Doggie Dash 5k 2016

It's that time of year again!  My favorite 5k for several reasons.  1) I get to run with my doggie 2) I get to support Animal Humane of New Mexico which is where my doggie was adopted from and they do great work 3) It's a flat fast course and I can usually run faster than I think I will 4) the activities and giveaways after are fun for the whole family

This year did not disappoint.  My dog being a herder feels like she has to be at the front of the pack which helps me out as we weave in and out of people trying our best to make it up there.  It's usually me that can't keep up.  I gave my son a high five as passed him at the start and apparently he took off running after us for a while!  This was the first year out of all the years I've been doing this that my dog actually POOPED on the course!! Ahhh!  Don't worry I did the right thing and stopped to scoop up the poop and threw it away in the trash.  That just make it even more amazing that I was able to do as well as I did.  Let me say the reason I'm so happy with my results is because I'm not a runner in the sense that it's not my strongest sport it's my weakest.  So anytime I do well at it I get a high that lasts for months.  I knew I had done well I could feel it but my family didn't expect me to finish that fast so no one was at the finish to cheer me in which means I didn't know my finish time.  At first they didn't have me in their system so we left without a medal.  But low and behold when I checked results they were up and I placed 3rd in my AG, 7th F and 35 OA out of 607!  Maybe this will motivate me to get out there this week and do my speed work!  WooHooo!  I could have cut off seconds if without the poop stop! :-)

Once again I had so much support from my biggest cheerleaders, my family, and am so happy that my son thinks that it's normal when he asks what we're doing this weekend and I say a race.  I was a little sad when I realized he thought he was going to do the race with us in the stroller and I had to tell him he'd just be cheering.  By the way big shout out to the mama out there on the course pushing 2 kiddos in a stroller and I had a hard time keeping up with her.  Way to go!!! 

The look on her face is priceless, some well earned treats on their way!

So Lexi another year another race, we'll keep on running!  This is when I celebrate her as much as possible she was my fur baby and "A" calls her his doggie sister and defends her if someone is mean to her he'll say "don't do that to my doggie"  The love of a dog is unwavering and I try my best to make sure she gets all the exercise and love she needs.  We are the same in that sense if we don't get our exercise we go a little nuts!!

I was so happy to have my cool gear to run in from Team LC, Accelerade to recover, Hoka shoes, Oakley glasses what more could a girl ask for?!

Happy Training!

Day of the Tread

I was a little hesitant to do this since I would be alone with my son and sometimes the logistics can be overwhelming when you're trying to handle a bike and a son that likes to try and run away from you.  But when I saw that they added a 12 mile family ride where you rode out the 12 miles then caught the train back downtown I knew my son would love that and went for it.  I had done this ride pre kiddo when they had first started doing Day of the Tread and I'm happy to say they've come a long ways.  They were a lot more organized this time around!  My son had a blast and I got a good workout in!  I could say it's the best day we've had in a while but that's probably just because the day before was a tough one and we spent most of it in a standoff of wills. 

Riding the clunky commuter bike with the heavy child's seat on the bike is becoming quite the challenge now that my son is nearing the 40lb mark.  My legs were surprisingly sore so I was happy to get a good workout in and have some fun doing it!  On the way there I was scared my little bike rack wasn't going to stay on my car as the added weight from the bike seat kept making it rise up on that side.  We made it and I realized I had forgotten our bib number, which you needed in order to get on the train on the way back, and sunscreen for my kiddo's face.  Luckily the race organizers took care of us on both!  Thank you!!!   Then we saw the 26 mile ride take off in front of us and all the costumes.  My son fell in love with the Roadrunner Mascot and it was so cute seeing him dance with him and imitate his dance moves then fall to the ground in laughter.  He was seriously giddy with him.  He was a little scared when the "devil" tried to say hi to him. 

We stopped to hear the Mariachis play around mile 2 and I had the song stuck in my head for the rest of the ride.  They had an aid station at mile 4 so we stopped for a break and ate some snacks.  We had to do a couple of potty breaks for my son and have a talk about why he has to leave his helmet on and he fell asleep around mile 8 and poor little guys head kept falling forward and hitting my back or he'd be double over with his head practically in his lap.  They helped us get our bikes on the train and we went up and road in the top car.  Once we got off the train we had police escort back to the finish.  A good day with great weather(although unseasonably warm for this time of year) and a lot of helpful volunteers and nice riders!  I'm glad I take these risks and get out there because in the end it is always worth it. 

Happy Training!

Sisters Relay Duke City Marathon

I had never ran an official relay before and I was excited to get to do one!  A few years back a crazy friend had convinced me to do one at midnight and I had sworn I'd never do one again but that was obviously the tired talking.  I had so much fun during this relay and really needed a distraction with a fun group of ladies that new how to make me laugh and didn't even care when I messed up the hand off!! 

The day started with my son sleeping in for the first time ever so I cringed at having to  make noise at 6 am so that he would get up but the hand off went smoothly all things considered and I even managed to remember my breakfast, pb & honey sandwich, and my Accelerade drink!  When I first signed up to do this relay I thought I'd have to take my own car go do my leg with my son in the car seat and someone else driving only to have to leave right away.  But I got to stay for the whole thing and ride along with all the rest!  Then I get to our meet up parking lot and it's full!!! We all manage to find spots and somehow find each other!  Our fearless leader somehow found our chip just in time!  This race seems a little disorganized but we made it! 

The first leg our team mate killed it!  The second leg I ran 6.2 miles and I was pretty cold so all my muscles were tight and I felt like I was going pretty slow.  I tried to wave at a fellow Sole Sister that was there cheering and my hand wouldn't open.  Once I warmed up I tried to push myself to make up for some lost time.  I was able to do a sub hour 10k which made me happy considering the lack of training going into this!  But here's the kicker.  I get to the hand off and it is so congested and I'm staring straight into the sun.  I hear my teammates yell what I thought was "She's at the top!" so I ran past them to the top of the hill and yelled her name as I twirled around.  Then the cop started yelling at me to cross the street because he was holding up a line of cars for me so race brain and panic kicked in and I kept

running!!!  I missed the hand off!!  What they had yelled is "She's on the pot!"  Apparently the porta potty line was horrendous!  Anyway I saw her at my turn around and we ran back together!  In the end crisis avoided and we got to talk while we ran and I got to know a teammate better!  My 6 mile run turned into an unplanned 11 mile run but I felt surprisingly good even with the couple of little hills.

The day started getting really hot after that so I'm super proud of the next two ladies finishing it off for us!  One of which also ran a second leg because one of our mates had to step out last minute due to illness.  We managed to do sub 4 hour marathon as a team and best of all I made some new friends, great memories, and I made it back in time to take my son for a swim and add a new pin to his medals!  Sometimes you just need a good run and good company to get you out of a rut.  Sisterhood at it's best!  My half marathon training starts next week so I figure this was a good start to it.

Happy Training!!

and just like that it's over.....

my triathlon season that is.  This has been quite the race season, I have learned a lot about myself this season!  Before I started the season when I made the choice to sign up for my half IM distance in May I thought to myself this will be my comeback year!  Well it wasn't my comeback year in the sense of seeing my best finish times or placing overall etc but it was my comeback year as far as my first full season of triathlons in about 3 years (since my son was born) and really pushing through some tough barriers and proving to myself that I'm tougher than I think I am.  Every race this season was a struggle but every race this season I proved to myself that I have more in me than I give myself credit for.  Thanks to my Team LC I was given the encouragement that I needed to keep going even when I wanted to quit.  When I barely came in 10 minutes before cut off at my half I thought my season was over then and there.  But then I got the fateful em
ail that I was picked to be an ambassador for the team and I kept going.

This last race was Atomic Man duathlon 5k run, 40k bike, 10k run.  It was super hilly and at elevation.  The race director kept emphasizing the technical downhills to be careful of and there was one downhill they announced would be a no pass zone because it was too dangerous!  It was 37 degrees when I first pull up to the race and there I was in my tri suit not wanting to get out of the car. I was under trained, tired and fearful.  They were going to let me drop down to the sprint distance that morning but when they said there was no hard cutoff for the long course I decided to just go for it!  Boy am I glad I did!!!  I did way better than I could have hoped for.  There were only 18 people total signed up for that one so it was a lonely course and I finished near the end but I challenged myself and loved it!  I got my nutrition and hydration right and for the first time this season didn't get dizzy on the bike or dry heave on the run!  I felt really good other than tired of course but tired I know how to push through.  My knees hurt when I got off the bike, I suspect because of the hills, but I still kept moving forward and am happy to say I didn't walk once on the second run even when the hills were enough to make it seem like I was walking :-)   I am sad that a lot of the local triathlons I grew up with seem to be phasing out and there isn't a lot of participation in them.  I really hope we don't lose all of them!  I went to this race by myself and I really used that time to process a lot of stuff in my head!

On the bike ride the way out after quite a few steep up and downs we came to a steady uphill about 5 mile climb that I lost myself in.  I was enjoying my race since I knew I wasn't going to win but the danger in that is that I get so lost in my thoughts I forget to keep pedaling :-)  I remember thinking look at the pretty flowers, look at the fields and the evergreens, maybe my new job that I haven't even started will let me be based out of here (it reminded me of the little mountain town I grew up in) and my son can go to what they claim is the best schools in the state, then I saw a sign that read "Do not trespass be careful explosives" oh maybe we won't move here, is that a hunter?  No it's not the season and they're wearing bright orange, oh crap that's a photographer and I'm in a race, pedal faster!  At the turn around I realized that the gel I had put in my sports bra had dripped all over me and was gross and sticky, at least I now smelled like coconut, but I just got a new gel at the turn around and threw that one out.  Then the glorious turn around came and those downhill miles were the funnest ride I've done in a REALLY long time!  The views were AMAZING and I literally yelled WEEEEEE as I went down and I started singing I ride my bike with no underwear, no underwear! ;-)  Haaa!  Ok it sounded funnier at the time...  I needed a ride like that.  It was so hard and really challenged me but I had so much fun!

I finished in about 3:21 and was the only one in my age group so....  my son was happy to have another medal to wear.  When I told him I did that race just for him so I could give him another medal he proceeded to tell me "when I swim, bike, run then run some more I will give you my medal mom!  Thanks!"  :-)  Oh don't tease me son...  dare I say he's getting the bug?

On the drive back I was so tired and hungry I started to feel myself nod off so I stopped for some soda and chips YES I did!  But whatever it took to stay awake, right?!?!!  I won't even tell you everything else I ate that day.  MUST EAT ALL THE FOODS!!!

So with that awesome test of fortitude I close off the season and am relieved yet sad.  I worked hard when I could and there were a lot of missed training days due to life but I'm already looking for a winter half marathon to keep me training through the cold months.  Yes, it is in our blood we just don't know how to quit.  Triathletes are a weird bunch and I'm proud to call myself one!  My son is already asking is the snow coming?  Ahhh that's my boy!  We are already practicing with his ski boots and skis as I pull him across the carpet.  We will be hitting the double blacks in no time! Right?


HAPPY TRAINING!!

Patriot Triathlon Recap

I haven't been on here lately.  I can't even explain why.  Just a plain and simple no desire to write, recap, or ruminate. I didn't even recap my last race (Socorro Chile Harvest Sprint) I KNOW a triathlete not wanting to talk about their triathlons and how they should shave 10 seconds off their transition and how their calf was tight on the run if not they totally could have done better!!!!  Call the doctor right?!?!!

Well, rest assured I am still boring people with my tales of triathlon just in different ways.  I do find myself stopping and not going into too much detail, not really sure why.  But here I am again.  Last weekend I did the Patriot Sprint Triathlon in Rio Rancho and had a blast!  My parents graciously watched my son and we didn't even make him go along this time so that he could go have some fun at the trampoline and bumper boats!  It was a windy night and I had very little sleep with my dog running in and out all night fighting off the attack leaves in the back yard and barking at the wind!!  But thankfully the wind started to settle down as the sun came up.  The swim was a down and back in each pool lane seeded swim start for 400.  It was crowded in the time I put down as usual.  But I'm happy to say I still finished in the time I had put down (8 mins) even though the guy in front of me said oh yeah the last two races I finished in 10 and 12 mins, then why the HECK did you put down 8!!!!!!!!!!   There was a lot of congestion due to this but I managed to get through it without elbowing or kicking anyone.  There was an 11 year old girl behind me that seemed a little nervous and this was her first race and she was doing the swim portion for a team.  She was very polite and eager and I was excited for her.  I talked her through her nerves as we waited our turn to start and told her it'd just be a matter of time before she was doing the whole thing.  She said but I'm slow I'm only at 8 mins.  I said look around you we're all slow then because we all put that down.  You are young you will gain experience and training and you will soon blow us all away!!!  I explained how I started at her age and didn't even think I liked triathlon.  But look at me now I can't get enough of it no matter how "slow" I may be.

The bike was hilly and some head winds but I had fun!  I felt good during the entire bike leg.  The only thing was there was more traffic than I like to see on a bike course but there's not much you can do about that.  There was one round about where I asked where do I go and the volunteer yelled RIGHT but there was a car blocking me!  So it was either go straight and run into the car in front of me, go right and run into the car blocking my path, or turn right a little later and shared the same exit that the other bikes still going out towards the turn around were using.  So I did the last and luckily didn't cause any issues with the other cyclists.  Sheesh people are you really in that big of a hurry that you'd rather be stuck in the middle of a group of cyclist than just wait for an opening?

The run was HILLY and partly on dirt.  Again though I had fun!  I was slow but felt like I gave it a good push.  I kept my head down and just kept going.  I managed to sprint the hardest I've ever sprinted at the end of a race all to pass someone in my age group at the last minute but then remember we had different start times so it didn't really matter.

I managed to get 1st in my AG again I realize it all depends on who's out there that day.  I think I was 56 OA M&F out of just over 200.   But it sure does feel good to show up with the medal and have my son ask me can I wear it?  I even had time to get a quick complimentary massage and man was I tight after that race so this felt really good!  Saw lots of friendly faces out there and as always was happy just to get to participate in a sport I love and for a team that truly supports me!  Team LC

Some cool new gear to help me stay hydrated on the bike thanks to another great sponsor TACX!!