preparing for the bay swim

By the time I actually got into the bay swim in the 4th (and final) round of the lottery, I was already 4 weeks into the training plan.  The plan called for 4500 that week but I could barely swim 3000 (hadn't really been in a pool for about a year, and not consistently since ironman training).  I made myself a modified plan that gave me a build up to the mileage, still making sure I got in 3 workouts of 7000 before the event.  So far, I've only missed one!

Literally, the idea of swimming more than 3000 yards during a single swim workout has been mind-blowing.  The monotony of swimming back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... it would make anybody want to scream in absolute boredom!

That's my brother and JJ in the top, and Seamus on the bottom.. no photo op with my SIL, Jessi

I did my longest workout ever of 5000 yards before driving down to the outer banks to hang out with my brother and his family for the weekend.  I was so freaking proud of myself. I mean, FIVE THOUSAND YARDS!!!

Me, Paula, Cindy, Joann and Anjelika.. one of the few shots of all 5 of us!

Then I headed down to Fort Lauderdale for a girls trip and let's be honest.  It's amazing that I even made it to the pool.  This is the one that I missed, but I did get in a decent workout, swimming long course at the swimming hall of fame. 

And then I did 6000.  I did it twice.  And then once more. 

And then this happened.  7000 yards.  LONGEST. SWIM. EVER. It really sucked, mostly mind-numbing swimming back and forth for that long.  Holy goggle eyes!!  It's a little daunting to think I have to swim this distance in the pool two more times before the bay swim.....

I did my first practice open water swim of the season this past weekend down in Luray.  First time in a wetsuit since October 2015, and wow was that a struggle!!  I'm not sure what happened the first loop (course set up in 150m loops) - my goggles were leaking, I was uncomfortable in my wetsuit, I couldn't get my breath to even out. I stopped and switched goggles, adjusted the wetsuit, and was fine after that....but slow!  Makes me a little nervous.

There are 3 more open water swims on my calendar leading up to the big day.  3 miles in a river that is similar the Choptank (think Eagleman.. Ironman Maryland) just a bit past Cambridge in Salisbury on the eastern shore.  Then there is another 3 miles in Reston over Memorial Day weekend, broken up into 2 events, a 1mi and then a 2mi swim back to back.  Finally, the week before the Bay Swim, I'll be swimming across the Potomac for one more practice.  Oh and I signed up for a 3 day swim camp in North Carolina later this month - so excited!

Albuquerque Half Marathon

Going into my 3rd week of travel in a row, I flew into Albuquerque, arriving around noon on Friday.  Deb picked me up and we went straight to packet pickup after checking into the hotel.  We had a quiet evening and got to bed pretty early.

When I woke up - well before my alarm, thanks to the time zone change - 13.1 miles was seriously the last thing I wanted to do.  I got up though, got dressed and ate some breakfast at the hotel.  We drove to the race start, still dreading what was to come.

Did I mentioned I hadn't really trained?  I've been doing Orangetheory which includes a good amount of time on the treadmill, but that's about it.  I've really been focusing on swim training for the Bay Swim that's coming up.

Once the race started, I got into an easy jog and trudged along.  This was a really small race, much smaller than I had anticipated, and suddenly thoughts of being DFL (dead f'ing last) popped into my mind.  I glanced around and noticed a few others going a similar pace, some slightly faster and some slightly slower.  I actually wish I had a pocket or something to carry my phone because the course was really pretty and I would have liked to capture a photo or two.

I really do love traveling for races like this because it's such a good way to see new places.  The race took us all through Albuquerque, over the Rio Grande River, through some fields and a bunch of interesting neighborhoods.  I jogged when I could walked when I wanted to.  A few times I would spot somebody ahead of me and make a concerted effort to catch up.  Eventually there were 5 of us, pretty well spaced out, bringing up the rear (though I *know* there were more people behind me and think they turned off a the 10K race for a quicker route to the finish).  We kept plugging along, all of us in a solid walk by this point, ticking off the miles one at a time.

Finally, I was in the service road leading up to the finish.  The time limit for the race was 3.5 hours and I jogged across the finish line with 15 seconds to spare!  Though, they did let the woman behind me finish as well.  Then there was the LONG walk to the shuttle bus back to the car.  And when I say long... I mean a full mile.  My legs did not like that!  But we did it, albeit with some chaffing...

We rewarded ourselves with a massage that afternoon, dinner in downtown Albuquerque and then had another early evening.  Facials were on tap for Sunday morning, and we enjoyed a nice dip in the hot tub at the spa before heading out on a little hike at the Petroglyph National Monument. 

And then you know I can't visit a new state without visiting a local winery!  A busy day for sure, and I slept well before the long travel day home.  Phew... This ended 3 straight weekends of travel and I was happy to be back in my own bed!

Hot Cider Hustle 10K

It's been awhile since I've laced up a pair of running shoes, but an advertisement for the Hot Cider Hustle on facebook caught my attention, mostly because of the free hoodie promised to all registrants.  I sent out an email and actually got some interest from a few friends, and so I signed up.  The race offered a 5K, 10K and 15K, and I optimistically registered for the 10K, along with Sarah and Paula, while Dan, Sloan, Regal and Dave all signed up for the 5K.  I was excited for the group event, and more importantly, the post-race brunch that was sure to follow.

Orange theory!  I'm just to the right of the instructor who's holding the sign.

Now, when I say it's been awhile since I've put on my running shoes, I don't mean it's been a few weeks, or even a month.  I mean I cannot remember the last time I went out for a run!  Literally, I have been on the couch for months, from taking a break after Ironman to dealing with some back issues and life getting in the way.  Recently, I signed up for orange theory, a kind of interval training class where you spend time on the treadmill, the rower and floor strength exercises.  I do that twice a week, so those 20-25min sessions on the treadmill are the only run/walk training I have had lately.

It was a little chilly race morning and I felt that I had dressed inappropriately for the weather.  Sarah even said she had to scrape frost off her windshield - yikes!  I drove to RFK stadium and was forced to park a half mile away thanks to my lack of cash and the $15 parking fee (only one lot allowed credit cards).  I made a mental note to count the extra mile round trip as calories burned - that means one extra breakfast riesling!

Teammates Stacy and Beth (who you'll remember from the SwimFest).

I picked up my race number and free hoodie, and it didn't take long to find Sloan and Regal.  I also ran into a couple Team Z-mates and we hung out for a bit.  Sarah and Dave, and eventually Paula met up with us, though there was still no word from Dan...hmm...

Me, Regal, Sloan's dad (who got 2nd place age group!), Sloan, Dave and Sarah

We were off!  I'm not sure where the rest of our crew was in the photo below, but us three girls started off together.  It didn't take Sarah long to separate herself from us though, and then it was just Paula and I chugging along.  We ran about 0.8 mile before suggesting that we take a walk break.  The course went around the perimeter of RFK stadium, and was only marked with orange cones.  At one point we noticed that the crowds in front of us were cutting off a huge portion of the course as the cones were way to our left.  We came to get in the full 6.2 (or at least 3.1) miles, and decided to run along the cones.  A quick glance behind us and we noticed that a ton of people followed our lead - go us!

Paula and I didn't have any set run and walk intervals, so we made little goals for ourselves... OK, let's start running at that big tree and see if we can make it all the way to the water stop... Now, we'll run to the underpass but only until we get to that person sitting on a chair cheering... It worked.  As we came upon the finish line, we had both already determined that we were going to do the full 10K that we had signed up for.  After all, we were going to brunch and wanted to burn those extra calories!  We saw Sloan and Regal cheering as they had already finished their 5K, and we fought the temptation to run across the finish line and instead plodded our way to the turn around for the second half of our race.

The second half was much like the first, making small run and walk goals for ourselves.  We passed Sarah as she was heading into her final mile, and I realized my clothing choices were perfect, I was never too hot or too cold.  Paula and I kept at it and slowly made our way past the water stop and on our way to the finish.  I love that Paula and I are similar paces and I had a run buddy for the entire race.  We crossed the finish line, gave each other a high five, met back up with Sarah and Dave, and collected our mug and cider.

Dan never made it to the race, but he did join us for brunch before I went home and collapsed on the couch for the remainder of the day.  My body reminded me of just how little I had trained, and I realized Sunday morning that signing up for an orange theory class the day after the race was probably not my best idea.  But.. I got through it, and proud of myself for having such an active weekend.