Our girls on the run group did their 5k last weekend and did great! Almost all that ran last time knocked off a lot of time and everyone finished with a smile! My daughter, the drama queen, ran w/ my sister and announced that she just needed to run with her friends and have fun for this race because there is just too much pressure on her. After all, she says, she already has to do an Ironman when she get older!
Now I admit to being a bit of an overachiever (not being fast but I kinda have a habit of perpetually upping the ante) and I do encourage my kids to do their best . . . Oh no, I am one of those moms! Seriously we had a long talk about whether or not she runs and does tri's because she wants to or because she thinks I want her to. She says it's because she wants to, I sure hope that's true. I'd hate to think she feels like she has to live upto my expectations or accomplishments.
Man, an Ironman was easy compared to parenting.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
My latest happy list
Time for a new happy list!!! With so many things going on I can't belive I let it go so long!
1. Anna ran an entire 5k and knocked 7 min. off her p.r. - she was SO proud of herself!! Yay Anna!
2. Paul, Robin, Michelle, Bobby and I all rocked the FLA 70.3 race in pretty harsh conditions. Everybody finished - we might not have had a smile while finishing but soon after it returned!
3. Anne did her first triathlon. Better yet, it was a wonderful spontanious decision to do this race which is so FUN and FANTASTIC!! She did wonderful!!
4. I'm really late on this one but Nina did her first half ironman!! She did finish w/ a smile! YAY!
5. Renee did her second triathlon - and the bike description was HILLY! Way to step out of the comfort zone and challenge yourself!! Oh yeah, and she came in 4th in her age group!!
6. My sister is the best sister in the whole world for giving me her new, favorite running shoes two days before the race b/c my old shoes were hurting me! (See Anne, the suit started a chain reaction!)
1. Anna ran an entire 5k and knocked 7 min. off her p.r. - she was SO proud of herself!! Yay Anna!
2. Paul, Robin, Michelle, Bobby and I all rocked the FLA 70.3 race in pretty harsh conditions. Everybody finished - we might not have had a smile while finishing but soon after it returned!
3. Anne did her first triathlon. Better yet, it was a wonderful spontanious decision to do this race which is so FUN and FANTASTIC!! She did wonderful!!
4. I'm really late on this one but Nina did her first half ironman!! She did finish w/ a smile! YAY!
5. Renee did her second triathlon - and the bike description was HILLY! Way to step out of the comfort zone and challenge yourself!! Oh yeah, and she came in 4th in her age group!!
6. My sister is the best sister in the whole world for giving me her new, favorite running shoes two days before the race b/c my old shoes were hurting me! (See Anne, the suit started a chain reaction!)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
FLA 70.3
What a fantastic weekend & great race!! I definitly race better when I don't set a bunch of crazy expectations on myself. My goals for this race were to 1. finish 2. practice my IM heart rate pacing 3. practice my IM nutrtion 4. practice my mantras and mental focus and most importantly 5. HAVE FUN
I pretty much made it 5 for 5. I stayed calm and never got too worked up about the race. We had a long but fun ride down, followed by a few days of RnR with my sister and brother in law (and my hubby: )which is always fun.
Race day was great! Got there at just the right time, got set up and got to see the pro's & Robin & Michelle take off. My swim wave wasn't too bad. The swim stayed fairly crowded the whole time but I've gotten much better at elbowing for my position. I drafted off someone for the entire swim. My time was a little slower than I would have liked, but my effort level was very easy and my focus was great.
The bike was VERY crowded. I felt wonderful passing people. I stayed focused and watched my cadence the whole ride -88 avg. Great progress for me! I did have to pee 3 times on the bike, that was a bummer but when I have to go, I have to go. I followed my HR to a T and did my nutrtion just right. Had some stomach pain but I think that was the combo of my shorts and my race belt pressing into my belly.
The run was, well HOT! I felt great for the first 1.5 laps (it was a 3 lap course). Ran well, passed a lot of people, drank my HEED, HR in the low 150's. Life was good. Then the heat and the lack of walk breaks hit me like a brick wall. My dream of a sub 6 hour race flew out the window. But I did manage to continue to "run" walking only the aid stations.
Here is where my mental training challenge came in. With one lap to go I was hurting. Everyone around me was walking but I didn't beat mono and train all that time to death march in the last 4.5 miles. So I dug deep. The first thing I thought of was the video Scott posted of Garrett. I sang the Chasing Cars song to myself. I thought of the 5 months from diagnosis to Garrett's passing that Renee & Scott had with him & counted down each mile as one month. It somehow made my pain pail in comparison.
Finally, I must admit my other mental focus during that time was telling myself I was going to be able to get an IV at the finishline. (I didn't) I thought of that IV as my reward, if I could just keep running I could get the IV. In the end I was fine, a cup of water and sitting for a few minuties did the trick. Thanks to all those that were tracking and cheering us on. You guys are great!!
I pretty much made it 5 for 5. I stayed calm and never got too worked up about the race. We had a long but fun ride down, followed by a few days of RnR with my sister and brother in law (and my hubby: )which is always fun.
Race day was great! Got there at just the right time, got set up and got to see the pro's & Robin & Michelle take off. My swim wave wasn't too bad. The swim stayed fairly crowded the whole time but I've gotten much better at elbowing for my position. I drafted off someone for the entire swim. My time was a little slower than I would have liked, but my effort level was very easy and my focus was great.
The bike was VERY crowded. I felt wonderful passing people. I stayed focused and watched my cadence the whole ride -88 avg. Great progress for me! I did have to pee 3 times on the bike, that was a bummer but when I have to go, I have to go. I followed my HR to a T and did my nutrtion just right. Had some stomach pain but I think that was the combo of my shorts and my race belt pressing into my belly.
The run was, well HOT! I felt great for the first 1.5 laps (it was a 3 lap course). Ran well, passed a lot of people, drank my HEED, HR in the low 150's. Life was good. Then the heat and the lack of walk breaks hit me like a brick wall. My dream of a sub 6 hour race flew out the window. But I did manage to continue to "run" walking only the aid stations.
Here is where my mental training challenge came in. With one lap to go I was hurting. Everyone around me was walking but I didn't beat mono and train all that time to death march in the last 4.5 miles. So I dug deep. The first thing I thought of was the video Scott posted of Garrett. I sang the Chasing Cars song to myself. I thought of the 5 months from diagnosis to Garrett's passing that Renee & Scott had with him & counted down each mile as one month. It somehow made my pain pail in comparison.
Finally, I must admit my other mental focus during that time was telling myself I was going to be able to get an IV at the finishline. (I didn't) I thought of that IV as my reward, if I could just keep running I could get the IV. In the end I was fine, a cup of water and sitting for a few minuties did the trick. Thanks to all those that were tracking and cheering us on. You guys are great!!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tapering
I have started the nice little taper leading up to FLA 70.3 that I will 'race' on Sunday. I say 'race' because the forcasted temp. is 91 and humid. So far our hot day has been 80 and there haven't even been many of those. So, no going hard for me - just another training day 11 hours from home with 2500 of my closest friends!
My girls on the run group made bracelets today for Garrett's Wings care packages they are working on. Each girl will run in honor of a kid that suffers from Batten Disease. The girls were very touched by the experience and took it very seriously. From my daughter's letter to her honoree: "I am going to run the whole way again (she mentioned a race last weekend), and be your legs." Kids are cool.
My girls on the run group made bracelets today for Garrett's Wings care packages they are working on. Each girl will run in honor of a kid that suffers from Batten Disease. The girls were very touched by the experience and took it very seriously. From my daughter's letter to her honoree: "I am going to run the whole way again (she mentioned a race last weekend), and be your legs." Kids are cool.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
A wild ride
First off, the Smith Mountain Lake tri was fabulous! Aside from having to start in the last wave (that sucked!) and a ton of bike & car traffic on the road it was perfect! Great weather & lots and lots of great friends to share the day with. (Taking home 2nd place in my a.g. didn't hurt my perception of the day at all!)
Today I had a nice ride planned with a few friends. Started out nice enough, good weather, my legs felt amazingly good after the race the day before. About 10 miles into the ride we came across a muddy & crying woman walking down the road. Stopped to check on her & found out her jackass boyfriend had beaten her up. A car stopped to help and offered to drive her to the fire station. A little rattled we started back up again.
The first dog wasn't too bad, chased us but gave up pretty quickly. The large and mean German shepherd was not so quick to give up. Luckily Paul (not my Paul) isn't afraid of the beasts and stopped to bark and yell at it so we could get by. Meanwhile the fat redneck owner came out and didn't seem bothered by the scene. Her dog was in the middle of Bradshaw road. Paul yelled at her to get her dog from the road etc., still she wasn't bothered.
A few more miles up the road we stopped off at a convenience store to potty & fill up on water. Here the male redneck drove up in his truck and started to yell at and threaten Paul. WTF! He can't get off his butt to get his dog out of the road but he can get in his truck and follow us to cuss Paul out! Unbelievable!
So, all in all a very eventful 50 miles! Not too much fun but beautiful weather, great company and I rode fantastically!!
Today I had a nice ride planned with a few friends. Started out nice enough, good weather, my legs felt amazingly good after the race the day before. About 10 miles into the ride we came across a muddy & crying woman walking down the road. Stopped to check on her & found out her jackass boyfriend had beaten her up. A car stopped to help and offered to drive her to the fire station. A little rattled we started back up again.
The first dog wasn't too bad, chased us but gave up pretty quickly. The large and mean German shepherd was not so quick to give up. Luckily Paul (not my Paul) isn't afraid of the beasts and stopped to bark and yell at it so we could get by. Meanwhile the fat redneck owner came out and didn't seem bothered by the scene. Her dog was in the middle of Bradshaw road. Paul yelled at her to get her dog from the road etc., still she wasn't bothered.
A few more miles up the road we stopped off at a convenience store to potty & fill up on water. Here the male redneck drove up in his truck and started to yell at and threaten Paul. WTF! He can't get off his butt to get his dog out of the road but he can get in his truck and follow us to cuss Paul out! Unbelievable!
So, all in all a very eventful 50 miles! Not too much fun but beautiful weather, great company and I rode fantastically!!
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