Chilly Cheeks Duathlon Race #1

On Saturday I raced in the first race of the Chilly Cheeks Duathlon series. Actually it wasn’t a real duathlon it was just a 4 mile run followed by a 10 mile bike. It’s been bitter cold and really snowy here thus for this particular race I entered the “fat tire” division....good move on my part, the roads were completely snow packed in parts. Overall it was a good race and I finished 5th overall female and 2nd in my age group but I could have done a whole lot better. However I did learn a few things at this race that I would like to share:

1) No unexpected sprints before a race! Bringing your new puppy to a race and having him slip out of his collar is NOT a good way to warm up for a race! Porter (the new pup) decided it would be a great time to run away from us and play keep- away twenty minutes before the start. Since he really only responds to me right now I had to help catch him. 19 mins later the little rascal was back on his leash and feeling Ryan’s wrath : P and I was running to the start line for the start of the race, out of breath already!

2) Know the course before you race it!! The race was in a state park called Cherry Creek. Ryan and I have ridden there a lot!! So I figured I would know the course and not have to worry about where to go and what I would be racing on because I was already familiar. Two little details that didn’t enter my mind, 1) I haven’t ridden there in the winter and 2) I have never actually run there. Well the run course was on a dirt trail that had about 3 inches of snow covering it and there’s stupid me with regular running shoes on. As you could imagine I was slipping all over the place!! I was first in my division in the run until about 3 miles when some girl, who had these nifty spiked attachments for her shoes, came flying by me! DOH!!! I never saw that girl again : ( Should have brought at least trail running shoes or even my spikes from HS track, anything would have been better than my regular running shoes!

3) Know your equipment!!! After this race I have now claimed the title of being the dumbest/ most unprepared racer of all time! As I mentioned before, I decided to enter the fat tire division of the race because the roads still had snow and ice on them after a week of below zero temps and about a foot of snow, thus onto my mountain bike I climbed. I rarely think I’m good at anything, but on a mountain bike, I’m good...I know, surprising. I don’t know if it’s the confidence of the wider tires or what but, I feel, I’m A LOT better mountain biker than road biker....well until this race. I started the bike and shifted to the gear I thought I should be in and just started to pound away, like usual. Then I noticed my cleat wasn’t properly attached to my pedal, here my cleat had frozen and I couldn’t attach it, thus I stopped, stamped my foot a few times to loosen the ice, and off I went, determined to make up some lost time. I got into the biggest chain ring and just pounded away (insert dramatic irony here). I noticed within the first few miles that my legs were super tired and I had no idea why, the run wasn’t that hard, so I just kept pushing and pushing. My cadence was surprisingly high but since I was in the hardest gear on the bike I just kept forcing my legs round and round. Around mile 8 I started to get really tired and kept getting passed. I was very much dismayed and thinkin’ “WTH! You are good at mtn biking, get you’re a$$ in gear and go!” So I PUT MY HEAD DOWN, started to push as hard as I could and happened to notice I was in the GRANNY GEAR SMALL CHAIN RING AND NOT THE LARGE ONE!!!! The whole time I thought I was in the hardest gear and I flippin’ wasn’t!!! No wonder why my cadence was high and my legs were so damn tired!!! My mountain bike and my road bike are opposite when you are gearing and being that I ride my road/tri bike about 99% of the time, just out of habit, I was shifting gears as I do on my road bike!!! Ya see, I’m a freakin’ idiot!!! UGH!!!! Well as you could guess I switched my gear to the “real” big chain ring and pounded the last mile. I passed 10 people that last mile, that’s a lot for a 300+ person race!!!

Overall the race was great and really well run for a non-sanctioned small race!! Funny that the race that I kinda blew off in getting prepared due to the small size and short distances of the race is one of the races I learned the most from! Oh well the next race in this series is Jan 23rd and I plan on kicking some major a$$!!! : )

Let the Games Begin!!

Finally 2010 training has commenced and ,lucky me, it started with me having a head cold. UGH! Oh well I’m still very excited to get things going even if it’s only the base training stage. Here is my 2010 race schedule (note the two IMs, I’m nuts):

Chilly Cheeks Duathlon series: December 12
January 23
February 20
Boise 70.3: June 12th

Ironman Lake Placid: July 25th

Colorado Relay: September 17th and 18th

(Tentative) Denver Marathon (half or a relay): October 18th

Ironman Arizona: November 21st


Happy Training!!!!

Checking a Different Box

Last Friday, at the doctor’s office, I got to check the married box!

November 7th I married my biggest and best competitor. I’m not talking a competitor in the senses of a mean rivalry or one of us constantly trying to “beat” the other....although don’t think for a second it doesn’t go there. I’m referring to a deeper level of a competitor, a beautiful relationship.

A great competitor is someone that you know can go stride for stride with you, someone who will push you to your limits, someone who frustrates you, someone who pisses you off and most of all someone who at the end of the day you respect and admire. This is Ryan for me! He is literally my perfect competitor.

Ryan is an obstinate, hot tempered, moody, relentless, determined and hard to manage man. If you know me well you can see that Ryan is the perfect guy for me, seeing as I’m not the most, shall I say, easy person to live with ; ) And you can also see that these qualities make for one hell of a competitor. These aspects in Ryan are what I fell in love with, not his anal cleanliness or his ability to cook something more than toast (yea I suck) or his amazing ability to make me smile. Yes those things are great but I was always taught to love someone first and foremost for their faults, I never understood this until I met Ryan.

So three weeks ago I got to marry my perfect man! The day was unbelievable!!! It was over in a blink of an eye and now I get to check that married box.

“It’s one thing to check a new age-range box on a form at the doctor’s office after a milestone birthday. It’s quite another feeling to go from checking the “single” box to the “married” box.” It most certainly is another feeling....it’s wonderful!

Here is a pic of us on the big day...notice the fancy footwear. More, better, pics to come.

Ryan and I with my siblings

Ryan and I with our neice and nephew (Meghan and Daniel)

Trying to post from my phone.

Quote

This is a perfect quote...see previuos post : )

"Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow- that is patience"

~Unknown

Antsy!

I do NOT like the off-season! I am getting so antsy to be on a workout schedule again. Right now Ryan, Val (in house training partner), and I are just kinda working out when we want and doing what we want, waiting for our IM LP training to start. Our days are often…

“Hmmm do you feel like running today? Nope. Let’s bike! Or should we just do yoga? What about a mtn bike ride?”

Some may feel this is great to be on your own schedule and do what you want, and it is great sometimes but I’m not settled when I don’t have a workout schedule to stick to. Watching the Ironman World Championships in Kona on Saturday definitely did not help. I was so jealous of all the athletes there, not necessarily because they were racing the best Tri on earth but because they were just plain racing! (Congrats to all who competed in the race on Saturday, what an amazing race!!)

So obviously I am so ready for LP training to start! This will, hopefully, be November 16th. Yes, I have the exact date. I plan to start scheduled training, 36 weeks from IM LP. However, November 16th seems SO far away.

So what should I do? Does anyone have a good base training plan that I could follow? Or should I just take the time off and go insane? HA!

Suggestions please!!!

Next year I plan to do IM AZ thus I will still be happily training at this time next year. So I'm hoping this is the only year I will have this stir-crazy feeling. We'll see.

New Adventures

I have finally expanded my horizons! In more than one way too! Like most people I get stuck in a rut of every day living; workout, work, workout, sleep, repeat. However lately I have come out of my shell and have done so many new things that I have never had the courage or confidence to do before! Group rides, group runs, masters swimming, and even yoga (thanks Lindsey!).

I am proud to say that I have finally taken the initiative to build my confidence up and get out there and work out with other people. I know this sounds silly but truly I have never had the confidence in my abilities to work out with others. I always feel that I’m going to be holding people up, that they’re going to have to slow down for me, or that I’m going to embarrass myself...well ya know what, I don’t care anymore. Yea I may be slowing some people down but this isn’t always the case, and if they are true friends they won’t mind slowing down once in a while.

It’s the real world! Sometimes you’re better than someone, sometimes you’re not. But putting yourself out there and throwing caution to the wind can really make you a better person and in my case, a better athlete. I may not be the fastest, but I have the desire to be, thus I want to work harder and harder until I can catch those people faster than me.

I think everyone could use a little boost of confidence now and again. My small, but ever growing, confidence comes from my friends and family but particularly from my good friend Rich Burgunder. Rich is this AMAZING runner/athlete, he is one of those people that have faith in everyone and everything. He is the first to compliment someone on a race or milestone reached, he is the first to wish someone good luck at whatever event it may be no matter the distance, he’s the first to give some good advice and confidence prior to an event and he’s the first to sympathize when you didn’t do as well as you were hoping! I think we all need to take a lesson from him. I think we should all be as complimentary to each other as Rich is to everyone he knows, or he doesn’t know for that matter. Honestly, without his little boosts of confidence I would not be the athlete or person I am today. So it does make a difference.

Thus, on to my soap box I climb; make that extra effort for someone else, give someone a little boost of confidence, you never know how much it could really help.

Rich and I, after the VA Beach Duathlon.