Nerves Getting To Me?

I'm not sure what is going on, but my anxiety levels are increasing exponentially this week.  I took a couple days off when I didn't really need the recovery, but did make it out last night to meet up with Walter, Brie and Prenavi for what was supposed to be an "easy" 19-20 miles.  My mind was preoccupied all day (meaning not a whole lot of work got done).  I've been obsessing about the weather forecast (decent upper 70's temps, but 60% chance of rain with threat of severe weather).  I do fear it getting crazy humid if we have off and on pop-up showers during my first century.  We'll see how it goes.

Back to my ride last night:  Met up at 5:30 for the ride.  Prenavi did her first half marathon this last weekend (in the rain - extra badass).  And I have my upcoming 100 miles.  And Brie is just back from getting married a couple weeks ago.  So the whole idea was to take it easy. 

Walter and his harem looking fresh and ready to go!

Going out on the flat greenway trail was a nice way to start and I felt pretty good (though the pollen count was high enough to choke me a bit and make my eyes itch).  But the first hill (up to Hwy 179), made me regret everything I had eaten earlier in the day.  I felt it come up in the back of my throat as my heart rate climbed well up into the 190's.  Thankfully, it was downhill and flat for a while after that so I could recover, but I was sucking wind (and fighting back that bile taste) at the end of the long hill up to S. Country Club.  We joked as we cranked up the hill that we should run into the fire station at the corner and tell them our legs were on fire or that we needed mouth to mouth.  Instead, we just stopped and caught our breath and got a drink before continuing on. 

I fought the hills the whole way out to Meadows Ford, but then enjoyed the long downhill to the creek.  Then we turned around and headed back into town.  I knew the hill coming out of the bottoms was going to suck.  I made it up the first part, but then it turns and continues up (hate those) and about half way up the second part, my heart was pounding out of my chest and I couldn't catch my breath and I was in a near panic attack.  I stopped mid-hill and leaned over my handle bars just trying to breathe.  It SUCKED!  And it didn't do anything for my confidence for this weekend.  Brie was so kind and swung back to wait with me and then cranked up the hill slowly after I got my breathing and heart rate back under control.  I felt like such a giant pussy!

Made it back to Edgewood and knew that we really only had one more hill (up to 179 again) and the rest would be downhill and flat.  I was thanking God we didn't have any further than that to go.  Got back to Prenavi's apartment with 19 miles under our belts.  Even the final little hill up to her parking lot was a bit of a booger.  We visited for a bit on Walter's tailgate and then went inside for a fruit slushie/smoothie type concoction.  Prenavi is totally into juicing and living on fruits and veggies.  I enjoyed visiting for a bit and then headed for home.

Continuing to feel nervous about this weekend, but have been given lots of encouragement on FB, etc.  I don't want to let all the folks that donated down.  I don't want to let the memory of my father down.  And I want to finish this for all the times that a big hairy ass goal like this has tried to get the better of me.  But I'd be lying if I didn't say I was scared shitless.  I hope SuperKate is right and that last night was just me getting my "bad ride" out of the way so I can ride great this weekend.  Many prayers for her and all the great Team Virtus guys too as they tackle their 200 mile gravel nemesis.

 YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 736.6 miles
Running = 92.0 miles

Taste of What is to Come

Bed inertia was strong yesterday morning - must have been that gravitational pull to my husband.  I didn't make it out for the ride with Walter - staying in bed until he was probably nearly done.  Then the rain came and I held off going until I had other things to do and places to be.  So I had to get off my ass today and go.  But a pretty late night had me sleeping in a smidge and heading to mass at 10.  Got home and ate a little bit and read the paper and punted part of the afternoon.  Before the inertia of taking an afternoon nap got the better of me, I jumped into my shorts and jersey and headed out.

There was a chance of pop up thunderstorms that looked to be forming off to the west.  My husband  assured me that he'd come get me in a downpour, but I decided it was easiest to just stay close to home.  I did some loop-de-loops and knocked out 18.2 miles all within 3 miles of home.  Did the interchange three times for some hill work (plus the hill coming home).  But also pushed some on the flats.  I was sweating buckets as the expected "partly cloudy" turned to out not to be the case and I was getting cooked in 88° heat and humidity.  I made sure to drink plenty.  Looking at the forecast for next weekend, it is probably a taste of things to come.  Not bad for summer, but awful when you've been bundling up for rides most of the spring.

Upon looking at the data, I am a bit befuddled as to why my heart rate skyrockets so badly on climbs.  Does it do this for everyone?  I had a max heart rate of 198 with an average of 169.  And even on the flats, I seemed to be solidly in the 170's.  Even a little incline would send me up into the 180's.  Maybe elevation change does that to everyone, but I guess it just makes me go "huh?"  I mean, I see people talk about riding all of their IM bike in 150-170.  I would nearly have to walk my bike to stay in that range.  Am I that cardiovascularly unfit? 

While pedaling away today, I got to thinking about what I want to do after next week is behind me (regardless of how my first century goes).  I will sign up for the cheap sprint tri (ie. Show Me State Games - $25), but not sure what else I want to tackle this summer.  I'm on the fence about signing up for Lake St. Louis Oly (if it isn't already filled).  But it is in the depths of August (which in Missouri is usually kind of miserable).  And I tentatively am going to train for a half in late Sept.  Decisions, decisions.  And since we aren't doing Pewaukee this year, I would like to find a kids race for my girl.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 717.5 miles
Running = 92.0 miles

Overcoming Inertia

Even my shiny new watch wasn't enough to overcome some of my inertia this week.  You know that law of physics about a body at rest tends to stay at rest?  Ugh!  It was a busy week with the last day and a half of school, my son's 12th birthday and a fair amount of work (well, yesterday anyway).  But I could NOT let another day/evening go by without getting my happy ass on my bike. 

So I drug my butt off the couch and headed out kind of late in the day (7 PM).  I figured I could make the 20 mile round trip before the sun set (though I really need to replace the battery in the light on my bike!).  I cranked away suffering on the inclines (like always though now I know by how much when I watch my heart rate skyrocket) and enjoying the downhills.  I turned around when I had gone a little over 10 miles and headed back.  I picked up the pace a little as the sun started dropping faster and faster.

Came back through Taos as some people were crossing the road to where their car was parked and this old man stopped in the middle of the road and stuck his arm up and grabbed his junk.  I'm not sure if that was supposed to me I looked strong and had balls or what.  It was kind of weird. 

I flew down the hill back towards home (max speed over 30 mph - wow!).  And then cranked up my heart rate as I climbed back out of the floodplain.  I got back to my driveway with 21.4 miles on my watch so rode up to the next intersection to end with 21.57. 

Trying to decide when to ride this weekend.  Walter is going very early tomorrow for 50 miles, but it is supposed to be kind of cold.  It is better to ride with someone, but I'd kind of like to go later in the day or perhaps Sunday.  Don't want the inertia to rebuild too high though.  I'm feeling pretty beat right now so I'll play it by ear. 

YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 699.3 miles
Running = 92.0 miles

Garmin = Good Excuse 4 Workout

If you heard a squeal coming from the midwest this morning, it was probably me as I took my brand new Garmin 910XT out of the box!  Yay!  I've been saving and my husband told me to just go ahead and order it for Mother's Day (yes, I do think he is expecting a BIG Father's Day gift).  Then I saw on DC Rainmaker's blog that it was about to go on sale. 

I waited until last Friday morning (just after I got up) and clicked the link to Clever Training through his blog and scored my new watch (w/ HRM strap) for $339 (over $100 off!).  By 9:30 in the morning, I had an email that said it had shipped USPS Priority Mail from FL.  I went to check the tracking number this morning after I saw our mailman drive by and it said it was here!  I went out to the mailbox and sure enough - the box took up the whole front of the mailbox!  YAY!

So I brought it inside, unpacked all the goodies and turned it on.  I played with a few settings and then set it up to charge.  This afternoon, after going to an end of the year assembly at the kids' school, I came home and changed clothes to go for a very short run (just 1.0 mile) with my daughter to test it out.  Then, because I wanted to play with it some more, I went out for a short ride too!  I came home and dumped it all into Garmin Connect (though I still need to figure out how to bring the maps and stuff into my blog).

Lots of good fun!  I'm sure to be a bit of a data junkie for a while.  Still need to get out and try out the swim metrics, but probably won't get to do that until after Tour de Cure is over.  Need to get in plenty of bike time for now.

YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 677.7 miles
Running = 92.0 miles

Don't be a Chickensh*t

It was a little scary getting back at it.  I laid around most of my wonderful Mother's Day with my bandaged arm.  And truthfully, I did that a lot the rest of the week too in between being busy with work and kid stuff.  Part of taking the week off was being stiff and sore and my arm oozing and bleeding every time I changed the bandage.  But, in all honesty, a good part was also dreading getting back on that horse that threw me.  It was good to rest, but at the end of a week off - it was time to stop being such a chickenshit (which Bob Jenkins assures me is one word).

So last night I sucked it up.  I had checked that my tire wasn't noticeably out of true and my helmet wasn't cracked.  I decided a short-ish easy-ish ride in my usual stomping grounds (with no railroad tracks) would be a good check of how the bike was doing.  It had been a pretty hot day so it was nice to go out after dinner.  I rode 9.7 miles.  The first few miles seemed to send shooting pain up through my right arm/elbow as I went over any bump or crack.  But after a while, I was able to mostly tune that out and just pedal away.

Walter texted me and asked how I was healing and I shared my nearly 10 miles of triumph.  He suggested we head out early this morning (before it got too hot again).  That worked for me since we had my nephew's first communion at 11:30.  I was up and at'em early and ready to go at 7 AM.  We headed out for a moderate 24.8 mile ride around Jefferson City.  The down side is that we have A LOT of hills around town and there really isn't a way to go out without climbing at least some of them.  I felt pretty good (though sweaty) on most of the ride, but Seven Hills Road was just too late in the route and I was a bit shaky after the last big ass climb.  Stopped for a drink and felt silly when we were only about 4 miles from my house.  Shook it out and got going again.  I was pretty worn out afterwards which puzzled me a little.  Not sure if it was too many hills or the heat/humidity or what. 

In other news, my daughter participated in the local Hershey's Track meet yesterday morning.  It was a free event, but is a qualifying event that can lead to the national meet in Hershey, PA later in the year.  She ran the 50m, 200m and then did the softball throw.  She came in 3rd, 4th, and 2nd respectively which means she doesn't advance, but she got some ribbons and had a good time.  It was sunny and warm, but at least there was a little breeze.  My daughter had a friend at the meet that had a big sport umbrella that she sat under and played while she waited for her events to be called.  What a life saver!

My girl in full stride (blonde in turquoise) - not sure why this didn't load properly

The kids get out of school for the summer Tuesday at 1 PM.  Lots going on this week with end of school, son's 12th birthday, softball practices and games, work, etc.  Better get to bed early tonight and rest up so I can squeeze a couple bike rides in there too.

YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 672.0 miles
Running = 91.0 miles

Long Ride Interrupted by Crash

My goal was to go 50-60 miles today.  Walter agreed to do some of it with me on a group ride starting at 9 AM across town.  Seemed silly to drive over there when I was trying to get miles in so I left the house at 8 AM and rode.  It is also nice to get kind of warmed up at my own pace.  At that time of the morning, there wasn't a lot of traffic though I ran into a 5K preparing to start downtown and had a lady pull out of a parking space in front of me, but I saw her so we were good.  I made decent time and got to the school parking lot with a few minutes to spare.

The "group" was only me, Walter and Bruce.  I think we talked Bruce into going a little longer though Walter didn't seem to know exactly how long our route together was going to be.  It doesn't matter because with the wicked hills, ten miles felt like 20.  Ouch!  I was sucking wind, but I guess it all "builds character" and is good training for the climbing after the mid-point of the Tour de Cure.  I tried to map it though it was hard to follow exactly where we went.  It was a gorgeous day with a lot of sunshine though the wind picked up as we rode and was starting to suck a little towards the end.

According to Walter's bike computer, we went about 28 miles together (Centertown, St. Martins, west end of Jefferson City - MapMyRide seemed to indicate he was slightly short).  I rode about 11 miles out to meet them so I was looking at finishing about 50 total when I got back to my house and had thought about going on out to Taos to pick up another 10-15.  But it was no to be.

On the way back across town (alone having dropped Walter and Bruce at the grade school), I was cussing the railroad tracks that zig zag back and forth across Industrial Drive.  I turned onto McCarty Street and was glad that I only had to go over one more set to cross when it happened.  The tracks run more parallel to the travel lane in this location and I was just thinking about how much that sucks when all of a sudden I felt my wheel catch and I was thrown to the ground. 

Thankfully, not into traffic.  Thankfully, I had worn my thermal tights because it was chilly at the outset this morning.  Thankfully, I had on my full fingered gloves (same reason).  Thankfully, my phone still had plenty of charge.  As I laid in the gutter, I was mildly surprised no one stopped.  It felt like a pretty horrific crash.  But I got myself up, pulled my bike onto the sidewalk and tried to decide what to do.  I freaked a little as a couple drops of blood hit the sidewalk and decided it wasn't time to be a hero and I called for a pussy pickup.  Thankfully, I was only about 3-4 miles from where my husband was working a Knights of Columbus bbq so he hopped in the truck and came to get me.

Damage tally: A pretty good raspberry on my hip/abdomen and matching one on my shin (would have been much worse without the tights); pretty sore shoulder (dirt on new jersey proved I had hit this pretty good - plus gravel and a piece of the rubber pad from the railroad crossing fell out of my jersey pocket when I undressed); by far the worst was my right elbow.  I burned off some skin, got a deep bloody cut and whacked it pretty hard.  It hurts like a son-of-a-bitch!  I nearly shrieked when I was in the shower trying to clean it out.  I did shriek when I put peroxide on it to try to disinfect the area.  My son bandaged it up (thank you Boy Scout first aid) because it continued to drip blood.

OUCH!

So in the end, I got 46.4 miles in.  Needless to say, I took it pretty easy this afternoon and tried to rest.  I read, watched a movie and laid around.  Hopefully, tomorrow won't bring new aches and pains.  If I don't feel completely like crap, I might try to go out for a short ride.  Gotta get back up on that horse, right?

YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 637.5 miles
Running = 91.0 miles

Rained Out Long Run

I come to you from my new Microsoft Surface tablet.  I'm so excited to have something that doesn't weigh a ton sitting on my lap (or get so freakin' hot) and that is more than portable enough for taking to the office or coffee shop.  Yay me!  It is a "business expense" as it has a pretty good amount of Office products to be used for writing reports and such.  But of course I will enjoy using it for some personal things too. 

Today dawned with a ton of clouds that slowly brought the rain.  Susan was busy waiting on her new fridge and I was puttering around the house after a whirlwind trip to the grocery store (and still managed to forget something I needed for a recipe).  So our long run was not to be.  But I headed to Best Buy to get my new computer and a printer.  Our printer was purchased when I was early in my pregnancy with my son so it is almost 13 years old.  I haven't set up the printer yet, but it is a decent wireless one.

Late in the afternoon, the sun came out and I needed to get one more thing from the store and deposit a check I got from a client.  Great excuse to get in a 5K jog! And with that, I was off to Walmart.  With the rain this morning and then the sun, it was muggy out this afternoon.  There was a bit of a breeze, but it was still plenty warm.  I went to the bank, picked up the can of mushroom soup I needed for my stroganoff and headed back home.  Annoying to run with a can of soup in my fanny pack, but even moreso to run with it in my hands.  Such is life.

Gotta run the girl to Brownies (Girl Scouts) here shortly.  Need to catch up on work tomorrow since today was a bit of a bust.  Tomorrow night is the girl's piano recital and then a long bike ride on Saturday morning - hoping to go at least 60-ish.  No big Mother's Day plans.

Speaking of Mother's Day, I told my husband that since I paid for the tablet out of my business account, it is not my gift.  I also told him that the GPS watch is going to be my gift.  My dilemma is that my dream watch is the $399 Garmin 910XT.  However, I found a Timex Run Trainer for $179 (including heart rate strap which is another $50 on the Garmin) that will do about 90% of what the Garmin will do (basically everything except swim metrics - though it is waterproof).  It isn't truly a multisport watch, but it will switch between min/mile and mph so it would cover two of the three sports pretty well.  I'm not sure if it will pair to a cadence sensor (the web site seems to indicate that it will but DC Rainmaker's review didn't seem to indicate this).  That said, I'm not sure I'd spend the money on the fancy sensor for a while (if at all) anyway.  And as much as electronics tend to change, maybe I'll want a new watch in a few years and then I could splurge on the fancier model after I see how much I use it.  On the other hand, we totally have the money to just buy what I want, but it is hard to justify twice the cost.  Decisions, decisions!  I'm open to thoughts.

YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 591.1 miles
Running = 91.0 miles

Beautiful Bike Ride

Sunday was freezing cold (high in 40's), but Monday morning dawned a little warmer and Tuesday was downright gorgeous and sunny (high in 80's) - like spring should be!  About freaking time!  After a couple of busy days of work (and some raging PMS) I really NEEDED to get out on my bike.  And yet, I had to cajole myself a little into it.  But I didn't let any excuses get in the way.  Having a new pretty blue jersey to wear didn't hurt.  My husband was shuttling my daughter between piano and softball practice and my son was digging into his spelling homework.  I had plenty of time to get out for a ride.

I left home about 5:20 and headed out in the sunshine.  I rode out past Taos to the Bald Hill Road intersection.  Stopped for just a minute to get a drink and have a few sport beans.  I headed back bombing my way with a "whoo-hoo!" on the long downhill on Algoa.  Cranked my way up the hill to home.  I averaged 13.95 mph even with the climbing for 19.1 miles.  Go me! 

If I can dance through the rain drops that are probably coming tomorrow, I'll either go for a run with Susan or go for a bike ride.

YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 591.1 miles
Running = 87.9 miles

Awesome Race Weekend

Heads up - when volunteering for a race I can take a lot more pictures.  When racing by myself with no family cheering, I get NO pictures.  My epic weekend included volunteering all day at the Cedar Cross hosted by Team Virtus and then TriZou sprint triathlon in Columbia, MO the following day.

I chilled out Friday after a long week.  Two margaritas later, I was ready for bed at 9:30.  Good thing Superkate found someone else's house to go to.  But it was up and at'em early Saturday morning.  I got dressed (in a lot of layers - it was in the 30's!) and swang by Gerbes to grab several dozen donuts and several bags of fruit.  Got to Cedar Cross Race HQ about 7:30 and said hello to my various friends. 

Pretty soon, everyone lined up for the start and Bob gave some final words of wisdom.  There was an awesome kid playing electric guitar getting everyone hyped up, then he rocked the national anthem and jammed as the riders took off. 

Team Virtus represented! Robby and Luke before the start

Starting Line

Final Race Instructions

Everyone solemn for the National Anthem

Kick Ass guitar kid

Lead car leading racers out

Race Start

 

I waited around a bit to kill some time and to get more specific instructions on where I was going.  Drove to Ashland and stopped for a bite to eat and a soda plus to use the facilities.  Then headed to my spot and waited for a bit.  About 10:18 AM, the first two guys went flying by followed by a pretty good pack and another few guys.  No one stopped.  These guys were in it to win it.  The slightly slower folks that came in behind them were happy to have some water or a donut or banana.
For future reference, no one really wanted an apple or orange (which I failed to bring a knife to cut up).  I had a lot left over, but no biggie.  Was just happy to share the day with these awesome athletes.

View from my water/snack stop - fast guys coming through

Hung out until we were pretty sure the last folks had been through and then headed to bag drop.  Bob can't take a direct route anywhere so off through the gravel we went.  Got to the drop site and hung out with the cool guys from Team Fohty (and their AWESOME bus with a couple microbrew kegs on the back). 

Just short of half way here - there was some cussing of Bob Jenkins!

Team Fohty AWESOME bus!



Don't let Bob Jenkins do your race number



Robby "The Darkness" Brown took off following the cue sheet to the "T" and missing out on the team pic

Team Virtus - Luke, Adam, Travis, Kate and Bob



DNF Don was handy with the lube (on people's chains)



By the time the last of the people came through the bag drop, it was going on mid-afternoon and the likelihood was that the fast guys were going to be finishing soon.  So I snuck off to the Holts Summit McDonalds for a restroom break and a sandwich and then headed to the finish line.  I got there 5 min after the six guys who "won" did.  That has to be pretty anti-climactic to come into a finish line with almost no one there.  Freaking fast guys!  They came in together and donated their winnings ($500!) to charity.  What a cool way for that race to end!

Crazy fast and charitable dudes!

Crazy fast Emily Korsch with her official finisher's cup - first person without a penis to finish the full distance!

X-Rated Race Within a Race Trophy - it had two horses asses and a giant dildo - classy!

 I waited and waited and waited for other riders to come in. It was a while before anyone else came and then they trickled in. I cheered for everyone and enjoyed listening to stories of the day. There were some broken deraillers from the mud and some missed directional cues. And everyone cussed the muddy singletrack, but seemed to also agree that it added to the "epicness" of the day. Bob put a log on the fire because it was freaking cold and got colder as the sun went down and wind picked up. At nine, I gave it up and went home. My poor family had missed me and I had an early wakeup call. Kate hadn't come in yet and apparently wouldn't for another 20-30 min. Sorry to have missed her, but hope she had a great time.

Bob Jenkins and his big log

Robby looking pretty awesome with his "finisher's glass"

Got cleaned up and headed to bed after setting out a few things for this morning.  Up with my phone alarm at 5:15.  Dressed and headed out for Columbia.  Straight to the parking garage, then headed to packet pickup.  Got to transition with just 15 min to set everything up.  Ran into a girl I hadn't seen in 20 years.  Weird.  Stripped down and headed to the chip pickup line - not fun to stand outside in 40° weather in bare feet on concrete.  Note to self - 98 cent flip flops would have been worth tossing in the trash can.  Got inside and sat and waited for a long time to get in the pool.  I lined up with the folks who said they'd do the 1/4 mi swim in about 11 min.  I probably could have been a little further up, but I wasn't sure how I'd be slowed down with more people in the lanes and going under the ropes.  I visited with a lady that happens to be the niece of a guy that lives down the road from us and knows a bunch of people we know.  Weird.  Then I visited with a guy that had to take out his hearing aids before jumping in ahead of me.  Love this sport!  I had forgotten to take my glasses off so I left them on a bench by the swim exit and hoped they would still be there when I got back.

 

Finally got in the pool about 1.5 hours after the age groupers started.  Open water big group waves do have an advantage here.  The water was colder than I expected it to be, but I got right to it.  Caught the old man pretty quickly and then passed a handful of others so I was too far back in the line.  Oh well.  I felt a little tired along the way on the swim, but just slowed a bit and finished fine.  Got out of the pool and headed for the door grabbing my glasses on the way and switching them out for my goggles.  It was a long run down a very cold sidewalk in our bare feet.  It had only made it up to 46° at this point and being wet didn't help.  My watch shot craps in the pool so I have no idea how long the swim actually took.  It appears the split time included the long run to T1 (which was 11:32).

 

I got to my rack and put on my helmet then decided to take it off and put my Buff on under it to keep my ears warm.  I dried off as best I could and put my jacket on which felt much warmer.  Socks, bike shoes, gloves and I was off down the track to Bike Out.  I cranked my way out onto the course.  They had shut down one lane of each of three major roads and had awesome police/volunteer support at all intersections.  I don't know whose ass they kissed for that, but I thanked each one that I could.  I cruised down Stadium, suffered up Old 63, cranked down Grindstone and around to Providence and then coasted down to Mick Deaver and slowly cranked my way to the top. 

 

I was thinking how fast this bike course had been when the volunteer told me to go straight if I had only done one lap.  Oh shit!  I hadn't looked at the map closely enough - the bike course was TWO loops.  I had to face those two killer hills again!  I was not very happy at this point because I had cranked up Providence thinking I was almost done with the bike.  But I cranked away and got it done.  I was pretty freaking happy when the bike was over though.  Results email said my bike split for 14 miles was 1:06:23 which probably included the run around half the track and T2 (maybe T1 too).  My legs were NUMB (cold).  My upper body felt good though.  Jumped off my bike and tried to jog through T2 to my rack.  Pulled off my helmet, Buff, and gloves then switched shoes and took off for the run out.  A lot of people were finished now and that is always a bit demoralizing.  

 

But I was feeling relatively ok and was ready to get this thing done.  I jogged what I could and walked more than I should've, but pretty soon we were through the ag school area and to the first water station.  I tried to reel in this lady ahead of me and finally caught her about mile 2.  Then I kept feeling better and ran more, but still stopped to walk occassionally.  I passed a guy with "81" on his calf and told him he was a rock star!  I love that he is still knocking it out at that age.  A funny black guy was cheering and directing people at a merge point on the run course and I high 5'd him both times I went past him.  The run was pretty flat with just a little bit of hills and the climbs up and over the pedestrian bridge over College Ave.

 

I yelled at some kid that was blocking the sidewalk talking to some friends to "move".  I'm sure he called me a bitch.  Then I ran past a lady that yelled "Go Jeff City!" - I think my friend's sister Sarah who did her first tri and kicked ass.  And then there was the finish line.  I was glad to be done, but missed having my family there to cheer (and take pics).  I got my finishers glass and careful not to shatter it, headed to get my stuff packed up.  Grabbed a couple slices of Shakespeares Pizza and got my results ticket and headed for the car.  I felt like I did about as good as I could and I knocked out the course in 1:51:10 with a run split of 33:17 for the 5K (not a bad pace for me).  I'll take it.  Especially with my lack of swim training and less than stellar amount of running.

 

Celebrated Cinco de Mayo with some friends at our local Mexican joint tonight.  A couple margaritas might make for a rough Monday morning.  But all in all, a pretty awesome weekend!

 

YTD:
Swimming = 10,000 yds = 5.7 mi
Biking = 572.0 miles
Running = 87.9 miles 

Run Before Rain

Mother Nature took another drag on her crack pipe by dropping the temperature overnight about 30-35° and bringing in a front that gave us a bit of rain and a little snow to those just north of us (Hello - we don't get snow in Missouri in MAY!).  Saw a funny on FB about the KC Royals in first place and snow on May 2nd just being a dream.  LOL

But I texted Susan last night so I couldn't bail on her again this week out of laziness.  She was still at the hospital (call night) so I wasn't sure what she'd be up for.  But this morning she said she had 12 miles on her half marathon training schedule and she'd be happy to have me join her for the final 4 miles.  So I dawdled at home a bit and then drove out to the Greenway Edgewood parking lot.  Timing was great and she came around the bend just as I was locking my car.

I really didn't need my jacket which I realized after I'd already worn it on the first quarter mile.  So I tied it around my waist.  It was cloudy, damp and cool so it was hard to judge.  We went out a pretty easy 2 miles.  She was struggling to hold pace after already getting 8 miles in before I got there.  I didn't want to push too much with a race this weekend, but I wanted to stretch it out a little at the half way point so when she pointed to the power pole we were going to turn around at, I told her I'd wait for her there.  I can't hold the faster pace for very long, but it felt good to get my heart rate up.

Back to a slower, easier pace all the way back.  I was proud of Susan for knocking out a super long run in prep for the Go Girl half in a few weeks.  She wanted me to do it with her, but I decided it was too close to the Tour de Cure (which is just 4 weeks away!)

When we sat on the bench to stretch, she snapped this pic - said it was for Boston.  God bless her!  Such a good friend (and the pretty easy pace) made this the best 4 miles I've done in ages!


Love her pink calf sleeves and shoes!

YTD:
Swimming = 9600 yds = 5.5 mi
Biking = 558.0 miles
Running = 84.8 miles

If you give a girl a coupon...

I was a little sore last night and this morning from all the bike riding in the last week.  Then this morning I had the "joy" of fighting to install and configure a new network card for the plotter I share with the surveyors.  Finally got some things plotted and some other work done before taking off to get a bite and then heading back to pick up children. 

But a couple days ago, a friend shared a coupon that would give me 25% off most things at Dicks Sporting Goods.  I have been wanting to get a couple of new bike jerseys (as I currently only have one).  I also was out of just about everything as far as nutrition for long rides/runs goes. 

If you give a girl a coupon....she might give herself permission to go shopping.....and if she goes shopping, she might try on a bunch of different running and biking clothes....and once she finds two jerseys that fit that she liked, she might get busy picking out a wide range of nutrition to try (some she had tried before)....and once her basket was getting expensive (even with the coupon), she'd check out and run hope with only a hint of shame for what she'd spent.



Safety Yellow Pearl Izumi jersey and blue Canari jersey

A little bit of everything! Boy this stuff adds up!

Can't wait to go riding in my new jerseys!  Now if the weather would just stay warm!