Kerrymen Pub 5k

Not Racing.

Yesterday was pretty cool, it was the first time I have ever "raced" with the hubby at the Kerrymen Pub 5k. I have to put "race" in quotes because I chose not to race it yesterday, opting to keep my focus on the big picture (thank you Michelle Ford) which is my training schedule. 

What am I training for? A handful of Rev3 Half's and the big dance, Rev3 Cedar Point Full in Sept.

It was a pretty full week of training with a long bike with some strength work on Saturday and Sunday was a long run after the 5k. Sweet. Never done THAT before...but I do whatever Sharpie tells me to do (I'm submissive like that! ha...probably the only time in my life that I am).

Last year I went into this race to race and seeking a sub-22, which I missed by :25 seconds but walked away from that with a shiny new PR of 22:24. At the time, I was disappointed that I did not meet my goal and I did not appreciate the fact that I ran hard and gave it my all. This year I had initially wanted to chase that 21:xx minute clock again but realistically, this is not what my training is about right now. It really wasn't that important to me and that long run was important to me...so I made the decision to run the race and keep the focus on my training run.  

This is a pretty big event for a local 5k, about 1200 runners and a ton of people participate in the walk, Mary's Walk. The event is a fundraiser for Maine Cancer Fund and the race is in honor of a local woman, Mary Kerry, who died of cancer and this is the route she used to walk daily. This is the 15th year of the race and there were 3,000 people registered for the event!

We parked about a half mile away from the start and got out to warm up. It was rather cold for March (28*)  and there was a bitter cold wind but it was sunny! I really wanted to wear something cute, like a glittery green running skirt and knee socks but I don't have anything like...so I rocked my blue Rev3 gear with a smile (and three layers under it!).

Casey and I warmed up for a bit and then we found Marc, who was also running today. We ran a bit and lined up for the start. Then we found Jon, a friend of Casey's and one of the athletes I have been working with since the fall.

This race shuts down half of Route 1 through town and seeds the start by your run time (I love this!) but with that many people running there is always a delay to get moving.

Ready...set....GO!

 I started with Marc and Casey and the first mile was a very comfortable 7:20 and then you round the corner and head right into a wind and a slight incline for a bit. Round another corner and there is a water stop to the left and where I got jammed up...as I eased out to the right, a group of young runners blocked me. Around another corner and another slight incline...and WIND! My pace dropped to 7:40 for the second mile, around another corner and into the home stretch.

because it would not be a race without at tongue out pic, right??

running happy here, almost done!

I had been running with a local tri friend, Kim for a bit and I was just watching her run-so gazelle like! She's got these long, lean legs and she appeared to be just floating along...run, run, run. I had not seen Casey or Marc in a bit and I was just chugging along when I felt a tap on my shoulder at mile 2.5. It was Casey!! I smiled at him and we ran together for a bit and as we got a tad closer to the finish, with about a .25 mile to go, he took off...and then Marc ran past me, chasing after Casey and he was on a mission! I could tell he was out for blood and did NOT want Casey to finish before him. I just kept running, watch Casey just GO towards the finish with Marc going after him. I think I was smiling and laughing a bit but proud at the same time.

Marc on his way to a +1 min PR

Double PR!! Jon by 4+ mins and Casey by 1:30

Casey finished in 23:16 (smashing his previous 5k time by more than a minute and a half)

Marc finished in 23:24 (another awesome PR!! by over a minute!)

Me? I finished in 23:46 (I was predicting a 23:30 finish) 

Jon finished in 28:52 (the biggest PR of the day by more than 4 minutes!!)

I was so psyched to see the three of them get huge PR's!! One proud Coach for sure!

The wind was blowing and I was cold...it was time to get moving and get my training run done so it was time to say goodbye to everyone and get going.

Later on as I was checking out the official results. I had run today at a comfortably-hard effort that was more in line with how I would pace a 10k, I certainly did not put the pedal to the metal today...and as I checked the results I was a bit bummed. A "comfortably-hard" effort had placed me 8th in my age group! Now if I had pushed it today, could I have snagged an AG award?? Who knows...but would that have brought me any closer to my goals? Probably not...in addition to the 5k today, I got an additional easy 9 miles on the books and THAT is what is going to get me closer to my goals today.

Regardless, it was a super fun day and I am proud of my guys for crushing it out there!!

He Speaks: 5k's and Virrata

Hey Folks,

If you have been following Jen's blog for a while I am sure you have seen her post about Project X.

Let me introduce myself. I am Casey, otherwise known as Jen's husband and the subject in Project X.
For years, I had zero interest in this craziness of running (or any of that other stuff SHE does) but this fall I had a wake up call, an epiphany if you will. Now, I get it. I understand the hours of training, the quest to the finish line, the thrill that comes with challenging yourself and testing your limits. Now I am happily by her side and along for ride. I have my own journey and I am just happy that we can do this together!

Not only is Jen my wife, but she is also my Coach and has helped me shed 50lbs and go from a 40" pant size down to a 30! Jen is teaching me about the right way to train and race (and I think she picks on me the most out of all of her athletes).

When an opportunity came up to review a pair of men's running shoes from Saucony, I happily volunteered to be the guinea pig. I have been running in Saucony shoes since I started running and have been happy with the fit and comfort that the shoe provides. I started running in the Guide and recently tried the Fastwitch, a much lighter shoe. When I read the specs on the Virrata, I was very intrigued.

• very light and weighing in at 6.5 oz
• ZERO drop
• bright colors 

The bit of information that was of most interest to me was this-
Built on a 0mm offset, this shoe lets your feet do the work while providing plenty of protection from the road.

photo from saucony.com

I have been looking to gain more speed with my running and as I learned more about run mechanics and shoes (and still being a fairly new runner), it was important to me to have some cushion and protection yet a shoes that would allow me to run with the most efficient form.

I had a 5k coming up on the schedule and the Virrata arrived just in time, giving me a few days to get out and run before racing in a new shoe. The shoe immediately felt great-very comfortable like it had already been broken in to fit my foot. On my test run (5.6 miles) I could appreciate how light and springy they were! There was a sufficient amount of cushioning and I liked the way my feet just rolled along the road. I did notice a bit a calf tenderness after this first run but I was told by Jen that this was normal since I was moving into a more minimal shoe that I have been running in.

My second run in them was a short, easy run (Coach Jen had me on a mini-taper to get ready to race!) and they felt even better this second run. I had no other discomfort and liked the shoe even more.

Today was race day, it was a cold and windy day for sure. We got in some warm up miles before lining up and it was time to GO!

At the start line, we were all talking about new shoes and there was a guy next to me wearing the same exact Virrata's! We both agreed that we really, really liked this shoe!

At the race start, Im in blue (left, #946) running next to Jen in Rev3 blue (right, #947).
This was our first race running together!

My legs were warmed up and ready to run. Honestly, I could not even feel my shoes during the run they were so light and comfortable. I ran my way to 1 minute and 30 second PR today.

Thank you to Saucony for the chance to participate in this review.
Thank you Coach Jen for guiding me and being my cheerleader.



DISCLOSURE: All opinions expressed in this blog review are those of Casey and not Jen. The Saucony Virrata shoes were provided at no charge in exchange for Casey's honest evaluation of this running shoe.  All opinions expressed here are his own. 

25 Seconds

22:24

25 seconds from my goal of a sub-22. 

This is a new 5k PR for me by about 20 seconds but it is bittersweet.
While I am happy with how I raced overall today, I did not meet my primary goal of sub-22 so I have a hard time celebrating the PR. It's deflated.

Where could I have improved to be 25 seconds faster?

It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool. I like cool for running. There was some pretty good wind out there today but overall, it was a good day to run.

Mile one was awesome...sub-7 and I was feeling good. Mile 2 was into the wind and a very mile sloping upward jaunt, nothing bad but I knew my pace dropped to 7:07 (I believe that was my mile 2 split...my Garmin is in my friends truck) and mile 3 I landed half-on/half-off the edge of the curb and twisted my ankle a bit (I'm fine, my shoe has more damage than I do) and that slowed me down for a SECOND. I kept running.
Funny thing...the only thing that really bothered me were my forearms! In my note to Coach Awesome, I had to laugh while I told her about it. I must have had my little fists balled up into fists of fury because they were on fire!!

RUN ON....

I know when I rounded the corned and could finally make out the time on the clock I could make out 21:xx...I ran and ran and ran and watched it tick over to 22:00 and I think my heart broke a little.
But I'd be dammed if I was going to let that stop me from from finishing this as strong as I could.

No excuses. 

I did my best. I did PR by 20 seconds. But I did not meet my goal but I will battle on and fight for the sub-22 another day. I just need to run faster. I know that  most of my running has been base building HR training but I am still disappointed that I did not achieve my goal.

The best part of the day? My training partner PR'd by over a minute. My good friends, Dawn and Stephanie came out to cheer me on (and they weren't even running).

I got to hang out with my tri club peeps!!
I got to Rock the Rev 3 R at the first race of the season!!





 I got to see so many friends and got to meet Dailymile buddy, Pauline.


 I got to cheer on my friend's little girl as she raced to the finish!

Then this made me realize that I am one lucky gal to have the friends I have-


Dear bestie,
You rock. You PR and you still want more. Did you give everything? You gave everything you had today. Next race....who knows? Without a whole lot of speed training, you gave everything your legs would allow. This 5k is not your finish line. You have a race with a whole bunch of hills that is calling for your best. Don't lose sight of that. You know coach awesome would say the same.
Proud of you girlfriend.:)

goal 21:XX

...for the first time in a long time I am actually a little nervous about a 5k race! I find I don't get that nervous anymore and most of the 5k's I run are for fun-while I still race and set goals-I usually am pretty chill about 'em.

As I stated a couple posts ago, I have set the bar for today's Kerrymen Pub 5k at sub-22. This is a tad on the aggressive side since I have not really done any fast running. My reasoning was this: Last summer I did 22:4x-something on a hilly course in the pouring rain. I think shaving 40-something seconds off is reasonable, right?
That's only about 15 seconds per mile....



I know I am physically capable of achieving this-I just need to shut off my head today and go.
But, not gonna lie. I am nervous!!
I want to achieve this goal. This is a relatively flat course but it's crowded. So let's see what I have in the tank today...and let's see what my little head has to say.

Storm The Castle!!!

3TT: Castles, Caves & Crotches!

Storm the Castle!

I registered for a 5k this week-The Kerrymen 5k-and it will be my first race of 2012. I have not run this race since 2010 (my second race ever) so I am kind of excited to "revisit" this course and see how much I can CRUSH my time from 2010. My current 5k PR is from 2011's Run for Cash (22:4x something) and considering that the Run for Cash course is a little hilly, the Kerrymen course is flat (but super crowded) I really want to crush it. I will be gunning for a new 5k PR and to quote Coach Awesome "storm the castle". I might as well put it out there and tell you and my goal is a sub-22 time so 21:anything will make me very happy!  A straight up 21:00 will require a 6:45 pace which is an aggressive goal but we will see what this Castle Crusader has in the tank that day. I did not get where I am today by setting mediocre goals so I'm going for it.

 And, yes...I will be dressed like a Knight armed to do battle but I'll leave the giant sword at home, it'll just slow me down. On second thought, with the crowds it might come in handy at the start...


Speaking of running and castles-

Tiara Trotting 

If you're gonna run, why not run in your tiara right? My girl getting her run on in style.

I'm ready...

It goes faster if I press this button, right Mommy?

PFFFFST! Take that Mommy, I'm faster than you!

AWWWWESOME! I feel like EMZ! 

tongue out and a thumbs up! Good?

I love it that Lola is at an age where I can take her with me to the PainCave and she will watch a movie or play games on the computer. The training schedule this week is pretty jammed packed, lots of doubles and long sessions so we have been spending a lot of time in the cave together. She loves hanging out with me and will yell things like "pedal faster Mommy" or "Does Coach really want you running THAT slow?"

Most days she wants to workout too. Now to figure out a way to put her tricycle on a trainer. This summer the girl is getting a REAL bike.

Speaking of bikes-
Crotch of Steel?


I've been spending a lot of time on the bike and a lot of time in aero. My bike is road bike and at the end of last season, I changed the set up to add aerobars and we changed the fit. Love it and I'm super comfy except for one thing: I thinking that I need to explore some new saddles-my girlie parts are getting the beatdown. I love my Bontrager RaceLite XXX saddle when I am riding my bike in road bike set up but now that it's all aero'd out I think we need to make some minor tweaks or I'll have to line my shorts with steel-will that make me Supergirl with a Crotch of Steel?



So right now I'll just grin and bear it.  I have lots of friends who swear by the Adamo saddles so I need to try some out. My bike guy does not carry Adamo so I'll have to chat with some other bike places. According to the online test, THIS is my saddle:




What saddle do you love??

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!

Oh! What a week it's been

Hello and Happy Friday~boy what a week it has been! It has certainly been a fun week that is for sure.

First let's get to the nitty-gritty of my Friday check in.
How did I do this week?? Well, I was a good girl food wise (for the most part) I kept it clean and I managed to get in some quality workouts.

With that being said there was NO LOSS on the scale this week.

I have been playing with the idea of joining the local YMCA so I can swim with Lola during the Fall and Winter~we were given a one week trial at our tour on Tuesday so we have been spending lots of time playing there this week.

While I am not really impressed with their gym at all, the benefits of being able to swim and have Lola play with other little ones so I can workout out weight that. Plus they offer classes and I have been wanting to get in a spinning class SO we will see if the Y is in the cards for this family.

I really want to share my fun week with everyone. Last Friday we kicked off the weekend with a run with The BOB Brigade~we ran from Jana's place, thru the mean streets of Saco and over to the local HS track for some speed work. It was hotter than Hades and we were sweating buckets! But it was a fun morning and a great workout.


Avery, Jana, Lola and me being sneaky under the stadium steps of the track

4 members of The BOB Brigade, Tricia, Luke, Jana & Avery

Lola getting some speedwork lessons from Jana~

she's a great coach!

Saturday hubby had a fantasy football draft at the house so I went with my Mom, Dad & Auntie M to Ft Williams for the Cornerstone Baptist Church annual picnic. We had so much fun! I was wearing my thinking cap that day because I brought my running gear with me to sneak in a quick 3mile jaunt around the park.

I am really in love with this place! I see many, many more runs here. I liked the mixed terrain (gravel, pavement, grass, hills, steps) as well as the majestic ocean and lighthouse views.

Dancing with Lola in the Gazebo!







Chillin' with my girl!
















Saturday night we went down to Fortune's to walk and check out the waves that Hurricane Earl brought to town~you can't really tell from the pics but the waves were AWESOME!!

Even though we were fully dressed, Lola and I ended up in the water and playing in the waves. They would knock her down and she would go right back in, ready for more!

I literally had to carry her out of the water to get her home.

She was SO mad when we had to leave!

The lifeguard closed one side of the beach due to massive rip currents!

After cleaning up from our beach adventure we went to OOB to walk around, play some games and take Lola on her first Carousel ride. Then another....then another....then another.

One of the four rides on the Carousel

We played several games and spend several dollars trying to win a big blue teddy bear for Lola~ Then she tried her own luck at the Duck Game and she won!! She picked the dolphin stuffy over the frog :) that's my girl!!

Then it was time to eat so we went to Jimmy The Greeks for some wings (ok so not really clean here but it does not count on a Holiday Weekend!!)

Since Lola loves wings we had quite the laugh watching her devour the delish wings at Jimmy's!!

Even the waitstaff fell in love with her antics

Lola can really make a mess!! but she digs those wings

Monday morning rolled around and it was time to head out to run the Labor Day Classic 5k. This is the second year for this race~yes, I ran it last year. It is a fundraising event started by a local family, the Denger's. Both son's Matthew and Patrick have Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and this event raises money for research.

It is a great family focused event and the volunteers are great! This is also a fun course to run~gently sloping hills all through the neighborhood. The weather was perfect too. While I was hoping to establish a new PR (personal record) for this race, with the lack of quality running the last 4 weeks those plans were quickly tossed out the window. My purpose for running this year was to just have fun.

I finished with an official "gun time" (no chips at this race) of 24:13-certainly not even close to a PR for me but to my surprise!! I did win FIRST in my age group. This is the first time I have won first in anything running related so yippee!! Another medal to add to my very small (but growing) collection.

Every race hubby and I coordinate it so I can get a good luck high five from my daughter~or high pie as she calls it. This pic shows me closing in for the high five and my Auntie M decided to join in and add her own high five too!!

Post race with my Mom and Lola.

Cheering on runners at the chute with Lola!

Getting my FIRST place AG medal

Bling baby BLING!! Can't wait to add more

All in all it was a fabulous weekend and I could not think of a better way to celebrate the end of summer- Spending time with my family and running. What more could a girl wish for??