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!