Longmont Triathlon Race Report

I really did not know what to expect at today’s sprint tri. So, you bet I was happy with 3rd place in my division (F40-44)! 3/20 division, 11/139 overall woman. Time: 1:18:14 (525 yd swim, 12 mile bike, 5K run)

I took over two minutes off of last year’s time. My swim and bike (thanks Trek Lexa!) were both faster and my transition times were about half of what they were last year. My run was 23 seconds slower, but who’s counting. I’m still catching up there.

Here’s my transition area, pre-race. I bring my Care Bears lucky towel. That’s how I roll. You know all the dudes with their special TYR and Zoot towels were jealous. Some asked where I got it. These guys should really shop at Wal-Mart more.

I am digging this hoodie bathing suit combo.

The race was smooth sailing. I did not make any messes and I had only two glitches.

1. My f*cking goggles. They kept filling with water. I had to stop three times to fix them. I’m sure I added a good minute there.
2. As I went out on the run I passed a girl with headphones on. Not earbuds, but full blown headphones. Like the kind your wore in the 70s. She didn’t hear me coming and hocked a loogie right on me. It trickled down my leg and I felt like gagging. She was so apologetic, I told her it was fine. But it wasn’t. Gross. Now I am Shut Up and Run with a Loogie (SUARWAL).

The swim felt easy. The bike was tougher for me and I had to push just to get an 18.2 mph average. The run felt really good. I paced well and did the 5K in 25:03.

I wasn’t dying when I crossed the finish line, but was ready to be done.

Ken killed his time, PR’ing by six minutes from last year. Guess all this HIM training is paying off.

I got emotional with the trophy. I know placing in your age group depends on who comes out that day and not necessarily that you are the strongest or fastest. But for me the trophy represents my continued comeback from the nasty injury. It just feels SO mother eff’ing good to be out there again.

I love this picture because I look like I’m having a stroke (eye area) and Ken is chewing.

Now going to stuff my face with Chipotle.

Happy Sunday!

SUAR

Looking for Change

I told you we all did the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day as a family. Well, sort of. Ken ran with Sam to push him towards a PR. I ran with him last year and we got 55 minutes. Ken ran with him this year and they got a 53 minutes. Emma ran with my friend, Kathy, who was doing her first 10K.

Sam’s take:

Me: How was it running with dad?

Sam: Well you don’t get any of the motivational speeches like when I run with you. Dad just takes off and I had to keep up.

How’s that for male vs. female?

This is one of my favorite all time pictures of life. My two favorite males in the world (well, my dad fits in there too), both wearing Shut Up and Run shirts. Totally in synch. I love my family.

Emma  and Kathy did the slip ‘n slide, watched the belly dancers and took in all that the race sidelines have to offer. Emma got lots of attention in her hula outfit. Yeah, she did not get those nice, long, svelte legs from her mama. They must belong to the milkman.

Then there was me, all by my lonesome.

Here I am getting overpowered by a tall man. Get of my ass, dude!

Here I am at about mile 3 before I was at my puke threshold.

Here I am at the finish. I have never had any pictures taken of me in any race post-finish, but I suspect I looked enough like I was going to faint/puke/shit myself that the photographer wanted to catch it in action should it happen. Talk about drama queen.

Here is where I was depressed. Or melancholy. Or looking for change on the track.

For all the carrying on I was doing, you would have thought I ran a five minute mile or something.

What a Saturday it has been so far. Neighborhood garage sale. I love how you mark things really low, like a wok for $1, and there is always that person who says, “Will you take .50 for it?” Damn penny pinchers. And, I always say yes. What the hell, it’s all going the dump later anyway.

I am now off to the pool for a quick test run before my tri in the morning. The other day my goggles were leaking like a pregnant woman and I am so paranoid I’ll get in the water tomorrow to race and they will mess me up.

Last year I did this same tri and I was very tri-illiterate. I spent all kinds of time in my transitions. A total of 4.5 minutes for a sprint tri! I know. Tri-newbie. I don’t know what the hell I was doing. Watching TV, wiping my ass, who knows. I’m fairly certain I can take at least two minutes off just in transition. My bike chain also fell off since I was riding a bike from 1910. Hoping to avoid that tomorrow with my sleek Trek Lexa.

Major thanks to Running Sane who gathered the family ‘round to make me poster for tomorrow. Check out her studly son, Max holding my sign. Yes, it contains the word “pussy” and shows me kicking some gray haired pussy posse ass.

Good luck to me tomorrow and to all of those racing this weekend!

SUAR

Enough is Enough

The lesson I am trying to teach myself today is that it is okay to let yourself off the hook.

I know many of us runners like to push ourselves. We feel like what we do is never enough. We get to the night before a race and ask ourselves, “Was it sufficient? could I have done more?” My guess is that most of us also do this in our everyday lives.

Am I enough? Could I be a better parent, employee, daughter, student, husband? We beat ourselves up. Well, maybe you don’t, but I do.

We need the reminder that we should always do our best (aka shut up and run), but know when enough is enough.

We are not perfect. Actually, no one we know is perfect even though it might seem that way. Comparing ourselves to others is fruitless and only brings more anxiety and angst.

I ran a tough 10K on Monday, trained hard all week and ran ten miles yesterday. I have a sprint tri on Sunday. Two races in one week is a lot for me.

I woke up this morning thinking I should get up for some hot yoga, but laid in bed watching the clock turnover from 6:00 to 6:01 and knew I would miss my class. When the time read 7:00 a.m.,  I made the decision to rest today. And tomorrow. I want fresh legs for Sunday’s race. This half ironman training has been physically demanding. It has also made life that much busier. It’s true I will not meet goal for number of training hours this week. So be it.

This morning at 7:00 a.m. I let myself off the hook. My body wanted to rest. And so, I let it. I stayed in bed until 8:00 a.m., something I never do. I took my time making the coffee and my waffle sandwich. I glanced at the paper and lazily shot the shit with my kids while they ate.

Oh for god’s sake, I told myself. It’s not like you’re some pro athlete or anything. Get over yourself. Remember to find balance. Remember how you’ve gotten injured before and don’t want to be there again. Listen to your body and respond kindly. Work hard, but know when enough is enough. Have fun with your training, don’t make it the enemy or the obligation.

Do you overachieve? How do you keep yourself in check?

SUAR

It’s All in the Numbers

I’ve got a big training week coming up including:

Tomorrow: Bolder Boulder 10K
Sunday 6/5: Longmont Sprint Tri

Neither of these are my “A” races, just part of my overall half ironman training.

Strange for a girl like me, I but I do not have a 10K PR time. I don’t run many 10Ks, and always do them with my kids. Tomorrow, I will actually run by myself. Along with 50,000 other people. I am not in my tip top running shape, but I’m going to push it and see what happens.  I’ve got my playlist ready to roll. I call it “Beth’s Bolder Boulder” because I am creative that way:

Yeah, so it’s 1.4 hours of songs – hopefully will not be needing all of that time. Unless the poop fairy visits mid-race.

And, before you dis the Canon in D Power Music Workout, you should hear it. The processional in our wedding was to Pachebel, so it’s always got a special place in my heart. And, now, I can run to it!

In last week’s training I pulled back for a nice dose of recovery. Only 7 hours of training including 2 runs, 2 swims, 2 bikes. In addition, other weekly stats:

# of falls off of bike: 2 (I only wrote about one of them)

# of masters swims attempted: 1

# of son’s baseball games attended: 4

# of dinners cooked: 6

# of trips to Chipotle: 1

# of times I cried: 4 (post-masters swim, end of year slideshow, neighbor’s graduation, fall off bike)

# of times I cussed in front of my children (usually in the car, I love road rage): 5

# of times to Starbucks: 4

# of pissy comments I got on Facebook: 1

# of times I was the tooth fairy: 1

# of servings of almond butter: 6

# of dumps: 4 (yep, I never said I was regular)

 

About to do #5 if you know what I mean,

SUAR