Charlottesville 8K

Friday morning started with an MRI on my foot.  I saw Dr. Lutta earlier in the week and he wonders if I possibly have a stress fracture (I won't find out for another week or so at my follow up appointment).  Not exactly the pre-race activity that's normally on the agenda... Then, I took off work at noon and made a quick stop to sign up for a gym membership (specifically for boot camp/strength training classes which is part of the Ironman training plan) before setting out for Charlottesville.  It was raining and traffic was terrible on rt. 29.  This was going to be a long drive.

Jessie was awesome and volunteered to go down early and pick up everyone's packets.  She drove down with Eileen and Henry, and they got all the packets (thanks!!!) and decided to stop for a quick lunch before meeting everyone at the winery.  This gave me a little extra time to get down there, do a quick run-through at Mincer's on the corner, grab some run gels from the run store and a sandwich from Take it Away.  Yum!  By this point, the weather had cleared up and allowed for the 20 minute drive to the winery with the top down, which always makes me happy.

Everyone (me, Jessie, Eileen, Henry, Megan, Mindy, Debbie and the kids) met at Cardinal Point winery, my favorite, where we had a lovely afternoon out on the back porch.  Then, it was off to pick up Darcy, who had arrived and checked into our hotel, and make our way to the Team Z dinner at The Villa (which has cleaned up a LOT from my days at UVA!).  So many people from so many areas of my life doing this race!   It was especially nice to catch up with Hillary who has been absent from the pool for many months (she's concentrating on running this year).  After dinner, Darcy and I made our way back to the classy Super 8 hotel for a lazy evening of television and getting ourselves ready for the race.

At some point during the night I woke up and thought to myself, why am I still planning on running the half marathon?!  What am I trying to prove to myself?!  I think that I had it in my mind that in order to do Ironman in the fall, I needed to do a long running event in the spring.  Right then in there, I made the decision to switch to the 8K race instead.  I slept much better after that, no doubt!  In fact, when the alarm went off at 5:30, I allowed myself to sleep in a little more, rather than my normal type A attitude of getting to the race extra early.  Also, the 8K race started 15 minutes after the half marathon, which allowed us a little extra time.

Darcy and I parked at the downtown mall and walked to the race start.  Darcy headed to the port-a-potty line, which we had been warned was very long, while I made a stop at the registration tent to officially switch races.  I would've run the 8K regardless, but always prefer if everything is official.  It was no problem as the volunteer took down my name and number and made note of the switch.  I was ready to go, pleased with my decision to do the shorter route.

As I walked over to find Darcy, I heard someone call my name.  I looked up and saw Linda standing with a bunch of Team Z people!  We had missed Jessie, Eileen and Henry start their race (half marathon), but found Megan and Mindy and hung with them before the start of our event.  A few minutes later, we were off!  Darcy and I stayed together for the first little bit as we started down a steep hill... not a good sign for things to come!  What goes down, must go up.. and indeed, this was one hilly course.  I decided to walk up the first long hill and Darcy went ahead.  I later passed her when she had stopped to pet a dog on the side of the course.  We continued this back and forth leap frog for the entire race.  My knee bothered me a little, but my foot was fine.

When I got to the water stop which was also the turn-around point, the volunteers told me that I needed to keep going straight.  Huh?  Everyone else is turning around.. is this a joke?  Finally it occurred to me that I was still wearing the half marathon bib number, so they thought I was just really far behind in the longer race.  Phew!  I turned around and started heading back.  Less than a half mile later, Darcy catches up to me again and yells "almost there!".  I respond "nope! we're halfway!"... she hasn't learned that you NEVER EVER say "almost there" to someone unless they are within 100 yards of the finish line! 

Anyway, I kept trotting on, now keenly aware that it was an out and back course and we were going to have to do the exact same hills all over again.  Yuck.  At some point, with about a mile to go, a police officer on a motor cycle rode up next to me and explained that the roads were going to be opening to traffic soon and that us runners would have to move to the sidewalks and obey traffic signals.  I really didn't care for that at all, as we were not going super slow (under 14 min/mi) and there was no posted time limit for the 8K race (time limit for the half marathon was 3 hours, or 13:44/mi pace).  Whatever... kept going and luckily got a bunch of green lights so I didn't have to stop too much.  They also had nobody directing us on the course anymore, so I saw a few runners go off in the wrong direction, unfortunately too far ahead for me to alert.  Down one more hill and up a steep mountain (seriously, think double black diamond ski slope).  I saw Coach Ed cheering on the corner and then just a couple more blocks, and up a small incline to the finish!

As I crossed the finish line, a volunteer handed me a medal.  I didn't see anybody else wearing a medal so I took a look at it and noticed it was for the half marathon runners.  Ha, like anybody should have thought that I finished the half marathon in an hour and 10 minutes!  I promptly went over to another volunteer and returned the medal.  I feel like it's bad ju-ju to have a finishers medal for a race I didn't do.  What I did earn, however, was the pint glass and free beer (they had cider!!!).  Darcy finished just a few minutes behind me, and it got really cold and windy, so we got our post-race refreshments and headed back to the car. 

After a quick stop at Bodo's for a bagel, we drove to Megan's Grandpa's house on Lake Monticello where they were nice enough to let us take showers.  Once everyone arrived home from their races and got ready, we set out for a day at the local wineries!  At the second winery, we ran into David and Anne from Team Z and got to spend time with them also.  Then, Darcy and I said goodbye to the crew as they headed further on the wine tour.  Darcy needed to head back to northern VA by 5pm and I was looking forward to a good night sleep in my own bed.  I dropped Darcy off at her car, still parked at the hotel, and started the drive back to Fairfax, with a nice stop for ice cream.  One more stop at Chick-Fil-A to grab dinner for Jon and me, and then it was a quiet evening on the couch (asleep by 8:30!).  A good day.

XTERRA Rosaryville Trail 5K

So, I'm sitting at my desk, basically just finished writing the race report for the Kinetic relay and thinking about my busy couple months ahead, already filled with activities, when I get this email in my inbox:

Hmm...

- May is already packed with events.. in fact, I literally *just* finished writing the Kinetic race report, and have a lake swim and a triathlon in the next 2 weeks, not to mention the Rev3 race in June...

 ... I have not been cleared to run yet thanks to my back injury (and quite frankly, my foot still hurts a lot also)

 ... My alarm clock has gone off before 7am each morning of the past weekend, is set the same for Sunday both mornings of the following weekend as well.. this Saturday is the ONE day I could sleep in and have a lazy morning

So naturally, I hit reply and say "Count me in!" -- seriously, I think I have a problem :-)

Then..

Thursday I complete my first double workout in awhile {.. pause to celebrate THAT accomplishment!!! ..}, morning swim which was a little OFF, but otherwise no biggie, and then about a half hour on the bike trainer in the evening.  My back felt a little sore on the trainer, so I iced it immediately after as a precaution... didn't work.  I could feel it slowly getting worse and worse as the night went on. 

By Friday morning, I was in serious pain.  It didn't completely lock up on me [yet] as it does after lying on the ground, but it was close.. could not stand or sit stand up straight.  I left work early and decided to go get a massage thinking maybe that would help... nope!  worse.  Jon had to literally come help me get out of the jeep, fed me Vicodin and wine, and put ice on my back.  I was beginning to wonder how I was going to do a 5K the next morning...

I realize that most sane people would have passed on doing a race at this point, but I am stubborn.  When I woke up, my back still hurt, but I was at the point of thinking that maybe a little movement would be good to loosen it up.  I planned on walking the whole thing anyway.  So, I got up, got dressed, made some iced tea and was on my way to Jessie's house.  Let's do this thing!!

Jessie, me and Lizzie... ready to roll!

This race was super small... like seriously we could count the people there on 2 hands!  I knew I was going to walk the entire thing, but of course I tried to run a little (I told you I was stubborn!).  I didn't get 10 feet, the pain was too much.. so fine, walk. 

About half mile in, a girl passed me (wait.. I wasn't last??) and commented that I was walking faster than she was running.  I caught up to her in another half mile and she had decided that walking was just as good and we got to talking.  She was going a bit slower than me, and at first, I found myself getting angry, thinking back to the Mount Desert Island marathon, I can't believe I am letting myself get held back again...

Then reality set in.. I am injured, like *really* injured.  This is just a 5K, not a marathon.  What is wrong with me?!  So Darlene and I walked and talked together for the last 2+ miles of the race, and I must admit it was nice having someone around... she was super nice, doing her first event ever, and I educated her on Deb's and my favorite motto, which she loved (and made her feel better for being so slow):

[dead f'ing last] beats [did not finish] beats [did not start]

We finally came to an opening to see Jessie and Lizzie waiting and cheering, and they hung out with us for the final stretch.  We turned the corner and [against better judgement] ran across the finish line!

Removing the timing chips.. about the moment that Lizze glanced down at her shoes, "Dude!!  You cut my LACES!!!"

All in all, a great morning, amazing weather, beautiful trails and scenery, great company....  Lizzie's first ever trail run and Jessie ended up with 1st place in her age group!!!  Looking forward to more trail runs this summer with these ladies (and hopefully I will be able to run one of these days!).

Blue Crab Bolt 10K

Note the title, "10K" - HA!  This course was about 6.5 miles long.  That is, 6.5 of the hardest trails I have ever run [err... shuffled] in my life!

I woke up and scarfed down some Belvita breakfast cookies and an iced tea while driving out to Seneca Creek Park in Maryland.  I got there and noticed not very many cars ... that's a bad sign considering my consistent goal of not being last.  I don't care if I am technically last to cross the finish line, but dread the day that I'm the only one out on the course and everyone has already packed up to head home.  There was a distinct possibility of this.  I walked through the wet grass to check in, went back to my car and saw Jessie, so walked through the wet grass with her to check in.  Bathroom break, meet up with Marcie, Lori and Shannon, put on some bug spray that we got from a nice woman, another bathroom break and more walking through the wet grass before it was time to start this little adventure.

I ran the first mile which was mostly on pavement, and stopped at the first water stop.  I was gonna walk a bit but the first trail section was mostly downhill, so why not keep on running.  At the bottom of the hill, I let myself walk a bit as we meandered along the side of the river or lake (I wasn't really paying attention).  This isn't so bad, I'm thinking ... uh, I should've waited on that thought cause the next thing you know, I turn a corner and there's a magnificent hill that reminds me of exactly why I don't mountain bike.  OK, got up the hill, meandered a little more and then what do you know, another super duper hill that was difficult to even walk up!  These were not the only 2 hills.  I hoped the trail would loop back to the parking area as I would've quit and taken the DNF.  It didn't.

I'm trudging along, knowing that I'm slow as heck and not caring, running when I can and walking any sign of an incline ... when BAM.  I jam my bad foot into a log or rock or something and there is all of a sudden a shooting pain going up my leg.  Awesome.  I was pretty much done running at this point.  I would try to force myself to run from time to time but really only got 20-30 feet before the pain was too much.  I went down another steep hill to the side of the lake and I could hear the announcer and music at the finish line.  Great, almost done ... wait ... where is that music coming from?  THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS FREAKING LAKE?!!!  I glanced at the water and seriously considered diving in and swimming across.  FCUK!!

Just keep going.  That's what I told myself, just keep going.  Little by little, I made my way around the lake and checking my garmin.  0.7 miles left ... 0.6 ... 0.4 ... 0.2 ... 0.1 ... uh, were the heck is the finish line???  For a 10K, I should be done ... 6.3 ... 6.4 ... 6.5 and I am FINALLY running through the finisher chute, high-fiving Jessie, Shannon and Lori and freaking glad to be done with this thing.  Grabbed some gatorade and nibbled on a few things (skipped the breakfast burritos ... D'oh!) and went with Lori to get her leg washed off from her fall. 

I was so tired, I literally sat down in the shower when I got home!  I took a quick nap and then went out for margaritas for Jessie's birthday.  This was one hell of a trail run.  If I do this again next year, I will be more prepared with what is in store for me.

a peachy month

They weren't all pretty.  They weren't all sober.  But I did it -- I ran at least one mile every single day of Lent, and even book-ended it with Mardi Gras and Easter Sunday to round out the streak!  Thanks to the healthy bitches (a super fun facebook group that my friend Jessie started just after the new year) for getting me involved and motivated!

76.35 miles completed during the Lent streak!

On my training logs at BeginnerTriathlete.com, a calendar day will turn a peach color if you've completed a tri-related workout (swim, bike, run) and a darker peach color if you've done any other sport.  For the first time in my life, I was able to turn the entire month a nice solid peach color.  Awesome.

And the best part?  I feel that my running has improved some, I mean, how could it not?!  Many of my runs were only 1 mile long, but as always, 1 mile > 0 miles.  I'm excited that I was able to set and meet this goal.

Backyard Burn 5 Miler

Here's the thing with early spring races, you just never know what the weather is going to be.  The forecast said it would be in the 60's which is perfect weather for me, so when I woke up, I put on some capris pants and a t-shirt, ready to go.... except when I opened the front door, I was met with frigid air.  Grabbed a jacket along with my banana and iced tea and headed out to Wakefield.  Parking was no problem and I grabbed my packet and sat with Joann in her car (with the heat running full blast) until the race start.  We found Jessie, Mindy and Lori in the starting corral just before we set up for the 5.5 mile trail run... yep, they added a *bonus* half mile!

We start out and quickly separate, which I like - don't like holding anyone up and don't like trying to keep up with people that are faster than me.  Soon I find myself at the back of the pack, but not last - I pass one girl who is already walking, get to the first water stop and pass another girl... awesome, I know there are 2 people behind me!  I actually walked a lot less than I thought I would during this race.  Both girls I had passed were right behind me and I didn't want to risk them gaining on me.  I let myself walk a minute or two here and there but I really ran the majority of this trail run.  I even ended up passing another girl just past the halfway mark.  

They said the course was flat, but yeah, not so much.  The last few miles were pretty hilly, but finally I was at the "half mile remaining" marker and knew it was just about over.  The weather did warm up and I actually found myself getting hot.  Getting hungry and glad to be done!  Being slow has it's perks as I had a large cheer squad waiting for me at the end.  My watch said 1:16 for the 5.5 trail miles which isn't awful, and it turns out there were more than just those 3 girls behind me so I was definitely not last.  I'm happy.  Then it was off to Kilroy's for a delicious brunch and home for a quick shower and the rest of the day on the couch.