Spring Training

Training in Texas in the spring can be great and it can be a great frustration.  Last spring as I pushed toward my Ironman in May, I struggled on the bike because biking in 30 mph wind really sucks!  It is so hard to gauge how hard you should ride and then it is disheartening to see a low average on your long rides, etc.

This spring the wind is back, but it does not have me as frustrated.  Not being signed up for a $650 race that requires 20 hours a week of your time will help a person lighten up when it comes to working out :)

I can choose to ride on the trainer.  I can choose to ride for a much shorter amount of time.  Or, if I feel like it, I can choose not to ride at all!

As of the last 15 weeks, I have been pretty faithful in sticking to a training program and recently chose a race to celebrate the training.  I will do the X50 at the TexasMan Tri on May 20th.  This will be my first time to do this distance.  It is a 1 mile swim, 40 mile bike and 9 mile run (50 miles, hence X50).  Should be fun!

I have only made it to one of the local charity rides so far this spring.  I was able to ride Lancaster and it was such a great day!  The incredible scenery provided by bluebonnet covered rolling hills more than made up for the howling winds.  We were fortunate to head south first, giving us a tail wind for the last 30 miles back to town.  A strong hour-long run off the bike sealed the deal for a fantastic big Saturday workout.  Love those days!

ominous clouds in the morning gave way to full sun and we had a great ride!

6 Years of Fitness

 

March marks 6 years of fitness for me!  Woot!  Yep, 6 years ago I ventured out to run for the first time and let me tell you, it was not pretty :)


Three years ago, I posted this:

3 Years

I am happy to say that three years later I am still on the wagon and still loving every minute of it (even the painful ones!)

6 years ago today, I could not run 1/10 mile.  Today I can say I have completed a running race of every distance from a 5k to 50k and a mini triathlon up to the full iron distance. 


Pete is still the most amazing coach and when I listen to him (you know how it is, sometimes you gotta do what you wanna do) I have great success.

I am so grateful that I get to do these things.  I try not to take a single step for granted and recognize the fact that it is indeed a blessing and not a right to have the ability and the time to do this.  The way my family supports me is unreal.  There is no way I could have had the success that I have enjoyed without them.

So, cheers to 6 years of fit living!  And here's to many, many more!

Cowtown 10K

Saturday, Pops and I ventured out for the Cowtown 10K.  In 5+ years of racing, I have never raced that distance, so I thought...Why not?!

It was fun, but give me a marathon any day over a 10K!  Running 6 miles hard is harder than running 26 miles at your happy pace :)

I was able to maintain a 7:30 pace but I had to work for it.  I guess that is where I am right now.  That was good enough for 5th in my age group out of 373 women, though!  Woot!

Pops had a personal best at a 9:55 pace.  He hasn't been able to break the 10:00 barrier for that distance until now.  Way to go, Pops!!

It is such a blessing to do these things with family.  Nana was there to support us and take us to Mimi's after the race.  Such good times.



Whiterock Marathon

The Whiterock Marathon.  A great Dallas race that I just couldn't resist (although I probably should have).  It was a cold (40 degrees) wet (rain started as I passed under the starting line and didn't stop) wonderful (I love running marathons no matter how miserable the conditions) successful (I finished) day!  Soren and Pete were on a relay team with Mat for the marathon.  Soren ran a 5 mile leg and Pete ran his leg, Soren's leg, Mat's leg and then some to be with me as I suffered along :)

I was fine until mile 14, on track to get my elusive 3:45, but then my legs locked up and I slowed WAY down and crawled in with a time of 4:15.  Oh well.  I am glad I finished and I still had fun because those events are so great and the people are so amazing, but I have to say that I am tired of racing without being prepared and have set some real goals for 2012 to get back on track.  2011 was a HUGE year with 3 stand alone marathons, a full ironman, two half ironman races, a 25k at midnight in July in Texas and 2 half marathons.  That was more than my body can do well.  I did them, but everything since my full ironman in May has been less than stellar.

For 2012 I would like to race a 70.3 and do well and, dang it, I want to run a 3:45 marathon!!

Cheers 2011, it was fun.



Rock N Roll San Antonio

Yet another chance for me to give thanks to God for giving me the strength and energy to enjoy the sport of running.  Last weekend I completed the Rock N Roll San Antonio Marathon and had the privilege of being accompanied by much of my family for the event.  Zach ran the full marathon and Pops and Mat completed the half.  It was a success for all runners, even if some of our times were not what we were hoping.  The weather, while beautiful, was not ideal for running.  65 degrees with nearly 100% humidity at the start burning off to sunny and 85 for a high made conditions ripe for cramping.  I was on a roll, averaging around 8:35 until my quads locked up just past mile 11.  Had I known the cramping would last for the rest of the run, I might have turned back the half mile to the half marathon turn off.  I was able to rub out the knots and then run for 3 to 4 minutes before locking up again.  This lasted for the rest of the run and landed me a 4:25 finish.  My slowest ever.  Oh well, what can ya do?

I was grateful to be out on such a beautiful day with so many people aiming for the same goal.  I do not regret pushing on (hate that I have a 4:25 on the books) and have more experience to lean on in the future.

Zach had a similar experience, cramping up at mile 20.  His overall finish was 3:47.  He, as well, was grateful to finish and happy to be there despite the unforseen complications.

Pops and Mat had a great race!!  Pops finished with an amazing 2:15:59 and Mat with a 2:12.  Way to go guys!

These times are priceless to me.  What a blessed life I live.

 compression sock club :)

Post race grub at The Grist Mill, Gruene, TX



The Big Three Five

It's been pretty slow since the end of my triathlon season in August.  I have been doing a little of this and a little of that to try to stay in some sort of shape (round is a shape, right?!) as I try to motivate myself to train for marathon season.  This week is the first time we have had a break in the weather and I think that is going to help a lot.  A week ago I went out after church, hoping to run 16 miles.  I suffered through 11, and I mean SUFFERED, and then I just quit.  I never broke into it.  I felt slow and heavy and out of breath the entire time.  I did find out when I finished that it was 102 degrees out, so that was probably bad planning on my part!  This Sunday was my 35th birthday.  Last year I told myself that for my 35th birthday I was going to run 35 miles, because that would just be cool.  Well when the day got here I knew that was out of the question.  I was pretty bummed but then realized I could cheat a little and do 35 Kilometers instead and not have totally failed my goal!  I needed to be at church by 8:30 so that meant I needed to be finished running by 7:30.  Yikes.  But I had to try, right?  So at 4:20 I hit the streets.  It was nice and cool (65 degrees) but I still felt sluggish starting out (could be because I shopped in Canton all day the day before, could be that it was freaking early in the morning!!).  So I started praying.  My run has been off for weeks and I prayed that God would give me my run back.  Psalms says that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  I told Him that this was the desire of my heart.  Within a mile I could feel my legs lighten and my energy rise.  I immediately thanked God for not only hearing me and not only answering my prayer (because I believe that He ALWAYS hears and ALWAYS answers) but that He answered immediately.  I praised God for the next 3 hours and 10 minutes as I ENJOYED running 22 miles (35 Kilometers)!  It was wonderful.  Thank you, God, for giving me that wonderful gift on my birthday!  I finished my run and was at church on time.  Woot!

Coming up is the San Antonio marathon in November, Whiterock marathon in December, Austin half marathon girls' trip with Nancy and Kellie in February and either the full or ultra at Cowtown the next weekend.

Happy Running!

Hotter 'n Hell Hundred

Hotter n Hell Hundred.  I live in Texas and I am a cyclist, so I just have to.  The previous two years we found ourselves actually chilly before the start of the ride at 7am.  I cannot even imagine.  This summer is just so stinkin hot.  So this year the ride lived up to it's name.  Because of the extreme conditions (high of 108) and the fact that they close Hell's Gate which is at mile 59 if you do not make it through before a certain time, the ride officials let us start 30 minutes early.  That was pretty cool.  Thousands of riders took advantage of the opportunity, illuminating the streets of Wichita Falls with the blinking lights of crazy people who showed up to ride 100 miles in Texas in August.  The ride is always great and this year was no exception.  The last two hours were brutally hot, so I stopped at each aid station starting at mile 70 to get ice water and pickle juice.  I drank 7 bottles of sport pickle juice and used an entire tube of electrolyte tablets.  My question is, can you take in too many electrolytes?  My guess is Yes.  I felt great for the ride and even for a little while after, but around 3 hours post ride my legs felt tingly and tight like they do when you are retaining water at the end of a pregnancy, I weighed 4 pounds more than I did before the ride and my eyes were swollen.  But what is strange is that my body didn't look like I was retaining water?  Usually my midsection would be swollen and my legs and ankles would really show it.  Pretty weird.  It felt terrible.  I was in bed early and woke up not a lot different and not a pound lighter (I usually weigh 3 to 5 pounds lighter in the morning than before bed).  It took until mid-day today for that feeling to pass.

Other than that, it was a great day!  Another HHH for me!



Thank you, blogger, for once again putting my pictures out of order.

My great friend, Nancy, who will always come to a suffer fest with me!

 This was something new.  This giant trough was filled with ice and people were sticking their heads in it to try to cool off.  This was at mile 75

 Pre-dawn gathering of the early starters.