Catching up!

Well, a lot has gone on the past few weeks.  I've been a bad blogger.  My inner perfectionist getting the best of me.  It's hard for me to type up something that I don't think is 'perfect' and 'interesting'.

You'll just have to deal with me being boring and imperfect - sorry! :)

As you know, on the 3rd I did 'Tri-Girl-Tri' which happens to be the same exact course as the "Napa Valley Sprint Triathlon".  The NVST was my first ever 'sprint' tri and I did it on May 3rd of this year.  My goal for Tri-Girl was to improve on my time of 2:21:17 and hopefully go under 2:00.  I did both.

Race day was lovely (if chilly) but much nicer then the pouring rain we battled in May.  It was a good sign.  The water was calm and warmer then the outside air.  It didn't take much for me to decide to not wear a wetsuit for this one.  

Other then not thinking straight and starting on the left side of the pack (when I pull to the right) the swim went really well.  I just focused on form, strong pulls, good rotation and staying long.  I came out of the water feeling GREAT.

Previous time:  21:29

New time:  19:14

of course my decision to completely give up on Modesty and just run in my tri suit really speeds up my transitions.  Plus, I wasn't dealing with the rain this time so it was not surprising that I beat my previous T1 time of 9:46 with a time of 4:12 (there's a REALLY long run from the water at this race - California, drought and all that).

Then it was off on the bike.  I had convinced myself that the hills in this race were all just part of my 'conditioning' and that I was just being a silly whiner last time.  As soon as I got out onto the race course I realized that no - they were REAL hills and it was going to take some power to get over them.  The good news is I wasn't passed on the uphill nearly as many time this time and almost every time I passed that person back again.  There were a few frustrating moments, most involving the same racer.  For some reason she felt she needed to ride on the left, usually right on the wheel of another rider - basically blocking.  Three times she blocked me on a downhill causing me to have to mash on my breaks and lose all my momentum for the next uphill.  We played cat an mouse most of the course.  On one down hill when I didn't mash the breaks and tried to go around her she drifted over and pushed me into the oncoming lane - gah!  Finally, near the end I said - screw it! I saw her coming up beside me near the top of the hill and I gritted my teeth and threw myself into the climb - cadence, gears, 'saving myself' none of that mattered I was NOT letting her pass me again - she didn't and I didn't see her the rest of the race!  Victory for me!  

One other thing - I learned NOT to set myself a pace goal on my watch before the race.  There is nothing more annoying then the whole ride having my watch BEEEEEEEEEP at me.  "Speed up!"  it told me on the uphill and "Slow Down!" it told me on the down hill.  I just couldn't make the damn thing happy.  

Still, I came off the bike happy

Previous time:  1:03:56

New time:  51:41

T2 had the same story as T1, I was BLAZING in comparison to last time.

Previous time:  5:41

New time:  2:06

And it was off to face my nemesis - the run

Here's where my previous knowledge of the course helped me out.  I remembered the course being 'uphill' on the way out and 'downhill' on the way back.  Running on bike tired legs is hard enough.  Bike tired legs on a stead uphill - bleh!  But I didn't let it get to me mentally.  I knew if I could just hang on that the 'back' would more then make up for the struggle out.  I just kept moving.  Again - it payed off. I knew I was doing well, I knew I was doing better then last time, I just had no idea how much better.  When I approached the finish line it wasn't much help.  I couldn't see the clock - so I just ran as fast as could and hoped for the best.

Previous time:  40:23

New time:  32:07

I finished in 1:49:22 - smashing my old time and my goal time!  yay!

(May I say this is one of my favorite running photos ever)

All around a GREAT Day - I finished 166th out of 351 overall and 42nd out of 77 in my age group.  A good day for me :D

but I wasn't done!!

You see, I decided to keep hubby company on the Bridge to Bridge run on Sunday, so, I got up bright and early the next day, suited up and headed into the city.  

Oddly enough, the City decided to put on a show for us.  The weather was amazing:  temperature perfect and almost no wind.    It was like I was in some other city!

@ 12k this run would be my longest ever - I was excited about it.  The biggest deal was to relax and have a good time.  And I did.  I was surprised at how good I felt, and I ran easy (I can't believe I'm saying this) for the first 4 miles or so.  After that I started to feel a little 'lead legs'  I tried one of the powerbar energy gels I had brought along and soon after was back in form.  The biggest thing I took from this race was that I could slow down and 'recover' without having to walk.  I also watched my heart rate (with my new heart rate monitor) and found I would 'push' myself at the low 160's and go for a while, but just under 160 - in the 158-9 range I felt excellent - like I could run forever.  It'll be interesting to see that number change as the year goes on.

Overall, I had a great time, enjoyed the heck out of the race and finished in 1:29:33 and new 12K PR (since the only other 12K I have ever done was Bay to Breakers and I WALKED that one).

I even passed someone on the finish! wow!

(And yes, the girls are madly out of control when I run - even double bra-ing it.)

And that brings us to this weekend :)

You see, for some reason I decided another double race weekend was in order.  'Cause I'm just a little kooky like that.  This weekend it was two short and very fun races that I just 'had' to do.

Saturday was 'Dog-run-Dog' in San Francisco.  80+  people an their dogs all got together in Golden Gate park to do a race.  Only problem was, the race officials had a little trouble with their permits and the course etc and ended up making major last minute changes.  In the end the '5K' was only 2.25 miles long.  But it was a wonderful 'trail' run and so much fun to run with all the other dogs and owners.  I would love to do it again, but it wasn't really worth the $50 entry fee :(

 

Zeus and I finished in 25:31 and were 8th out of 18 'women 5k with dog'  - the winner - she finished in 19:09 with her Jack Russel Terrier. :)

Sunday was another race I just couldn't pass up.  I mean - it was in my 'backyard'.  Yes, the little community I live in was having a race, so I signed up hubby and I.  Then, his son came over for the weekend, so we signed him up, and amazingly enough my son paid us a 'laundry visit' from college so I signed him up too!  Four of us all doing the 5K together.

My son (who is 18) was a little nervous about this race.  It was going to be his first race ever and he kept saying 'but I'm out of shape, Mom'.  I told him not to worry about it.  He's a fit kid who's played a lot of sports and besides, it's a 'fun run'.  

I have to say, setting the alarm clock for 6:30 on a race day, heaven!  Taking our time, getting ready, eating breakfast and then Walking -- WALKING to the race was so much fun!  We got our numbers, pinned each other up, and watched the little kids do a .25 and .5 run.  Then it was time for the 'big kids' to go.  They blew the horn and everyone got started.  I watched my son TAKE OFF, his step brother right behind him.  I stared out slow getting my legs under me and letting a crowd thin out a little.  The first mile was hard on me.  I have fall allergies and they have been causing my asthma to flair up.  It was annoying to be battling my breathing so early in the game.  I also had a bad stomach ache - I have a feeling it's because I took my allergy pill before the race - lesson learned.  I was also watching more and more people pass me.  But I knew I was running my pace.  at about 1.7 miles I saw the front runners on their way 'back' and to my surprise and pleasure I recognized the unmistakable form of my son, right along with them.  I whistled loudly even though I knew he wouldn't hear me and then turned back to my own run.  

Before I knew it, I was at mile two and was headed back toward the finish.  Now the run got easier because, even though it looks flat I knew from running this same path sometimes three times a week for the past year that it actually had a slight uphill on the out and downhill on the way back.  MANY of those people who had pushed passed me on the out, had used all their energy battling the wind and the incline and were fading.  I've never passed so many people on a run before.  I felt like I was getting faster with every step!  I finished feeling fantastic!

Our family results - out of 77 racers

Me: 32:54 (PR) 36th overall (3rd in my AG)

My hubby:  27:01 (PR) 19th overall (4th in his AG)

My Step-son: 26:44 18th overall (2rd in his AG)

My Son:  24:42 11th overall  (1st in his AG)

Yep - three medals for our family (and nice ones at that) and a promising first race for my son :)  He was already talking about what he would do differently 'next time'.  

and by the way this wasn't your 'normal' small town 'fun run' crowd.  I don't know what was going on but the winner's time 18:03 -fuh!  #2 19:58.  #3 and #4 were both under 21 minutes.  Is it just me, or is that just blazing fast!?  I'm happy to have held on!

And that's what I've been up to - how about you!? :)