Yesterday was the Hermes 10 mile running race and everything went absolutely wonderful! We looked at the weather channel before leaving, and thought for sure that we were going to have a very rainy race. But the weather turned out perfect for a run!
Mark and I picked up Judy at about 7AM and headed down to Edgewater beach/park for the annual Hermes 10 miler. I was a bit nervous, which meant we had to make a stop half way to the race at a McDonalds so I could use the restroom. But other than that, we made pretty good time and got there at about 7:40 and found parking right near the finish line. I had picked up all our race packets the day before, so all we had to do was head to the start, with another stop at the bathroom along the way. We made it to the start line a few minutes before the start and then we were off. Mark had decided to stick with me and pace me to an 8 min/mile race. The first mile was a bit hard, due to all the people and being back in the pack a bit. It took us about 28 seconds just to get to the start mat and activate our chip. I hit the 1st mile in 8:01. That was the only mile that was over 8 minutes. Until the dreaded porta potty stop! If I could make it thru a run without stopping at porta potties, I could actually be a good runner! Ha ha... Anyway, my stop last a minute and 25 seconds (Mark timed me). But every other mile was under 8 minutes and I crossed the finish line in 1:19:57, making my 8 min/mile goal despite the pit stop. Thanks to my pacer, Mark! I could not have done it without him - I just don't think I would have pushed myself as much. It's such a good feeling to set a goal and achieve it. And feel good after (physically). And have a wonderful husband who supports me every step of the way. Oh - and also, to get home and check the results and see that I got FIRST in my age group. All in all, it was a great race. Thank you, Mark, for being there for me.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Miami University triathlon race report
My first triathlon of the season, and it went great! I'm just so happy with how everything went - it gives me some well needed confidence for the races this upcoming summer.
Mark and I left Friday after work for the 4+ hour drive down to Miami University. Luckily, Mark got off work a little early, so he was able to pack everything up so we were ready to go when I got home. We hit the road at about 6:15 PM and got down to Oxford at about 10:30. We didn't stop for dinner, so I ended up having pretzels & caffeine free coke for dinner (healthy pre- race dinner!). We had some trouble finding the hotel when we got there, but after about 15 min, we found it thanks to Mark's eagle eye.
When we checked in, the receptionist said she was taking a poll on how many hours per week people train. I figured since Mark and I were training for an ironman, we'd be close to the top. But NO - someone had already checked in and said they trained for 1.5 hours 15 times per week! Unbelievable. That beat me by quite a lot!
Anyway - the Comfort Inn in Oxford was nice, although Mark had to get up at about midnight to go out to the truck to get some ear plugs for both of us. The hotel was quiet except for the room next to us, where the people had the tv blasting. Knowing we had to get up at 5AM, we needed some sleep! The ear plugs worked.
We got up at 5AM and found out it was only 41 degrees outside, and not expected to get any warmer for the morning. Luckily, I had brought clothes for all kinds of weather. So I layered up and we headed for the race. We left the hotel at about 5:30 AM, so got there early and got a great parking place. We picked up our numbers, chips and set up our bikes. The hard part was taking all the warm clothes off to head to the pool in a swimsuit and bare feet. But the building was warm and the pool water was pretty warm at 79.9 degrees. We listened to the triathlon instructions and then got in line for the start. It's a staggered start, and the swim is a serpentine style swim covering 400 meters in a 50 meter pool (8 lengths in a serpentine style swim). It's actually a very ingeneous way to swim a pool tri and works great, even though there are about 600 people competing. They send the swimmers off every 3 seconds and it worked beautifully. I never felt crowded in the pool. I think 2 people passed me and I passed 2 people, so I finished about even in 9 minutes. Kind of slow, but I'm not that great of a swimmer so I don't try to go all out on the swim.
I then headed into transition to layer up. I was a little warm from the swim, so only put on biking shorts, some arm warmers and a vest. I then headed out with a 2:35 transition time. I had my sunglasses and biking gloves on the bike, so I put those on while I was starting to ride. I wasn't as cold on the bike as I thought I'd be and I was able to finish in 45:05, which I was happy with considering there are a couple of good size hills on the course.
Mark had said at the beginning that he thought he'd be done before I started the run, so he thought he could do the run with me. I didn't see him as I headed in and was able to transition from the bike to the run in under a minute. I started the run feeling pretty good and didn't see Mark until I was about 1/2 mile into the run. He finished and came back out and was able to run the last 1/2 mile or so with me. I ended up running pretty well and more importantly, I felt great. I had no pain whatsoever and just felt really good.
Overall, I finished the race in 1:21:47 compared with 1:24:09 2 years ago (pre-breast cancer). That just made my day - being able to do a race faster than I did before going thru four surgeries, a staph infection and undergoing treatment for breast cancer. What a great feeling!
And you can ask Mark ... I was literally singing on the drive home!
Mark and I left Friday after work for the 4+ hour drive down to Miami University. Luckily, Mark got off work a little early, so he was able to pack everything up so we were ready to go when I got home. We hit the road at about 6:15 PM and got down to Oxford at about 10:30. We didn't stop for dinner, so I ended up having pretzels & caffeine free coke for dinner (healthy pre- race dinner!). We had some trouble finding the hotel when we got there, but after about 15 min, we found it thanks to Mark's eagle eye.
When we checked in, the receptionist said she was taking a poll on how many hours per week people train. I figured since Mark and I were training for an ironman, we'd be close to the top. But NO - someone had already checked in and said they trained for 1.5 hours 15 times per week! Unbelievable. That beat me by quite a lot!
Anyway - the Comfort Inn in Oxford was nice, although Mark had to get up at about midnight to go out to the truck to get some ear plugs for both of us. The hotel was quiet except for the room next to us, where the people had the tv blasting. Knowing we had to get up at 5AM, we needed some sleep! The ear plugs worked.
We got up at 5AM and found out it was only 41 degrees outside, and not expected to get any warmer for the morning. Luckily, I had brought clothes for all kinds of weather. So I layered up and we headed for the race. We left the hotel at about 5:30 AM, so got there early and got a great parking place. We picked up our numbers, chips and set up our bikes. The hard part was taking all the warm clothes off to head to the pool in a swimsuit and bare feet. But the building was warm and the pool water was pretty warm at 79.9 degrees. We listened to the triathlon instructions and then got in line for the start. It's a staggered start, and the swim is a serpentine style swim covering 400 meters in a 50 meter pool (8 lengths in a serpentine style swim). It's actually a very ingeneous way to swim a pool tri and works great, even though there are about 600 people competing. They send the swimmers off every 3 seconds and it worked beautifully. I never felt crowded in the pool. I think 2 people passed me and I passed 2 people, so I finished about even in 9 minutes. Kind of slow, but I'm not that great of a swimmer so I don't try to go all out on the swim.
I then headed into transition to layer up. I was a little warm from the swim, so only put on biking shorts, some arm warmers and a vest. I then headed out with a 2:35 transition time. I had my sunglasses and biking gloves on the bike, so I put those on while I was starting to ride. I wasn't as cold on the bike as I thought I'd be and I was able to finish in 45:05, which I was happy with considering there are a couple of good size hills on the course.
Mark had said at the beginning that he thought he'd be done before I started the run, so he thought he could do the run with me. I didn't see him as I headed in and was able to transition from the bike to the run in under a minute. I started the run feeling pretty good and didn't see Mark until I was about 1/2 mile into the run. He finished and came back out and was able to run the last 1/2 mile or so with me. I ended up running pretty well and more importantly, I felt great. I had no pain whatsoever and just felt really good.
Overall, I finished the race in 1:21:47 compared with 1:24:09 2 years ago (pre-breast cancer). That just made my day - being able to do a race faster than I did before going thru four surgeries, a staph infection and undergoing treatment for breast cancer. What a great feeling!
And you can ask Mark ... I was literally singing on the drive home!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Spring is here
After a few warm days (like in the 80's warm), it's a little colder today and I'm getting ready to spin in the basement. But for those 1st few warm spring days, it sure was nice to get out in the warmth and sun to bike and run. This past Saturday, I did my 1st outdoor bike of the season with my husband, Mark. We rode for 2.5 hours and it was very nice and warm, although very, very, very windy (in face, when we got back, the weather channel said there was a wind advisory). But just when I thought I wasn't doing well against the wind, Mark looked over at me and said "you're doing really well". That really helped my confidence, and when I got home, I was able to run for 20 minutes at under a 9 min/mile pace. It's amazing what a little confidence and words of encouragement will do! On Easter morning, Mark and I headed out for an almost 2 hour run. Again, the weather was beautiful. We had attended mass the night before (Easter vigil), so we were able to relax a bit on Easter morning, eat some cinnamon rolls and drink our coffee (Mark) and tea (me) before we headed out on the run. After our run, I cleaned the house, did some cooking and awaited the family coming over for a nice Easter dinner. Life is good, isn't it??I'm sorry
I'm sorry - I have been very bad about posting to the blog lately. As a CPA, you would think I'd be done with my taxes by now (I'm not), but that's not my only excuse. Working out has taken a lot of time, but that's not a great excuse either. My daughter was home on spring break a couple of weeks ago, but she did a lot of the cooking, so that should have given me more time. So ... no good excuses. I did just finish a good book called "The Road". I would highly recommend it. Anyway - I promise I will post an update this weekend.
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