Madeira Beach Mad Dog Triathlon

So fun!  This was my first relay and it was certainly a new experience for me.  I swam the 1/2 mile, Shannon biked 15 miles and Christy ran the 5k through the sand (yuck).  It was odd to be done after the swim and standing around the empty transition area waiting for my team members.  I had that strange sense that I was forgetting something.  While I was waiting, I realized I raced but wasn't going to cross a finish line.  Weird. 

Anyway, it was really a great event.   Well organized and from what I could tell the course was fantastic.  I was a little jealous because the bike ride looked awesome! The run through the loose sand, however, I was happy to hand off to our super runner Christy.  The only event I can speak intelligently on is the swim.  Go ahead, I laughed too ;o)   As shocking as this sounds though, the swim was FABULOUS!  Initially, the half mile walk to the swim start felt pretty long and I was really wishing I would've been biking instead.  Once at the start, I hopped in the water and warmed up for a bit.  The water was slightly warmer than the outside temperature so it felt great.  I really enjoy sandy bottom swims rather than the grass flats - the less sea life, the better.  Since this was my longest open water swim, I decided to start at the back of my wave group and just take it easy.  I was in the relay group so this was my first experience swimming with men and although I'm as tall as most men, I felt pretty vulnerable to their strength.  I was right next to one guy for a while, literally shoulder to shoulder, and I couldn't help but think that if he decided to breaststroke, I was getting a big powerful man leg to the side.  No thanks. I managed to steer clear of him and eventually found a little space to swim.  I probably lost some time by not swimming aggressively.  I was most concerned about completing the distance safely rather than focusing on my time.  That being said however, I was happy with 15:29.   The swim felt relatively easy and before I knew it, it was over.   I remember sighting and seeing the final yellow buoy and thinking, "Already?  That's it?"  I had no problem running out of the water and managed to pass 3 or 4 people before I hit T1.  I didn't care that I had passed anyone, I was just happy I had enough oomph to do so :o)

Overall, it was a beautiful day on a beautiful beach with my beautiful friends.  Looking forward to participating individually next year for the full experience!

Crystal River Triathlon

This was my first experience at this event and Crystal River in general.  It was very well-organized and fun. There were quite a few serious athletes there which I wasn't expecting and a lot more men than women.  It capped at 300 athletes and the smaller venue was refreshing after St. Anthony's.  We had a whopping 5 waves compared to the 33 at St. A's!  All the women were the 3rd wave so we had enough time to watch and learn from the first two waves but not too much time to stand around anxiously.  

The Swim - 1/4 mile out and back.  The current was ripping to the north and we had to swim west and east so it was a pain.  The wave groups were funneled through a narrow pass between the jetty and first buoy so it got a little crowded.  It wasn't a great swim for me.  Once I finally found some space to swim, the current was an issue.  I felt like my head was out of the water a lot while I tried to navigate.  I stayed on course, though,  so I guess it was worth it.  Oh and one thing I cannot forget to mention were the dolphins!  The swim was an out and back in a V-shape and just before the waves went off there were dolphins swimming inside the V.  Everyone kept "oohing" an "ahhhhing" but I did not share their enthusiasm.  Don't get me wrong,  I appreciate nature as much as the next person but I prefer to do so from afar.  I don't want to be swimming with any kind of 6 ft sea creature.   The 8 inch crab I saw during my warm up freaked me out so I'm pretty sure a 200 lb mammal darting passed would stop my heart.

The Bike - 15 mile out and back.  Little windy out which meant a nice push back in.   Nothing exciting.  I didn't push as hard as I probably could have because I was so worried about the run.  My last two 5k's were a struggle and I didn't know how I would do after the bike.

The Run - It went better than I thought.  I ran the whole thing despite the fact that the course was slanted more like a NASCAR speedway.  I kept a comfortable and steady pace.  My plan was not to stop at all, not even for water.  I feel like once I stop, I'm more likely to keep stopping so I put it in my head that stopping was not an option.  My watch decided to uncalibrate (Kathryn - if it wasn't a word before, it is now) which I noticed at the Mother's Day race.  Since I never fixed it, I figured if I stayed at a 10:00 mm pace according to my watch I should be about 30 seconds faster in reality.  

I was hoping for a strong place in my age group - 3rd seemed doable - but ended up with 5th.  Meh.  Overall, I'm very happy though.  The swim was not ideal but my transitions were super speedy (T1 0:48/T2 0:59) the bike was steady and the run was a good start to the season for me.  This was the first race in a series of 3, so I would like  to do one more and shave 4 minutes off my time.  

Splits

Swim: 11:57 boo

Bike: 49:31 avg 18.2  not so great either

Run: 27:54

As I was looking up my splits I noticed that the girl who placed after me was only TWO seconds behind!  I kept telling myself on the run that every step counts and they certainly did!  

IRONMAN 70.3

Well, I didn't get to actually race this event but I got to watch and it was cool to be there either way. My brother-in-law, Chris, was the athlete du jour so the fam and I went as his fan club.  It was so awesome to be there!  I picked up quite a few tips for next year if when I do it. 

Note to self:

1.  Mount/Dismount is terribly narrow - stay on the left for both, those people were the safest.  

2.  It's hot as a mo fo on the run with very little shade.

3.  The swim is loooong but the wave groups are small

4.  The run to T1 is 1/4 mile

5.  The bike is actually 58 not 56 miles.

6.  The finish line is rad and totally worth it.

Chris is disappointed with his time but I think he's nuts.  In my opinion, if you can propel your body mass non-stop for over 70 miles and cross the finish line with a smile, it's a success.  

Secret Service 5k

Great race!  It's a smaller venue with just over 500 participants (although it's growing each year) and very well organized - it IS the secret services after all ;)  This was my second year participating and once again I was impressed.  This year had some great changes - the shirts were upgraded to dri-fit from cotton and I was pleasantly surprised to find it was chip timed!  This was the first race this year that all my girls did together which was awesome but also a little bittersweet.  "President Shannon" will be relocating this summer :(  Since this is a race close to her heart it will be hard to run it without her next year.  On the bright side, we still have a few more races to share this season.

Okay, the race.  For starters, G-unit was dead.  Not ideal for me and my gadget co-dependancy.  I grabbed a spare watch that had a stopwatch hoping I could gauge my pace with it.  The problem with that plan was there wasn't a one mile marker (or I completely missed it) so I ended up running the first two miles much quicker than I should have.  It "felt" okay but as soon as I hit the two mile mark, the heat did me in.  I ended up walking THREE times!   My finish time confirmed that I was running too fast because even with all that walking I still came in at a 9:06 pace.  My time wasn't great but I really didn't care.  Last year I was crazed over the numbers and PRs but this year I'm just enjoying myself.  I lost so much speed after my knee injury last year and with my ridiculous schedule this year, I'm not stressing.  I'm just happy to be racing. Period.

Two people who haven't lost their speed, however, are Barb and Christy who crushed it! They came in at 24 min and change taking 2nd and 3rd in their age group, respectively.  Holla!   

I ♥ Mother's Day Race 5K

I love this race!  This was the first race that my family did together last year and the first race any of them had ever done.  It was awesome to share that part of my life with them and it really kick started a new lifestyle for our family as a whole.  Today I was going to run with my 10 year old, Leland.  He has been training for his black belt physicals coming up this summer and his running has come along nicely.  His training to date has consisted of just a mile or so and I was a little worried about the distance today.  Last year it was his first time running the distance and he finished in 43 minutes.  It was not a great run for him and he really struggled.  His PR goal today was 35 minutes.  I planned to run with him the whole time and let him run HIS race with me in tow.  I was merely there for encouragement and as his own personal Garmin :o)  He did amazing - he had great form, good control of his breathing and a very steady pace.  There were a few times he surged and I pulled him back to make sure he would have enough left for the last mile.  Now that it's said and done, I think I was holding him back!  He crushed it coming in at 30:27!!!  He shaved over 12 minutes off his time last year!  I hate to admit it but I had a hard time keeping up with him the last 1/5.  shhhh.  

My 8 year old son ran the 1/2 mile in 4:02 which was a pR for him as well!  Next year will be his turn to run the 5K.  My 3 year old daughter rand the 1/2 and I think she's my future runner - she absolutely loves to run!  Overall, it was a great day and an awesome way to spend time as a family on Mother's Day!

Training Update

Clearly I can't make time for daily posts so I need to find a better system to log my training.  I'll work on that.  This week was a good start to my new training schedule.  I have some kinks to work out but I think it's doable.  Of course, I'm in a chronic state of exhaustion but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make in order to still race.  I love me some races :o)

Monday: WT (a.m.)

Set - 18 reps/8 count hold/8 count pulse/18 reps

Two sets of the following -

Squats

Lunges

Bench press

Bench dips

Leg ext

Leg curl

Bicep curls

Tricep ext

Tuesday: Run (p.m.)

3.8 miles

Wednesday: Swim (a.m.)

800-ish

Thursday: off

hit snooze, no run :(

Friday: WT (a.m.)

Push up on the ball 10 x 2

Ab work

Pull ups 8 x 3

Hanging crunches 12 x 3

Tricep pull downs 18 x 3

Rows 16 x 3

Tricep dips 12 x 3

Flys 12 x 3

Skull Crushers/close grip bench press 12 x 3

Curls 10 x 3

Leg ext 15 x 3

Leg curls 12 x 3

Friday's workout was kind of all over the place.  I don't have WT plans yet so I work 3 muscle groups to burnout and 2 exercises each for the remaining muscle groups.  One of my goals this weekend is to come up with a detailed 2 week plan.