Races for 2012 - time to GET IN SHAPE!!

My husband told me on Wednesday that I get emotional when it comes to signing up for races.  That I get caught up in the moment and want to do it all.  That could very well be true - but I love having that carrot dangling out there- that motivation to stay in shape and strive to do better.  So I now have a few races on my calendar for 2012.  The St. Croix half ironman in May, Muncie half ironman in early July, and the Akron half marathon in September are the big ones.  But I also got carried away and signed up for the Miami University triathlon in April and the Vermilion triathlon in August.  And I'm also planning on doing smaller races along the way.  Luckily, I'm back running again after an IT band injury after running the Chicago marathon.  But time to get cracking and whip myself into shape!!

Happy New Year - 2012!!

Another year come & gone - the time sure does fly!  Since my last post, a lot has happened.  I ran in the Chicago marathon with a time of 3:58, qualifying for Boston (if I can get a slot for 2012 - it fills up so fast now).  After the marathon, my friend Judy and I thought we felt so good, we would try to do another marathon in November.  So we started training for the Veteran's Day marathon in Indiana.  But 3 weeks into the training, I got injured with an "overuse" injury - iliotibial band syndrome.  It was so painful in my knee and hip, that I could barely walk, let alone run.  I ended up going to Indiana with Judy so that she could run, and I biked the course.  Lucky for me, biking and swimming did not hurt, so I was able to keep exercising.  But as 2012 starts, I am grateful to say that I can run again.  It's amazing to me how a run outdoors just makes me feel so much better.  My mood is better, I feel more alive, and life is good!
My daughter Caitlin, who has been living with us since August, has now moved to Denver.  It is so quiet around here without her.  Mark and I are enjoying the quiet and I'm thankful to say that he has started running again too (he's been recovering from a torn achilles since February!).
So as January 2012 is now here, it's time to start training for the St. Croix half ironman, which is on May 6th!  It will be a hot one, so it will be difficult training for it during the cold Ohio winter.  Caitlin is doing it too, and it will be a chance for us to see her again.  I was very hesitant about signing up for this race, but Caitlin said that life is too short to always do the things that we're most comfortable with - we need to step outside the comfort zone and stretch our limits.  So ... St. Croix, here we come.  And we are so happy to say that our friends, Mike and Marjan, will be meeting us there for a little vacation too.  Mike and Mark will compete in the St. Croix sprint triathlon.  It will be so much fun!  I'll keep everyone posted on the training progress.
Happy New Year!!

Rev3 Cedar Point Half:

On 9/11/11, my beautiful daughter Caitlin did her 1st half distance triathlon at Rev 3 cedar point.  Wow!  What an awesome experience to race with her and see her out on the course!  She's been training hard and it paid off, as she completed her 1st BIG race in 6:04!  What an accomplishment for her!  I'm so proud!!  She's a bit tired and sore, but looking for more races to do in the future.  I think she's caught the bug!!
What a great race this was!  Very well organized,  a great bike course and an awesome finish.  The run was a bit loopy, but the support out there was awesome.  I will definitely do this one again.   

1st triathlon for 2011 completed!

Mark and I just got home from a whirlwind trip down to Miami University to do the year's first triathlon!  In less than 24 hours, we drove for about 4.5 hours down and 4.5 hours back, completed a sprint triathlon, and had fun despite the rainy weather.  Mark, unfortunately, is still recuperating from his achilles surgery in February, so he had to watch this year, which was tough, as last year he came in 4th overall (out of about 650 participants).  But he came down anyway to cheer me on and it was great having him there with me.  I had a good race, but not as good as last years.  Last year, I was training for the ironman, so was in pretty good shape.  This year, although I'm keeping a base going, I haven't really been doing any serious training.  My time was about 4 minutes slower than last year, and it was pretty evenly split - 1 minute slower on the swim, 2 minutes slower on the bike, and the rest due to slower transitions.  My run was pretty much the same.  So, I guess I've learned that I can't slack off on the swim and bike and expect to race the same.  I've only swam in the pool twice since September!  Now, that's taking a break.  And I haven't ridden outside since the PVG ride in October.  Anyway - time to get serious if I'm going to do well at September's half ironman.
The swim part of the Miami triathlon is my favorite swim out of most triathlons (except Mirror Lake at Lake Placid!).  They changed the bike course this year, and it was a nicer, more scenic course and not as hilly as previous years - more of a rolling course, but no big climbs.  The run was the same, except for a slight variation at the beginning due to all the rain/mud.  Yes, it started raining during the bike this year and continued thru the end of the race.  But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I had been worrying all week about racing in the cold/wind/rain.  And even though it was chilly (about 52), wet, and windy at times, all in all, the weather was pretty good for racing.
It felt good to be racing outside again.  It's a sign that spring is finally here.  Now, we just have to get Mark healed so he can be out there running, biking and swimming with me.

California trip update & Misc

Caitlin and I had a fun trip to California and managed to enjoy it despite the weather, which was cold (upper 40's/low 50's), cloudy & rainy for the most part.  We spent 2 days in Carmel, 2 days in Napa and 2 days in San Francisco.  I think we packed quite a bit into our 6 days there.  The main point of the trip was for Caitlin to talk to an art gallery about possibly working there as well as see if she wanted to relocate out there after graduation.  Her decision was not to go - she loves Colorado too much and the mountain atmosphere.  So she is going to look for a job in Colorado. 

Anyway, we spent a couple of days with a wonderful couple - Ray and Suzanne O'Neal.  Ray is an old friend of my father in law's and his wife runs an art gallery in Carmel.  They were wonderful hosts and their home was absolutely amazing.  They wined/dined us and gave us a wonderful tour of Pebble Beach & Carmel.
We then met my sister, Julie, in Napa and had a lot of fun going out to dinner and then a Napa Valley wine tour the next day.  I drank a lot of wine and also spent way too much on wine to bring home.  It was a lot of fun. 
Caitlin and I then spent the next 2 days in cold, rainy San Francisco.  We spent half a day in the Museum of Modern Art, which Caitlin loved.  We had Indian food for dinner, which was really good.  The next day, we walked around a lot.  Went to China town, the ferry building, dropped some wine off at my sisters office and then ate lunch at a wonderful French bistro called Cafe Bastille.  It was great and highly recommended. 
All in all, it was a good trip.  But always good to come home.  It was so nice to get off the plane at 6:30 AM and see my wonderful husband there to pick me up!  I missed him!!

California, here I come

OK - just a really quick blog as I head off to California to spend spring break with my daughter, Caitlin.  A nice mother/daughter week in Carmel, San Francisco & Napa.  I have a lot to blog about, as I see that I haven't written anything since January 1st!  What???
Anyway, I will be back in a week and hopefully, the weather in CA won't be too rainy (weather is calling for rain all week and temps in the 40's and 50's).
I've run a few races since January 1st - the Chili Bowl 5K in February, a 15 mile race with my friend, Kim in Pittsburgh, and St. Malachi 5 miler in March.  I had a good 9 mile run today - the weather was cold but sunny, so no complaints.
Well, off we go to the airport for my long flight to San Francisco.  I'll be back in the next week or so to blog all about it.

Happy New Year!

Today is New Year's Day - the day when everyone starts anew, with thoughts of what they are going to change, resolutions to make, and big goals for the year.  I'm sitting here thinking about how truly blessed I am - I just ate a delicious meal with my family (beef bourginon, which I made for the 1st time and it was very good); I'm sitting in a nice, warm, comfortable house; I ran 3 miles with my husband today (he hasn't run since July as he's been injured, but he was inspired to try to run today, and he did well); I was able to go to the Polar Plunge today and watch my husband, brother, and niece (& her boyfriend) jump into frozen Lake Erie; my parents were able to go with us to watch the polar plunge; and I had a very good year health-wise.  All in all - life is very good.  So - what should my goals be for 2011?  First off, I would like to start eating better, so I have sworn to juice AT LEAST once per week.  Mark bought me a juicer last year, and I haven't used it as much as I should.  Second - this is going to be a running year.  I am going to focus on my running and try to PR at a race (yet to be determined).  The only race I have signed up for is the Cedar Point half ironman, but when I really dig deep and think about it, my true passion is for running.  I love running long distances, so I'm thinking of targeting a half marathon to PR at.  Or maybe a fall 2011 marathon.  I had some really good runs over the Christmas break, especially since Mark bought me my first ipod for my birthday and I have found the joy of running with music!  But this is going to be a running year.  That much I am sure of. 
So, I'm going to go finish taking down the Christmas ornaments then sit down and think of what my races for the upcoming year will be.  It's exciting to be starting a new year.  And to be feeling great ... and to be healthy!   

It's December already ... where has the time gone???

My husband mentioned to me tonight that he's been waiting for me to post something on my blog.  Although he knows everything that I do, think and feel, because I talk about everything, I think he actually likes reading my blog.  So I know I have ONE follower.
Well, it's finally winter.  We had our first light snow yesterday.  And it's getting colder.  Winter for me usually means getting a little lazy with the workouts, and typically, I put on about 5 pounds.  The older I get (and maybe the wiser?), it doesn't really seem to matter anymore.  So although I don't mind putting on the 5 pounds, as it ususally comes off in the spring, I do mind the fact that I'm not working out as much.  It's Thursday already, and I've only run once this week.  So I'm getting up at 5 tomorrow to run with my friend, Judy.  I don't know if I'll get any workouts in this weekend, as I'm spending the weekend shopping with my sisters and mom in Amish country.  But I'll try to get another run in.   
So, let's see ... what have I been up to over the past month?  My daughter, Caitlin, came home for Thanksgiving from Boulder, Colorado, where she's a senior majoring in art history & studio art.  She was home for a week and cleaned the house for me and did a lot of cooking/baking.  And we also ran the turkey trot in Cleveland together.  My son, Kyle, also ran with us.  We've done the race before, but we've never stuck together - so this year was a first, and it was very nice running and finishing together.  Mark is still injured, but he came down with us and watched in the cold rain.  Our time was about 41:30, although it took us over 9 min to do the first mile due to starting too far back and having to battle the crowd in the beginning.  But I give Kyle and Caitlin a lot of credit - I'm sure a lot of 22/24 year olds home on break would not have gotten up early on Thanksgiving morning to run with their mom in the 40 degree rainy weather.  So I am very thankful to have two wonderful and supportive children!  And I am also thankful for my wonderful husband, who is always there supporting me in whatever I choose to do.  And I'm thankful for my health and the fact that I was able to run the 5 mile race and feel great while doing it.  I need to step back and remind myself that two years ago, I was recovering from my first of three surgeries and unable to run.  I am truly blessed this holiday season.   
A friend of mine, Barb, was just diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer.  She had surgery the other day and is looking forward to months of chemo & radiation.  As the holidays approach, please keep her in your prayers.  And be thankful for everything you have and enjoy each day.  We never know what the future holds for us. 
"Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum." by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Red Flannel metric century bike ride

Last Sunday, Nov 7th, we bundled up in our warm riding clothes and ventured out for the Red Flannel bike ride.  The temperature at the start was about 31 degrees - a bit brisk and windy as well.  I think it was about 15 mph winds for the first half (at least) of the ride.  For me, it felt like it was windy there AND back.  But it was a beautiful, sunny, fall day.  We rode close to 65 miles, all in, with a chili lunch stop half way thru in Milan (see picture).  My husband, Mark and our friend Chris Park and I rode together and I'm sure I was holding the two of them back, but it was just a fun, fall ride (not a race), so I didn't feel TOO badly about it.  Sadly, this will probably be the last time the bike is outdoors until the spring.  But today (Friday, Nov 12th) is another beautiful day with the sun shining and we're off to Pittsburgh tomorrow to visit our friends from ironman and TTT, Kim & her brother Rocky.  And I may have a surprise when I get back.  We'll see..... 

October 28th - my 2 year survival date - celebrated by running 2 5K's!!

October 28th was my 2 year cancer survival date & I celebrated by running two 5K's!  I didn't start the month with that in mind, but I ended up running 2 back to back (2 Sunday's in a row) and they were a lot of fun.  The 1st was the Amherst Skeleton Run.  I've done this one before and the weather was a beautiful, fall day - perfect weather for runners.  I ran up to the race as a warmup - about 1.5 miles.  My son, Kyle, did the race as well, as did my brother in law Mike and my nephew Jack.  Mark came up to cheer us on.   
I felt really good during the race and hit the 1st mile in about 7:30.  I finished the race in 23:55 - an ok time but I thought I could have done better.  So I went home and found a race online for the following weekend - the Great Pumpkin run in Lakewood park.  I've never run that one before, but I've run races on most of the course, so I knew the area.  My goal was to go under 23 minutes.  With all of the endurance training I've done over the past year for the ironman, I've kind of lost the focus on the speed and doing 5K's are great for getting some speedwork in. 
On Sunday, Oct 31st, I picked my friend Judy up and we drove to Lakewood for the Great Pumpkin Run.  There were more people there than I thought - about 370 runners for the 5K.  Not as big as the Amherst run, but a pretty good turnout.  The weather was a bit colder than the prior weekend, but that's ok when you're running.  Once I got going, I was fine in my shorts and t shirt.  I hit the 1st mile in 7:17, 2nd mile in 7:27 and the 3rd mile in 7:24.  I finished the race with a time of 22:56, making my goal with 3 seconds to spare.  That is cutting it close!  But I hit my goal!  Yeah!!!  Judy did well too and we celebrated by stopping at a bakery for coffee/tea and croissants (blackbird bakery in Lakewood - very good!). 
This upcoming weekend, Mark and I may do a 100km bike called the Red Flannel.  It's weather dependent though.  If we wake up and it's so cold it's snowing (or could possibly snow), I don't know if we'll go.  But if it's looking like a nice fall day, we may head out for the last outdoor ride of the year.  Then it's time to hole up for the winter ... time just seems to go faster and faster as I get older ...  :)   But I'm a 2 year survivor!  And that's something to celebrate!!