What I Learned Last Week...

Last week was a big week of training and I learned a few things.

-even if you are not getting on the bike, spray your bits with TriSlide when wearing tri shorts on a run. That long run left me a sweaty mess and the seam of my chamios left me very, very, very chafed along the underside. OUCH. I have never had a chafe burn like that.

-when you are that chafed on the undercarriage, a 4.5 hour ride and run off the bike only make it worse.

-attempting a 100 mile ride on the trainer during thunderstorms and dounpours the following day will only leave you bleeding and begging for mercy.

-New Skin Liquid Bandage was suggested and purchased. Painting this onto the chafing was akin to pouring rubbing alcohol over 100,000 papercuts. But it kind of helped after I stopped screaming and writhing around on the floor...
(doing much better now in case you were wondering)

-don't forget about that 10k you signed up for in February and go run it without telling your Coach.
Or adding a second long ride the weekend because the trainer fest/bleeding undercarriage stopped you from going the entire distance Rx'd without telling your Coach.
Especially four weeks out from your A race of the season.

-and at that 10k, it's totally OK to geek out while meeting Meb Keflezighi. He was so, so nice! Lola loved meeting him too...and he loved meeting Lola. He even tweeted a pic of them hanging out!

It was such a fun day with friends and Casey ran too! Casey smoked it with a 45:44 for an avg pace of 7:20 on some pretty hills. Not bad for someone who just started running! I'm very proud of him!!
(and yes, he beat me!!)

-I run really, really well in cool weather and rain. I did not race, but 2 miles in I decided to just go for it and see what I could do. I ran a 48:53...on the tail end of a 22 hour training week. I'll take it!

Mile 5 up the hill at Beach to Beacon

-Recovery weeks don't really suck. Ok...so it's only Tuesday and the week does not suck yet. Talk to me again tomorrow afternoon! Today was all about playing at the beach.

-I am obsessed with cucumber water

Run Like Hell

The Mid-Winter Classic 10 Mile Road Race

Cape Elizabeth, Maine 

February 3, 2013

I signed up for this race quite a while ago and had some pretty solid goals for this race. I broke the 1:45 barrier on the half marathon distance in December so my goal to go sub 1:20 at a 10 miler was completely reasonable...until January happened.

I did a lot of traveling in January-Florida and Colorado-and come home from FL with a nasty chest cold that lingered through the Colorado trip and beyond. Lola was sick too and my training plan for the month was really screwed up! It's freaky to me to look into Training Peaks and see almost an entire week of RED BLOCKS from incomplete or missed workouts!

I chatted with Coach and we both agreed that it was smart to put any lofty goals on hold for the day and just run, call it a training day and take it mile by mile. I wasn't even sure if I was going to show up come 9:45 on Sunday morning. The weather has been COLD and they were predicting snow for the day. There was no way I wanted to prolong this chest cold in freezing temps to just run and not race. Then I found out that my girl, Mandy, would be there--you know, Caratunk Girl.

That's all I needed to know. I have not seen Mandy in a while and as long as the roads were safe to drive up to Cape E for the race, I'd be there.

It was cold, temps in the 20's and the winds brought the "feels like" temps down to about 10*. Layer, layer, layer and be smart! I walked into the High School for packet pick up and right away got to see my awesome Rev3 Team mate, Ryan. Then picked up my race bib.

REALLY?? C'mon....

Then I got to see Mandy.

And Jake.

DOUBLE BONUS!!

We made lots of jokes about my bib number and it was decided that I would RUN LIKE HELL!
The run's theme song would be "Running with the Devil" by Van Halen.


I also got to see running buddies Danielle and Sarah, whom I have not seen in forever!! Danielle is looking marvy with a little baby bump (25 weeks along and looking amazing).

chatting up Danielle and her cute bump

Got out to warm up a bit (ha ha) it was freezing and found Michelle in the parking lot. Lucky Michelle got to witness me christen the CEHS parking lot before the race (and dare I say this is not the first time I have done this...Beach to Beacon 2012!)

obviously, NOT peeing in the parking lot in this pic! 

Then I ran into Jen (yay!!) I've been wanting to meet this gal in real life for a while! She was pacing to what my goal time was today and I was hoping we could run together but...we lost each other before the start.

I lined up and started with Mandy, Michelle and a couple of her friends and just trotted along a bit. I was pretty happy at about 8:45 pace so just kept it there and went with it.

Michelle in Yellow, Mandy in Green and me in Pink (behind red guy)

The first five miles of the course are all rollers and I was feeling good and strong on the hills. Cadence was where it was supposed to be, I was running easy and keeping the HR in check. Pace was solid and consistent at 8:30's and I was feeling good. I hit the half way mark around 42:00 mins and was pretty sure I was on pace for a 1:25-ish finish time. The plan for the rest of the miles was to stay steady at 8:30 and pick it up the last 3 miles and finish strong-no mind to HR at that point.

The last two miles were quite comical--this is actually the flattest part of the course with a slight incline, but into a very cold and strong wind on this day. It was soooo cold and I felt like it was just pushing against me. Ok, it was pushing against me. I'd glance at the Garmin to see high 8:00's and low 9:00's flash at me and I was getting annoyed. To add insult to injury, I had peed a little and my entire inner thighs were wet and FREEZING.



NUMB cold freezing painful NUMB.

So I just chugged along and I spotted a local tri club gal, Kim up ahead about a half mile or so. I tried like the dickens to catch her but that would not happen today. I had no idea where the finish line was but we started in the HS parking lot so I figured it finished around there too. Sure enough, I saw the runners ahead turning into the school and I just kept running...and running...and running. It was a slight downhill to the finish line and boom! Done

1:26:04 for an 8:36 pace and 6th in my division.

Not bad for a training day and I will definitely return to run this route again. I loved it! Lots of little rollers and part of the course is along the Beach to Beacon course.
Next year that sub 1:20 finish is all mine.

awesome! Michelle and Mandy having fun

how cute is she?? GO JEN B
Happy to report that Jen finished in 1:19!! GO JEN GO!
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The "Keys" to the Race

Beach to Beacon 15th Anniversary 10k

This is my second year in a row getting into the B2B and for a race that sells out in 5 minutes, I felt pretty darn lucky to get in again.
Last year was awesome even though I did not "race it" as it was just before Timberman 70.3 so instead, I spent the day with two dear friends and we were going for a THREEPETE this year.

Dawn
Stephanie
and
Moi!

Only diff was this year, Dawn would be running instead of spectating and watching the super fast Kenyan's finish in 28 minutes.

Plus, as Dawn's BFF and Coach, she was actually not giving an option, she was RUNNING. Her life has been jam-packed-busy-crazy this summer and she has not had a ton of time to train but with Rev 3 Maine breathing down our necks, it's go time!

It was a pretty comical morning with the three of us. Last year Stephanie ran a 47:13 with NO TRAINING. Seriously, she would run on the treadmill on occasion but never really did any run training. Now with 2 marathons under her belt she was ready to rumble with last years time. However, a nagging back injury, a couple hours of sleep and a particularly spicy dish of nachos the night before had other plans for Stephanie on race morning. Let's just say she was suffering the American version of Montezuma's Revenge all morning.

Dawn was not too excited to be running either. The temps were hot, the humidity was awful and this course has got some good hills--mostly the last 2 miles. She was feeling anxious and dreading the run.

I had just suffered a couple craptastic runs myself and there is always that nagging fear of injuring myself for a fun race with a big race right around the corner. I was not interested in tagging any 10k PR's. Then I came up with a brilliant idea.

at the start with Dawn and "Angry Bob"

Dawn and I have never raced together. EVER...so today would be a good day to run side-by-side. I told Dawn that I would pace her, stay with her every step of the way and we would finish this race hand-in-hand!! She loved the idea so a pact was made. NO MATTER WHAT, I'd stick with her :)
Stephanie did not have a plan other than to visit as many porta potties as she could before the gun went off.

This is the largest road race in Maine with  thousands of runners each year. It's a pretty big deal and they get some amazing running talent from all over the world to run. This is a point to point race and getting in and out of the venue can be a bit of a challenge. One of my bootcampers, Erin, was also running and lives very close to the race finish area at Ft Williams. Erin so generously offered for us to park there and then she would drive all of us to Cape Elizabeth High School where the shuttles were taking runners to the start.
PERFECT!!

me, Stephanie, Erin and Dawn hanging out by the long line of Porto-Potties

We had no issues getting to Erin's house, plenty of time to get to the high school and to the start line. All was running smooth...until Dawn realized that took her car keys with her to the school and they were sitting in Erin's car--6 miles from the finish line. Talk about a plan spoiler!!

Dawn then asked if the race route went by the high school and Erin confirmed this. Dawn then informed me that we would STOP during the race, run into the parking lot of the high school, find Erin's car and then run back to the race course.
I thought she was joking.
She wasn't.
We discussed this the entire shuttle ride to the start and then while waiting to start.
She was dead serious.
...and she did have a point. We would have to wait an hour or more in line, in the heat to get a shuttle back to the school just to get the keys and then make our way back to Erin's house to get the car. With the entire area closed off, this would be a logistical nightmare.

Looks like we were stopping. During a race.
Who does that??

It was pretty cool walking around the mass of people at the start; I ran into some friends-both new and old.

with Doc Michelle rockin' her Peacock skirt.
She flashed me during the race, it was a highlight of the day!
Check out her BLOG 
Nothin' average about this Tough Chik

I could not believe my eyes when I ran into "Jims" and his lovely wife, "MrsR". I had the pleasure of working with both of them when I worked in medicine. "Jims" (as I used to call him) was so instrumental in my own personal journey to health and I was so happy to see them both. "MrsR" did not even recognize me at first--but there are not enough words to express just how nice it was to see them both.

It was so crowded we did not even have a warm-up...ooops! Looks like the first few miles would be our warm up (oxymoron because we were already sweating! lol )

Dawn was aiming for 9:30 to 10:00 minute miles for this race but I knew she could do a tad faster than that so we paced out around 9:00's and it was a comfortable effort. I was chatting away, looking at this and that since there is so much crowd support on this course.

run run run

We ran through one section just after the halfway point and the song "Call Me Maybe" was blaring. Dawn and I maybe danced a bit and sang along. We were chugging away and nailing solid 9 minute miles within seconds....boooya! Then we approached the school where the keys were in Erin's van. Off Dawn went to get the keys, I stopped the Garmin since I wanted "actual running time" and not race time due to this little stop. While she got the keys, I went pee behind a building (huge surprise there, huh??). Then it was back to running. I think we lost 2:30 for that pit stop but saved ourselves over an hour later.

Dawn was so solid and consistent those last few miles on those hills and I was very proud of her! We crossed the finish line holding hands and it was all very awesome.

This year the post-race festivities were not as cool as last year but they did have medals to celebrate the 15th  Anniversary of the race. They also had a booth where you could get a commemorative photo from the race as well.

Dawn, Stephanie and Me post race and all smiles!

We walked back to Erin's house and plopped ourselves into the ocean for a bit and made our way home. It was a great day and I hope I can run again next year!
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Did you enter my caption contest yet??
I'll keep entries open until the day of Rev 3 Maine on 8/26.

Enter here and win some awesome SBR stuff!

Lovely

Lovely.
So I spent a lot of time on Friday finally writing up this blog post and then poof! it was gone into Blogger heaven so here is attempt #2. 





The lovely Jen at Running with the Girls nominated me for the ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD and I was just pleased as punch about it. Jen is really awesome because well, her name is Jen (duh!) and she is also a Mainer (double awesome). 

The One Lovely Blog Award is a "pay it forward" kind of way to recognize your favorite blogs. 

Here are the rules:

1. Post the award logo and and picture on your blog and link back to the person who nominated you.

2. Tell seven things about yourself.

3. Nominate up to 15 additional bloggers who you think deserve the award.

4. Post a comment on the blog of each nominee to tell them him/her they have been nominated.

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1- A bit of delay on my part cost me a spot in the Peaks to Portland 2.4 mile open ocean swim race in July. I literally missed a spot by hours and I'm pissed. 

BUT 

I got into THE Maine road race this year, Beach to Beacon 10k. Hey! Jen will be running B2B this summer. Maybe we could meet up there. What do you think Jen?? Call me ;)

My 28:03 finish last year.
Whaaat? That's not me???
Sure it is...

2- Lance Armstrong. Oh boy...what do I say on this one? I really don't know WHAT to think!! 

What I do know is that while I was never on the whole "Lance Is Doing Triathlon" train, what I do know is that the guy stepped up to Mary's challenge DUEL IN THE POOL and they raised a crapload of money for Teens Living with Cancer. 

3- I've been day dreaming about getting an RV, packing up all my stuff and just heading out to see the country a little bit at a time. Oh, and cram as many races as I can into the travels. 

Now, to only figure out a way to get that RV to Hawaii to visit Bree and hang out with her. That would freaking RULE and I know Lola would just love Kainoa. 

photo from BreeWeeHawaii.blogspot.com

4- I just LOVE Humpty Dumpty Salt & Vinegar chips (it's a local brand). I could (and have) eat them until I have chemical burn on my tongue. No wonder I do not buy them very often...

5- When I was in my 20's there were a few things I SWORE I would NEVER do.

• move back to Maine
• get married
• have children

Yeah, I did great on those things huh?? No regrets...

6- My long workout was cool today. Literally...I met up with a bunch of my KBTC friends for an EARLY morning ride and it started out all sunshine and smiles. But 2 hours into it with another 2 to go, I was making a pit stop at home on the way by for my winter gear-gloves and a wind stopper jacket. It got COLD and WINDY!! But that certainly made for good running weather off the bike. Lemonade folks, lemonade. 

7- Have I mentioned lately how much I love my bike? 

Yeah, my beautiful Quintana Roo cd0.1

very much in love...

Here is who I am tagging and a little bit about them!

AMC at Strength Odysessy:

AMC is a pretty new blogger and her fitness focus is weight training and running. She makes amazing baklava and makes my hair look pretty. 

When I was heavy, AMC worked out at the same gym I went to and I used to stalk admire her - you know, her dedication, work ethic and figure. I never got the guts to tell her she inspired me. Funny now years later, we work together and I finally worked up the courage to tell her I used to stalk her. 

Audra at Relentless:

Audra is just badass and cool. I had the pleasure of meeting her finally at Quassy (where she won our age group! woot). I knew she was my kind of girl when she dropped trau right at the finish line to change (of course, covered w/a towel at the side of the FL).

Go read about her badassery and make sure you check out her IMStG report where she saved a man's life...epic. 

Dawn at Trying for Everything: 

My bestie and I am forcing her to return to blogging. She is a brilliant writer and wonderful person. Dawn would never drop her pants in public but I love her anyway. We are ying-yang and balance each other quite well. Sometimes I wonder how she tolerates my constant yammering and propensity to drop trau in public.

I did it!!

Beach to Beacon 10k~Saturday, August 6th

Plan: Run my first Beach to Beacon 10k and NOT RACE!

Being a Tough Chik inside one of the Ft William's fort windows

Guess what? I did it. I was able to shut off "The Beast" and just run happy. No time goals (except to take it easy), no chasing a PR, nothing except--Run easy, run happy and enjoy the day.
With Timberman 70.3 just two weeks from race day, I needed to treat this run just like a normal training day. Plus, with the hills on this course it was my #1 priority to stay injury free. Fears of hurting my knee like I did this winter (and ending up in PT for 2 months) were not far from my mind.

I went up to the race with Dawn and Stephanie-it was a totally stress free morning! Dawn would be spectating since she has a sprint tri on Sunday and she would also serve as official race day photographer.  Stephanie would be running her second road race ever (her first being many years ago, a small local 5k put on by the YMCA).
Yes, her bib says Andrea but we cannot talk about that. Let's just call her Stephandria kay?

Sadly, there was no normal Dunkin Donuts stop on this morning and I was very sad. I had to suffer with coffee from home.

This is the largest road race in the state with close to 6,000 runners and a HUGE amount of crowd support. This race sells out in record time (I think under 8 minutes this year) and I was able to snag a spot. When I registered for this race this winter, I had no idea that a half Ironman would be on my schedule two weeks later...

We got into the area with no issues since it was still quite early (they close down a ton of the local roads) and we arrived at Portland Head Light at Fort Williams as the sun was rising. It was so pretty. We walked around and checked things out.

Then it was time to make it back to the starting line but come to find out there were only shuttles going from the finish back to the start AFTER the race. If we wanted to catch a shuttle to the start, we needed to leave Ft Williams and head over to the high school. Dawn zipped us there and we boarded a bus and got to the start with lots of time to spare.

Race Dude that helped us figure out the shuttle conundrum

I was so calm. So happy. Relaxed.

This is NOT the norm on race day and I enjoyed feeling so good.
I ran into several friends from Dailymile, my tri club, my YMCA and then it was a short warm up with Stephanie.

I told Stephanie going into this race that she could and SHOULD run her own race and not to worry about me. She wavered back and forth between staying with me, staying with me for a bit and just doing her own thing. We lined up at the back of the 7:00 minute mile corral and socialized with several friends-Yvonne and her hubby, Bob (aka Happy Bob), Misty and Dan.

It was almost GO TIME and I reminded Stephanie that she needed to run HER race today. My plan was to keep the pace around 8:30 to 9:00 minute miles.

After the gun sounded-off she went. I could see her head for a while and then she was gone. I smiled and watched her disappear into the massive crowd of runners. I was so happy that she decided to run for her and not wait for me. I enjoyed listening to the pitter patter of running feet as we moved along the course and people started to scatter out a bit. No ipod on today's run!
Shortly after the start I heard a familiar voice-it was Danielle and a friend. We chatted with her for a bit and I ran with her friend for a while and the she dropped back. Then "Happy Bob" and I met up and ran together for a couple miles. He was engaging the crowd, thanking the volunteers and just being "Happy Bob". Then he wasn't with me anymore (he said I took off on him on a hill).
I then reached the 3.1 mile mark and was feeling good. I cracked some sort of joke about being done and then someone said "no, it's a 10k" and I pretended to be shocked about it. Silly....
It was hot and humid - several spectators along the way set up hoses and sprayed water over the runners. I made sure to run under a couple of these. Before I knew it, we were heading into the final miles-which is several rolling hills. Then you reach the park and this is where my energy exploded. I was feeling fresh so I decided to push a bit harder and finished with a huge smile on my face.
Finish Time: 52:23
I was even happier when I finally got to review my splits.
Each and every single mile was in the 8:20's (well one was 8:19) and I finished the last .2 (well .37 per my Garmin) in 2:44 for a 7:23 pace. I stayed strong on all the hills and kept even paced through out. I call this a huge success for me.
I think the biggest challenge was holding back, staying calm and not blowing up. This was a practice in patience and I think I can hold back on the BIG DAY--being Timberman.
This race was an important training day for me MENTALLY.
Plus, I had so much fun and felt great the entire day!
The post race set up was fantastic and there was tons of stuff to snack on and drink. They were handing out lots of goodies too!
Cliff Bars, TD Banknorth bags, Frisbees, pens, etc.

By the way-
Stephanie killed it with a 47:13 (7:37 avg pace). This is with no run training. She only ran just a couple runs before the race and did a 14 miler with me a couple days before hand. Can you imagine what this chica can do with some real run training. Now, don't get me wrong. She is in fantastic shape already and it a personal trainer but I am anxious to see where she could take this whole running thing with a little bit of effort. So proud of you girl!!!

Stephanie Andrea's stellar finish!

And Dawn did fabulous at her Sprint Tri the following day-The Fisherman Sprint in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Even in the pouring rain and with rough seas she managed a 3rd Place Age Group finish. I am so proud of you too!!

And I got to come home to the Best Cheerleader EVER!! My #1 fan--