Double Whammy: Racing the Delta
May 24th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Good MOOOOORNING Mississippi!
As I mentioned earlier a group of us (including Paul) headed down south this past weekend for some back-to-back races at Memphis in May: a sprint triathlon on Saturday and an olympic on Sunday. In addition to the Paula Deen buffet, the race had an Amateur Challenge with cash prizes for the top 15 combined times for men and women who did both races.
Again, to spare you from pages of detail that most of you don’t care about anyway, below are haikus highlighting the important parts.
Race #1: Sprint Saturday (400m swim, 14m bike, 5k run)
Out of the water
Freak clown monster face like woah
So terrifying
Race #2: Olympic Sunday (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run)
New triathlon suit
Means zipper chafing on chest
Legs feel like cement
Paul’s 10K leg of the Olympic Race
Paula Deen and heat
Cannot stop this beastly man
From dominating
56 minutes
Paul was super relieved that he didn’t die on the run. I ended up 7th in the Amateur Challenge which = DOLLA DOLLA BILL! (almost enough to cover my entry fee…ha) Still stoked. Spike missed us and was very happy when Paul came home to study with him again.
Full race reports to be posted here soon.
Etc, etc
May 21st, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Based on FB stalking, it looks like this weekend was full of beautiful weather pretty much everywhere, multiple weddings (including Mark Zuckerberg), and a solar eclipse.
I spent much of it here:
The transition area of Memphis in May…which was actually held in Tunica, MS. I don’t get it either.
The race location was a hop, skip, and drive through the ghetto away from downtown Memphis. Not that close. So, the moral of the story is we didn’t get to partake in the MiM events. Sad.
We did, however, have this on site:
Oh yes. Welcome to Mississippi.
Once the pics come back I’ll do an update on the double header race weekend. Until then, I’m going to start figuring out what I need to get done before Hawaii (I fly out in 9 DAYS) and continue to wear my compression socks to work.
Cute, I know.
In other news, I came back to my cube today to find my little cube tree had sprouted a new appendage.
Hmm. Awkward.
Happy Monday.
Eggcersize
May 15th, 2012 § 2 Comments
Last long weekend of training before Hawaii…DONE.
Saturday: 60 mile bike ride followed by a 2 mile run (called a brick, when you go for a run straight off your bike) at 10K pace. I did 2 hours of the ride with some friends, and about 20 miles on my own. The last time I headed out on my bike by myself I got hit by a cab and ended up in the ER getting surgery on my hand. So making it home in one piece was a personal victory.
Sunday: Mother’s Day! (of course)
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.
…plus a 12 mile run (at 7am in the pouring rain…yay?) followed by a 3K swim that actually looked a lot like the above. And a rainy walk with Spike. Time to bust out the Squall again.
All fueled by R&M eggs. Of course.
They’re still coming, 2 every day. Look how much bigger the ones on the left are. One of the chickens is seriously outperforming the other.
Also got a nice surprise call from my sister in Afghanistan on Sunday (she’s doing well), and did some studying for this god-forsaken online class I’m taking.
I can’t help it, I hate taking classes online. And yes, Spike always sits like that.
Next up: MEMPHIS! This weekend! A friend of mine gave me the name of a friend of hers who is actually competing in the BBQ World Championships. Woah. This could get crazy.
And to top it all off…Paul is going to be running the 10K run leg of the Olympic triathlon on Sunday in Memphis as part of a relay team. He hasn’t run more than 2.5 miles in a year. That should also be amazing.
Onward and upward.
Arbor Day and Potentially Poor Life Decisions
May 2nd, 2012 § 3 Comments
Yeah buddy. It’s getting hot up in these parts.
Hope you all had a wonderful Arbor Day. Spike and I walked down to the Arboretum, where they were giving away free indigenous trees. Paul has been talking about these trees for about 4 months, so we picked up a Kentucky Persimmon. His mother picked up an Eastern Pine and gave it to us…which can grow up to 160 feet. Not sure where in our little yard that will go.
The Persimmon tree will reach it’s peak fruit-bearing in 8 years…but who knows, maybe we’ll get some little persimmons before that.
So I’ve been trying to shake this flu/cold thing that took over at the end of last week. Getting back into training hasn’t gone smoothly. My run this morning was…kind of terrible. I was tired. Sore. Not feeling it mentally. So what did I do to break myself out of this funk?
Signed up for not one, but TWO back-to-back races the weekend of May 19th. A sprint triathlon Saturday (400 swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run) and an olympic triathlon Sunday (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run), both in Memphis.
Why? The short answer is: Allison made me do it.
Memphis in May is actually an international festival in Memphis with all sorts of music and performances and exhibits…and two triathlons! Allison encouraged me to sign up largely because I missed the race in Florida last weekend and she wants me to do at least one race before Hawaii. I told her fine, but only if we can go to Graceland and possibly Dollywood on the way home.
This race is notorious for being brutally hot.
(this is a real picture from a finisher at the race last year)
…which is part of the reason Allison was pushing for me to do it. Hawaii is going to be brutally hot, and I don’t tend to handle the heat very well. So it’s kind of like heat training. Which most likely means I’ll be regretting this decision on the run course. Twice.
The good news is, after the races, there will be some world class BBQ.
The World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest will be happening when we’re there. HECK YEAH.
Summer is heeeeere…
Mele Kalikimaka
November 5th, 2011 § 5 Comments
So, this past week was supposed to be “END BLOBTOBERFEST!” I was going to get back into training and put together a training schedule and GET ON THE BALL. But then I got the flu and it knocked me on my butt for the whole week. I didn’t exercise once. Not even close. But I did experience some soreness from lying in bed so much.
So, what did I do during my week off (aside from turning into a pile of white, doughy grossness)?
Signed up for a half Ironman. Of course.
My good friend Alix is getting married next summer and decided to do the Honu 70.3 in June before the wedding. And I am joining her. It is going to be my A race for next year (I’ve never been to Hawaii before…I am beyond excited.)
PARTY ON THE NORTH SHORE!
Steelhead 69.1
August 15th, 2011 § 1 Comment
I’m thinking of getting this tattoo.
So yes, the swim was cancelled. Which generally means I am completely screwed, because that’s the only part of the race that I’m remotely good at.
BUT! I did get in to test out the water the day before the race…
…and after a short bike/run actually got in to splash around with Paul. The water temp was in the high 70s, and the waves were juuust big enough to do some body surfing, which I did quite a bit of. Probably not the best pre-race activity, but I couldn’t help myself, the water felt so good. I miss the ocean.
Our hotel was in South Haven, about 30 miles north of Benton Harbor, and our stay coincided with the National Blueberry Festival. We just missed the parade where the National Blueberry Queen made her debut, which was a shame. But we did catch the South Haven Vintage Baseball Club baseball game in full swing. They even played without gloves.
The weather that day was completely erratic, going from severe thunderstorms to sun all day long (we left the beach just in time to see a major storm rolling in), which wasn’t super promising for the race.
Woke up on race day with serious winds, and upon entering transition the first thing they announced was that the swim had been cancelled, there was a small craft advisory, and winds of up to 25 mph were predicted for the day. Boo.
So we did a time trial start on the bike, going two at a time by bib number. My bike was solid, I think…never raced 56 miles for time before and wasn’t sure what to expect…but I averaged significantly faster than I did in the 14-mile bike leg of the Markey Race (yes, for reals) and came in a solid 10 minutes under my goal time of 3 hours.
My run was GREAT…for the first 8ish miles. My 10K split was right around 51:00. I was on pace to easily break 2 hours, no problem, and was running at a totally comfortable pace. Then suddenly, this happened:
Bonk.
It was ugly. I walked for about a minute. The next 2.5 miles were a combo of walk/run, and I grabbed a gel, some coke, and Gatorade from the aid stations as I went. I finally got my legs back and was able to jog the last few miles to the finish line. But it wasn’t pretty.
Final run time: 1:59:34. Just squeaked in. Paul met my semi-coherent self at the finish line, and helped me find my way back to transition to get my stuff. I also had knots the size of watermelons on my neck/shoulders from the new aerobars, which I rode on for almost the entire race.
Oh, and apparently I’m from Lexington, CA.
BUT! I finished, didn’t die, broke 5 hours, and learned that I need to eat or drink more earlier on in the run.
More on the race (if you actually want to hear any more) to be posted here shortly.
…here it comes…
August 9th, 2011 § 1 Comment
for allison, who was in hysterics for like 30 minutes when she found this picture on the web
…and on a similar note to the previous post…
Steelhead 70.3 is this coming weekend. All those months of training are finally coming to an end and I am TAPERING! After Nashville, I am only slightly less terrified than I look in the above picture that I might crumple up in a heap and die halfway through the run. Paul and I are driving up on Friday night, I’ll be doing all race-related reporting here.
I effing hate race pictures.
Race Reports: A Backlog
July 25th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Turns out: New job + Old jobs + Training + Paul out of town = Blog fail.
Did a few races the past 2 months. To spare you from pages of details that you don’t care about anyway, here are a few haikus to fill you in.
USMS 15K Relay National Championship (5K Open Water Swim)
Poor Buoy Placement
Can Make For Frustrating Swim
In Indiana
(I'm the one with the 3 on my arm)
Markey Race for Women’s Cancer (Sprint Triathlon)
Thunder And Lightning
Cannot Stop Us From Racing
In Our Wet Clothing
4th of July Bluegrass 10K (10K Run)
Fun To Run Fast In
The Bluegrass But Blisters Sting
Go America
Music City Tri (Olympic Distance Triathlon)
Nashville Has Hills
Do I Still Like Triathlon?
Heat Stroke Feels Like Death
For full race reports (if you really want them), go here.
Here we go…
March 18th, 2011 § 1 Comment
Registered for the Steelhead Half Ironman in August. Done and done…almost.
Feb Fitness: Week 4, the final frontier
March 2nd, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Due to circumstance (traveling for 3 days this week), Feb Fitness didn’t end on as strong of a note as I would have liked. Oh well, I tried.
Swim: 6,200 yards / 1.75 hours
Bike: 40 miles / 2.2 hours
Run: 6.5 miles / 53 minutes
Packets of chocolate mints from Trader Joe’s: 3
So what were some lessons learned from this year’s February Fitness Challenge?
- After about 30 Swedish Fish before I start feeling a little off, but I can eat a whole bag of gummy life savers and be perfectly fine.
- My iPod earphones shock me when I run on the treadmill.
Total everything:
Swim: 39,200 yards (~22.3 miles) / 11.8 hours
Bike: 140 miles / 8 hours
Run: 48.2 miles / 6.8 hours
Total distance: 210.5 miles
Total Time: 26.5 hours
Total Sugar: way too much
…and with that, here’s to a healthy 2011.
