4 on the 4th in 39:36!

It's Thursday but it feels like Monday.  Mid-week holidays are strange.  I took Tuesday off so I'm really coming back from a nice couple of days.  And the best part is, tomorrow is Friday!  I had an amazing Fourth of July.  But before I tell you all about that, a quick re-cap of the earlier part of the week.

Monday was a gym day.  I started with the upright bike for 25 minutes and it's safe to say, level 7 really is getting easier.  The first couple of times it was easier I thought maybe it was a fluke but now it's happening each time.  I followed that up with legs/shoulders/core for strength training.  I've worked out my legs plan.  I'm still doing regular squats but added plié squats.  I decided against the split squats, they were just too complicated to do correctly, and so I kept leg extensions.  And I think I'm going to add in lateral band walks, where you put the resistance band around your ankles and step to one side for 8 reps, then the other way.  It feels like it's working the outside of your hips, whatever that is.

I had the day off on Tuesday.  I wish I'd planned my day better.  I hung around the house all morning and planned to go to the gym in the afternoon.  Then I realized I could do something better than just the gym.  It was pretty hot out so I opted to go to the pool and swim some laps.  After that I went for a massage.  I signed up for a monthly massage for 6 months, hoping it would help with my stress level and maybe ease muscle tension too.  I gotta admit, I sure do like getting those massages.  I don't think it's a realistic thing to do long term though - a massage a month gets expensive.  I just need to take the time to meditate.  That seems to be the cure-all for stress.  I keep reading about how even 10 minutes a day makes a huge difference.  We'll see. 

So 4th of July was Wednesday (yesterday).  I registered, along with a couple mom friends, for a local 4 mile race in the morning.  I went to bed way too late the night before and knew nothing about the course - though I was assuming the route would be laid back (as in, flat), this is a holiday run after all.  My mom was over and could watch the kids so Miguel decided to run it too.  Fun!

Laurie, Jackie and I.  Red, white and blue, actually not planned!

I had my normal Kashi GoLean and coffee/creamer for breakfast.  I debated eating an AccelGel but in the end decided I didn't need it for such a short event.  Anyway, here I am with my mom friends pre-race.

We lined up at the starting line, sang the Star Spangled Banner (there's a first) and then took off.  I felt like I was running pretty quick so after about 5 minutes I looked at my garmin.  It showed around a 9:30 pace.  Uh oh, running way too fast!  But you know, I felt ok.  So I decided not to look at my garmin again and just go for it.  Run by feel.  I know going out fast usually results in a lower time overall, but I just decided to keep running by what felt right and see what happened.  I was actually passing a few people.

It wasn't too long before we came across a good sized hill.  Not too steep, but friggin' long!  I managed to run the whole way up, successfully quieting the voice that kept suggesting I walk.   Running back down was much more fun so I pushed myself on the down slope.  Eventually I'd come across more friggin hills! and I thought, what the heck are they doing, this is a holiday run!  Here's a screenshot of the elevation profile from my garmin.  Look at those evil hills!

I managed to run up every one of those hills though, and was feeling quite pleased with myself despite the fact that I was dying to walk.  This was tough.  Way tougher than I was expecting.  I had "fun run" in my head, which meant no dying to walk and definitely no hills.  Anyway, I managed to keep running.  I broke down and glanced at my garmin again around mile 3.  I was still doing a sub 10-minute mile.  And it motivated me to push.  Only one more mile!  Lots of positive self talk ensued.  My left calf started aching just a bit but I decided to ignore it.  I can't let anything mess up this apparently incredible run I'm having.

Now I'm looking at my watch more often but not for pace, for distance.  Four miles couldn't come soon enough.  And then there it was, the finish line.  Nice!  I pushed on and crossed the finish line.  And then I looked at my garmin. 39:36.  Holy cow!  I ran four miles in less than 40 minutes.  That means I ran faster than 10 minute miles.  That means I ran faster than I've run in my life.  Ever.  Faster than I'd ever run even on a treadmill (for any sustained amount of time).  I was overjoyed.  So unexpected and so awesome.  It wasn't easy, certainly not "fun", but I was thrilled with how I did.

Here's more information than you'd ever want from the Garmin connect site.  Look at those heart rates, average 158, I was really pushing.  And a peak of 173.  Good thing I didn't look at my garmin, that would have made me slow down for sure!  I slow down when I get to 160 normally. 

I drove home for a quick change before taking the kids to walk in the 4th of July parade with our mother's club.  We've done it every year since I had Marek.  On the way home I actually got a little emotional at the thought of my run.  I have really come a long way.  Back to town for the parade, which went by quick, and then we headed home to relax.  We filled up the kiddie pool and spent the rest of the afternoon watching the kids play, very relaxing.  I tried to eat healthy all day because for dinner my mom grilled steaks and we had that with baked potatoes.  Of course I added some vegetables and a salad to my meal.  Dinner was sooo good.  We skipped the whole fireworks thing, which was just fine with me.  What a great day!  

Today, Thursday, was up in the air in terms of my gym plans.  I wasn't sure how I'd feel.  But you know, I felt ok.  And by the time I went to the gym after work it'd been more than 24 hours since the race.  I did the bike, level 7 is still easier.  I am starting to entertain level 8.  Maybe another month or so and we'll see.  After the bike I did chest/triceps/core for strength training.  And I met a new woman at the gym.  She's lost 120 pounds and is lifting heavy weights - that's my kind of gym goer.  She's still got some weight to lose on her journey and told me she's planning to start a blog soon.  Cool!  Maybe I can profile her on my blog one day soon.

So tomorrow is Friday, which means weigh-in.  I will be happy if I maintain.  After all I ate last weekend, and my eating yesterday - well, I'm not expecting to lose.  I'm going to have to stop seeing social events as a time to cut loose food-wise if I want to stay on track.  Summer means too many social stuff which could mean weight gain if I'm not careful.  Ok, that's all I got.  Oh, I'll add in another picture that Jackie took of me pre-race.  I didn't even know she was taking it.  I like how I look like I'm giving an interview or something.

Tri for Fun Pleasanton 2012

I had a plan to rest all week to let my calf heal but by Wednesday evening I was itching to burn some energy at the gym.  Miguel and I worked out that I would go after dinner.  I decided that I could ride the bike without giving my calf much grief and that as long as I didn't do leg exercises I should be fine.  Add to that, it's a recovery/taper week anyway so I'm doing an easier level on the bike.  It felt good to be exercising as I pedaled away on the upright bike.  After the bike I did chest/triceps/core work for weight training.  The core work felt harder than usual for some reason.  I finished with a lot of stretching.  Oh, and foam rolled my calf as much as I could handle.  I left feeling good.

I took another day off from exercise on Thursday, just to be on the safe side and because life was plenty hectic toward the end of the week.  My calf still hurt when I woke up in the morning but a day later, on Friday morning, when I stepped out of bed - no pain!  That was a good sign for Saturday's triathlon. I decided to go to the gym because I just felt like I needed to do something.  I rode the upright bike again and then did back/biceps/core work for strength training.  As I was finishing up I saw a stability ball class had just started so I decided to join in.  It was interesting and added a nice challenge, and stress relief, to my workout.  After that I went for some stretching, and more rolling calf of course.

I went to bed way too late Friday night and I think I ended up with around 5 hours sleep.  Up at 4:15am to load up the car and have some breakfast before hitting the road at 5am with my fellow mom and race buddy Laurie.  This is my fourth time doing this event so I knew what to expect.  I was nervous for the run though, not sure how my calf would react since I hadn't run all week.  Anyway, Laurie and I prepped our stuff at the bike racks and then headed over to the start.

We'd had a small wager on the race, whoever was faster would buy breakfast afterward.  Laurie said she'd wait 10 seconds before taking off to avoid getting bumped by other swimmers.  I suggested she wait 30 seconds to give me more of a head start!  She's a speedy runner so I needed all the help I could get.

We took off and the swim was good.  I felt good about my pace and was hardly getting bumped at all.  It's over so fast being only 400 meters and I was up and out of the water.

I got to transition and there was Laurie - hey, she must have passed me in the water!  So much for my head start.  We were getting ready for the bike when Laurie realized she'd lost a sock somewhere along the way!  She did the rest of the tri with only one sock on.  She was out of transition before me, I took too long putting on my bike gloves.  I caught and passed her on the bike but of course I never knew how far behind she was. I had an AccelGel after a couple miles.

I got back to transition and changed and left on the run before she came in.  The run felt hard almost from the beginning but it wasn't my calf.  It was strange because I couldn't put my finger on why it felt hard, maybe it was the heat.  We started at 7:20am (5th wave) so this must have been only around 8:30 but the sun was already beating down.  Projected high in Pleasanton on Saturday was 101 degrees!  I had another AccelGel hoping it would give me a kick in the pants but it didn't do much.  I was also struggling just a bit with some stomach cramps.

I knew Laurie was out there somewhere so I tried to use that to make myself keep running.  The hills were killing me though so I walked most of them.  I was probably about a 1/3 mile from the finish when Laurie goes running past me in a group of women. I tapped her, she didn't realize she was passing me.  We had a quick exchange and then she said, "let's have a photo finish."  Awww, fun!  She would have won our little bet, of course.  If she'd run off, I certainly didn't have enough gas in the tank to give chase.

Even keeping up on that last 1/3 of mile was killing me!  And then she says, "let's sprint to the finish."  I am sprinting, I pant.  But when the finish line came into view we kicked up the pace and crossed the finish line running hard!

I was glad to be done.  1 hour, 27 minutes.  That's my best time ever.  Prior to this my fastest time was the first time I did it, 1 hour, 35 minutes.  I was about 10 pounds heavier than I am now, maybe that was the difference.  I know I can do better though, especially if I could get my running pace up.

Post-race with Laurie.

I got in line to see a sports chiropractor (I didn't even know such a thing existed) to see what he could maybe do for my calf.  Ouch!  He did some deep tissue massage right into the muscle and it hurt like hell!  Though you can't tell by the smile I managed for this picture.

After the painful massage he taped it up with RockTAPE.  He said this would support the muscle while it continues to heal.  I sure hope it's doing something because we're in the middle of a heat spell and I look darned silly with this stuff on my leg in shorts.  Not that I care all that much really.

RockTAPEd calf.

We went out for breakfast after and I got a bacon, avocado, mushroom and cheese omelet with home fries, toast and a slice of french toast.  Whoa!  That's more calories than I burned I'm sure.  The kids and Miguel met us at the restaurant so that was fun.  Then back home for a nap with the kids.  On the diet front I ended up being full the rest of the day.  I only ate fruit and an lime lollipop for dinner.

Today, Sunday, I feel good.  I kind of wanted to go to the gym but I cooled my jets and took the day off today.  It was another hot day, got to spend a lot of it with my mom too, which was nice.  But I'm SO tired so I'm off to bed.  Oh, on a final note, the George Foreman grill challenge officially starts tomorrow.  I have been loving that grill!  I grilled a bunch of veggies on it tonight, including eggplant.  If I have finally found a way to cook eggplant at home that I like I may go on a serious eggplant binge.  Love it!

Mud Factor Obstacle Course 5k 2012 "Race" Review

It was a gorgeous day at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma County.  Laurie and I met up at her house at 8:30 for the short drive.  Our wave wasn't until 10:30 but we wanted arrive plenty early in case there were long registration lines.  The lines weren't too long, we got our stuff and put on our Mud Factor bandannas to get in the spirit.  In line we met a woman who'd just moved from New York (Hi Shae!) - and she's lost 100 pounds!  We swapped some weight loss stories and cheered each other on.

Laurie and I pre-race (obviously because we're still clean!)

I wore my Marin 10k shirt with running shorts.  For shoes I wore my first real running shoes.  I felt a little sentimental about letting them go (we donated our shoes after the event) but it was a nice send-off for them and the recipient will get some good mojo with those shoes.

Goodbye Ol' Buddies!

We were registered for the 10:30 wave.  We walked around and watched earlier waves take off.  We could see a few of the obstacles, including the main event - the triple threat.

I had to merge two of my pics together to show all three.

Ah, it looks so easy.  It's just going over the top that's the tricky part.

Hold On!

After all this watching it was still not even 10am.  Laurie I decided to crash the 10am wave since they didn't seem to be paying any attention to which wave you registered for.

Lots of young people out there, as you can see.

Now we have to hustle!  The line for bag check was too long so we ran and put our stuff in the car.  At the starting line and off we go!!  Of course I have no pictures from the course because I couldn't carry a camera (though I saw one person with one!).

I remember there being a lot of hills but they were mostly not that long.  I'm still suffering a bit with this chest cough so I could only run on the flat parts.  Laurie stuck with me and it was a lot more fun doing the event with her then I imagine it would be alone.  The obstacles were totally doable and were just a matter of getting through with my shoes intact.  We saw people lose their shoes in the mud pits.  Your feet sink into the thick mud and when you lift to take the next step your foot comes out but your shoe doesn't!  On the second mud pit we took our shoes and socks off and carried them!  Putting them back on while covered in mud was interesting.  Squish, squish.

I was so happy to see the one and only water station at the 1.5 mile mark.  More up/down hills and more doable obstacles and then we come up toward the big finish.  Those "triple threat" things don't look too intimidating until you are climbing over them yourself.  My mind started in with fear and I thought, "don't think, don't think, just do."  The good thing was a woman next to me started to panic at the top of the first one, "I can't, I can't do it, I have a heights thing."  I talked her over and down and that helped distract me from my own anxiety.  She was ready to bail (bale?) altogether on the second one but she didn't quit and I was happy to cheer her on.  Though I was definitely quivering myself as I hurled my leg over the top of those things.  Hang on is right! But we all made it - High five Laurie!!

The only things left after that were more mud pits, the ones you have to crawl through to go under wires.

Go Shea!

I scraped my knees up some but other than that the mud pits weren't too bad.  This is where the big mud gets piled on your whole body though.  And voila!  We're done.  Whew!  It was heating up out there (in the 80's today) and we were glad to be done.  We tried to clean off at the "showers" but they were more like squirt guns, weak ones at that, so we did the best we could and went and got our free beer.

 I didn't even realize I had mud on my face until I got in the car.

We will, we will, Rock You!

Oh, and the finisher's medal is kind of cool.  On the back it says, "I Cheated Death".  I don't know about that, but I'll take it :)

We headed out to the car and who did I see?  Another blogger.  Bekki from Wild Child Gone Good.  She had her hair in characteristic double pony tails and I think that helped me recognize her.  This was my first real-life blogger to blogger encounter.  Anyway, she lives in the North Bay as well and I knew she was doing this event because she'd posted about it.  Fun!

On the road home and I stayed at Laurie's for another beer.  We ended up jumping in her pool to clean off some, which was refreshing and fun.  I finally headed for home about 1pm and I was starving!  I thought about all sorts of "bad" foods I wanted to eat but managed to talk myself down and into a Hi Tech Curry Shrimp burrito from their "healthy grill" menu.  Well played, Michelle, well played.

Well, that's it from me!  I'd say I was operating at about 80-85% capacity today given my chest cold.  I'd love to do this event again next year and give it my all.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday.  Now, can I squeeze in a nap before the kids wake from theirs??

Update with official pics:

Marin County Marathon 2012 (10k) Race Report

Friday was fairly uneventful.  I did my morning weigh-in and was up 2 pounds.  The WW meeting was nice, the discussion topic was anchoring.  This blog has become my biggest anchor.  I couldn't quit now, I have a blog to keep up!

I wasn't sure if I should go to the gym given that I had a 10k to run the next day but in the end I decided to just go for it.  I did a 25 minute run at what felt like an easy-ish pace.  Then I did chest/triceps/core for weight training.  When I got home Marek was in a VERY bad mood.  He'd missed his nap (too excited having grandma over to visit) and he was screaming/crying at the drop of a hat.  Not his usual self.  So to distract him and give Miguel and my mother some peace I took him to Costco.  The two of us had hot dogs for dinner and shared a very-berry sundae (ff frozen yogurt with strawberry topping) for desert.  I figured I'd just call it carb loading.  Bad carb loading though.

After getting Marek to bed, which felt like an Olympic challenge, I packed up for the race.  I had some nervousness about how things would go given that I just did the 67 mile bike ride last week and that I haven't trained much at all.  In fact, I haven't done a run more than three miles long since the half-marathon in February.  And all the hills, the 10k route notes total elevation climbing is about 1200'.  A type, right?  I don't really know what that means for comparison but it just sounds intimidating.  Anyway, I knew I wasn't going to back out (something I'd actually considered earlier in the week) so I got my stuff together and finally got to bed around 10:30pm, after tossing and turning I think I went to sleep around 11pm.

Up at 5:30am preparing to hit the road!  I still have my period so I had to take extra stuff, put it in my spibelt along with 6 shot bloks and my ID.  I need one of those RoadID bracelets.  Anyway, I meant to take some ibuprofen but I forgot.  I had my regular coffee Special K cereal for breakfast and we got on the road.  A couple of my mom friends joined us, (Hi Laurie and Karen!!).  Miguel and his friend Marvin were doing the 1/2 marathon so they took a separate car.  This was Marvin's first race ever and Miguel's first 1/2.

Laurie, Karen and I trying to keep warm pre-race

We got to the park and had a bunch of time to kill before the race started.  That's Karen to my right and Laurie next to her.  This was Karen's first race event so it was particularly exciting!  The half started at 8am - I wished Miguel good luck and sent him on his way.  I ate an AccelGel around 8:20am.  The 10k started at 8:45am and I was still feeling really unsure how my body would respond. I started running and hoped for the best.  Once I was warmed up I felt pretty good.

I made a plan to eat two shot bloks at mile 2 and two at mile 4.  Then I'd have 2 left in case I needed the the help in the last two miles.  The first hill came at mile 3 and it was tough!  Here's the elevation profile:

I was shocked to find that I was able to run up that first big hill, which turned out to be the worst one of the day.  I just did what I do on the bike, I picked a spot not too far ahead and ran to that.  Then I picked another spot and ran to it.  Next thing you know I was halfway up.  Once I was halfway I felt I had a chance to make it, which pushed me on to 2/3 of the way.  Once I was 2/3 of the way I just put my head down and pushed through the discomfort.  My body did me proud!  And the scenery on this run was just beautiful.  Most of the time I could see the bay, and the weather - couldn't have been more perfect. 

From there it was rollers, followed by a slight decline.  During the decline I saw Laurie coming up the other way and she told me to "save your energy!"  I was scared of turning around because I knew, what goes down, must go up.  But you know what?  The return wasn't that bad.  Whenever I came to an uphill I just started throwing my elbows back and concentrating on using my quads.  Push, push, push - I'd tell myself.  And it worked!  As I got closer to the park, and realized the hills were all behind me, I knew I'd make it without having to walk.  I didn't walk one time!  Not even when drinking water.

So I'm running along, in the final 1/4 mile of the run and this man comes up from behind and puts his arm over my shoulder - whoa, what the heck?!  "Want to finish together?" he says.  It's Miguel!  He started his half-marathon 45 minutes before me and he caught me.  Hot damn!  I told him he didn't have to slow his time down to finish with me but he said he didn't care about that.  Cool, how exciting!!!!  We ran the last 1/4 mile or so together and raised our clasped hands as we crossed the finish line.  It was so sweet.  Laurie got a picture of us coming toward the finish:

Love that man.  Can't wait to see the official pics.

So, are you ready for my time?  I don't know my official time but according to my Garmin - 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Seriously?!  That's an average of 11:15 minute miles.  Woo-hoo!  So, very, very happy with that.  I'm going to crush my half-marathon time next February at the Kaiser.  Hee-hee.  I'm a runner dork.  Laurie and Karen were both happy with their times too.  We spent the rest of our time debriefing, stretching and hunting down snacks.  Here's a post-run picture:

(l-r) Marvin, moi, Karen, Laurie, Miguel

We got home around noon and after some shenanigans around the house finally got the kids out to lunch.  I probably shouldn't tell you what I ate, but you know I will.  I had an order of onion rings (yes, all to myself) and a bowl of new england clam chowder.  I followed that up with eating 1/2 of one of the kids giant pancakes with butter and syrup.  It was all very satisfying.  And I tracked it all.  I got 14 APs for the run and used a ton of weeklies to count all the high fat/calorie food.  Oh well, not going to worry about it.  I had a relatively healthy dinner, one slice of pepperoni pizza and a big salad.  I plan to keep my eating in check tomorrow.  Though TTOTM + candy is never a good combo.

Well, that's it from me, I'm exhausted.  I don't think I'm going to make it to 9pm.

Cinderella Classic 2012 Race Report

Hoping for the Best

Up at 5am and packing up to go.  My dear husband had prepped my bike and put it in the car.  I'd packed my bag the night before.  Speaking of the night before, I'd had dinner with some mom friends, ate A TON (and called it carb loading), got home around 10pm.  After packing and fighting sleep I think I drifted off at around 11:30pm.  Five hours sleep, not the best start to the day but I hear it's normal for you to get a bad night sleep before a big event.  I had my coffee, a bigger-than-normal bowl of Special K, and hit the road to Melissa's.  I got to her house and opted to take my car because I have a bike rack on the top of my car.  Bit of a mistake.

We were driving along, pointing out how the sky looked pretty good and manifesting all the positivity we could muster about the weather when - clack, boom, bang! - something happened on the roof of the car.  Oh no, a bike must have flown off!  Please God, no!!!  We were on the Richmond/San Rafael bridge and it was windy as hell!  I pulled over and jumped out of the car and see that Melissa's bike had blown over, but not off the car, thank goodness.  The back tire strap held it on.  I hadn't tightened the front wheel tight enough and the wind knocked it over.  We wrangled the bike down while fighting the wind and trying not to think about the bike flying over the side of the bridge in the process.  So much for taking my car.  But thank goodness the bike didn't fly off and possibly hurt someone. 

We arrived at the fairgrounds and checked in.  The skies were actually looking pretty good, the clouds had parted and we could actually see some blue.  My back was hurting a bit so I took some ibuprofen for insurance.  Maybe it will be a nice day.

Ready to Start

"Heavy winds and rain battered Northern California on Saturday."

But it was not going to be a nice day.  We'd been happily cruising along for about 13 miles when it started to rain, just sprinkling at first.  I remained optimistic, after all, it was just a sprinkle and there was no major wind to speak of.  By the time we arrived at the first sag stop things had changed quite a bit.  The wind had picked up, it was no longer just sprinkling (but still not a downpour), and the temperature had dropped considerably.  I had some peanuts, a couple oreo cookies (oreos, brilliant!) and a few bites of a banana.  I called Miguel and gave him an update, "cold, wind, rain...not sure how long we'll go but we're heading back out."

Melissa and I pulled out of the sag stop and somewhere over the next 5 miles the downpour started.  And the wind just kept blowing.  I put my head down and pedaled.  I'd lost Melissa but knew she probably wasn't too far behind.  My thoughts were drifting all over the place but kept returning to the question of finishing.   Somewhere along the way I settled on this, "I'll ride until I can't, and when that moment comes, I will stop.  But that moment is not now."

Heavy winds and rain battered Northern California on Saturday.  "It's a pretty strong front," said Austin Cross, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Cross said wind gusts up to 40 mph were reported in the San Francisco Bay area.  -sf chronicle

If I Can

I'd been having some stomach cramps and when I sat up and took deep breaths they mostly went away.  But I was probably not drinking enough water, in fact I'd barely drank any water, so I made a conscious effort to drink more.  I prayed that the lunch sag stop would be indoors and provide some warmth.  Neither were true.  It was at a school and, while we were covered, it was still freezing cold.  And I was soaking wet.  I grabbed a bagel, smeared some cream cheese on it, and found a corner to stand in.  A man was there helping his wife put on more layers.  I had leg warmers in my jacket and asked him if I should put them on, "Put on everything you've got," he said.  Yeah, that makes sense.  Apparently I could no longer think and I was starting to shiver pretty bad.  I pulled off my pants, put my dry leg warmers on and pulled my wet pants back on.  I think I felt better.  I listened to him tell his wife, several times, how much worse it was to be watching someone cycle in these conditions than it was to do it.  I wasn't sure about that but he validated that it was indeed as bad as it felt.

Putting on a Happy Face

People were dropping like flies.  I called Miguel and gave him the update, "I'm going on."  I overheard a woman ask a sag guy, "Are lots of people dropping out?"  He assured her she was not alone in her very sensible decision to call it a day.  Another woman, "The hail did it for me."  I wasn't certain it was actual hail that we saw but it sure felt cold enough to be.  I saw a woman walking her bike around, apparently looking for someone, crying.  Melissa showed up after about 10 minutes and she'd only had a few bites of her food when I said I had to take off, that standing there was worse than being on the bike and I was getting colder by the minute.  And then I noticed her lips.  They were blue!  I asked if she was ok to go on and she said she was.   In looking at the pics of myself I think mine were no better.

Fingers and Toes

We started to pull out and I lost my balance while clipping in and fell.  Fortunately I was barely moving, and I knew I was falling so I landed pretty well.  We got back on the road and I started singing "Old McDonald had a farm...".  What can I say, the cows had inspired me and I was a little nuts at that point.  I was winding my way through what felt like the country and I forced myself to look up and take in the scenery.  I'd lost Melissa pretty quickly and there were periods where I was entirely alone, "must look for arrows."  The route was mapped with pink arrows on the ground and I did NOT want to get lost.  My hands were starting to hurt, I was getting these weird tingly pains when I moved them, like nerves were frayed.  And I couldn't feel my toes.  I tried wiggling them around but that's hard to do in bike shoes.  The wind was such that in one direction it was brutal but in the other it was not.  I focused on the positive, on what was going well.  I approached a couple of women and commented on the conditions, "are you going to finish?" one of them asked me.  "If I can."  "Good for you, we're not so sure."  They pulled ahead of me for a while but then later I passed them as they were waiting for a sag car, "I'm just tired of being cold" one of them said.  Totally.

Wet Roads

The Worst is Over

I kept returning to my mantra.  And reminded myself this would end, that I would be dry and warm again.  Of course I questioned why I wasn't stopping.  I kept checking in with my body and, other than the cold, I actually felt fine.  My legs didn't hurt, I was in good shape.  And I asked myself if I was having fun.  I decided that in some strange way, I was.  And that I was gaining one hell of an experience - that had to be worth something. I stopped at a sag car to fill up my water bottle, "you have more guts than I do to be out in this weather."  I thanked him for the boost to my spirit and moved on.

Official pics (waiting to see if I can use coupon code before I buy them).  I look nuts in that last one!

I passed a Luna Bar cheering squad.  Those ladies were awesome!  Out there in the rain and cold, and cheering us on. I know this whole post probably sounds very dramatic and that's because for me, the day was very dramatic.  I am not a super experienced rider.  This is the longest ride I'd ever done.  In fact, prior to this I'd only done one 50 mile ride, and that was before Marek was born.  All my other rides were less than 35 miles.  Anyway, I knew I was inching closer to the third and final sag stop.  At lunch Melissa had said her husband, Sean, was going to meet us there with towels to dry off.  He actually drove out to cheer us on at the start and was hanging around all day!  I wasn't sure I was going to stop though.  Towels were seeming kind of pointless and I worried that if I stopped I'd never get going again.

Somewhere around mile 45 things started looking up.  The rain was no longer a downpour and the wind had died down.  And mile 45 sounded awfully close to mile 67.  Earlier in the day I'd overheard someone say, "They say the course is 62 miles but actually it's closer to 67", so I'd prepared myself mentally for 67.  I started imagining 20 mile routes around my house and how very doable 20 miles are.  I had done the same thing when I had 35 miles to go and it was helpful.  I should mention the hills but with the weather taking center stage I'd barely noticed them.  I know there were some, I remember fighting with my baby gear, but they must not have been that bad.

Pure Joy

I didn't decide to stop at the last sag stop until I saw it.  I stopped, went pee and ate a few more Oreo's.  Sean was not there so I called him. I told him where I was, "You are tough."  Coming from Sean this is no small compliment, he's an Afghanistan Veteran and looks like a linebacker.  With the lift in weather and being at mile 50 I was starting to feel giddy.  Anyway, Sean told me he'd stopped to meet Melissa around mile 40 so she could warm up in his car.  He told me that she almost quit, that it was still pouring down rain, but that after warming up and drying her gloves she decided to go on.  Yay!  I know how much this ride means to her and I was happy to hear she didn't quit.  I asked a woman what the rest of the ride was like and she said "fairly flat."  Perfect.  I called Miguel and gave him the update, "much better, I think I'm going to make it."  He cheered me onward.

So, 17 miles to go.  My brain was toast and I kept trying to calculate how long that would take.  Maybe a half hour?  Uh, no.  But seriously, I actually believed this for a while.  Maybe I needed to. Around mile 60 my feelings went from giddy to pure joy.  I am going to finish.  I. am. going. to. finish.  I was chatting up anyone that would talk, I was standing and pedaling up little hills, I felt good, strong.  And the weather - well it was like a whole new day.  I took a picture of it but because my camera was all steamed up you can't tell how nice it was.  My jacket was actually drying off.

Sunshine!

I saw a sign, "Fairgrounds" with an arrow.  I am so close that there's a sign!  I got excited.  And then, when I came around the corner and entered the parking lot I welled up with emotion.  I felt so happy it was over, so happy I did it, so happy.  A few tears later I parked my bike and went in the expo hall but then realized I'd left my Garmin running.  I stopped it and then went to get my patch and cool socks and sample some energy bars.

Then I sat down with some food - a sandwich, hot soup and more Oreos.  I ate the soup, the cookies, and a few bites of the sandwich when I started shivering again.  So I headed back to the car to change.  I peeled off the wet layers and marveled at how dirt seemed to sneak its way in everywhere!  And oh how lovely my dry clothes felt.  And I realized my lips were blue, still, after all this time.  I think they stayed blue for an hour!

"You won't believe it, Miguel!"

I connected with Sean and we hung out waiting for Melissa.  In the meantime I cheered on other finishers.  She arrived and was equally happy that she'd finished.  We shared some moments from our time apart and commiserated about how awful it was at times and then headed home.

I stopped and got two pieces of fried chicken and then stopped again and got a snickers bar.  I wanted what I wanted and I didn't care about the calories.  According to my Garmin I'd burned over 4,000 calories so I figured it didn't matter anyway. I ate more later at home and in the end I decided to not bother counting my points or log my Activity Points and just call it even for the day.

Summary

The day turned out differently than I ever could have imagined.  If I ever expect to ride in the rain again I will take better precaution.  My clothes were ok, but could have been better I think.  I will probably register again next year and hope lightening doesn't strike twice. 

Most important, I tapped into something I didn't know was there.  I had told Melissa I would not keep going if it was god awful.  And then it was, but then I did keep going.  I think I just need to know I can stop if I want to.  Or need to.  I like my new-found motivational statement.  I might have to put it on a t-shirt or something. 

I'll ride until I can't, and when that moment comes, I will stop.  But that moment is not now.

Details

For anyone that might be interested, here are my Garmin stats:

Kaiser Half-Marathon 2012 Race Report: My Optimal Plan Realized (with 2 seconds to spare)

The last few days have been a blur.  It's like my life was on fast-forward and it hasn't slowed down.   I am looking forward to tomorrow when I will get a chance to relax.

On Friday morning Miguel, the kids and I flew down to southern California.  We spent the day getting ready for the funeral and I had a bit of respite while getting a pedicure.  I was supposed to go with my mom but we were too late so I went solo.  There was food everywhere I ate like a starving girl.  I just didn't care.  Friday evening was the viewing; I went first and then Miguel went - I didn't think it was a good idea to take the kids.  Come bedtime I was exhausted.

Saturday was the funeral.  My family does not mess around when it comes to saying goodbye.  It was a beautiful service for a truly amazing man and I shed more than a few tears.  Marek said goodbye to Grandad, despite being a bit confused and asking to see him.  Military honors, with Taps played, were delivered graveside and again the tears flowed.  What an emotional day.  We had a whirlwind late lunch with the family (and I just kept eating like it was my last meal) and then left late for the airport - we weren't sure we'd make our flight.  Thank goodness we did.

We walked in our front door at 7:30pm and all of us were cranky and tired.  I got all my stuff together in the midst of feeding the kids dinner and getting them ready for bed.  I had my fingers crossed that I wasn't forgetting anything.  My water intake and sleep had been really bad the days prior so I wanted to get to bed early to try and make up some lost time. 

I got up at 5:30am today.  I am on day 3 (I think) of my period and thankfully it's already slowed down so I was pretty confident I'd get by without a changing of the guard.  Anyway, I got my gear together while I ate a bowl of cereal and had some coffee.  I left at 6:10am to meet my friends, Jackie and Laurie, two mommy friends that did the race with me.  Here we are pre-race, Laurie on my right and Jackie on my left.  They are so awesome and supportive.  Sheesh, I look tired.

After killing some time in line for the porta-potty and then standing around stretching for a while, it was finally time to start!  I was maybe an 1/8th of a mile behind the starting line and good thing because as soon as I started jogging my laces came untied!  I never double knotted them because I wasn't sure how to put on the timing thing and I figured I'd re-tie them later.  I ran to the side and tied them.  I would have been VERY annoyed with myself if that had happened after I crossed the timing mat.

I've read so much about going out too fast so I really took an easy pace.  I was mostly running between a 12 and 13 minute pace.  The run is an out/back in Golden Gate Park followed by an out/back along the ocean before finishing back in the park.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect, a beautiful mid-60's day with almost no wind to speak of.

Very early on I felt like I had to pee again.  Darned coffee!   Around mile 5 the course passed back by the starting line and I had a big debate with myself if I should hit the porta-potty again.  Ultimately I decided that 1, I had a long way to go and if I feel the urge to pee now, it might be painful later and 2, I'd feel a whole lot more relaxed if I peed.  So I ran up to the potty (fortunately no line at all) and ran out when I was done.  Whew, much better.

I carried on and felt really good.  I messed up my shot-blox eating plan and ate 2 every 2 miles instead of every 3 miles.  I realized my mistake at mile 8 when I saw I only had four left.  So I made a new plan to eat 1 at mile 8 and then 1 at miles 10, 11 and 12.  I had an AccelGel for post-race and knew I could eat that if I needed it.  Running along the ocean was beautiful.  I was prepared to start to struggle between mile 9 and 10, where, on my training runs, I usually had to start in with heavy doses of self talk.  But not so today, I think it was the atmosphere.  I definitely had the aches and pains but all the people kept me distracted and kept me going.  Oh, and I also started to feel the need to pee again.  Thank goodness I'd peed at Mile 5 because there were NOT porta-potties to be had.  I knew I had a few miles to go but figured I'd be fine as I hadn't been drinking a ton of water, just a few sips at each water-station while running.

Around mile 10 a speed walker passed me.  Hmm.  I did not want to be passed by a walker.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, I know some of those speed walkers are way faster than my run pace!  This woman had super long legs and I muttered something to myself about her being a gazelle.  So I checked my pace and my heart rate, both could use a nudge so I picked up the pace.  She caught me several more times and each time I sped up.  The fourth time she caught me I said "enough" and really sped up, maybe to an 11:30 pace and didn't see her again.  It was all just fodder to keep me motivated.

I was SO happy when we made the final turn inland and toward the finish line.  The last 1/2 mile or so is a slight uphill and I was happy to engage my quads.  The last 1/4 mile I was feeling good enough to do a sort-of sprint to the finish line. I picked out a few people that I wanted to pass and just used that as motivation to run!  And whew, there I was.  And ouch!  I just ran 13.125 miles and I felt it. Though, according to my Garmin, 13.32 miles.  I guess that means I didn't cut all the corners I should have.  My Garmin average pace says 12:24 and I am super happy with that.

Laurie and Jackie are both speedier than I am so they were waiting there to give me big congratulatory hugs.  And Laurie took finish line pictures!  Thank you Laurie!!

I love this first one because you can see the shadows of people cheering in the bottom left corner.  So cool.  Also, subtract a few minutes from that finish time since I didn't start when the horn went off.

And a close up of my happy self at the big finish!

After the hugs and a few big sighs of relief (and a quick trip to the porta potty) we walked around and took in the scene.  I ate my AccelGel and drank water.  They had some mats and foam rollers so I took the opportunity to roll my thighs a bit, such a good pain.  And we got some good stretching in before heading for the shuttle back to the car.

It was a great day, somewhat surreal and super rewarding.  I ran the entire time and reached my optimal plan.  You might remember I had optimal and bottom line plans.  They were:

My optimal plan:  Finish in less than 2 hours, 45 minutes.
My bottom line plan:  Finish.

Well, take a look at my official chip time!

 

Thank you to everyone who supported me while I pursued this goal.  Ultimately it was my two legs out there for 13+ miles but I couldn't have gotten to the starting line without you!

Marin County Triathlon Race Report 2011

What a day!  I finished in around 1 hour, 41 minutes, give or take.  I got a little teary at the finish line, which I was not expecting, I was definitely challenged but I had fun facing up to it and felt very grateful for my health and my body.

And now, for more details than are necessary.

I got up at 5:30am, a little later than I wanted (I didn't hear the alarm) but still with plenty of time to get there.  I only had a few things to do before I left - get some coffee, eat breakfast, get dressed, grab my phone, grab my bag, put my bike on the car - I remembered most of them.  On my way to the event I realized I forgot to eat breakfast.  Doh!  So I stopped at a gas station and purchased a Special K protein meal bar.  Ok, back on the road.

I parked a little less than 2 miles from the park and got all my gear ready.  I knew it would be dark at that hour (it was still totally dark last week at 6:30am when I left boot camp) so I'd put a light on my bike.  That was smart because it was totally dark.  A guy followed me the whole way and thanked me for having a light.  More on him in a second.  So I was riding while wearing my gear bag messenger style and it slipped to the side a few times.  It was heavy and moving it back around to my back made me wobble on the bike.  I decided I am going to ask for a tri backpack for Christmas.  But I made it to the park and all was good.

I got in line for number marking and the volunteers asked if we want to number one another to keep things moving faster.  Sure!  I numbered the guy that followed me in, and he numbered me.  He asked if was a pro being that I had such a low number, 11, and I laughed. I appreciated the humor at 6:30am on a cold morning.  After that I headed into transition to choose a bike spot.  It wasn't crowded yet at all so I got a spot right near the swim exit.  I considered setting up near where we take our bikes out but decided I'd rather have a shorter walk in my wetsuit and a longer one with my bike.

A few minutes after I started setting up the person who'd set up in the spot next to me returned and said, "Oh good, I'm glad you're here."  Or something like that.  She went on to say it was her first triathlon and she was very nervous.  Her name is Naomi and she was supposed to do this with a very experienced friend (a person who's actually won some of these things) but her friend had last-minute gall bladder surgery so Naomi was going it alone.  She's done other events, just not a triathlon, so was nervous about the swim part.  I helped all I could, being a sort-of newbie still myself, and did my best to help her stay calm.  That's Naomi, on the right, and that's Marisa, in the middle.  She's one of the staff at TriMore Fitness (the group I did the practice swims with and the "official training partner" of the event).  As you can see from this picture, it's starting to get light out.  This was taken at 7:38 so we're 22 minutes from start, about an hour from our wave.  The guy on the other side of me realized he forgot his goggles and asked if we had an extra set.  I did!  He was grateful and I felt good about being neurotic.

All my gear is set up, I tried to take a picture of my set-up but mostly just got my bike.  Nerves, I guess.  So off we go to watch the first people take off.  It was very exciting, hearing the horn blow, seeing the swimmers take off and come in.  And then it was time for my wave, the female "40 and over" wave.  There were only two female age groups, under 40, or over.  Our wave had pink swim caps.  The younger ladies had blue swim caps.  I was happy with the pink. The men had a third age group in the middle, 35-44.  Aaaanyway...it was our time to get in the water so I did.  The water was cold for sure but with the adrenaline I felt like it didn't quite register.  I was too focused on the whole event to put much attention on the water temperature I guess.

So before you know it the horn went off for us, and off we went.  Instead of the small white bouy's I sighted with during practice swims we had huge orange markers.  Made sighting SO much easier and I think I stayed pretty well on course most of the time.  There were a few times that I swam into others but for the most part things were pretty smooth.  I felt good while swimming, a few moments of feeling like my arms were getting tired but other than that I cruised along for 500 meters.  I glanced at my heart rate monitor when I got out and I *think* it said 14 minutes but I can't be sure.

I think I walked (as opposed to ran) to transition.  I took off my wetsuit without any problems but I couldn't manage to get my socks on without sitting down.  I was feeling the cold morning air and even shakier because of the swim.  Naomi came running in and I helped her out of her wetsuit.  I finished getting dressed, started up my Garmin, and hit the road.  I have to say the bike was the hardest part.  I've been having issues with my bike shifting in/out of the front baby gear so I was scared to use it and pushed myself harder than I needed to on some of the uphills.  After the 1/2 way turn around I said, "f - it" and put it into the baby gear.  I was going to leave it like that (and maybe should have) but I shifted back into the middle gear during a downhill - but couldn't get the baby gear back during an uphill.  That was VERY frustrating.  I'm definitely taking my bike back to the place where I had it tuned up.  During some of the uphills I was breathing so hard and my heart rate was going crazy, into the high 160's!  During the bike I had a few "bites" from my AccelGel and a few sips of water to keep my energy up and stay hydrated.  That little swim before the bike really puts a strain on you :) 

The other thing that was on my mind were my toes!  They'd been so cold they were basically numb.  I could feel that burning cold pain in my feet and was wondering how long it takes for frostbite to set in.  I started picturing myself in the medical tent due to "cold toes" and started imagining them all black with frostbite, and then wondering what my life would be like with no toes.  That's how cold they were.  Man I wish I'd had warmer socks on.  In any case, I made it back to transition and generally still felt pretty good.

I changed into my running clothes and had a quick internal debate about putting on my windbreaker. I passed on that but I put on the crop workout pants to keep my legs warm and, most importantly, look cuter.  I headed out for the run and knew I was moving like molasses but didn't much care.  The road up and out of the park is darned steep so I had to walk some of that but otherwise I got to running and thought, "I feel pretty good, I think I might be able to run the whole thing."  In my training so far I've never run farther than 2.25 miles so that would be an unexpected treat.  I was wiggling my toes and they warmed up eventually.  I took a "bite" out of a HammerGel and had a couple sips of water at the water stations. At one point I started to get a cramp in my stomach and got worried I might have a cramping issue (and have to walk) but, thankfully, it went away.  As I passed the two mile marker my confidence got even higher.  I got back near the park and there is another uphill, though not as steep as the other, it is longer, and I ended up walking a small part of that but started running again as soon as I was over it.  I still felt pretty good and I was happy to know I would finish.

When I got near the finish I had an unexpected wave of emotion.  I crossed the finish line with tears in my eyes and if my kids had been there I probably would have broke down.  They weren't (took Miguel way longer than he thought it would to try and get there), which was ok.  I got my cool finisher's medal and saw the TriMore tent.  Coach Neil gave me a big hug and I was so busy being emotional I couldn't talk for a second.  Naomi was there too and while the swim wasn't her favorite part she said the rest of the race was great. 

That's it!  Another triathlon in the bag.  1 hour, 41 minutes (official times to come later), 1097 calories burned and a whole bunch of smiling (I couldn't stop smiling on the run).  All my other triathlons were "Tri for Fun" triathlons so even though this was my 4th sprint it felt more novel than that.  And it got me totally excited about doing the olympic distance next year!  (Except the 22 mile bike part, but I think I can fix that with some training and a bike mechanic).  The entry fees are half off if you register this month so I'm going for it.  I've been chasing that olympic distance Marin triathlon since getting pregnant with Marek and I think 2012 will be my year!

So Miguel, my mom and the kids showed up when I was packing up my stuff.  I took a picture with my babies and one with Marek giving me a "high-five" for making it happen.  Mostly he was just interested in the food swag he found in my bag but he humored me for a high five.  Here are those shots:

The one of me alone was thrown in to show how 17.8 pounds lost looks on me.  I'm starting to look like my old new self, if that makes sense.  I didn't mention that I lost .8 pounds last week.  Given all the food (and a few cocktails) that's really good!  Speaking of food, afterward we headed out to breakfast and I had an omelet and helped Myra eat a pancake that was, sadly, way too big for her.  Yummmy.  Nothing like post-race food.

So to commemorate my post-baby return to triathlon Kristy made me a weight loss chart.  I like how there's all the little ups and downs but still with a general downward trend.  So realistic.  But duh, I guess that's because it is real.  I'm feeling very good about my weight, I'm so close to my first mini goal, 178 pounds, and I'm down in clothes size (mostly wearing 12's now, though some are a bit snug still).

Well, that's it for me.  I'm feeling kind of pooped so I plan to go to bed early tonight.  Times like these I sure wish I had a jacuzzi!  Thanks for all your support and for cheering me on.  I plan to continue to amaze and delight you with my weight loss triumphs and triathlon glory!  - laying it on a little thick I guess, maybe it's all those post-race emotions taking over ;)