Winter BeGone Duathlon Quick Summary

It was cold, it was windy, it was rainy, and it almost wasn't. Our long course got shortened to a sprint because the conditions were so crappy. I think the lightning and hail before the race scared the race directors (and the rest of us!).

I've never actually done a sprint anything, well, unless you count running a 5K here and there. This race was a good chance for me to see what I can do, albeit in super crappy conditions. I wasn't one bit sad that I wasn't out there for an extra hour.

Because we were all forced to do the short course, I got to see my sister Steph, my brother Matt, Steve, and Borsch at multiple points. Matt and I ran the first leg together. It was so fun to be out there with them all. Steph finished her FIRST duathlon, and our friend Jeremy had one dramatic bike!

Full report to come!

MDRA Mudball Race Report

We signed up to be members of the Minnesota Distance Running Association a couple of months ago. They sponsor the Dome running that we take advantage of during the winter. They also put on several free runs for its members, so we figured it was worth the reasonable price. Today was one of their runs.

Steve, Steph, and I were all planning to run. Borsch and my brother Mike came to cheer. The run is set up to be a cross country run on a series of trails in Theo Wirth Park just west of Minneapolis. Before the race, we chatted up some other local runners. Danielle had done this race last year and announced that it had been the hardest race of any distance she'd ever done. Gulp!

I didn't have a lot in the way of goals for this run. I haven't run a cross country race since my high school days 10 years ago. I was hoping to keep it under 10 minute miles for the 4 mile race, but depending on the footing, amounts of hills, and muddiness, I knew it could be slower. Mostly I was just treating it as a hard tempo run in preparation for the Winter Be Gone Duathlon next weekend. Steve had looked up the field last year. Seventy-one runners had finished. I heard that 69 finished this year. The course was 4 x 1 mile loops, so it really couldn't have handled a lot more people than that.

Steve lined up toward the front. He was hoping to finish in the top 10. There are a lot of old school guys there, and some of them are really speedy! Steph and I lined up toward the middle. It was a pretty informal start. They shouted go, and we took off! The announcers had said before the start that there was only one real hill in the race and that it was marked. Right after we started, however, there was quite the uphill. The loop was actually a lot of fun. There were lots of downhills and uphills with one stretch of flat that was probably around 1/10 of a mile long. I was really glad that we've had a dry spring. That course would have been a real mess if it were wet. I would have been worried about my IT bands if we were slipping and sliding all over the place, but it would have made for fun race photos!

I hit the first loop in 9:08. Sweet! I was on track for an OK time after all. I hit the second lap in 9:07. Another great split. Mile 3 wasn't as beautiful. The leaders had already lapped me at this point, and I knew I was barely halfway there. I had started counting the frontrunners, and when familiar steps and breathing came up behind me, I shouted to Steve that he was in 4th. My split was 9:26 for lap 3. The great thing about doing 4 laps is that I had an attack plan by the time I was on my last lap. There were several catchable people ahead of me, and when I looked back, I didn't see anybody. Since I didn't have anybody to hold off, I focused on pegging people off. My previous laps had told me that the last steep uphill meant that there was about 600 meters left, and that's when I decided to really push it. I had been following two women wearing blue T-shirts for most of the race, and this was my chance! A middle-aged guy was cheering us on, and he told me to gun for them. I smiled and told him, "That's what I'm trying to do!" With just a couple hundred meters left, I attacked. I passed them, and they made no attempt to keep up. I finished mile 4 in 8:47 for a total time of 36:29 and an average of 9:07:45. Not too shabby! I had to lean up against a tree for a second because I really thought I was going to barf. That last lap was a tough one. It passed quickly, though, and Steph came in not too far after me. She's working through and injury and ROCKED the course. Lots of pics coming on Steve's blog... I'm working on the photo thing.

I am a little sorer tonight than I had expected. It was not a long distance, but those hills really did a number on my legs. It was sure great training for next weekend. My 2009 race schedule is starting to take shape. Now I just have to drop a bunch of registration fees.

Spring is FINALLY here!

I know I've been saying it for weeks. Every time the temp rises above 50 I get excited. This week it looks like it may actually be here :) It hit 70 degrees, and the highs aren't supposed to be less than 50 for the next week. YAHOO!!! Wednesday I got a 6 mile run in - my longest run since NOLA 70.3. I felt slow and out of shape, but when I started timing myself, I realized that I was actually going faster than usual. It was a beautiful run. Summit Ave was FULL of bikers, runners, and walkers, and it made me feel so blessed to live in a city that welcomes physical activity.

Last night, I went for a bike ride with my sister Steph. She just got a new bike around a month ago, so I was showing her some more routes to take instead of the usual heavy traffic leisure exerciser's path. We ended going 27 or 28 miles. Our average wasn't stellar, but that's because I was stopping every few miles to say, "Now if you were to turn this way, you'd be heading to ..." I love dragging my siblings into biking! My brother Matt and I have gone on lots of rides together, but he's getting too fast for me, so he and Borsch went together last night. Two siblings down, two to go!

Tony, my tri bike, is still in New Orleans. Steve and I had them shipped to Bicycle World down there for the race. Everything went swimmingly. When we returned them to the bike shop's tent after the race, they said that we should expect them last Friday, today at the latest. I called today because we hadn't heard anything and I was worried that UPS had lost them along the way. They haven't even shipped them yet. At first I was relieved that they were still on their way, but when I realized that we have a RACE next weekend, I called them back to inform them that they cannot ship them any later than Monday. I don't want to do the race on my old slow road bike. I'm crossing my fingers.

Maybe it's the nice weather. Maybe I'm getting sick of being stuck in traffic. Maybe I'm excited about the new secure corral they built at my job, but I'm seriously considering biking to work several times a week this summer. It wouldn't really save time, and since it's only 5 miles each way, I wouldn't be saving a ton on gas, but I could probably stand to lose the extra 300 calories per day, and Lord knows I could use some better biking legs!

New Orleans Ironman 70.3 Race Report

Well, I've officially had a week to recover, and it really did take that long. I ended up taking a nap nearly every day this week, and not just 15 minutes here or there. I'm talking about 1-2 hours a day plus my usual 7 or so hours at night. I think a late night out on Bourbon St Sunday combined with 2 short plane rides that allowed for no napping just totally wore me out. Plus, as you may have seen or heard, I got incredibly sunburned, and I think it actually led to some sun sickness. My hands swelled up, I was totally wiped out, and even some lymph nodes in my neck reacted to the burn. I haven't been burned that bad since I was 12 or so and fishing with my grandparents. I never want to be burned like that again. I may need one of those little wraps that keeps your arms covered. I can never seem to use enough sunscreen.

Steve, as usual, has posted all of our pictures. If you haven't checked them out, head on over to his blog. He's got a 3 part race report!

We left Minnesota super early on Friday morning. My poor sister is awesome for taking us to the airport HOURS before she would even have had to get up. Thanks Steph! We had a layover in Memphis. The whole airport smells like meat. It was Steve's kind of place! All of that taking off and landing combined with the 2 short flights did a number on my stomach, but before I knew it, we were on land again in New Orleans. We picked up our rental car and waited for TriSara Tops' plane to get in. A few hugs later and we were heading into town to meet up with Team Evotri and some super cool pros! Stu was doing an interview with Desiree Ficker, Chris McDonald, Linsey Corbin, and Heather Gollnick!! Steve and I aren't officially part of Team Evotri, but we've been friends with most of them since the first WIBA in 2006 while I was training for my first Ironman. Over the years as more members have been added, we've gotten to know them as well, and let me just say that they are one of the coolest, most dedicated, and down to earth groups that you'll ever meet. Plus, they're a blast, and like I said in my earlier post, I literally laughed all weekend. After ogling the pros while they had their interview, we went to check in, grabbed some tasty Cajun food, and went back to the house where we were staying. We had some pretty sweet accommodations! There was plenty of room for the nine of us, even with our bikes and gear. We spent most of Friday and Saturday checking in, getting our gear ready, picking up remaining team members getting into town, and eating tasty tasty food. Saturday we had beignets at Cafe Du Monde (a must when visiting NO) and some pre-race pasta later in the evening. Lights out early Saturday evening - we were racing the next day!

On race morning, I stepped outside and let out a big sigh. It was MUGGY. Just as the weatherpeople had been predicting, Sunday was the warmest temp that they'd had in a while down there. In the end, I think it got up to around 83 degrees, NOT exactly Minnesota weather in April. We piled in the team van yet again. Did I mention what a great navigator/team supervisor Robby B is? He never got us lost and always knew where we needed to be and when. It made doing an out of town race SO much easier. Thanks Robby! Transition was buzzing as usual. I arranged my stuff and made sure to slather on plenty of sunscreen. My skin hadn't seen the light of day since our trip to Cozumel in January! When we got to the line for the buses that would take us to the swim start, they informed us that we'd better start walking because we wouldn't make it on a bus. Dang. Oh well. It was actually a nice walk, and since it was so warm, walking in bare feet and my tri outfit wasn't the least bit chilly. We got to meet up with some other bloggers on the walk, too - added bonus! The porta potties at the swim start were all out of TP. Live and learn, I made the rookie mistake of not bringing any... Steve and Trisaratops' waves were before mine as were Sweet's JP's and Robby's. Rural Girl, TriCajun, his wife Lisa (who is hilarious!), and Stu were all after me. My wave left at 7:52.

The Swim:

We had done a practice swim in lake Pontchartrain the day before, my first open water swim since Square Lake half in September. I'm glad I did. It took a couple of minutes to get used to the initial cold and the slightly salty water. The practice swim prepared me for the shallow start, which meant we really couldn't start swimming right away. When I did finally start swimming, I got kicked in the face once, but it wasn't a bad one. It took just a bit for us to spread out. Since it was a point to point, we were swimming between the shore and the buoys. I usually stay super close to the buoys during races but decided to keep closer to shore this time around. I did have a couple of episodes of veering. I guess that's to be expected this early in the season. For the most part, I was actually surprised at how few swimmers I ran into. There were 3000+ people registered! A local woman in the porta potty line had told us to watch for the big lone tree, so that's what I did. It certainly helped to have a point of reference! The swim was otherwise fairly uneventful, and it was NOT even close to my PR, but my time in the pool was pretty minimal so far this season, and with barely one open water swim under my belt, I'll take it! Total time: 47:13 (included a run up to T1).

T 1:

It was a pretty long hike up to transition, and transition was HUGE since the field was so big, but I was in and out in 3:35.

The Bike:

I knew this could be a super fast course if the wind stayed calm, but no such luck. It was picking up at a considerable pace. There were several out and back little juts, and the first one was against the wind. It was short, though, and for the first 25 miles or so, we mostly had the wind at our backs. I had a pretty stellar average for the first half of the bike, but I kept telling myself, "You are not a rock star. Take it easy. You'll be against the wind on the way back." I tried to keep it conservative for the first half, especially since this technically was only my 3rd outdoor ride of the year. I looked around a bit and enjoyed the scenery. I actually thought the bike was really pretty. It was mostly flat except when we were going over levies. The majority of the bike was out in the bayou, and I have never seen so many dead snakes in my life. I must have seen 30 dead snakes (and one live one) smushed on the road. We got to see some houses being rebuilt, but my favorite part was all of the green! Everything is still very brown here right now. On the way back, that beautiful tailwind came at us straight on. I continued to try not to push too hard, but I was passing people right and left (clarification: I was passing on the left!). I think all of those nasty trainer rides I did this spring paid off. It really can't replace outdoor training, but for this Minnesotan, it did the trick! Total time: 3:16.17, just around a 17mph average.

T2:

When I got to T2, I realized that I had probably eaten too much on the bike. Usually I don't eat enough, so I tried really hard to eat more. That combined with the headwind for 20 miles left a lot of food in my gut. I slowed it down in T2, visited the porta potty, and made my way to the run - 5:36.

The Run:

We had a nasty headwind for the first 3 miles of the run. One woman and I even drafted off each other for a while! She would run in front till she got tired, then I would take over. I've never had to do that before, but it works swimmingly. My food wasn't digesting. After the first mile, I took a few walk breaks to try to get the food down. It was either that or it was going to come back up. Option A wasn't working, so I started hoping for option B. I knew that at least then I'd feel better. I don't think the heat helped anything. A fifty degree temperature swing is a lot to ask of your body. Just to illustrate the difference, it snowed in MN the day before the race. They didn't have any ice until mile 6, but that was my turning point. I was able to cool off, I had a tailwind, and I felt great. My legs actually felt great for the whole run, but at that point the rest of my body finally decided to join them. I met a woman named Marian at around mile 9 and we ran the next 4 miles together. She was from Puerto Rico and cute as a bug. My splits were as follows:

First 2 miles - 21:05
Miles 3+4 - 23:06
Mile 5 - 15:08 - yikes! That was a nasty one, food still not going down...
Mile 6 - 12:06
Mile 7 - 10:21 - food was starting to digest
Mile 8 - 12:19
Mile 9 - 11:02
Mile 10 - 11:01
Mile 11 -11:13
Miles 12 + 13 - 22:24
Total: 2:29:48

None of those splits were great, but given the heat and the GI issues, I'll take 'em! I negative split the run by nearly 3 minutes! The last mile of the run was AWESOME. One guy shouted to Marian and I that we looked way too fresh to have raced as far as we had. I laughed and shouted, "Well, I don't smell so fresh!" I kept picking it up, and when we hit Jackson Square, the crowd was going crazy. I sprinted to the finish line! Half Iron Distance race #5 was a blast!

Nearly everyone from our group had finished, except for TriCajun and Lisa. They were doing the race together and had started behind me. I was a sunburned soaking wet mess (from all of the ice and dumping water on myself). We traded war stories, and the general consensus was that the swim may have been a bit long, it was horrible that the bike course aid stations ran out of water and gatorade, and for a bunch of midwesterners, it sure was hot! I loved the race, though, and if it weren't so expensive to fly down and ship our bikes, I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

The Numbers:

Swim: 47:13
T1: 3:35
Bike: 3:16:17 (PR)
T2: 5:36
Run: 2:29:48
Total: 6:42:29 (PR by 5 minutes on "official" courses)
Placed 3/9 in the group "female medical professionals" (the race is sponsored by a hospital)
Placed 362/650 women

The Aftermath:

After picking our stuff up in transition (we just had to drop our bikes off with the bike shop), we made a mad dash to get JP to the airport. The rest of us got ready for some debauchery on Bourbon St! Well, as much debauchery as a bunch of tired triathletes who have to get up early the next morning for travel can have anyway...

We said our goodbyes Monday morning, and we're already looking forward to WIBA at the end of June, when we'll get to see everybody again for a weekend of training, friends, and fun.

Thoughts:

I really did like this course and would recommend this race. For it being an inaugural race, it was well organized. I was VERY disappointed that the aid stations on the bike ran out of Gatorade and even MORE disappointed that they ran out of WATER. If you're going to let 3000+ people into a race, you'd better have support for them. I was also disappointed to see that very few of the aid stations on the run had ice or sponges. It was a hot day and even the locals were melting!

I'm not sure if it was because this was an Ironman 70.3 or if it was because this was the inaugural event, but there were a lot of big name pros there, and it was fun to be out there with them. The ones we did get to interact with were very personable.

I would do this race again in a heartbeat...if the logistics of bike transport and plane tickets weren't included. It's just too expensive for us to make this a regular thing. Registration in itself is a pretty penny. We have so many great local races.

This sure wasn't my fastest race. Technically, it's a PR, but that's just because Steelhead was changed to a du last year and Square Lake's bike was 1.5 miles too short. Overall, it ranks somewhere in the middle as far as times go, and I'm OK with that given the fact that it was an early race. Sure it wasn't fun to be stuck indoors training, and mentally, it's a lot harder to know what you'll be able to do once you actually get out there, but I did notice something about this early season training... My mood was much better this winter, and I attribute it to all of the exercise. Normally I sort of go into hibernation in the winter. I eat crappy, work out much less than normal, and generally feel pretty gross. It sort of becomes a downward spiral that doesn't go away till the end of the winter. This year was different. It's really hard to force yourself into lots of exercise when you don't have anything to train for. I'm going to have to figure out how to work more exercise/training into next winter.

What's Next:

It's kind of funny. Normally by this time of year I have my whole race schedule figured out. This year, I was so busy training that I haven't had time yet! I love the 70.3 distance. I think it's my favorite distance, and I learn something each time I race one. I love the challenge, and since I'm REALLY not built for speed, I think it's a good fit. I know I can do this faster. There's a 70.3 race here in June that I'd really like to do. I'm also planning to join up with my buds at WIBA. I've got a couple of dus coming up, and of course, Twin Cities Marathon #10 will have to be on my race calender. I'll have a post later with the official calender! I'm going to keep training. I'm excited to get outside some more now that we've hit 50s. I need to work on getting to the pool more, and there will need to be some weight training. Yikes I've let my upper body go! Usually during the winter I focus more on strength training which takes a back seat during tri season. This year it took a back seat early, and it shows. Bicep curls here I come!

Back From The Big Easy!

First, an apology for a complete lack of blogging. After the tonsil and migraine incidents, I got back into training but lacked some of the confidence that I had before I was sidelined for a week. Then Steve and I dove into yet another home improvement project. It seems we manage to take one on each time we've got a big race coming up. It wasn't anything huge, we just redid our guest room, but it took much longer to complete than I had anticipated. We refinished the floor, painted everything (including the closet and radiator!), put in new fixtures, pulled down the crappy shelving, and got some super cute bedding. Come visit if you're looking for a visit to a northern climate!



We got back from New Orleans yesterday, and it's been all sorts of unpacking and tidying since then. My baby sister, who is 18, had her tonsils out today, so I drove down to the hospital to be with her for a few hours today. Back to work tomorrow, so this will be the Cliff Notes version with more detail to come later.

I PR'd! Well, only by 5 minutes, and that's because my two half iron distance races were not very official last year. Steelhead was changed to a du, and the bike at Square Lake was a bit short at around 54.5 miles.

I had a blast meeting some of the pros, and there were other pro sightings all weekend.

I had the BEST time hanging out with all of the Team Evotri folks. I literally laughed all weekend. They are such an inspirational group, and they are so speedy! Steve and I have known some of them for almost 3 years now, and we enjoyed getting to know some of the newer members even better.

I got sunburned... again. This is not something I'm proud of. We slathered on lots of sunscreen before the race, but I need to work on applying it 1-2 more times during the race. Two days later, it's still painful, and my hands are swelled up with pitting edema, I think from the inflammation. It's super gross.

I ate delicious food, lots and lots of tasty food - shrimp, fish, beignets, pasta, and more peanut butter than I care to admit.

I think for the most part, my training prepared me well for this race. I obviously wasn't racing at end of the summer caliber, but for a long course race at the beginning of April, I really didn't do too bad. Details to come!

Revovery Week by Default

I've been doing pretty good on the training front. They're no 2 a days, but I've had 14 hour weeks for the past couple of weeks, including a 60 mile bike ride (on the trainer!) with an 11.5 mile run last weekend. I think I overdid it, and my body is telling me so.

Friday I noticed that my throat was a little sore, and I thought for sure that I was coming down with the cold that has been passed around at work. It never came, though, and Saturday Steve and I hopped on the trainer and watched a couple of movies. Then we went out for super tasty supper at a local restaurant.

Sunday morning during church, I noticed that the right side of my neck was a bit swollen. When I got home, I looked in the mirror and saw quite possibly the grossest lesion imaginable on my tonsil. I felt fine, so I went on my 11.5 mile run anyway and THEN went to urgent care. They basically told me I was fine, and it popped on its own by that evening anyway.

Monday my throat/neck were feeling a little better Monday, but I was EXHAUSTED, so I took the day off.

Tuesday I woke up with a migraine. It hasn't gone away. It's now Thursday, and I haven't worked out since Sunday. I'm feeling super antsy, really foggy, and just plain tired. If you couldn't tell, I'm also whiny.

Hopefully this will all go away soon and I'll be back to training. In the meantime, there's just waiting...

Back to Basics

This month marks my 6th year in triathlon, and I'm right back where I was back then - in the pool trying to figure out what I'm doing. In 2004, I signed up for my first triathlon - the Lifetime Fitness olympic tri in Minneapolis. I decided that February that I should probably start swimming, and before long, I swam my first mile. It was exhausting! Since then, Steve and I relearned to swim through Total Immersion, my stroke has gotten progressively better, and my endurance has greatly improved. Heck, I got through two Ironman swims! Lately, I've been trying to increase my speed, though, and this is not an easy feat. Steve had met a couple of times with the swim coach at our Y and has since seen a lot of improvement, so i decided to give it a try.

Andrea and I met on Tuesday on my day off. She had me swim a 100 while critiquing my stroke. The good news is that I don't have a lot to change. I need to rotate a bit more when I'm not breathing, and I need to keep my head a little higher in the water so my shoulders aren't the ones trying to cut through the water. She had me do a couple of drills, and things started to improve right away. The bad news is that the reason I am slow is not because my form is bad. I just need to get in more speed work. This means intervals, and lots of them. It was great having someone there watching me trying to do speedwork because I feel like my form falls apart when I do. She gave me a few tips and wants me to try 50 M intervals for now. This will get me used to keeping my form while increasing my speed. I'll be trying them this week!

Running: I finally got back outside on Friday after work. The sidewalks had cleared for a couple of days, but we got several inches of snow Friday evening, and I knew I needed to get outside before all of that snow got packed down. I managed 9.5 miles in the snow. At one point, I went to wipe my face and realized that my eyebrows had frozen solid! I laughed out loud at that one. My times were terrible because I was slipping and sliding all over the place, but there's something really special about running while it's snowing with the smell of wood burning fireplaces in the air.

Biking: I did a FIVE HOUR spin class today, and I survived the whole thing (check out Steve's blog for pics). They had 5 different instructors, which kept things interesting. The first lady was really engaging and gave us Oscar/movie/music trivia. It made the hour go by pretty fast. The next two instructors were pretty mellow, which was fine by me since I knew I had two hours left after that, but I can see how people who were finishing their workouts at that time could have felt a little jipped. The 3-4 hour lady was a little intense at first. I think she may have forgotten that some of us were there for 3 hours already! At one point, we were doing one second jumps, and I was not a happy camper, but I got used to the intensity, which was good because the last guy, Phil, was also pretty intense. Overall, I felt really strong. The class was mentally so much easier than the 4 hours I did in my basement on Tuesday. It helped that Steve, my brother Matt, my sister Steph, and Borsch were all there to keep me company for a while! It's so hard to judge how I'm actually doing on the trainer. My averages have not been great, and I can't tell if it's because I have too much pressure on my back wheel or if it's because I'm bored out of my mind. Quite possibly it's a combination of both. The fact that the class today was totally doable for me was pretty encouraging. There's a good chance that I won't get outdoors at all before New Orleans. I'm just hoping I'm doing enough of what I can...

Bloggy friends - Rural Girl was in town this weekend, so Steve and I had coffee with her and her awesome husband Jack this morning. We talked all things tri, New Orleans, training, and racing. Thanks again, Rural Girl! It made me even more excited to see everybody again in The Big Easy in just 6 weeks.

Training During a MN Winter

New Orleans 70.3 is just 8 weeks away! Admittedly, I've not been following the plan exactly, but I've been getting in some great workouts.

Swimming: I've been swimming once or twice a week, at least a mile at a time. Ironman has sort of given me the mentality that it's not worth showing up if I'm going to do something short. I'm trying to focus on quality in addition to quantity. Last year I got a good start. I'd like to keep with the speed/quality work this year, too. I'm meeting with one of the swim instructors at the Y next week. I've never actually had a professional coach watch me swim. I know my stroke has gotten much better over the years, especially after Steve and I completed Total Immersion. Now I just need to get a bit faster! Hopefully Andrea will have some pointers for me. There's a lot of room to cut time off my swim split of a 70.3. We'll see if I can do it in a couple of months.

Bike: I've been getting to know my Cyclops trainer very well. Thanks to Borsch, we're well stocked on movies, so I've been doing at least one long ride a week along with a short ride or two per week. I really miss spin classes, but as I've said on here before, I'm not a fan of the ones my Y offers. Borsch had some recommendations for some instructors at his gym, so I may go to check them out! My sister even found a 5 hour spin class at the end of Feb, so I think I'm going to give it a go. My problem is that I can't force the kind of intensity that spin classes give when I'm in my basement. The trainer is fine for long endurance rides, but it gets a little lonely down there by myself! Thankfully, the NO bike course is pretty flat, because I won't be in hill shape by April. Speaking of the bike, I think I owe my trainer a 45 miler this afternoon...

Run: This is the first winter that I really haven't spent much time running outside. The sidewalks have been rather treacherous this year, more so it seems than in the past. Several of my long runs have been on the treadmill, and I get so BORED here, but a little motivational music mostly keeps me occupied. That and trying not to choke on Steve's nasty farts during my 8 miler yesterday (see his post from today). I've also been doing weekly speed work at the Metrodome. I love dome running! For a dollar, I can run inside on a relatively large loop in my shorts in the winter. This still blows my mind. I could never force 2 treadmill workouts in a week, so intervals at the dome is great! I eeked out 10 x 600s last week. Haven't decided what this weeks' workouts will be yet. Normally I would try to force myself outside more, but I am well aware that fully acclimating myself to a MN winter would make racing in New Orleans' weather that much harder for me come April. I haven't put the space heater in my bike room or anything, but I'm hoping that lots of training indoors will prepare me a little better...

Weights: A severely neglected component of training right now. I am usually really good about lifting during the winter, but having a tri so early in the season is making it harder than usual to get in the weight room. Gotta get rid of lunch lady arms before tri top season!

In summary: I'm getting in the long workouts and trying to sneak some speed work in as well. Lots of indoor stuff right now, which is probably for the better since my 70.3 is likely to be hot and humid. I know I'll be ready. Now let's see if I can eek out a PR...

Winter Carnival 10.25K Race Report

Well, the race ended up shortened. We got an email from the race directors on Friday evening stating that due to the cold, we would be running a half-half marathon instead of a half marathon. I was briefly bummed, but even though we would be staying warm during the race, the volunteers really didn't need to be out there for 2.5 hours. On race morning, I was actually relieved that they cut it short.

Steve, Borsch, and I left our house around 7:30. We got to downtown St. Paul and ran to the registration building. We all got a chuckle at the "race day registration" table. It was -11 F with a who knows how low wind chill. I'm not sure I would have run if we hadn't pre-registered :)

After picking up our numbers, we met up with some fellow Twin Cities bloggers - Borsch, Baddapple, Bad's Son, Jen, Jeremy, Me, and Steve

I was freezing just sitting in the building. The total clothing count was: 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants, a tank top, my sport's bra, a turtleneck, a thick zip-up turtleneck, my super-heater fleece running jacket, 2 hats, and two pairs of mittens. I wasn't sure how my dress was going to fare once we started running.

Even a trip to the porta potty was chilly. To be honest, I was a little worried that my butt was going to freeze to the seat!

Walking to the very empty line of potties

We went out to line up for the 9 AM start, and there were actually more runners out there than I had anticipated. All in all, around 670 runners lined up for the long course, about half as many as last year. The horn sounded, and we were off!

At first, my toes were numb and so were my fingers and thighs. I had a lot of trouble gauging my pace. I was hoping to hit around 9s, but with the really cold weather and extra 10 pounds or so of clothes, I had no idea where I was at. Plus, all of those tight tops around my chest felt like a box of Saran Wrap!

I hit the lap at mile 1 - 8:55. A little fast, but I was feeling OK
I missed mile 2 - mile 2 + 3 - 18:28. Slowing down a bit, but I could already see the turn around
I also missed the 4 mile marker - 18:15. At this point, I was pretty toasty and had to take off my 2nd hat, 2nd pair of mittens, and outside jacket. I was working hard and heating up. The wind was at my back, too, so I had warmed up quite a bit.
I crossed the finish line in 57:38 for a 9:03 average. Not terrible given the conditions. Here's a pic of the frosty finish:

Running into the finish

See all of the frosties on my clothes? That's wicking at it's finest!

Overall, it was actually kind of fun in a crazy Minnesotan way. It was great to meet up with some fellow bloggers, and there was a coffee stop on the way home!

Taking Back My Minnesota Winter

So it's no secret to this blog that winters aren't a whole lot of fun for me. I thrive on sunshine, warm weather, green grass, and leaves. In the winter, my body just wants to hibernate.

In an effort to remember what summer is like, Steve and I took a trip to Cozumel last week. The first day of our vacation, Steve went on a 6 miler with me. It was our first real run together in years. It was sunny and HOT! The goal was for me to hold a tempo pace and Steve to take it easy. We made it out just fine, but I was pushing without having any idea of what kind of pace we were running. My brain gets really thrown off when the thermometer starts to climb. On the way back, I was really hurting. Not sure if it was the heat, our unknown pace, or I'm just plain out of shape, but I had to stop and walk for a few minutes on the way back. I started feeling pretty terrible, and when I checked my heart rate, it was 200. Gulp! Day 2 in Cozumel was spent on the recumbent bike before laying by the pool and enjoying the latest issue of Inside Triathlon. On day 3, I had a long run on the books, and although Cozumel is relatively safe, I didn't think running by myself along the road was a good idea, so I hit the resort's treadmill. For. Twelve. Miles. With CNN in Spanish on the TV. It was a very long first hour. Thankfully we found the remote and discovered that triathlon was on ESPN. I lifted weights one day, but the rest of the week, I let hiking, walking, and snorkeling be my substitute workouts. I'd still be there if I could be :)

Coming back was a rude awakening. Even though it was rainy the last couple of days that we were down there, 0 degrees as the week's high temp was not exactly welcome back to MN weather. I guess we picked a good week to be gone! Work was also waiting for me. I worked SUPER long hours this weekend and every day the rest of this week. Tuesday was only a half day, though, so in an effort to take back my winter, I strapped on my new X country skis and walked the 2 blocks to our local golf course. It was a 90 minute workout that felt nothing like work! I saw powdery snow, only a few other people, and some ducks swimming in the heated pond. I may just have to go back every chance I get.

My third effort to take back my winter will happen this weekend. The St. Paul Winter Carnival Half Marathon is Saturday. Temps are supposed to be below 0 with a -30 wind chill. We're supposed to find out tomorrow whether the race is even still on. I'll keep you posted!

Rollar Coaster

It's sort of been an up and down last couple of weeks. After all of the Thanksgiving running around, I worked 7 days in a row and topped that off with my comp day consisting of trying to squeeze in all of my Christmas shopping. By the middle of last week, I was completely exhausted and totally burned out. My workouts suffered for sure. I was supposed to start my 16 week 70.3 training program, but I think that will officially kick off this week instead. Oh, and there's that half marathon I've got planned for January. That puppy's only 6 weeks away now. I've been getting some workouts in, but they're not consistent enough to be PR worthy yet.

The upswing happened on Friday when Steve called me at work to let me know that my letter had finally come. I passed the huge test I took in October. I am now officially a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist! I guess all of that hard work this summer finally paid off. Yesterday Steve and I spent the day getting ready for our annual "Hague House" Christmas party. Hague was the street I lived on in undergrad with 5 other girls. We are all still great friends, and now that most of us are married and some of us have kids, we have to work a little harder to get together. We've been really blessed the last few years, and this year, except for one family who got stuck in a snowstorm, we were all able to get together for an evening of great food, wine, and watching Ben (one of the kids) chase our cats all over the house.

Today our rain turned quickly to ice, so the other holiday get-together I had on the agenda had to be postponed. Sorry Tiff, Kelly, and Victoria! So I'm trying to update some stuff online and get my application for taking pharmacy students on rotations all finished up.

I actually have the day off tomorrow as well, my last one before Christmas (a 9 day stretch), so I'm trying to burn off all of the burnout before I get really crabby!

I'm hoping to start off the day with a spin class with one of my favorite instructors, Melissa. She used to work at the Y where we go, but she left to start her own studio. She offers one free class for newcomers, so I hope to join in at 5:45 AM tomorrow. Melissa is AWESOME, and ever since she left, our spin classes just aren't the same. I've spent the last 1.5 years trying to find someone I like as much as her but with no success. I'm looking forward to having the real thing tomorrow!

Giving Thanks 5K Race Report

Quick post before heading to bed. We just got home from Thanksgiving with one of the families (since we grew up in the same town and all of our aunts and uncles are close, we usually have 4 Thanksgivings and 6 Christmases to choose from). I ate my meal over 7 hours ago, and somehow I'm still full.

I'm one of the few people who actually has to work tomorrow, so this will be short :)

Steve and I did this race last year and had a blast. It's a little smaller and less insane than the really big 5K that's run here in town, and they limit the field to 700 people. I think they must have come close to their limit, but the crowd was very manageable. I didn't really know what to expect going into this race. Unlike Steve, I haven't run a 5K since doing this one last year. I've had one speed workout as of late, and that was just last week. I had an idea of what a good time would be for me but didn't really know if it was achievable at this point in the game. If nothing else, it would serve as a good baseline marker.

Steve and me before the start of the race. Notice that I'm wearing my lucky sweatshirt.

As soon as they shouted "Go!" I tried to settle into a comfortable speedy pace. Last year, the course was measured in km, so I was expecting it this year too. It was a two-loop course, so when I saw a 3 soon after we started, I figured we were talking km again this year. When I hit the 1, I looked at my split and realized that I was doing pretty good. Too good in fact. The time didn't quite fit. I assumed that the markers were a little off. When I hit the 2, my split was a bit slower than expected, but I was still on track for my goal race, and it confirmed my theory that the first km was short. When I hit the 3, my time was still slow and I was starting to wonder why I hadn't seen a 4km mark in the first loop. I was a bit confused but was keeping a pace that was just under throwing up. When I got to about 1/2 mile from the finish, I realized that there was no way I was going to finish in my goal time. Something just seemed off. The splits weren't adding up right.

Trying to book it into the finish line. I swear my hips aren't that big in real life. At least I hope they're not...

I crossed the finish line 25:29, a craptastically slow time for me. At least it gives me something to build off of. I was sort of hoping for a sub-24 minute time, but realistically, without a lot of recent speedwork it's probably what I deserved. I couldn't have run it any faster, that's for sure. Steve had been waiting at the finish line for over 7 minutes by the time I crossed it. I think he finished 4th overall. Great job honey! As for those crazy splits that I couldn't make sense of? Turns out they were the mile markers counting backwards! I've done my fair share of 5Ks, and I've never seen one marked like that. Live and learn I guess.

I don't know when my next 5K will be - maybe next year around this time. It's really not my favorite length. I don't have a fast twitch muscle in my body and am totally built for distance. Somehow Steve and I are a bit opposite on that spectrum I guess. It's not that I don't like the burn, and other races certainly aren't easy. I was telling Steve on the way home from the race that I didn't even feel like I'd officially "earned" my turkey for the day. Am I alone on this one?

In other news, I heard about a possible inaugural marathon here in MN in May. I'm not sure of the logistics besides the fact that it would be held in Stillwater, a town not far from me. Tempting...

My Friday Night Out

Last night around 8 PM, I put on a tight little black outfit, my most expensive shoes, and a little extra flair to really get noticed. Then I hit the streets looking for some fun.

Of course my little black number consisted of running tights and some really warm long sleeves, the most expensive shoes I own are my Saucony Hurricane Xs, and my "extra flair" is an orange reflective vest that resembles what you'd see a construction worker wearing. And with the cold weather we're having, I may as well be going out because it takes me forever to put all of these clothes on.

I was back in under an hour, and I had a fantastic run. I had to work this morning, which meant a 5 AM alarm clock and no intervals with Steve's speed Saturday crew, so I squeezed in a 5 miler in the dark last night. It's getting pretty chilly around here, but I'm getting used to it again.

I hit the dome for intervals on Tuesday. I did 600s with 90 seconds rest in between - nothing too serious, and my pace needs a little work, but at least I was relatively consistent:

2:54
2:58
3:02
3:02
2:57

I'll hopefully be working my way up in repeats and down in time over the next few weeks to months. I'll be doing my first half marathon of 2009 in 8 short weeks, and Borsch has thrown down the gauntlet. My half marathon PR is somewhere around 1:56, and he's sworn that he's going to beat it. I guess that means I'll just have to set a new PR! Just try and catch me Borsch!

Turns Out I'm a Minnesotan After All

So I've been a little bummed lately. Since the clocks fell back a couple of weeks ago, I leave home when it's dark in the morning and leave work when it's dark in the afternoon. On top of that, the beautiful long fall we've had is finally over, and winter will soon be upon us. There have been snow flurries several days already with a couple of mornings of actual snow that has stuck around overnight. Our temps are now in the 20s to mid 30s, and I know it's only going to get colder. Getting ready for a run takes twice as long because I have to put on so many clothes, and after I get home, I have to camp by the fireplace to try and scare off what I like to call "exercise chillies."

Today Steve and Borsch had convinced a bunch of people to come out and do a track workout. I had a long run on the books, so I decided to do a few miles ahead of time and then just run the rest on the track so I could still see everybody. I checked the weather channel this morning, and they were saying that the temp was 31 degrees with a 15 MPH wind. I put on a tank top, light under armor, and medium weight shirt on top with shorts underneath pants for my bottom half. I also brought along an ear band and mittens. I stepped outside and knew it would be a chilly run. I'm not sure what the wind chill was today, but it probably wasn't much higher than 20. But a funny thing happened. My body is just used to this, and even though I'm almost always cold while sitting at home, I was warm within a couple of blocks. A half a mile into my run, I had to shed my pants and tie them around my waist. I was running in shorts. My first really cold run of the season, and I did it in shorts. My body just knows. I really don't know how it does it. I ran the next 3.5 miles in shorts, and I was comfortably cool. I had to put my pants back on while waiting at the track, but I was a little sweaty by then, and even Minnesotans have limits.

At the track, Steve and Borsch were waiting at the start line, and Ryan was there too. Turns out he did Steelhead. He saw Steve cheering and saw me finish. It's funny how you can travel 8 hours to do a race and meet a guy who lives 5 miles down the road! Before long, Iron Girl Nyhus and Greg joined us along with Jen, a really cool girl who got her ears talked off while running with me. I just stuck with the long run theme and ran a few more miles while everybody else did intervals.

Jen and I on our run. I talked the poor girl's ear off! I hope I didn't scare her away...

We said our goodbyes, and Steve, Borsch, and I ran home to pick up Steph for her birthday meal. I had the most amazing strawberry French toast:

Yummy! That giant ball is real whipped cream.

I'll be doing my intervals this week in shorts again, but they will be indoors. Dome running starts at the Metrodome on Tuesday. 600s, here I come!

I'm Back!

After working all weekend, I had the day off today. I managed to catch up on lots of home stuff, and strapped on the running shoes for a 9 miler this afternoon. IT WAS AWESOME! It was pretty chilly out there - 41 without the windchill. I wore shorts and a light long sleeve T-shirt, and I was the most underdressed runner out there. Hello? This is Minnesota. It's only going to get colder people. Sure I had an ear band on, but everybody else had pants, hats, and mittens!

Today was my longest run since TCM. I hope to keep up the long runs over the winter and do the Winter Carnival Half at the end of January. More on the 2009 race season later.

I now have even more incentive to get/stay in shape this winter. Of course New Orleans 70.3 is at the beginning of April, but Steve and I just booked a trip to Mexico in the middle of January, so I need to be bikini ready by then :)

I've had a bit of time off since the marathon and am looking forward to finally getting back into things again. The full training starts soon!

Patiently Awaiting the Mail

Steve got me a sweet Cyclops Fluid 2 Trainer for my birthday. They're coming out with the new latest and greatest model this month, so the Fluid 2 went on a major sale at REI (like 90 bucks off). I'm quite confident that I'll never be able to out power the Fluid 2, so for me, it should work just fine. With New Orleans early next spring, I'll be a good trainer this winter.

With the test, the marathon, marathon recovery, and my birthday, I didn't actually pull it out of the box until last Thursday evening. That's when I discovered that the small pieces were missing. I called the company, and they're sending me the missing parts, but with Columbus Day thrown into the mix, they still haven't come. I had a sweet 32 mile ride in the sun on Saturday, but today it's cold and getting dark early, so I really could have used an indoor ride.

I did a 6 mile run on Monday to test out the legs for the first time since the marathon. They felt OK, but my right IT band was feeling a little stiff, so I'm trying to take it a little slow. No use busting something now.

So... no workout today. Boo. I may go to the Y in the next day or 2. I want to get back into my traditional winter weights routine, and I hope to get a little faster in the pool this winter in preparation for NO.

I haven't totally given up on riding outdoors this fall, but trying to get out there after work now that it gets dark so early is darn near impossible. Guess I'll just keep watching the mail...

Twin Cities Marathon Race Report

...One week later. It was my "birth week" this week. My birthday was Tuesday. I am now officially 28! I think I ate cake at least 5 out of the last 7 days, and just as I had resolved to clean up my eating a little, my brother Matt gave me a belated birthday gift - 2 huge bags of mixed Halloween candy. This is going to take some serious willpower.

So I owe you a race report. You've probably heard by now that it rained. It rained a lot, but I'll take the rain over last year's heat any day.

The day started out with a gathering of farm animals in our living room. The cow, the pig, and the chicken were back, and this time they brought 2 cute farm girls with them in the form of my sister Annie and Mike's girlfriend Brianna. My mom was there to supervise the craziness. Thanks mom! A hearty breakfast of oatmeal with lots of water was on my menu. Soon we were in the cars and driving to the marathon start - just 5 miles from my house. The freeway off ramp is always the spot that takes the longest to navigate through, and in keeping with last year's tradition, the pig and the chicken began running up and down the street between stopped cars. After we had found our parking spot, I looked over to see Steve doing a pole dance on a street sign in his chicken suit, a sight that was both disturbing and hilarious.

Borsch and I did a little warmup and then went into the Metrodome to stretch. The familiar smell of Ben Gay greeted my nostrils, and though I was disappointed to find out that they had converted one of the ladies' room into a men's room, I eventually found a bathroom to use for the traditional pre-race ritual. We did a few minutes of stretching, and before we knew it, it was time to drop our stuff off with our support crew. We stopped for a picture and then filed into the starting chute. A few minutes later, we were off! I had warned Borsch ahead of time that we had to purposely run slow, because the huge crowd and adrenaline of the morning always moves your legs faster than they should be. We were hoping to keep a 10 min/mile pace, and the first lap was perfect - 9:55! I was a little nervous after my massive side cramp incident at Grandma's Marathon a few months ago, but I think I managed to will away any that were coming on. Borsch kept telling me that he felt "floaty" for the first few miles. He was off to a great start.

I don't exactly remember when it started raining - maybe around mile 4 or 5? I know it was early on. At first it was just a mist, but it didn't take long for the sheets to come down, and that's when my feet started feeling squishy. I should have listened to that inner voice that told me to wear my tri shorts for the race. My running shorts do some awfully weird bunching when they're wet. I still felt great, even though I was worried that the furry support crew was getting soaked.

The rain started to subside around mile 12 or 13, and by then, I was looking forward to finding the farm at mile 15. I had seen lots of friends out there already. Maddy and Luke were EVERYWHERE, Sarah and Trevor brought their dog and one year old son, and Rural Girl managed to navigate her way through traffic to cheer us on too. Thanks for coming out you guys. It really meant a lot to have you out there.

The furries at mile 15 didn't let us down. They were cheering their wet hearts out! The rest of the race is sort of a blur. Our times started to slow down after 15. Borsch was cramping up, and I was feeling like I was running a marathon. Summit was a welcome sight - our home stretch! We saw our support crew at the top of the hill right before mile 26. I let them know that Borsch was just behind me and ran in for a 4:36 finish. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but I'm happy with it nonetheless.

A few thoughts: TCM is well known for its amazing crowd. It was down this year by about half I'd say, but I can't believe how many people came out to support the runners. It was simply amazing. This was my ninth TCM and my 10th marathon. I've hit double digits! Borsch and I had passed a guy early in the race who was wearing a banner that said, "This is my 3ooth marathon." What an inspiration. I told him so and got a little choked up. I don't think I'll ever hit triple digits...

What I've Eaten Today

Guess my marathon summary will have to wait till later. I have to conserve calories. Usually the day I run a race, my stomach is a little queasy, and I don't feel like eating much. The next day, though, watch out! The list so far today:

A large bowl of Great Grains cereal - 6 AM
2 fun size Salted Nut Roll bars - 8 AM
Leftover spaghetti and cake - 10:30 AM
Leftover Fish and a small bag of chips - 12:15 PM
Almonds that a coworker had to give me because my stomach was growling - 1:30
Banana - 3:30
Baked chips - 5:45
Two salads - 6:30
Papa Murphy's Gourmet Chicken Mediterranean DeLite pizza - 6:40

...and now I'm finally full

* In my defense, I got up at 5:30, so a 10:30 lunch wasn't that far off.

Monster Weekend Update

I'll post more later. I see an early bedtime in my future tonight because I have to be into work extra early tomorrow. Boo. I had asked for the day off, but I guess it wasn't in the cards. I just got back from church an hour ago. The great thing about living 5 blocks from a Catholic college campus is that they have late services, which fit perfectly into the schedule of a very busy weekend. I indeed have a lot to give praise for today. I am truly blessed with the gifts of family and friends. I had a good race today, and I have the BEST husband in the whole world.

The crazy huge test that I have been obsessing over for months was Saturday, and it was every bit as hard, random, and irrelevant to my practice as everyone said it would be. But it's over for now. I take comfort in knowing that I studied my butt off, and whatever the outcome, there's probably not much more that I could have done. We won't find out the results for at least 60
days, which is stinky, but I'm just going to try and put it out of my head for the next couple of months.

I rushed home after the test to find that Steve had finished cleaning the house. It looked great, and one of the biggest bouquet of flowers I've ever seen was sitting on the dining room table as a congrats on being done with your test/good luck at the marathon/happy upcoming birthday statement. A little over an hour later, we started cooking for our bloggy friend meet up/family coming up for the marathon meal - salad, grapes, spaghetti, grilled chicken, and garlic bread - yum! We got to meet Rural Girl's adorable family, hang out with Stu, and catch up with Robby B and his lovely wife. I think they were all a little shocked to see my family filing in the door - Steph and Borsch were already here, but then my brother Mike showed up with his girlfriend Brianna, followed by Matt, and Mom and Annie weren't far behind. I love having a full house! Before all of our bloggy friends left, we stopped to take this picture:

Steve, Me, Stu, Robby B, Michelle, and Borsch posing for a quick blogger photo.

After finding bedding and figuring out where everybody was going to sleep last night, I passed out and didn't wake up till Steve's alarm clock went off this morning.

Steph, Steve (the chicken), Borsch, Mike (the pig), Me, Brianna, Matt (the cow), Annie, and My Mom before the start of the race

I'll write more on the race later, with more pictures. My awesome sister Steph took a ton of them! It was a lot of fun, and I saw so many inspiring people. Plus, I have a lot of people to thank. Suffice it to say for now that the farm animals were a HUGE success again this year. I'm quite sure that our cheerers have more fun out there than we do. Borsch and I ran most of the marathon together, and I'm so proud to have taken another one to the finish line. It rained, and body glide can't handle over an hour of rain followed by over 2.5 hours of wet clothes rubbing. I have burns everywhere. My time was good. Not great, but good. Given the lack of training I've had for this race, I'm happy with it. Plus, we got Borsch to his first marathon finish line, and that was the main goal today. I know I've made a lot of jokes this year about just winging it, and that's not necessarily the way that I like to train, but it had to be that way for this year. I try really hard not to take for granted the gifts I've been given, and tonight, I know that there are a lot of them.

It's a Good Thing I'm Running a Marathon in Two Days

... because I have been eating "brain food" (aka crap) for most of the week trying to keep myself motivated and fed while doing some last minute studying. I have some serious calories to burn off! It's a good thing I completed grad school when my metabolism was still good! I finished going through the books last week, and this week I'm trying to get through them one more time. I'll be so glad when the clock hits 4 PM tomorrow, and the test is over. Even though everybody says I'll feel like I failed it, even though I won't find out the result for at least 6 weeks, even though there's a possibility that I'll be taking it again next year, I know that I'll just have to put it behind me, enjoy some supper with friends, and mentally prepare myself to run a marathon on Sunday.

I ran a 6 miler Tuesday morning, and it didn't go so well. I'm definitely in couch potato have been sitting on my butt doing nothing but reading shape. I don't really understand, because my 20 miler just 2 weeks ago went swimmingly. I hope I'm not totally kidding myself with the goal to keep up with Borsch and finish in 4:15-4:30, but I guess we'll see on Sunday. I've honestly been in worse shape than this and have made it through the race just fine. The weather is still supposed to be around 62 as the high with a chance of rain late in the day - perfect. I'm excited to have my family coming up and friends coming into town for the race. Plus, there's sure to be stories that come from Steve and my brothers dressing as a furry barnyard! Hopefully I'll throw up a quick post Sunday, but after this week, I may just sleep. I do have to tell you about my early birthday present though...

10 Days

I checked weather.com yesterday. I usually start checking the weather a couple of days before the 10 day forecast comes out for a big event, just to start to get an idea of what kind of day I'll be facing. Today, October 5 fits in the 10 day forecast. Obviously, lots can change, but today, they're saying that it will be no higher than 60 degrees and partly cloudy, which would be PERFECT. It's been really warm the last two years, and I would love to run a cool weather marathon again. I had a pharmacy talk last night in downtown Minneapolis, and I got a little giddy when I saw the marathon signs on the lightposts. This morning, Steve dropped me off at work, and we drove through the start line area to get there. More butterflies. You'd think after doing this 9 times before, it would be old hat, but I still love the excitement.

This of course also means that my test is in 9 days. Crap. I've got a lot of cramming to do. Two more days of work, then it's 5 straight days of studying. Hopefully a run or two in there too. And I'm still hacking out my lungs. If Steve keeps sleeping in the guest room, I may have to move his dresser of socks and undies in there for him.

Despite How it Sounds, There is No Marital Discord

1. Steve and I haven't slept in the same bed in 4 days.

2. I spent Friday night after work getting all hot and sweaty with a guy other than my husband. We went for hours, and it left me exhausted!

3. Steve was caught the other day buying flowers for his gay lover.

OK, OK. My life continues to be fairly boring - lots of work, studying, and the occasional workout so I don't die during the Twin Cities Marathon. As for the above statements?

1. I have a nasty cold. Again. Seems like I get one of these around this time every year. I've been coughing a lot in my sleep, and it keeps poor Steve up. Either he's not sleeping, or I'm awake worrying that I'll wake him up. We've been taking turns sleeping in the guest room. I seem to be on the upswing after an entire day on the couch yesterday, so keep your fingers crossed.

2. Borsch and I went for a 20 miler on Friday night after work. I had to work till 6, so we weren't done till 10:30. It was actually a pretty good run. It went by fast, and I didn't cough out a lung. I got to show him some of the tough parts of the course and hopefully get him excited for the big day. I love dragging first timers into the sport! Last long run is in the bag. Thanks for a good time Borsch!

The plan was to stop at the local gas station on the way home to get some ice, but the ghetto station that is supposed to close at 12 was locked at 10:30. Arrg! I settled for a cold water bath instead, and it worked just fine. I was shivering and my fingernails all turned blue, and Steve had to put a warm towel on my back so I didn't get totally hypothermic. But the next day, I was ready for 10 hours of moving Steve's parents into their new house.

3. Steve made a Target run a couple of days ago to pick up a few things. The young cashier commented on the last two items on the conveyor, "Well, let's see. The York Peppermint Patty must be for you, and the flowers must be for a very lucky guy... or girl." I guess a guy who regularly dresses in chicken suits, bowl full of sunshine shorts, and all of the other outfits he's come up with sets off a bit of gaydar :)

Seriously, though. The flowers are still gracing the dining room table, and Steve's been great. I've been extra whiny with this nasty cold, and with the big test approaching, he's been taking on even more housework to help out. I love you honey!

Square Lake Long Course Race Report

Finally... A free minute to get this thing posted! My tummy is full if delicious bruschetta that Steve and I made for supper, I've got an obese cat warming up my lap, and mentally, I'm trying not to think about the fact that I've got a long run tomorrow. It was supposed to be this afternoon, but it rained ALL day, so I'm taking my chances tomorrow morning. I was the designated photographer for Steve and Matt's team du this morning. Check out Steve's blog to see all of the great pics I took. So, I'm super cozy on the couch and figure that studying can wait till tomorrow evening and it's time I put this post together.

The night before:

We got to bed a little late, but I fell asleep quickly. It wasn't for long, though. We woke up to drunk college kids screaming at each other in the alley right outside our bedroom window. Thankfully, the cops showed up and sent them all home. Grr. It's the second weekend in a row we've had to deal with obnoxious college students.

Race Morning:

Our alarm clock went off all too early, and we were off with my sister Steph in tow. She was our awesome photographer and cheering squad all day. Thanks again Steph! We set up transition, and before we knew it, the swim was about to start.

The Swim:

There were 4 waves, and I was in the last one (women). This meant that we were starting 12 minutes after the first group. I wasn't banking on catching many people, and I didn't. I hadn't swum in a couple of weeks, so the goal was just to stay smooth and not blow it all. I felt pretty good. The water was really clear, but it didn't really matter because I was alone for most of the swim, so there were no feet to watch out for anyway. I tried to draft when I could, but in two loops, we had all spread out pretty far. I exited the water feeling good.

T1: I was a little cold after stripping my wetsuit, but it was just overcast at that point, so I decided against long sleeves. Had I known the tsunami I was in for, I probably would have grabbed more clothes.

The Bike:

Again, in accordance with my "winging it" plan, I decided to go out pretty easy on the bike. I knew the course would be SUPER hilly, and if I pushed it too hard, I'd die on the run. Everyone and their granny passed me, but I wanted to keep it steady. It was hard not to set goals in the middle of the ride, so I stopped looking at my speed. I got stung by a wasp within the first mile, and it hurt like a mother. It took my mind off the course for the first loop, and just as the pain started to subside, the skies opened up. It just sprinkled at first, but before long, it was pouring rain. Freezing. Cold. Rain. Rain that was reminiscent of IM Moo 06, and just like Moo, my toes were numb, my fingers were so cold that I had trouble shifting my bike, and when I tried to take a drink from my water bottle, my thumb barely worked to squeeze it. The uphills were the same, but the downhills on the second loop were tough because I had to brake a little. Visibility wasn't great at that point, and I didn't always have a lot of shoulder to ride on. I didn't want to get smucked!

I realized with a few miles left that the "emergency" socks I had tied into a plastic bag in case it rained weren't going to do any good since I hadn't done the same for my SHOES. Doh! I was glad to be done with the bike, nonetheless, and as luck would have it, the rain stopped when I got out of T2.

T2: Nothing exciting here. In and out but now sporting squishy wet running shoes instead of bike shoes.

The Run:

I felt surprisingly great on the run. I'm not sure why I felt so good. Maybe it was the cool weather. Maybe it was the fact that I wasn't wearing the fuel belt that I've been sporting on my long runs lately. Maybe I left too much room on the bike. Whatever it was, I was hoping that it would last. It took 2 or 3 miles to regain feeling in my feet, but I felt really fresh otherwise. I was cheering everyone I passed and everyone I met, and that always gives me a boost too. I started to feel it a little by mile 6 or 7 but was able to keep pace and even managed to pass another 4 people in the last mile. I came in with a run split of 2:13:59, my fastest run split ever during a half.

Overall Numbers:

Swim: 45:51 - PR
T1: 3:17 - slower than Steelhead, but I had steps to run up and a wetsuit to peel off this time.
Bike: 3:33 (I think it was about 1.5 miles short too) - gotta work on this one, but without a lot of training, not terrible on a super hilly course.
T2: 2:13
Run: 2:13:59 PR on LOTS of hills.
Overall: 6:38:25 - slower than Steelhead, but I actually had a swim this time. My old 70.3 PR was 6:47, so even adding on another 6 minutes for the missing bike distance, It would have been a PR. On the hills. In the rain. Without much training.

Final Comments:

Yikes I'm hard on myself! I knew going into this race that I wasn't trained to actually race it, but somehow people passing me and not finishing anywhere near the top half of my age group got me a little down. I quickly realized that I needed to take a step back and realize that not only should I be happy that I haven't lost a ton of fitness, I had a freakin PR!

I would definitely recommend this race to others, but not high maintenance athletes, and not first timers. The course is really pretty and fairly challenging. The only bathrooms were in transition. At least the corn's tall enough this time of year! There's only one water stop on the bike (could be problematic in really hot weather), but the run is well supported. It's pretty cheap price-wise, so if you're thinking about it, go for it!

I'm already looking forward to New Orleans. I'm a little nervous about the heat, because quite frankly, I'm Minnesotan. I have a lot of room to improve on my swim, and I think I'll take a few form lessons over the winter. I've got room to pretty easily cut 10+ minutes off. I'm excited for a flat bike at NO. I've never had a flat course for a 70.3 bike, so a PR is definitely in order... As for the run, I'm getting there, but slower than I'd like. I discovered doing intervals at the Metrodome this past winter, and I think I'll be doing more of them during our snowy months. In the mean time, I've gotta pass this crazy pharmacy test.

Maybe I Should Not Train More Often

Haven't swum in a couple of weeks. I've been (sort of) training for a marathon and fitting some long rides on the weekends, but probably not working out more than 3 days a week lately secondary to needing copius amounts of study time.

Quick summary of today's race:

* The swim was pretty uneventful, and since I was in the last wave, I didn't see many other swimmers.
* The bike was a bit short, by around 1.3-1.5 miles
* I didn't know that I was going to need an ark instead of a bike for the last hour.
* Hilly was an understatement for the bike. There may have been two or three miles' worth of flats, but definitely not more than that.
* I still managed a PR, even if you correct for the short bike.
* I felt SPECTACULAR on the run, better than I've ever felt in a half, and I came in with a 4 minute PR on hilly run course.
* I looked down at my arm at mile 1 of the bike to see a wasp trying to pull his butt out of my arm. It still stings, and now it itches.
* Steve made a lot of friends dressed up as the Grim Reaper on the run. His nipples, however, are no longer his friends.

More later! We're exhausted, and I've got to get back to Ironmanlive.

70.3 Me Asap

The big race is tomorrow. Well, it's a big race, but I'm totally winging it. I picked an interesting race to wing - solid hills on the bike and run. Guess I won't be going for any PRs. Hope to still have fun, though, and be standing upright at the end. Plus, it'll be fun to see Steve dancing around like a crazy man in a grim reaper costume at the end, cause you know he'll be outrunning me even in full costume!

We should be back in time to write a quik race report and watch all of our friends finish IM MOO. People we'll be looking for:

Madison Duo
Rural Girl
JP Severin
Iron Min
Kat
Jeremy
Ms. R
Tri-Al
Thomps

Anybody we're missing? Good luck everybody! Have a safe race!

I'd Rather Be Ironman Training

... because at least then I'd be on taper by now, and I'd have a rockin in-shape body. Instead, I've become a marshmallowey book worm.

The past two summers have been spent training for Ironman. The end of summer has meant that Ironman was approaching, and all of my training would soon pay off. This year, there is no Ironman. I thought it would mean a more relaxed summer, but then I signed up for THE TEST. I will be taking my BCPS exam October 4th, the day before I run TCM. BCPS stands for Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist. It has consumed my entire summer. I've been studying for this test since the middle of June, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. I can't really explain to people why I'm taking it. It's just more letters to put behind my name. It will give me a little edge over my colleagues when applying for jobs, but nearly every clinical pharmacist has this extra certification, so I guess it'll just put me at the same level as them. At any rate, I've been spending 10-15 hours a week studying, and it has left little room for any sort of workouts. The sad part is that a lot of people don't pass this test the first time, and just like Ironman, I know that even with lots of preparation, there's a possibility that I won't pass. Lots of really good pharmacists don't.

I've been a weekend warrior when it comes to workouts, trying to get my long rides and long runs in, but that's about it. I'll be winging it at Square Lake next weekend. It's been the story of the summer. I trained for Grandma's, but for Lifetime and Steelhead, I just showed up. The funny part was that I didn't fare too bad at either of them. I guess we'll see what happens at Square Lake next weekend.

Since Twin Cities Marathon is the day after this 8.5 hour exam, I think I'm changing my goal from sub 4:00 to around 4:20 or 4:30 - my usual finishing time. I'm totally taking that Monday off!

2009 will be different. I'm looking forward to not having this dang test hanging over my head. I was a bit burnt out after two years of IM training, and I'm really excited to start actual training again. I know it sounds funny that 2 marathons, 2 70.3s, a du, and an oly is taking it easy for the year, but it really has been low-key. Like I said, I've been winging it.

That said, needing a little incentive to train again and giving in to peer pressure, I signed up for this. Bring on 2009! But first, I've got a 70.3, an 8.5 hour exam, and a marathon in the next 5 weeks.

How NOT to Feel Like a Rock Star

1. Race Steelhead du the week before.
2. Do no workouts for 5 days.
3. Realize that you have a marathon in less than 2 months and attempt to do a 14 miler as per your training schedule. Notice I say attempt, because it will be highly unsuccessful. There may be walking at the end since your legs are obviously not recovered from your race a week ago. Your husband worries and drives out to make sure you're not dead. Thankfully, you beat him home. This particular step is about as much fun as going to the gynecologist. Next week's 17 miler should be loads of fun.
4. Promise your husband that if he keeps you company on a long ride on Sunday, he can draft behind you. Because up to this point, his long ride was 40 miles.
5. Wake up sore on said Sunday. Quickly realize that your husband won't be the one drafting.
6. Stick to his back wheel like nasty old gum under a church pew. Know that if you slow down, you'll never make it home.
7. You now have successfully completed a 60 mile bike before Sunday morning church, so eat a bunch of cinnamon rolls and take a nap!

Well, it wasn't quite that bad, but yesterday's ride was hard, and our average on the bike wasn't stellar. I'm not too great at this whole recovery thing. I did the same thing at WIBA just a week after Grandma's Marathon. I just haven't officially dialed in on how long I need to fully recover after a long race. Practice makes perfect, right?

On a separate note, is anyone else out there TOTALLY addicted to the Olympics?