Saturday, August 23, 2008

I am awesome!

I did it! I finished my second half marathon! I did it just under my goal of 2 hours 30 minutes, beating my previous P.R. by 30 minutes! Yes, it was a fast course: the first half was all down hill, making for some fast split times. I even managed an eight minute mile, which I haven't done since high school. I was shooting for an 11 minute/mile pace, but the first half of the race was under 10 minutes/mile. This allowed me to slow to just under a 12 minute/mile pace the second half. The faster times in the first half counter-balanced the slower times in the second half, and it all worked out. I ran it by myself, without a running buddy to help me through it, which was not quite as fun, but empowering. Knowing I can do it and talk myself through it was good. It was also a nice scenic course: we came down a winding canyon into a small farming community, and there was a nice breeze coming off the small river that paralleled the road down the canyon. Once in town, even with my sinus congestion I could smell the silage and cows, which brings back memories of the year in college when I worked at a dairy, milking cows (which I really enjoyed).

Some things I learned (ok, the first three I already knew):1. Shot blox are great
2. Body glide is our friend
3. Adequate rest is very important. I haven't slept well all week because of my cold (I keep waking up because I can't breathe), and I was really feeling the lack of sleep the second half of the race.
4. More than two port-a-potties per aid station are necessary- I would have finished 5 minutes sooner if there hadn't been a massive line for the port-a-potties at the first aid station. I really, really had to go, otherwise I would not have waited around that long.
5. I'm going to get longer spandex shorts to wear under my skirt- I really don't like short shorts, and the shorts that came with the skirt are just short enough to bug me.

The damage:1. Only two blisters- one large, one small. I'll wrap my toes for the marathon.
2. Sore ankles and fatigued feet- stability shoes do not have quite the cushioning I need, despite the addition of gel insoles, but I need the stability. I'll wear my shoes more and try to get more used to them, and look for more cushioned insoles.
3. Shins and arches not too sore (yay! these were the big worries).
4. Various sore muscles up and down my legs. I think they're from the downhill running and the unaccustomed mileage- I really have not trained enough, in the interest of not aggravating my shin splints, which would make it impossible to complete any races.
5. Running with a phlegmy cough is not a great thing. I'm a little worried that I might have bronchitis now. I'll see how my lungs are feeling tomorrow. Luckily I have a physical on Thursday, so if I'm still coughing then I can get some meds.

It was a good race, though I didn't like the second half (flat, with very few hills, so actually not that bad) nearly as much as I liked the first half (nice downhill, not too steep, but enough to make for some easy running). I would love a half marathon that was completely downhill. That would be awesome! The marathon will be tough, just on the fact that it's 26 miles, but if I can keep a good pace during the first (downhill) half it should allow for the slowing that will occur on the second (flat) half and still keep a decent time. If I can keep my pace up, my goal will be to finish in 5 hours. I'll need to make more of an effort to get more mileage in, but that's going to be what I work for. I will also be working on getting better and getting enough sleep.

One of my sisters came with me to watch DD while I ran. After the race, she told me some of the things DD had done/said. Toddlers are great! Apparently she saw another little girl wearing a pair of pink sandals. DD has a pair just like them, though she wasn't wearing them at the time. In any case, she was very confused, and kept pointing at the girl and the shoes, obviously thinking that the girl had taken her shoes! My sister had a time trying to convince her that they weren't hers.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Second triathlon results and comparison

2nd Triathlon
(750 m swim, 13 mile bike, 3.5 mile run)

273rd out of 298 finishers
29th out of 31 in my age group
123rd out of 143 females

Swim: 25:15.6 (pace: 29.81 sec/lap)
T1: 2:52.8
Bike: 1:01:21.9 (pace: 4.71 min/mile)
T2: 3:32.1
Run: 39:55.6 (pace: 11:25 min/mile)

Total: 2:12:57.9

1st Triathlon
(500 m swim, 12 mile bike, 3.1 mile run)

354th out of 379 finishers
42nd out of 45 in my age group
164th out of 181 females

Swim: 16:55.9 (pace: 30.19 sec/lap)
T1: 5:02.6
Bike: 1:00:17 (pace: 5.01 min/mile)
T2: 1:10.9
Run: 34:30.8 (pace: 11:07 min/mile)

Total: 1:57:57.1


Both times there were 25 people who finished after me. My swim improved, despite the goggle and breathing problems at the beginning, the walk to the other pool, my difficulties getting out of the second pool and the increased distance. My T1 time improved dramatically: no clothes being pulled on. The bike leg also improved, despite the increased distance and the 8 miles of hills. My T2 was longer, but that was because of the potty break. Interestingly, my running pace got worse, even though I felt better and ran more of it (I thought). Not sure what was going on there. So overall, I improved, though of course there is room for lots of improvement. Good incentive to keep working out throughout the winter to prepare for the next triathlon season.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Running skirts are great

Yesterday I was really fighting the blahs/feelings of depression/feelings that things just weren't right. It's not so bad today, but I've been wanting to eat everything in sight (not a usual occurrence) and now I'm thinking it's a product of my out-of-whack hormones as that time of the month approaches. Fun for me.


I went for a four mile walk with DD today. I was going to go for a longer one, then remembered that I have to break in my new shoes before next Saturday, and I best not overdo it on the first day wearing them. They didn't give me any problems, and felt a lot better than the shoes I've been wearing. I also wore my new running skirt. I really like it, though I think the shorts under it could be a bit longer. That's probably just because I'm not used to wearing short shorts. The thing I really liked was that the shorts could ride up or bunch up or do whatever they want, as they tend to do on anyone who's not stick thin (I'm definitely not a twig), but the skirt part covers all that! No tugging, fidgeting, or worrying about how goofy you look. I think I'm definitely a running skirt convert. I'll have to try some other brands too, but this is the one I've got, the Sugoi Essence Wrap Skirt:

Saturday, August 9, 2008

I fought the pool...

...and the pool won.

This morning I finished my second triathlon (yay me!). I had a rocky start: I hadn't settled my goggles, I hadn't taken a couple deep breaths, and it threw me off for a few laps. Once I got into my groove, though, it wasn't too bad. We did 17 lengths in the indoor pool, hopped out, walked outside and up a hill to the outdoor pool and did 15 more lengths. The battle occurred at the end of the 15 laps in the outdoor pool. The 'shallow' end was 4'6" deep, and the lip of the pool was a good foot or more above the water line. At 5'1" (on a good day), I had a real problem getting enough leverage to get out. I couldn't hop/jump/launch myself high enough out of the water to pull myself over the edge. I ended up hooking my leg over the float thingy, straddling it, and then kind of rolling out and onto the concrete. In the process, I scraped both knees and, I'm sure, looked like a beached whale. I limped off to the transition area, bruised and bloodied, but not giving up.

The bike ride was 13 miles, or twice around a 6.5 mile loop. I have no idea how they managed to find such a horrible route, but the first 4 miles was a looong, gradual uphill. Basically, it sucked. I survived both loops, and headed into the transition area. I had been drinking from my camelback (I got really dehydrated last time), but of course had to pee by the time I finished the bike ride. So, while I didn't have problems with dehydration again, I did have to stop for a potty break between the bike and run.

The run went a lot better this time than last. It was a bit longer (3.5 miles), but I managed to only walk on the uphills, and was able to run the entire last mile or so and was able to sprint a bit at the end. Last time I managed to speed up from a stagger/walk to a stagger/slow jog for the last little bit, but that was it. Oh yes, and my shins didn't bother me this time either.

Overall, despite the increased difficulty, I felt better physically and had a good time. I need to cut at least 30 minutes off my overall time if I want to be competitive, and I think I'll be working on that this winter. I'm getting an indoor trainer so I can keep riding my bike, and my parents are getting a treadmill, so I can keep running, and I will continue to go to the pool and swim laps once a week. So, by next spring when things start up again, I should be in a lot better shape and be able to do a lot better.

Scrape on left knee: angle is bad, so it doesn't look that bad, but it will definitely have some bruising.

Scrape on right knee- quite painful, and the one that bled. Angle of the picture makes is look smaller than it is. It's definitely big enough to hurt and make bending my knee painful.

On the way home, I stopped by a running store and bought a new pair of shoes and a running skirt. My current shoes just aren't doing it for me anymore, and the other day I realized that all my bike shorts have padding in them. I don't feel like running a half marathon in padded shorts, even the lighter padding in my triathlon shorts, but I do want something shorter than my capri-length running tights. Runner's World recently had an article about running skirts, and I've seen them around at different events, and I decided to give them a try. We'll see how it works out. I bought a Sugoi wrap skirt that has shorts under it. I've seen running skirts that don't have shorts under them, and I really don't want to know how that works: they're pretty short skirts. I'd be afraid of a breeze coming along. Part of why I picked the skirt I did is that it was the longest the store had. I haven't shown my pasty-white thighs in years, and don't really feel comfortable showing too much of them just yet.

After I got home, I spent the entire afternoon helping my BIL empty out the storage shed at the in-laws' place. He's PCSing to another state in a couple weeks and really needed to sort through all his stuff that's been stored for the last 10-15 years. This meant first emptying the entire shed and dividing everything up based on who it belonged to. We managed to reduce his pile (quite large) to just 5 or 6 boxes. SIL and her husband came and got all their stuff, which freed up a lot of space (now if only they'd get their stuff out of the basement...), and it looked like rain so we put the in-laws' things back in with out going through it, other than to try to group similar things together. The shed is so much emptier, and so much more usable now! It's amazing what can happen when you get rid of things (there is now a mountain of boxes of junk that have to be disposed of, but at least it's not in the shed anymore), and don't keep everything for years and years and years.

Anyway, between putting up sheet rock yesterday, doing the triathlon this morning, and then hauling boxes in and out and around all afternoon, I'm sore and don't expect to be able to move tomorrow.