Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Run for Cash 5k RR

This weekend was the 7th annual Captain Christopher Cash Memorial 5k race.

If you have been reading my blog since the beginning, you know that this race is close to my heart.

Last year I got to know Capt. Cash's mother, Nancy after running this race; then I did The Run for the Fallen in Capt. Cash's honor.


This was such a fun race last year! It was Lola's first race, I snagged a 3rd place AG finish and had an amazing day all around. The Run for Cash 5k is one race I will each and every year until I cannot run anymore.

This year clouds and rain did not damper the spirits of the race or it's participants. I was happy to see such a big turnout despite roar of thunder and lots of rain.

Lola participated in the Kid's Fun Run. Last year it was a 50 yard dash for the kids. This year?? It was an entire lap around the track--A quarter mile!! And Lola did it with a smile in the pouring rain.

Ready to run! (the tee was too big for Lola!!)

She's ready to SPRINT!

Yeah-she totally chicked those boys by A LOT!!
I ran with her and as she started to slow down towards the finish, I pointed out the finish line and reminded her that she would get her medal once she finished.
That was all my little girl needed to hear MEDAL
She SPRINTED the rest of the way and was SO PROUD of her medal!!

Gotta show off the bling to Marc!


Showing Jim her medal

Soaked and cold but she has her medal!
Lola was soaked to the bone and freezing cold so Lola and her Daddy packed things up, headed home to warmth and dry clothes. Luckily, I had several friends there with me and could catch a ride home later if need be...or I could just run home.

It was time for me to warm up and get ready to run. I had some reasonable time expectations for myself on this race-modest expectations since I have not really done much speed work since a majority of my training has been volume focused around the Timberman 70.3!

I met up with my Dailymile friends, triathlon friends and ran around the venue a bit to warm up then it was show time!

BANG! and they are off!


The Leaders heading up the first climb of the course

The first mile of this race is a slight downhill to the ocean and then a sharp left. Felt great
Mile One split: 6:36

Then the course takes another sharp left and up you go through the main strip, a gradual climb. Things level out for a bit and then you hit the turn-around. This is when you start seeing the leaders heading back to the finish line! I love that!! Still feeling strong!
Mile Two Split: 7:37

After the turn you take a different way back though town, essentially all up hill climbs. Short climbs but continual. Hill, level out for a bit. Another hill, level, another hill. Then it is one final climb and take a right onto the finish. Felt good on all the climbs and glad to see my pace held.
Mile Three Split: 7:37 (hmmm-consistence!)

and then the final 1/10th split: 0:51 for a 6:41 pace

Post race with Jim

Happy Jen after snagging 2nd in AG

Official Race Time: 22:42
2nd place in Age Group
15th Overall Female
60th Overall


This is a new 5k PR for me and I beat my expected race finish time by over a minute!! So I am very pleased with how well this race went and I am hoping to bust this PR at next months Ocean Park 5k which is flat and fast!! I do have a specific number in mind but keeping that to myself for now!

Funny story-there is a local elite runner, Christine Snow-Reaser, who seems to be my good luck charm. Last year at the Kennebunk Beach 5k I attempted to keep pace with her the first mile in the pouring rain. This year, I was with her for a bit again in the pouring rain.
Each time I run with her in the rain, I set a new PR.
Of course, I had to tell her this after the race!!

Christine Snow-Reaser and me

I also want to congratulate my friends Marc, Jen R. and Kate who all set new 5k PR's themselves on that day!!
Jen R is all smiles! She later ran the Warrior Dash-so badass!!
Marc's PR Finish! I even got his official race time on "film"! wooohooo

Kate's AWESOME FINISH!!


The Dailymile Crew! Me, Kate and Jim
Now for all the guesses as to my final time!

The winner? Karien with a guess of 22:40-You were only 2 seconds off! Great guess!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Tough Chik-You ALL Win!!

A big thank you to everyone who entered my Tough Chik contest.
There are a handfull of companies in the endurance sports field that I really respect and Tough Chik certainly sits at the top of that list. I am so proud to wear the Tough Chik brand and I will always have at least one piece each time I go! I know there are times during a race when it hurts like hell to push so hard and I just remember all that I have done to get where I am now -- I remember that I am a TOUGH CHIK and I can do anything I set my mind to doing.

We are all Tough in our own ways and I love to celebrate that strength!!

I already announced the winner of my Tough Chik givewaway but Shannon has so generously made this offer to my readers:

20% OFF your entire Tough Chik purchase!

All you have to do is enter SUPERFAN at the check out to get your discount. How awesome is that??
So hurry up and take advantage of this amazing discount! What are YOU going to get??

I know I have my eyes on these:




...and the word on the street is that there is Tough Chik triathlon gear coming soon! Ummm-yeah--gettin' me some of that!!

An Answer & A Winner

Interesting guesses on last weeks post What?! Wednesday...
The Question? Why am I smiling like this??

Here are some of the guesses that made me laugh

Heather-you registered for a race on an ipad in a bathroom? Am I close? LOL! I can't see!!!!

ME: The fact that the corner of the gym in my YMCA does in fact resemble a bathroom cracks me up. I think I need to have a convo with the CEO and Fitness Director about some upgrades!

OneHourIronman: You are sneaking around in a public toilet using an Ipad as a flashlight??

ME: another bathroom guess!

StaceyL-OMG knowing you it could be anything! But...knowing you and recognizing the gym at the Y and the fact that your eating hills, you probably just did some mega hill work either on the stationary bike or on the treadmill. As crazy as you are it was probably both! And then posted something via the ipad like "quess what i just did"

ME: yes, I did a a killer hill bike session that morning but that's just a typical Wednesday right?? Nothing post worthy there...
 
Kim: You peed your pants while working out?...ok the bathroom guess got me thinking along these lines. And I DID pee a little at the end of my race Sat. night ha ha :)

ME: As you will soon find out Kim, I pee anytime anyplace-- Just ask my training buddies Dawn and Marc, I think I horrify them at times...Again, not post worthy!! lol

Jamie-You won a game of Sudoku on the hardest level?!

ME: Jamie, you give me far too much credit here. I could not win Sudoku on the easiest level.

Now for those guesses that were close:

Colleen: Hum... 70.3??? Oh, I know. You registered for REV3 Cedar Point so we can finally meet? It's about time!

ME-Oh, Colleen!! How I wish Rev3 CP was on my radar for 2011. 2012 baby...2012!! And Quassy!!


Caratunk Girl: I was going to guess 70.3...Pumpkinman??



Big Daddy Diesel: Its a race, a race supported by active, I dont see a mary yet in the comments, so I am going with that


ME: Good eye BDD! That IS an active.com registration page!! And I'm shooting for a fall mary.

The correct answer is:




What?? You can't see that page?

How about this-


I am no longer doing the Pumpkinman 70.3 (long story) and will be doing Timberman 70.3 instead.
Yeah baby...hills, hills, hills.
I eat hills for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Yummmy

I am not sure which pro's will be there this year but Chrissy Wellington usually dominates this race and then hangs around to give out the finishers medals. *crossing fingers* I freaking LOVE her. Like girl crush love her!!

Chrissy's 4:10:11 finish in 2010 at Timberman

I wonder if my OTHER triathlon crush-Chris Lieto-will be there??

Chris, if you are reading this (you know you read my blog!) please do Timberman and wait for me to finish!!

Now for the winner of the Tough Chik contest!!

There were 150 eligible entries for this contest. Of those 150 entries, each was assigned a number 1-150 and put into Random.org


Random.org selected #71

Which was this comment:

I'd LOVE the Spiral – Cap Sleeve Tee in black - super cute!!!
Maybe even the black performance tank! Great line of clothes

Jen from the blog Running with the Girls!!

Congratulations Jen! Please email me at jsmall14(at)maine(dot)rr(dot)com
and I will get you connected with Shannon at Tough Chik to get your goodies!!

Up Next: The Run for Cash 5k RR and winner of my finish time!!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

What?! Wednesday

Welcome to WHAT?! Wednesday...

Care to take a guess as what I just did??

Ummm, yeah!!
Only one more day left to enter my Tough Chik contest!!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Trails, Water & New Neoprene

How was your weekend??
If you are a Daddy then I want to wish you a (belated) very Happy Fathers Day!!

It was a great weekend here in Maine. On Friday morning I ran with Lola in the jogger-9 wonderful miles. My Friday morning trail runs are becoming one of my favorite training days for sure! I have been running on this really amazing trail that is wide, flat and cool-thanks to the shade of the trees. Some days it is buggy but nothing a little Skin-So-Soft bug spray can't help-plus it makes me run faster right? I am slow with the jogger but heck, I am easily pushing an extra 60lbs...but it allows me to run without the worry of traffic, we get to see all kinds of stuff like chipmunks, squirrels, caterpillars and snakes! Plus, I can let Lola out of the jogger now and then to run with me and she likes to throw sticks into the many ponds we pass on our way. I am loving trail running and I have scoped out many new trails to run (joggerless).

The Trail Chiks in action:









Saturday I finally got my behind into a body of water that is NOT a pool for an open water swim--first of the season not counting my race last weekend. On a cold, foggy morning the last thing I wanted to do was get into water. I was not looking forward to swimming. I was dreading it actually and kept complaining to my friend, Marc about it on the drive to the pond. (As nice as he is, I am surprised he did not slap some tape over my mouth with all the complaining I was doing-thanks for your patience!) The start of the swim was slow and it took me a while to warm up and find my groove but once I did, I enjoyed it. Then I remembered why I love OWS vs. pool swimming. After swimming for a little over an hour, we ran a couple hill repeats (2 miles) and called it a day.

Saturday's Swim Scene

I need a new wetsuit--the one I have is a tad too big and I was surprised at just how much water came gushing out of it at the Pirate when I took it off. This was confirmed yet again on Saturday when another 400 gallons of water came spilling out. Pulling all the extra water around will certainly slow ya down, right??
I guess it is a good thing I scored a new one off Slowtwitch.com last week (and it was in brand new condition too!)
Lucky me!! The mailman delivered a big box to me on Saturday afternoon and I knew it was my new neoprene.

Not so lucky for me? It is a size small and while it fits, getting into it was....a wiggling act! Especially getting it up over my hips--looks like I have my OWN project wetsuit (remember this post?) But I love the feel of the new wetsuit and I think I want to make some cuts --I want to trim the calves and the arms. Gotta admit, I am scared to take some scissors to it. Any advice to a newbie neoprene cutter??

Sunday was an easy bike ride (18.5 miles) followed by a 3.2 mile run. Another beautiful Maine morning along the beach-we stopped at one point and just admired the ocean inlet where there were lobster boats anchored, the sun shining and the sounds of the ocean birds. One more reason to love where I live.

Did you enter my Tough Chik contest??

I was going to close this contest at midnight last night but I am feeling very nice after a fabulous weekend and I am going to leave it open for a few more days.

Wanna earn an extra entry?? Guess my finish time of my Run for Cash 5k coming up on Saturday. It's a small downhill at the start and the rest of the course is a series of short uphill climbs.



Did you vote for the best pee story?

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Let's Talk about Pee

Well all pee--some of us more than others and some of us while racing and training.
A couple weeks ago I did a review and giveaway on the blog with Triathon Rocks-who are the makers of this amazing tee shirt!!


I wear it with pride

This weekend, I peed in my wetsuit pre-race more times than I care to admit (at least I was well hydrated right?) and we had some pretty interesting conversations among my team mates as we all stood there in the water or on the shore of the lake talking about PEE. I actually peed on the run portion of the race a little bit-oh well! I was already soaked from the swim and the rain!!

One of the ways to earn an entry into the contest was to share your best pee story. I also said that there would be a bonus prize for the best pee story. I know I have mine -- but which is yours??

Here are some of the entries-

1-I got sprayed pretty good by someone at a race a few years ago. We were going fast and I could feel myself getting sprayed all over and tried to figure out if the girl in front of me was doing something with her water bottle or WHAT! Shortly after, I realized I was being peed on and I immediately backed off to give her some room. Nothing like being covered in SOMEONE ELSE'S PEE!
My own? I'm fine with :D

2-At 70.3 IMCA I am riding with a guy and we are going about 24 mph on the first half of the ride. This guy flies by us and we laugh b/c he will burn out. All the sudden the guy pulls to the left and I ask if he is ok and he says yes but there is a porto up there. I then tell him to forget that and just pee while riding and he gives me this look of 'WTF?' Well he stopped and I kept right on going and about 5 minutes later the GOLDEN WARRIOR flexed his muscles and let 'er fly.

3-This week I was to go on a run off the bike. I rode the trainer and then stood outside my house waiting for my watch to find the satellite. Right then I felt like I had to pee but was not willing to go back inside the house and risk losing the satellite again. While standing there I just started peeing on myself. Then bam satellite found and off on the run I go.

4-Best Pee story - It's actually a pee and poop story. I was running my usual morning run with my crew when I knew I couldn't go any further. To avoid a skirtastrophe, I literally hung from a tree, think monkey with hands and feet around a branch and did my business. Total success, both me and the skirt were able to finish the run.


5-Ugh, best pee story? Well, I may or may not have pee'd during the run portion of one of my tri's....LOL! Sh! I didn't even put that on my own blog.


6-I have peed on the bike many, many times. When I did an IM I swore I would take the time to get off and peed. I did, once. After that, it was just so much faster to keep going and peeing!


7-My pee story is on the run, not the bike. BUT during my HIM last year I peed myself multiple times on the run, I was proud of it! But also I timed it with this one station that had BIG water glasses - think keg cups. So I could rinse. I was smiling and waving to people and peeing. It was awesome.


8-My best pee story.
I've never had to pee on the swim before, but at Cedar point I had to go and thought "what the hell, maybe I'll see if I can let it go before I get into T1 and the portopotties...." And it worked?! Who knew? It was actually easier going while swimming than biking.
It was the first time I peed in my wetsuit when I wasn't standing waiting for the gun to go off and trying to stay warm.


9-Pee story: I have to admit, I don't pee on my bike, or even while I'm running. My pee / poo story is actually about my daughter. I was IM training and kiddos were out for the summer so I had to fit training in whenever I could. I took the kids to their school playground and ran circles around the school yard while they played. Daughter (age 9 at the time) came to me and said she had to GO (you know with kids that means #2) I only had a mile to go and it was a 1/2 mile walk home, so I made her GO in the woods outside her school. Three words: saving for therapy.



10-I just got pulled over for doing 43 in a 30 (not the funny part) but as the officer approached me
he says: 'so it says you pee on your bike. and do you?'
I respond: 'yes I do'
he says: 'well to each his own I guess'
I say: 'it saves me time on my competition and I will do anything within the rules to my advantage'
he says: 'do you clean your bike?'
I say: 'yes, I do'
We then discuss triathlon and the such and it was a funny conversation.
He ends with 'keep cleaning that bike ok?'
Still gave me a ticket. So it draws attention but won't get you out of traffic violations.

___________________________________________________________________

Thank you everyone for your great pee stories. I laugh to myself some days while I am out on a long training run or bike and the mind is just going. We endurance athletes can be pretty gross sometimes huh? Snot rockets, peeing on yourself, puking...all for the love of the sport.

Tell me which PEE STORY deserves to be #1!!
(yes, pun totally intented)

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Pirate Tri RR & Triathlon Rocks Winner!

Whew-what a race. And a last minute addition* to my race schedule at that...
The battle to get a bib was a race in of itself!! (and could be a separate blog post just to chronicle that adventure)
*One of my "A" races for this season (Black Fly International distance on July 9th) was sadly deleted from my schedule this year since some "real life" financial obligations came into play. Needless to say, the 3 day triathlon vacation planned the family had planned for that weekend has been put on hold until the 2012 season. So getting into another local triathlon asap became my obsession for a few days...thus the addition of The Pirate Triathlon at Point Sebago!

If you recall, I was battling a pretty hefty case of bronchitis for several weeks leading up to The Pirate so I certainly was not at any sort of peak condition going in...that being said, it was a super fun race and overall, I am happy with how things went (considering).

This is my first year racing with the Kennebunk Beach Triathlon Club and it certainly is a whole different experience going to the races with team mates vs. my mate (aka hubby). While hubby is very supportive of my training schedule and all things tri related, when it comes to race day let's just say it's not his first choice of places to be (he fondly refers to it as being my "tri-bitch"). So racing with the club is a win/win for both of us. I get to hang out with like minded individuals without being hounded with questions like "when are we leaving" or "do we really have to stay for awards" and he gets to not hang out at the race.


The KBTC Crew post Pirate!

In the several days leading up to the race, I knew that the weather was forecasting rain for the weekend (for once, they were right). I rode up to the race with my friend, training buddy and fellow club member, Marc and it was a totally stress free morning. We left early to ensure we got there in plenty of time--and of course, whenever you travel with me to a race there needs to be the obligatory stop at Dunkin Donuts.


I run (and tri) on Dunkin'

waiting in the car line to get into Point Sebago Resort

Transition was muddy but to be expected. Luckily, I packed a ton of plastic bags and towels so it was all good. We met up with several tri club peeps for some social time pre-race and then it was GO time!







It's GO TIME for my swim wave
The Swim-1/3 mile
The lake water was warmer than the air and was not as dreadful as I expected. A quick dip in the water, a few minutes of swimming and then the typical pre-race announcements.
I was not expecting too much of my performance on this swim. I have not been in the pool in 3 weeks (sick) and anytime I attempted an OWS so far this season, it did not work out. My plan was to just take it easy and conserve my energy for the upcoming hilly bike course and fly on the run.
All was going smooth and easy until about 20 feet from the first buoy when *POW* I got kicked in the face by a swimmer in front of me moving to the left to get closer to the buoy. This kick resulted in a face full of ouch and a ton of water shooting up my nose and down my throat. Choke, choke, choke, breathe, breathe, breathe, relax, relax, relax. I needed a minute to gather myself and took a break by swimming on my side for a bit. By the time I reached the buoy I could tell my HR shot up and I was struggling to breath calmly. I then rounded the second buoy and just went. I reached the shore in one piece and ran for the transition area, peeling off my wetsuit with ease.
Swim -10:34
Am I happy with that? No, not really. I know I have a ton of opportunity here and plan to take advantage of every group OWS I can as I do prefer the open water to the pool.

From the water to T1 (that is not me)

T1-1:40
good improvement previous T1 time with a wetsuit. Always room for improvement with free time right?



Bike Out-see the mud??

The Bike-14 miles
Hello Hills! Hello wet pavement. I had no idea what was in store for this bike course as I did not preview it or ride it pre-race. Nothing like going in blind to keep things interesting huh?
Many friends who have done this race before talk about the many climbs and the one downhill that has a sharp 90-degree right hand turn. Apparently, many a rider has gone down on this turn and with wet roads it was "Caution". Yes, there were lots of short climbs. There was also zero regard for USAT rules when it came to passing and drafting. There were cyclists passing on the right, crossing the yellow center line, stacked out 3-4 deep right to left on some of the climbs. The last 2 miles were easy and mostly down hill so I just enjoyed the break from climbing and got ready to run. Almost hit 40mph on the way down one hill and had to keep in mind the roads were slick. Weeeeeeee
Bike - 47:20 17.75 mph pace

T2- 0:52 in and out except for some side stepping around a big old mud puddle the size of a truck. Don't wanna get my pretty Pearl iZUMi's all dirty...oh, and I could not feel my feet. 12 seconds slower than my last tri T2
Heading OUT on the run and giving Jeanne the "I LOVE YOU" sign ??? Huh, what, ok Jen...

 The Run-3 Miles
Numb feet. It took a good mile to get the feeling back into my feet. This is only my second race sans socks and I love it. I love having one less thing to worry about and I love running in my Pearl iZUMi ISO Transitions. They are so light and comfy. I felt like I was crawling. I did not wear my Garmin for this race (only my Polar HRM) so I had no clue about my pace. I would have guessed a 10-12 minute mile, I usually feel great right off the bike but this was not the case. I still felt like I had water in my lungs and I could not catch a good breath. This was a lollipop course so I could see the athletes ahead of me on the course making their way back to the finish line. I was able to cheer on some friends and team mates and deliver a couple high fives in passing. I passed a couple team mates and got to run with my friend, Marc for a few minutes as well! Nothing really epic about the run except I was happy to have a short downhill on the way to the finish.
Run - 24:12 8:04 pace

Total Time 1:24:35.4
Overall Place 115 / 431
Gender Place 27 / 237
AG Place 9 / 36

I knew going into this race I was not going to be 100% but I gotta say, it was super fun! I had a blast and I cannot wait to conquer this course next year. While it was my slowest sprint time yet, it was one of the more fun races I have been at and I think I owe a big thank you to KBTC for that!

My team mates did awesome! Diane took FIRST in her age group and Tom placed 3rd in his! Also, my friend Marc got a PR for this race so all the hard work we have been doing paid off. Congrats!!


Marc in the pain locker shooting for that PR!!

The best thing about this race? My first triathlon battle wound! Remember I mentioned I got kicked in the face? Yeah, well some long gross toenail must have scratched me because when I finished, my team mate Kim told me there was blood on my face! Yeah, I was kind a psyched!!

That is one badass battle scar huh?? (do you need a magnifying glass to see it?? right there, under my nose!!)

Now for the Triathlon Rocks winner....

there were 97 eliglible entries for this contest.
To celebrate Marc's PR at this weekend's Pirate Tri, he was the lucky soul who got to help me pick the winner for this contest
(he did not enter this one either).
I asked him to pick a number from 1 to 97.
he picked #64
(the year he was born--I had to ask why #64)

One the list of names for each eligible entry
#64 corresponds with

BDD, Congrats on winning.
Please shoot me an email and I will get you hooked up with Triathlon Rocks and the tee shirt of your choice.

The best pee story?
Tune in tomorrow folks, this post is long enough!

Did you enter my Tough Chik contest?? If not, what ya waiting for??