Not my year for PR's

And here I thought I was in better shape this year than last. I don't think that is the case.

I missed my PR again in the Jingle Bell 5K by 10 measley seconds. Race was alright... somewhat unorganized. It started 20 minutes late, but hey, what do I know about directing a race? At least the timing was accurate! This was a fairly flat course on a very nice day... if there was going to be a PR, today was the day. Not in the cards for me this year. Oh well.

The Frostbite Festival 10 miler was this past Sunday. This was the second time I ran this race. I really like this race. Great distance, great jackets in the race packet, and a challenging course! Last year my time for this race was 1:27:58, an 8:47 pace. This year... not as good. 1:29:25, an 8:57 pace. I felt like I gave it my all and I guess that's what counts. Last year I did a full 1/2 marathon training plan to prepare for this race. This year I did a marathon in Oct, recovered for a few weeks with very few runs in there, and then did a 5 week plan from runners world. I think I know what the difference is now!

So, now on with the holidays. I love this time of year! I'll definitely need to watch myself with all the yummy goodies. I could stand to lose a few lbs... also might have been a factor in the lack of PR's this year!

My plans for after Jan 1? Well, I'm dyyyyyyyyying to do a 1/2 ironman triathlon next year. I really really really really want to do Kansas 70.3 on June 6, but I'm not sure I can come up with the funds. It's over 200 bucks to enter! I suppose it's well worth it with the experience, but it's just hard to come up with it this time of year. Hopefully it doesn't fill up before I get the money! I know, I know, I'm in an expensive sport... but I'm still trying to be thrifty!

Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all of you folks!

A missed PR

So throughout my short running career, I've only run a few 5K's. Weird, I know. I've run every distance up to a marathon, but only 5 5K's before yesterday. My first one... well it was my first. I did my best, it was a HUGE accomplishment at the time. It was the Burn Center 5K in June of 08 and my time was 28:23. My second one was kind of a last minute decision to run. It was the Rochester Lost Bridge Trail 5K in July of 08 and my time was 25:58 (my PR). My third one was interesting! It was supposed to be a biathlon in September of 08, but it got rained out a bit. Hurricane Ike knocked out the bike portion, but we still got to run a 5K. That time... and it was POURING DOWN RAIN... was 26:33. Missed my PR by 35 seconds. I was ok with that considering the conditions. My fourth one was just this year in May 09. It was the Brian McMillian Veterans 5K and my time was 26:08. Another missed PR, this time by 10 seconds. Well, there was no excuse for this one. Nice conditions, a little warm, but not too bad. Just didn't make it. My fifth 5K was in July 09 and it was the Burn Center one again. I ran this with a friend who made it her 1st 5K, so I wasn't running for time. Our time at this race was 31:45.

So then there was yesterday. Yesterday was the Titan Trek for Tech 5K in Chatham, IL. They were raising money for the technology at the Ball-Chatham schools. Weather conditions were just about perfect. 45F or so at the start with sunny skies. I had a good feeling about this race. I was gonna PR. I had to. I just ran a marathon last month, surely I was in better shape then last year's PR. Race start was a little shaky. We all walked together over to the start line... some guy yelled something and then everyone started running. No air horn, no whistle, no car horn. Just started running. I was midway through the pack and this was not a chip timed race. (The start of my excuses). I scrambled to get my garmin to sync before I hit the start. It took me a good 10-12 seconds to cross the start line, and then me, a friend and her dad were all off! I started the timer on my garmin at the start line, but it didn't sync with gps, so no pace. Oh well. We went up the side of all the people and tried to pass as fast as we could. A lot of people were either younger (grade schoolers and high schoolers) or older than us (their parents). We weaved in and out of people for a bit. By the time we hit mile 1 people who went out too fast were starting to slow down. We definitely passed a lot around this time. I think the garmin said 8 min and some change.

Mile two was kind of a blur, but I remember just trying to keep up with my friend and her dad. We've all run together at races before and I know that we all run about the same pace. But somewhere between mile 1 and 2, I started to get a side cramp (the excuses continue). It was just a twinge at first. No big deal. I ended up dropping back behind my friends, but I was still right on their backs. I don't remember the time at mi 2, but it had to be somewhere in the 16 min's+ area. By mile 2.5 I had fallen back a bit, but I just tried to hold on tight. The side cramp was killing me by now and I just wanted this race to end. I kept checking the time on my watch, and I remember thinking 'I can still do this'! I gave it all I had at the end. I usually have a pretty good kick, but I didn't have it this time. I crossed the finish line in a saddening 26:04. I missed my PR by 6 SECONDS! I don't believe it.

I recovered fairly quickly, congratulated my friend who came in just before me. We all hung around for the awards which were pretty quick to come. My friend and I were talking and I mentioned that there probably weren't that many people in our age group and she might win an award. Yeah. She did. She won 1st in our age group (they only gave awards for 1st in each category) and I got second. I think some 10 year old won 1st overall female... that was unreal! She was amazing! Overall a great race... but I'll have to try again for my PR. Like next weekend at the Jingle Bell 5K!!!

Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2009

Well, I stink at blogging as it turns out. I really do want to get better. I wanted to blog my entire Marathon training... that didn't happen. I just didn't want to be on the computer. Who knows. Anyway, I did have a great marathon!

BANK OF AMERICA CHICAGO MARATHON 2009

For my trip to Chicago, Brian, my fiance, and his son were the only people coming with me. That was fine with me, they are the ones who truly supported me throughout all the training anyway. We started out from Springfield on Friday morning (Oct 9) as soon as Tyler got out of school at 11. We decided to stay Fri night at my parents house in Dwight, about an hour and a half or so southwest of Chicago making the trip a little shorter for us the next day. On Sat, I got in a quick 2 mi run in the morning just to loosen up my legs from taking 2 days of rest. We left Mom and Dad's house at around 10 am. I was driving, basically because I stink at navigating and Brian could then just tell me where to go.

The 1st stop in Chicago was the marathon expo at McCormick Place in downtown Chi town. We made it, without dying, and paid our 20 bucks to park. Holy crap, yeah. 20 bucks to park at the expo! We definitely aren't in Kansas anymore. From the parking garage it was about a mi hike into the expo, but it was easy to find because of the thousands and thousands of other people there doing the exact same thing. Just play follow the leader! I didn't really know what to expect at this expo, but it was definitely huge! I wanted to take care of business first so that if we had to bail early because of some tired legs or whatnot, I could. After asking a few people questions, we made it to the check in to get my bib and chip, and then over to chip activation. Simple enough. Then I learned that we had to go through the entire expo to the other side to get to the packet pickup. Well why the heck not put it all the way over there! So we made our way through the crowds of people to the other side where I very excitedly picked up my packet complete with my race shirt!

After making sure I got what I needed to race, there were two other stops that I wanted to make before just browsing the expo. I needed to make it to the RUN FOR OUR SONS booth to say Hi to the charity that I was there running for. I raised $800! I really wanted to meet Missy who was the person on the other side of all those emails that updated me on everything that had to do with the marathon and getting there and what I had to do. She was SOOO helpful.

Next stop was the Nike Pace group booth. I decided that I wanted to run with a pace group so I could avoid the mistake of going out too fast and not being able to finish strong. I decided on the 4:30 group. I knew I could run the pace. That's all I want to do is finish smiling. Not too much to ask!

After I did the necessary stops, I wanted to do some browsing. Brian and Tyler were still going fairly strong, they were so supportive and acted like they wanted to be there! Very sweet! So I went up and down some of the rows of booths. I was on the search for a marathon tshirt for kids so that I could give one to the little boy that I was running for the charity for. They didn't have any that said Chicago Marathon 2009 in small kids sizes, bummer. I did find the Nike booth, the single biggest booth in the entire expo! I got a pair of Chicago marathon shorts. I also got another tshirt at the asics booth.

After a few other purchases and some tired family members in cargo, it was time to go. We hiked it back to the car and got ready to make the couple mile, very scary drive over to the Hard Rock Hotel. We made it, got checked in, and decided it was time to rest for a few hours! We had pasta dinner plans with the RUN FOR OUR SONS charity at Quartino on State St. With no clue how to get there, and knowing it was only a few blocks, we decided to take a cab. Dinner was amazing and totally free! Well, I guess I did raise 800 bucks for them, but still, it was VERY nice! Now it was time to get back to the hotel, get my race day gear all ready and hit the sack. I knew it was going to be pretty cold out on race day, and I think I brought my entire arsenal of running gear to prepare, so I had to decide what I was going to wear. The temps looked like mid 40'sF for a high! I knew at 5 am when I was going to haul my family to the charity village that it was going to be really freakin cold. I decided on underarmour frosty tights, and underarmour long sleeve moisture wicking tee that I made with Carson's picture on it, and my State Fair Parade Run 2 mi race tshirt over top. (I just love that shirt! So comfy!)

Contrary to most predictions, I did sleep pretty well on race eve. We had two alarms set, my phone alarm was going to go off first. I even hit the snooze a couple times! I did my routine, ate a bagel with cream cheese and a banana. The only thing I was missing was my coffee. I gotta have my morning coffee! I didn't want to make any there in the room and figured there were probably about half a dozen Starbucks on the walk from the hotel to the charity village. Turns out there was only one. And it didn't open for another half an hour! Oh well, I'd have to live without. I was absolutely freezing by the time we got to the charity village. I had even bought extra through away paper layers to put on!

The whole charity village was flooded out from the days and days of rain before race day. Some of the charity's had to move their tents to other places, ours was just moved back out of the water. I sat and waited for the other runners to arrive. As I was waiting, someone slapped down a box of Starbucks coffee right in front of me! I couldn't believe it! I got my coffee afterall!

Pretty soon it was time to go find the line up. Brian, Tyler and I walked with the other runners from the charity up to the start area. There were SOOO many people! I needed to find the 430 pacers, so we walked along the line of thousands of runners toward the start line. We saw each pacer, 5:30, 5:15, 5:00, 4:45, and finally 4:30. Now it was time to say goodbye to Brian and Tyler. This was something I wasn't expecting. I quite literally started crying because I didn't want to leave them. I was so scared! There were so many people! What if I never found them again!?! I felt so alone among all those people! Crazy, I know. I'm even tearing up as I write this because those scared emotions are coming back as I think about it. Brian talked me through it. He is my rock. He reminded me that we had a plan AND a backup plan to find each other afterward. He told me not to worry, I was a runner and this is where I belonged. At a marathon. I'm not sure these were his exact words, but that's basically the feeling I got from him. He and Tyler were so proud of me, but I needed to get out there.

After a couple of final hugs and kisses, I made my way through the fence and followed a 4:30 sign holder to the middle of the street full of people. I found myself shoulder to shoulder with many interesting people. We were all so cold and the fact that we were so close together was actually a good thing. I couldn't imagine being that close to people if it was hot! I was right next to a group of 4 or 5 guys from Ireland. Very interesting to me, I've never met anyone straight from Ireland. I listened to them encourage each other in their own language and got encouraged myself.

Before I knew it the star spangled banner was being played and the gun went off. Of course we didn't move right away, but right as the gun went off I imagined in my head the best runners in the world starting off the race! I can't believe I was about to run in the footsteps of the greatest runners in the world! Awesome! We slowly shuffled to the start line, and soon enough we were off! I stayed toward the right hand side in hopes to see Brian and Ty again. That didn't happen, but I was in awe at all the people! Well, this was the start line after all, surely there would be times along the course when there weren't any people.

I remember images of the course. I remember seeing signs people made for their loved ones that were running. I remember saying over and over in my head "The first ten miles is run with your head". Just get to mi 10. The water stops were weird to me. I skipped the first one just so I could scope out what happens at a water stop of this size. People were tripping over each other to get to the sides to get some liquid. Some stopped dead in their tracks and started walking to get their drink, which tripped up other people. At the second one I decided it was time to give it a try. I saw it coming up ahead and started to get toward the right side kinda early. I was in perfect position to get a cup from one of the first volunteers. I grabbed one, used my triathlon skills of running and drinking by pinching the cup and took a big gulp. YUCK! I grabbed Gatorade! I hate Gatorade! Blah! I threw the cup and kept running. From then on I made sure to get water! I had to catch up with the pace group a little. I noticed they were going a little fast. I made sure to stick with the pace group as close as possible.

I expected the crowds of people running to thin out, but it never really did. I expected the crowds of spectators to thin out, but it never really did. Amazing. Such a big race. Soon enough I hit mi 10... then my mantra was "The second ten miles is run with your legs". I expected pain. I waited for the pain. It actually didn't hit until around mi 18. I said "Oh, THERE you are". My pain was mostly in my right knee... the IT band was going to rear his ugly head. I just kept trying to keep my torso up, running nice and tall, trying to hold my form as best as possible. There were a couple of times my knee kinda gave out a little, but overall I did ok.

The pacers were at times kind of slow to me. I guess they were ahead of the game a little, because they walked through a couple of the water stations and I found myself really ahead of them. I turned my head, saw that they were behind, and decided to wait for them. So I slowed my running down a lot. I promised myself I would stay with them. That would at least guarantee me a 4:30 finish. I was afraid to get ahead of them and burn up all my matches per say and then not be able to at least accomplish the 4:30.

Finally I hit mi 20. My next mantra was "The last six miles is run with your heart". I had to repeat this one a lot. I remember seeing some of the same spectators multiple times at this point. Some of the same signs. I got a motivation boost every so often by high fiving random spectators! I saw one sign that said "Free hugs". I was tempted. Then I saw a sign that said "Pain is weakness leaving the body". I repeated this to myself throughout the rest of the race. I hit mile marker 24 and kinda of woke up. Holy crap, this is it! Last 2 miles! I know I can finish now! So I went ahead of the pacers at this point. Nothing too crazy, just ran at my own pace and never looked back. By the time I hit mi 26 the crowds were INSANE! They were going crazy! I felt like I was the winner! Finally I rounded that corner and saw the finish line. I sprinted with everything I had left. There wasn't much. But that was ok. I was smiling! I did it! I crossed the finish line in 4:28:45. I made all my goals! I finished. Smiling. In under 4 hours and 30 mins. I can't believe it!

The finish line was somewhat overwhelming. Once you crossed everyone came to a dead stop and started walking. The volunteers immediately hand you a bottle of water. You just keep walking and get handed stuff along the way. A mylar blanket (cool!), your race medal, food, chip removal. There were hundreds and hundreds of volunteers. I couldn't believe it. I felt like they were all there just for me. And I think all the runners felt that way. The runners around me just kept looking at each other and smiling, and I did the same. We did it. We were rock stars. There were even photographers insisting that we move our medals to the side so they could see our numbers in the picture they were going to take of us. (they wanted us to buy their photos later, but it still made me feel special!) Someone handed me a beer. I grabbed it, took a couple swigs, and promptly realized what I was doing. I hate draft beer. I set that down and went over to the finishers photo area.

When I was finally done with all this I realized I had no idea how to get back to the charity village from where I was! I asked several people. Some had no idea (even volunteers!). Others said "over in that area" and pointed in one direction or another. I finally made it the village. I stood at the top of the stairs by Buckingham Fountain and looked out over the village. I saw Brian and Tyler in the distance! Then I looked at the stairs that I had to go down. How the heck was I going to maneuver this? I can barely walk, let alone do stairs! I monkeyed my way down holding on to the railing. Brian saw me! He started coming over to me! Finally we got to eachother and I wrapped my arms so tightly around his neck! I said "I did it, babe, I did it!" He said "You sure did! Way to go!" I didn't want this moment to end. It was perfect.

We made it over to the tent. The RUN FOR OUR SONS people were so supportive! Brian set me up with a chair and got me some food. I was so happy to be done!

Well, it was time to go. We had to get back to the hotel, get the car, and head back to Dwight. We had such a good time. My biggest thanks goes out to my biggest fans, I couldn't have done any of this without them!

Week 2 of Marathon Training

Week 1 and 2 of marathon training is in the bag!

Week 1 was, of course, fairly easy. And that's the way it should be! I did the 4 mi on Sun, which I posted about last time. I got in all the other runs that I said I was going to also: 2 on Tues, 3 on Thurs, 3 on Fri, and 3 on Sat. This moderate consistent plan seems like it's going to work out so far! I don't dread Sun long runs anymore! I'm just having fun with this, kinda testing out some speeds, and trying to figure out what speed hurts, and what is the easiest (without walking). I just want to know where my range is so I can figure out just how fast I'm going to try to go in the marathon. I don't know how I'm going to figure that out yet, but, whatever. I'll figure it out. No biggy. My main goal is to finish. So anyway, week 1 done and I'm feeling great!

Week 2, still feeling really good. Here is what I covered this week:

Sun 4
Tues 4
Thurs 4
Fri 4
Sat 4

LOL Yeah, this was pretty easy to remember how far I was supposed to go each day! On Sun I did a 1 mi road race called Springfield's Magnificent Mile. I had very low expectations for this race considering I've never been very good at the shorter faster races. And I've never placed in my age group in a running race (only triathlons) so I really didn't expect to start this day. Well, I did. 1st in my age group actually. Who woulda thunk. My finish time was 7:09, and it hurt! I felt like I was going to throw up afterward which brought back memories of track practice in junior high! I did throw up once after practice and I thought I was going to get in trouble with the coach who was kind of a hard a**. She ended up finding me afterward and telling me that she was proud of me because throwing up meant I worked hard. I was stunned. I always thought that woman hated me, but who knows. Anyway, after the race I went home, and since my schedule called for 4 miles today, I had to get out and do 3 more. Ouch. That was a death shuffle. But I got it done. I did Tuesday's run in 85F and sunny weather. Thursday's run was at a hotel in Schaumburg where I was visiting for a work conference. So icky treadmill running. Friday's run was in Dwight, my hometown, where I was visiting my parents and dropping off my doggy so that they can babysit him while I'm on vaca. Sat's 4 was a very hot 85F sunny run. This was the first run that I had my new hand grip thingy water bottle. I like that thing! And guess where I got it? The all to famous 'Runners High 'n Tri' running store in Arlington Heights, the exact same one that sponsors (or whatever) the great podcast 'The Age Grouper Triathlon Podcast'.

So next weeks runs include:
Sun 5
Tues 5
Thurs 3
Fri 3
Sat 5

Tues, Thurs, Fri, and Sat runs will all be done in Colorado which is where we are vacationing. I don't expect very good paces considering I'm going up in elevation by a few thousand feet. We'll see how I acclimate this year. Catch ya'll in a week or so!

Marathon Training Begins!

Training for the 2009 Chicago Marathon Begins Today!
Bad Start?

Up until a few days ago I had a training plan all set and completely mapped out for the next few months. I was planning on using a Hal Higdon intermediate plan. I had calender all written out and everything. Then I saw some tweets by good ol' Steve Runner. He was talking about the reason that he uses the Hansons Brooks moderate consistent plan. He said that he used to use Hal's plans, until he was injured one too many times. I have heard him talk about the Hansons Brooks plans a lot on his podcast, so I knew what all it entailed. I decided to change my plans at the last minute to go with a Hansons Brooks plan because I just don't feel like getting injured. This new plan only has me doing my longest runs at 16 mi. I've already done 16 before during my training for the half marathon, so I know that I can do it. The HH plans had me doing a long run of 20 mi which was a little daunting. So, Hanson Brooks it is, I hope it works!

So the original plan that is laid out for Hansons is an 18 week schedule. I'm going to follow it very closely (hopefully!) plus I allowed an extra 2 weeks for mishaps or bad weeks. Plus I have a vacation during June so I wanted to allow myself some leniency.

Today was the first run of the training schedule. 4 mi seemed easy enough. Nice way to start the Sun long runs! I was really excited to get started. Until I got a half a block down the road.

Problem #1: You know that rule of thumb that says if you're running and you're thirsty than you are already way too dehydrated? Yeah. That was me. Half a block into the run.

Problem #2: It really didn't help that I had two very large cups of coffee before this run. I work the midnight shift and tonight is my night off. So I got off work this morning, got a 5 hour nap, and woke up early so that I can sleep at normal times tonight with my family. I had my coffee and no food.

Problem #3: No food? Really? I thought I knew better than that.

Problem #4: Also, I just raced a biathlon yesterday. A great race, but it definitely left me feeling a little tired today.

Bad Start? I refuse to believe that any start to any marathon plan would be considered bad. I'm out there. I'm doing it. There is nothing but goodness that surrounds the excitement of training for your first marathon. So, in an attempt to keep a good attitude about my said problems, I decided to start working on strategies throughout this training schedule.

Strategy #1: HYDRATE! I've always had issues with this, but I need to make this a true priority. Starting this past January, I started carrying a 1 L bottle of water with me everywhere I go. Now I just need to discipline myself to actually drink it empty at least once a day!

Strategy #2: CUT DOWN ON THE COFFEE! Ok, I've got serious coffee addiction. I drink at least a pot of coffee a day. It's quite ridiculous. I'm going to attempt to cut down to one cup when I get up, and one to go cup on the way to work. If I can do that, then I'll see if I can go even further.

Strategy #3: FUEL! I need to learn a good fueling plan. This one is kind of hard because I am trying to drop a few more pounds and I'm very concerned with every calorie that goes in. And I also don't like to eat when I first wake up, but I need to get over that. I can always have some fruit or something before a run instead of starving myself!

Strategy #4: STRETCH! I need to stretch and use the foam roller as much as possible because this is the only thing that keeps the IT band pain away.

So, I'll take this hard 4 miler as a chance to learn from my mistakes and a great new focus for this training season!

This weeks schedule:
Sun 4 mi (today)
Tues 2 mi
Thurs 3 mi
Fri 3 mi
Sat 3 mi

My First Triathlon

I have had many anxieties when it comes to doing a triathlon. What equipment do I need? How do you go from one sport to the next? What clothes do you where and how do you get them over your wet swim suit? Could I survive the physical demands? Do I have to fuel, and if so, at what time during the race?

Well, I started by tackling the anxieties one sport at a time. Running I can do. I’ve been a runner for about a year now and I was in the process of training for my first half marathon. Swimming I didn’t have a clue about and cycling… well, I figured I could just wing it.

I signed up for a tri swim class back in Feb of this year. I saw that Hardybreed Dan was doing it and I thought it was exactly what I was looking for. I also bought a road bike, just a starter one, but a better one that I had nonetheless.

At the tri swim class our instructor had people coming in all the time teaching us about the sport of triathlon and how to do them. I learned a ton in the class about transitions, fueling, gear, rules, endurance, etc. Best of all, I learned how to swim without overexerting myself! Now I was ready to give it a “tri!”

I signed up for the Pioneer Sprint Triathlon in Petersburg, IL on April 18th. It consisted of a 300 yd pool swim, 13 mi bike, and a 3.2 mi run. This seemed manageable to me. I was going into this triathlon figuring on something going wrong, just because I was a newbie.

Most people have ‘day before a race’ traditions, like eating a certain meal, getting a certain amount of sleep, laying everything out. I had to work the midnight shift the night before the race. So I packed all my gear up the evening before and hoped I didn’t forget anything. I got home by 7 am, slept for 2 hrs, then had to get up and go to the race. I wanted to get there early to help calm the nerves and get a feel for the race before it started.

I arrived at 11 am and left all my stuff in the car while I went to pick up my packet and get body marked. This was the first time I got my body marked for a race, and it made me feel like an Olympian. The only other triathlon I’ve seen was the Olympic Tri in China on TV last August! I came out and saw that other people were already setting up their transition areas. I figured I’d better get my stuff out now and ‘mark my territory’ as I was taught in tri class. On my way to the transition area, I saw Lance and his son. That calmed me down a lot because I was walking in with someone that I knew!

I mounted my bike by the seat on the railing just like I was taught (do it on the handlebars and you may damage the brakes). I put down my bright orange and pink towel and folded into the smallest square possible that would fit all my other stuff. I don’t have a tri-suit yet, so I was stuck wearing my swimsuit. I do have a road bike, but I haven’t bought any accessories yet, so no clipless peddles. I planned on putting on my running shoes (complete with new yanks shoe laces) during T1 and using them for both the bike and run portions. So my transition had my shorts, socks, shoes, helmet, running visor, water bottle, and race number belt. I prayed that I didn’t forget anything.

When I got all done with that, I was surprised not to feel more nervous than I was. I think it was mostly that I only had 2 hours sleep and I was denying my fatigue. I hung out for a bit and talked to Nancy and Lance and watched all the other people set up their areas. For being such a newbie type race, as I was taught that the sprint distance mostly attracts, there was a lot of high tech gear! This made me feel a little intimidated, but Nancy and Lance assured me that I’d do fine.

I then went in to check out the pool area so that I could visualize the race. I saw the mats that led from the pool out the door so I followed them back outside and walked back to my transition because I wanted to see exactly how many rows to walk down to get to my bike. I stood there a second and looked at my stuff and imagined putting on my shorts, then my socks, shoes, race number belt, and finally my helmet. I then walked over to the bike out area and saw the mounting line where I would be able to start riding. The dismount line was at the same spot, so I imagined coming back in and walked again back over to my transition area. I looked down and saw my running visor and imagined taking off my helmet and grabbing the visor. Then I walked over to the run out area and saw the start/finish for the run portion. Ok, I think I’m ready.
As I was walking inside to use the restroom, I saw GerriAnne from my tri swim class! I totally forgot that she was signed up for this race! I ended up sticking to her like glue the whole time since she was a veteran triathlete. I watched her set up her transition area and saw her pull out food. Oh crap! I didn’t eat anything today! I completely forgot to eat! She kindly offered me a protein bar and I gladly accepted! Disaster averted! We chowed as we were being ushered out of the transition so that the mini race could start. This was very cool to see, it made visualizing my race that much easier! I loved cheering on the kids, who absolutely amazed me with their triathlon talents! This is where I saw Dan from Hardybreed and I proudly showed off my new Hardybreed shirt! Lots of people came up to read my shirt because they couldn’t understand why I was so proudly wearing a shirt that said ‘I heart smoking’ to a triathlon (‘the competition’ of course).

Now it was time for me to get ready to start. They called all the sprint distance folks into the pool area for the prerace meeting. I took off my extra clothes and threw them in my bag, grabbed my swim cap and goggles, and headed inside. This is where they gave us our timing chips. GerriAnne reminded me and those around us to put it on our left leg, so that it didn’t get caught in the chain on our bike. Smart thinking! I seeded myself towards the back because I know my talents in the pool, or lack there of. I can swim without overexerting myself, but I cannot swim fast by any means. I was able to cheer on Dan and GerriAnne as they swam.

As I got up toward the start line the nerves had really built up in me, but as soon as I got in the water, everything went calm again. Ahh, this I can do. I can swim 300 nice and easy. I finished the swim in 6:17. I trotted out to T1 and did everything in the order that I practiced. It went very smooth for my first one. My goal for the bike was to just keep an even cadence and never stop peddling. I don’t know much about cycling, so this is all that made sense to me. I was having a blast! I was smiling, and cheering people on that were on their way back already. I saw GerriAnne and she was doing great! I started to notice that my feet were going numb, but just kept going. The hills started to hurt a little on the way back, but it went flat again just in time. My feet were very numb by the time I was heading into T2 and I just prayed that I didn’t fall down when I got off my bike. I wasn’t sure what caused it, but I loosened my shoe laces during T2 and hoped for the best. The bike portion took me 46:05. I started running out of transition and notice that weird feeling that everyone talks about when you go from biking to running. I had practiced this a couple of times, but never had numb feet while doing it. It was a little awkward. I was not out to set a PR in the 5K portion, so I just trotted out. This was definitely my favorite part of the race because there were people to encourage us along the way! I caught up with GerriAnne and talked for a second, and before I knew it my feet were not numb anymore and I was able to settle into a good pace. I ended up talking to an older gentleman for a little bit. He was very encouraging! I was starting to get very fatigued as I was about to head up the last hill. Then I saw Lance and his son again! That was perfect timing! They cheered me on and Lance told me to just focus on the guy in front of me, and that’s all! I could do that! I picked up the pace and passed him on the hill with a huge smile on my face. Then I entered back into the high school parking lot and came into a sprinting finish!

Wow, what a blast! That was the most fun I’ve ever had during a race! Everything went so smooth for a first timer! I couldn’t believe it. I did it! GerriAnne and I got massages and some food afterward. Then I was getting ready to leave and I saw they had posted the results per age group, so I went to check it out. Holy crap, I got second in my age group! No way! I actually won something! Unbelievable! Well, I HAD to stay for the awards now! I planned on scooting out of there to get home and get a couple more hours sleep before having to go back into work that night, but I couldn’t pass up an award! This entire triathlon was put on so well! It was so organized and well thought out! I couldn’t give it more praise. And, maybe that doesn’t mean much to some because this was my first one and I don’t have anything to compare it to, but as a newbie, I felt very comfortable, encouraged, and well aware of what was expected of me as a racer. My hats off to the directors and volunteers! Thanks for a great first race!

By the way, I was asked to be a Wild Hare on Hardybreed's website, so be sure to check out this same story over there at www.hardybreed.com!

Swimming

Did I mention I'm taking a swimming class? One night a week it's a beginner triathlon swim class to teach me the basics of swimming efficiently. It's really going good! The teacher has broken a swim stroke completely and started off showing us how to do the most basic piece, then she adds to it each week.

First came balancing in the water, just learning that when your head is up, your legs go down... not a good thing. We had to learn to glide along the surface of the water (on our side) and kick from the hips, not the knees.

Next came switching from gliding on one side to gliding on the other side with one smooth movement. This was a little trickier, especially when we had to control our breaths to every third switch instead of every one.

This past week we learned the zipperswitch, which teaches us to bring our stroke hand up along our side and pierce the water. I'm still a little shaky on this, but we're getting there. I've practiced this twice so far this week and hoping to get in one more swim before class this Thurs (in two days).

This is turning out to be a lot of fun! I'm learning soooo much! I've already met people in my class that are well known in the community in multisport! I've seen these guys at every race I've been in so far!

I'm so ready to 'dive' right in to this multisport lifestyle! I'm loving every minute! I've signed up for my first Tri: April 18th, 2009 the Pioneer Sprint Triathlon in Petersburg, IL! It includes a "300 yd pool swim, a 13 mi bike ride on a rolling flat prairie road, and a 3.2 mi run through picturesque Petersburg," according to their website. It also says "The run will take you past century old architectural gems, past the Edgar Lee Master’s home, past the courthouse where young Abraham [Lincoln] practiced law and up and down the streets of Petersburg." Sounds awesome!

Running for Reason

On October 11th, 2009 I will be joining the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy RUN FOR OUR SONS team at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. The RUN FOR OUR SONS team is a group of parents, grandparents, families, and friends who will proudly run the 26.2 mile full marathon to help raise funds and awareness for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), a devastating, progressive muscle disorder which slowly robs those diagnosed of their independence and eventually their life. I will be running this race for Carson DeMarse, who has Duchenne.

This year the RUN FOR OUR SONS team will represent thousands of young men diagnosed with Duchenne. I am participating in this great event because I can and because the Duchenne community needs my strength and endurance to move ahead.

Duchenne is the most common lethal genetic disorder diagnosed during early childhood, affecting approximately 1 out of every 3,500 boys and 20,000 babies born each year. Duchenne causes loss of muscle function and independence. Most young men with Duchenne only live into their twenties, and there is currently no cure.

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is the largest nonprofit organization in the United States focused entirely on Duchenne and is proud to lead the Duchenne community. PPMD strives to improve the treatment, quality of life, and long-term outlook for all individuals affected by Duchenne through research, advocacy, education, and compassion. They uphold the highest ethical and financial standards, and consistently receive high marks from watchdog organizations, including a seal-of-approval from the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance.

If you would like to sponsor my efforts, please make your checks payable to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy or PPMD and clearly mark my name and ‘marathon’ on the memo line. PPMD will issue you a tax deductible receipt for your contribution. If you would like to donate via a credit card, please use the space provided on the envelope to enter your information. (For those folks who are only receiving this letter by email, sorry no envelope for you).You can also visit my personal fundraising page at www. runforoursons. org. Click on the ‘FIND A RUNNER’ link in the left hand column, click the 2009 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, then search for my name. There you will be able to donate via internet, and you can also see my fundraising progress as I get closer to the big event!

Thank you so much for your support and for helping me support the efforts of PPMD. With your generosity and my successful completion of the marathon (fingers crossed!), we will end Duchenne.

Ashleigh Handzus

Newest Purchase!

YEP, THAT'S RIGHT! I'm so stoked for my brand new garmin 405. I feel like a rock star for actually getting the newest version of some piece of technology like this. I even got the heart rate monitor strap, and now I'm drowning in info, and loving every minute of it! I haven't learned how to use all the features yet, but that will soon come. I'm so happy that I got it before the racing season begins! Ok, I'm done now. lol

New Shoes!

When the sides of my lower legs start to hurt, it only means one thing... my shoes must be pretty worn. I got out my trusty training log (aka buckeye outdoors online) and counted up the miles on the new shoes... yeah. Over 500 miles. Ouch. I know better than that. So I finally made it to the running center here in Springfield, where the guy kindly asked if I wanted to buy his last pair of size 81/2 Asics GT 2130's for 65 bucks or if I wanted to upgrade to the 2140's for 100 bucks. Hmm.... that's a no brainer. I own GT 2130's and I love my 2130's, therefore, um, yeah... I'll stick with the 2130's! Gees... 35 bucks is a big difference.

Anyway, I got home and had to do a 3 mile easy run today anyway, so I broke them out of the box, got them on, and headed out the door. I love new shoes. So shiny. So new. They are just a little bit stiff, but they'll be perfect in about 2 to 3 more runs. I'm so excited!

Wait until you see my next post. I've got a big present to myself in the mail... I can't wait!

Runner turning Triathlete

Ok, so I listened to a new podcast... Kelownagurl Tris Podcast (kelownagurltris.blogspot.com) and by the second episode I was totally inspired to "try the tri" I'm so excited! I went out yesterday and got a membership to the gym so that I can use the pool. I was looking for any excuse to get one anyway, I just couldn't justify the money spent for just running when I can run outside. So I had my very first day at the gym today. I did the 3 mi run on the treadmill. This was my very first time running on a treadmill and it was.... uh .... interesting. I think I'll stick to the roads whenever possible.

Then I got to go to the pool. I had on my new nike 1 pc swimsuit and my new speedo goggles. I didn't expect much out of today's swim... just kind of introducing myself back into lap swimming (I was on the swim team as a young kid, so I had a select few memories of it). I took it easy and did just 500 yds... uh... meters... uh whatever. I'm so not well versed in tri talk. I will try to fit some cycling in this week also, but I'm trying not to overdo it. I'm having a hard time letting go of any of my runs, so for now I'm just stacking the swimming and cycling on top of my 5 day a week running schedule. It's not too bad for now, since I just started. Eventually, I assume, I will have to let go of my two easy runs a week to get in some harder swim/cycling days. So, day 1 a success!

My New Running Friend

Ok, so loads of people encounter many dogs as they put in their daily miles. I have come across a few, and it sometimes scares the crap out of me! I see these big huge dogs bounding toward me only to stop a few feet from the road that I'm on and run along with me back and forth along an invisible line just barking like crazy to get to me. This is how I learned what an invisible fence was. Honestly, who thought of this concept? It's a pretty good idea, not having to actually put a fence around your entire yard just to keep your dog in, but it is scary as a passerby. And it turns out that there are a lot of people in my neighborhood that like these things.

I'm still very weary about dogs because I still occasionally come across a dog that isn't actually in a fence, but running loose instead. Take for example my new running friend Maggie. I was running along one day on my usual route, and here comes this great big black lab(compared to my 15 lb yorky lap dog). I immediately stopped and put my hands out for the dog to smell me. She took a little sniff but was just so energized and excited, she couldn't stop jumping up on me. I realized she wasn't much of a threat, so I started running again. She bound along me, getting ahead of me, only to find something to smell in the ditch and I would pass her, and then she would come flying up on me again. She ran along with me for about a mile, which is when I hit my turn around point, and she stuck with me for the mile back to her home area. I didn't want the dog to follow me home, so I stopped by one of the few houses that were in this area and asked if the dog belonged to them. The guy (who did not seem to like Maggie very much) said "Oh, that's Maggie. She's a really annoying dog that lives across the street." I said thank you and started toward the only house on the other side of the street. What the guy said really bothered me though, because Maggie wasn't annoying at all! She was energized and fun, yet submissive and she just seemed to need a good run every so often. She reminded me of a kid who had been stuck in school all day with no recess. Poor thing. So I went over to the house and knocked on the door, no answer. I just decided to run home, even if Maggie was gonna follow me. It was only about 3/4 of a mile to my house. I got home and Brian was outside. I told him I didn't know what to do with Maggie since she followed me home, but he told me not to worry because she is a black lab and those are very smart and she'd find her way home.

She did find her way home that night. I look out into the big cage with the dog igloo outside of that house each time I pass to see if Maggie is inside. I've only seen her once since then. Until last night that is. I was again running along my usual route and there was Maggie in the road again! I was the excited one this time! I said "Maggie! You gonna run with me today girl?" And there she was for the middle three miles of my run. I took her home, I stopped in front of her house and pointed to the yard and said, "Ok, go home now Maggie, we'll catch ya next time!" And there she bound up to the front door (ok so I think someone was inside calling for her).

I will now look forward to my runs on that route. I really like having that companion. Maybe if I ever see the owners outside, I'll ask if I can occasionally come and take Maggie out of her cage and let her come with me. Would a dog owner ever do that? Just let some stranger come and take their dog for a run and drop her back off when they were done? Only one way to find out. I'll keep you posted.