even after all these years I'm still a good tester.  Over the next two weeks I'm going to do a new bike and run test and re-do the swimming test.  I'm looking forward to the swim test (in a sick, sick way) because I haven't missed a swim since the new year - with any luck I'll continue to be a good tester;)

I'm trying to keep this up while maybe fitting in a day or two of skiing (I feel like someday far, far away when I'm finally grown up and settled down, skiing will be a great thing to do as a family but I also feel that if I don't ski this year I might never ski again, so I'm going to try to fit it in) and yoga (in the next 2-3 years I'd like to become a yoga instructor - but I need to keep up my practice to make this a reality).  So overall things are good.  Busy, but good.  You might say I'm content.  Which is really more than enough right now, basically the wisdom to know the difference.

*  This was only the second time in two weeks that I went out to lunch.  I'm on a home cooking/clean eating/no processed food (she writes as she drinks a beer) kick and have brought my breakfast and lunch to work everyday (except for the day a false fire alarm in my apartment building caused me to leave sans lunch).  I admit that I was never really a believer in the whole you are what you eat logic until now - it seems that there might be something to it.  Maybe.

Anyway, stay warm kids.  Happy weekend.

2009: Off to a Good Start

or, in addition to remembering my watch, I need to know the time I'm trying to beat.

There has been so much to say, so many good posts floating around in my head, but it seems that I've been to busy living and doing, eating well, bringing my own food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, working out before work (even swimming), having Christmas parties, celebrating Christmas (but not yet taking down my Christmas tree) and, well, living and doing, that the posts never get written.

But, I will tell you about my first "race" of the season.  "Race" and not Race, because I decided a week ago to run a 5 mile race instead of my 50 minute scheduled training run.  There was no race specific training, no tapering, no involved plan with the coach.  Just me, going for a 5 mile run followed by brunch.

I arrived on time enough to get checked in and warmed up before the 8 am start.  Had I known about the NYRR's new plan to keep us corralled in the running lanes I might have arrived earlier.  Or not.  I'm not good at arriving places before 8 am.   Anyway, the "race" started and I crossed the starting line shortly thereafter with the same - Oh God, how am I going to get through this feeling that I always have and in addition to the "will I finish?" panic, it was super crowded.  Trying to find room to actually run (v. shuffle) was, at best, like playing a game.  But I suppose it distracted me, because the 1st mile flew by in 10 minutes almost even.  I thought this odd because given my training runs and the crappy, crowded conditions, it seemed that I should have been going slower - I actually thought the markers might be off which is virtually unheard of for a NYRR race.

My original pacing goal had been to try to keep up with Sara, but in the game of find some free space to run, I managed to misplace her, so I had no one to keep up with and decided just to run and I did and I ticked off the next 4 miles in about 9:15 each and while this wasn't easy, I never really thought that I was going to die - perhaps my giddiness at running paces I haven't seen in years masked the pain.

I finished strong in around 47 minutes and I was pleased to say the least.  Given that I DNF'ed my last Race, I was due a good race.  Post race I decided I was also due a good brunch and headed to sarabeth's with sara and theresa (a potential future triathlete).  Post brunch I swam and ran some errands so by the time I got home, official results were posted ...

46:55.

Not bad I thought and then began scrolling through my race history to see what my PR was.  And then I realized that I missed a PR by 9 seconds - I really need to know these things going in, because I think I could have gone 9 seconds faster, right?  Certainly without the 1st mile traffic jam I would have PR'ed.  Of course, its easy to PR with the benefit of hindsight and almost PR or not, it was an awesome day that has me excited about the next few months.

So, 2009?  So far so good, kids.