Carlsbad Half Marathon

So how have you been?  I've been here all along just formulating what to say next.  It's like that person you were texting constantly and then you just dropped off and they are wondering should I be pissed off at them for ghosting me or should I be worried that they might be dead and call the police?  Well there has been a lot going on in my life and I have just been trying to find that right balance to get my act together, more on that later.  Right now I'm going to try and recap my last half marathon race that happened over MLK weekend Jan. 15

My BFF and I had decided it had been way too long since we got together for a solo girls trip (2 years ago at the Nantucket Half) I convinced her to go with me to help me celebrate my birthday even though she hasn't been able to run  lately.  Turns out I REALLY REALLY needed a vacation!  The first thing we did was rent a ridiculously bright yellow car when we flew in to San Diego then we drove to Carlsbad to check in to the hotel.  We of course had to go check out the beach and then have lunch with drinks because as mom's who's sons are only 2 days apart when the heck to we ever have a drink with lunch!?!?!!!  Ok ok maybe that one time when... no really, NEVER!  Then because we are very driven women who can't seem to manage to sit still for very long we started looking what adventures we would be signing up for that weekend of course all while having to take some work calls and emails because heaven forbid they let us forget that we do have responsibilities at home.

Of course the best way in my opinion to see a new city is always a bike tour!  But may not have been the best decision to do a 3 hour bike/walk tour the day before my half marathon.  We saw so much in that amount of time and with a cool group of people.  But I was so exhausted by the time we were done!!! 

Race morning came fast!  I checked the weather and decided to go with shorts and a t-shirt because I always regret wearing too much.  One girl in the lobby whispered to her friend "she's wearing shorts!" why yes I am and you know I can hear you!  Remember I've been running in the snow so 45 degrees in the humidity warming up to around 60 was HOT!  Turns out I was the only one not wearing long sleeved something but I didn't regret it one bit. It was hot and muggy and I almost wanted to take my t shirt off at one point and run in my sports bra but not that brave yet, working on it.  Thank goodness I stayed at a participating hotel because the race sent shuttles to get us and it was so easy.  With the road closures and over 6,000 people I don't know how I would have gotten there other wise!

As I lined up at the start in coral 3 I noticed the 2:00 pacer was next to me.  I thought, why not?  I mean I hadn't been training as much as I wanted to and I've never come close to breaking 2 hours but hey I was at sea level and I've lately found this new level of pain tolerance I didn't know I had.  So maybe this will be the day!  I got really excited with all the people around cheering and the bands.  It was a little crowded to start and lost a shoe but luckily I have stretchy laces so I just slipped it back on.  There is a debate as to whether it's a flat fast course or rolling hills.  I say there are definitely some rolling hills.  But luckily where I train there are big hills.  I just thought I may not break 2 like I thought.  But I kept up with the group until about mile 5 when I became very sore in my hamstring, quads and calves (cursing myself for that fun bike tour the day before).  I lost sight of them by about mile 6 or 7.  But at the turn around something kicked in inside of me that I can't explain.  Something woke up!  First I was angry because I thought why the heck am I out here, it's definitely not to give up or feel defeated.  I'm also away from my son and if I'm going to spend time away from him to race then I sure as hell better make it count!  I thought to myself yes I know I want it but HOW BAD DO I WANT IT?  I want it really bad!  I want to be proud of myself and break a goal I never thought possible.  I want my son to know his mom is tough and strong.  So I sucked it up and pushed past the pain and kicked it up a notch.  I kept seeing the little 2:00 sign bop up and down and I knew I could catch it!  Then at one point I saw a table offering beer and I thought why not the last time I broke a PR at a half I had drank some beer thinking I had picked up water maybe there's something behind that. :-) 

Then when I thought I still had 4 miles left and started to feel the pain again and almost lost heart this random guy comes up next to me and says "If you can give me 2 8:30 miles you'll break 2 hours.  Relax your shoulders, take a deep breath and do it!"  I was so excited that we only had 2 miles left not 4?!?!!! I hadn't worn my garmin and sometimes it was crowded enough that I missed the mile marker signs.  I was so excited I really pushed forward.  At one point I saw a guy that was about to pass out and he was pushing one of the Team Hoyt wheelchairs.  I knew I couldn't catch him by myself so luckily when I yelled 3 guys came to catch him and someone else yelled the medics are coming.  So I thought ok I can still do this!  I passed the 2:00 hour pacer in the home stretch and came in at 1:59!!!!!!  And I had a negative split for the first time in a half marathon!!!  I was so happy but had no one to share it with so I sat down and cried overwhelming tears of joy!!  I got a few weird looks but I was just so happy.  And it was like all the a bad stuff that had happened the year before just left my body in that moment and it was such a cathartic moment for me that I didn't care what anyone thought!  I felt so alive and I can't wait to see what other barriers I'm going to break this year.

I finished the weekend off with an awesome kayaking tour and saw sea lions and dolphins and swam in the ocean to test out my new wet suit in 52 degree water and it was awesome.  So if you need to get away I highly recommend grabbing your best friend and going!  I'm glad I had her along to make me laugh, even if she didn't see me race ;-) she was there in spirit!  I was happy to come home to a smiling toddler that was just as happy to have me back and he was super excited to wear my new finisher's medal.  He didn't understand my excitement about my finish time but he will one day.  They are always watching! :-)

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!!