a blast from the past....

found these pictures on my parents computer of the first duathlon that steve and i did in 2005... i'm not sure if you can tell from the attire, the hybrid bicycle, or the fact that there is no one left in the transition with us - that we had no idea what we were doing!!! It's funny to look back at how far we've come! I bet some of you were out there at hinckley zooming around me on my hybrid!!! and the best part -- i got 1st in my age group! (i was the only one ha ha!!)

deep thoughts on flag football

I've been playing flag football off and on now for about the last five years. During that time period our team has not gotten any better - well maybe we play a little better - but we still lose most games. When I first started playing - I enjoyed football for the exercise - but as I started training for the marathons I found that I didn't enjoy football as much. It became an obligation that got in the way of my training - playing flag football for 40 minutes is sooo not the same as getting a run in. Then I found that running the short sprints during the game in a pair of spikes was starting to hurt my shins - so i would center the ball and just go out for short passes. Well lately i've decided to make football more of an actual workout - run longer patterns - see who i can beat off the line, oh and volunteer to rush the quaterback on defense. Not a good idea. Especially this week. On monday I had a good 5.5 mile run at lunch followed by 1300 meters in the pool after work followed by some ab and back work in the weight room... followed by football.
Now the only reason i volunteered to rush is b/c the girl who has been rushing - is really short and not any faster than i am - so i thought at least my height could cause some distraction. I find that rushing is sooooo frustrating. In flag football you have to wait a 5 count before you can cross the line of scrimmage - well i know not to run diretly at the qb - to approach him from the side and try to force him to one side, get his flags or block the pass. I also know that if I am running right - he's going to cut left - but there is a clog in the system that runs that message from my brain to my feet - i swear i look like an elephant in slow motion trying to chase this guy down. I did not get his flags ... not once!!! And to make matters worse - my quads hurt so bad still (2 days later) even though i made yesterday a rest day ... that i am sort of picking my legs up and moving them to get out of the car! unbelievable! how can i not be this sore after running 20 miles - but make me run a bunch of little sprints for 40 minutes and I feel like my legs are going to explode!

buckeye 50K????

I've been intrigued for awhile by the buckeye 50k. I've been told a lot of good things about this race. I've been thinking that I would really like to give trail running a try and that I would like to do the buckeye 50k at some point ( i even went and bought trail shoes). But here is my question - how does one train for a 50k? I just completed a marathon 2 weeks ago - so obviously I've got a decent base - but can i go from that to running a 50k in 2.5 months? and what kind of training schedule does one follow for that? Anyone have any advice for me? (besides get out there and start doing some trail runs of course!) Any input would be helpful - can i do this or no?

congratulations

Congratulations to every who ran yesterday in the cleveland marathon! This was the first time in a couple of years that I haven't run one of the events... so it was kind of weird. I must say i was glad to not be running when I was laying in bed at 7:30 and it was pouring rain! I had told brian that I would come and run miles 16-26 with him - and fortunately for me - the sun came out just as I arrived at mile 16. I saw my friend Dave go by at mile 16 - and i ran with him for a bit - turns out - he made a wrong turn and turned with the half marathons - so he ended up running an extra 2 miles - i told him to think of it as training for an ultra marathon. He didn't find that amusing... I saw him after the race - and he had stopped his garmin at 26.2 - if it hadn't been for the extra distance he ran - he would have qualified for boston. Hopefully he won't get frustrated - and he'll qualify in the fall.... we'll see.
So - i picked up Brian and at mile 16 - he had a great race - and looked really good all the way til the end. I just hope that i was more motivating than aggervating -- b/c i know i can be a pain to run with. So I ended up getting a little over 11 miles in yesterday - not too shabby.

Oh - i've started a 1/2 ironman training program. Obviously i'll need to get a couple of sprints and open water swims under my belt before i attempt that - but I like to have a goal and a training schedule. First week was a little short on the swimming and running and waaaay short on the biking - but it was the second week after my marathon - so i can't be too unhappy with my totals. Here they are for last week..

Swim - 2600 meters
Bike - 20 miles
Run - 16.4 miles

Goal for this week

Swim - 4500 meters
Bike - 100 miles
Run - 20 miles

Not sure - if i'll get there this week - but i've got pretty good odds - especially with the holiday weekend and half a day on friday - if the weather holds out - hopefully i can get a nice afternoon ride in!

Oh - went for a run at lunch today and boy is it W-I-N-D-Y!!! i know the run down marginal yesterday was not exactly wind free - -but i am so glad that it wasn't as windy as today - i thought i was going to get blown away today!

no south bend and mom's day 5k

I've been going back and forth on weather or not i should do this marathon in south bend on the 31st. so i finally did the old list of pros and cons - and it looks like the cons have it. Running another marathon now - is not going to make me run a better marathon next fall - and the $3.89 sign on I saw at the gas pump is another reason - not to drive all the way to south bend.
So now what? time to focus on my first triathlon and columbus marathon in the fall.
I ran a 5k on sunday - the first one i've run since december - so i have to say - my body wasn't quite sure how to react to the distance/pace. The race felt a lot faster than it was - my hamstrings were still very tight from the pig - but I finished in 23:39 - which is not the greatest - but is still what i call a "post high school p.r." (high school p.r. is a 20:50 -- i'll get there soon) It was good to get out there and do a 5k again - i look forward to doing more this summer. I warmed up with the serc group - and that was a lot of fun - they are really nice people - and usually I go to races by myself.
I had been toying with running either the zoo race or the 5k in strongsville that weekend instead... but chose the mom's day for it's location...looks like i would have probably been able to get an age group award at one of those races... i didn't realize that the this was the race for the crazy elites! The winning female time was 16:43!!!! that is crazy!!! Well the results are finally posted - and it says i got 4th in my age group. it also says i'm from chester maryland and that some other girl named elizabeth got third - and apprently amie who actually got third - didn't run the race at all - since i can't seem to find her name anywhere on the results! how weird is that?

in other news - i finally got bike shoes and speedplay pedals - haven't gotten to use them on the road yet - i'll be sure and post pictures of the bruises i'll get when i fall the first time out! and it's back to the pool - swam 1300 meters at lunch yesterday and felt like my head was going to explode... i keep telling myself that the swimming will come together eventually if i just keep at... as dori from finding nemo would say "keep on swimming ... keep on swimming" ok i'm done.

Confessions

I don't know how to change a tire. on my car or on my bike. and so far i have gotten through life ok with this secret confession. Thanks to triple A and some good luck... But - it's finally catching up with me. I got my new bike shoes this week. Used them on the trainer last night to try and get a feel for them before i take them on the road and break my neck. Well i decided that maybe it would be nice to get out on sunday (weather depending) and go for a nice ride. well i realize that i always ride with steve - (and he can't ride with me this sunday) which made me realize that I don't know how to change a flat tire... which made me realize that going for a ride on my own would not be a good idea - b/c what do you do if you are alone with a flat and don't know how to change it? I've decided that this situation is ridiculous and I need to learn how to change a tire asap!

going the extra distance

From the flying pig website...


"The Flying Pig Marathon has always prided itself in taking the event one step above the others. This year, unfortunately, due to a race morning fire emergency on the course, we have literally gone beyond 26.2 miles. The last minute re-route added .2514 miles to the original course.

The time that was recorded at the finish line is your OFFICIAL 2008 Flying Pig Marathon time. To obtain a comparable 26.2 mile time to your 2008 Flying Pig time, please use this online calculator"


So I guess according to the calculator - my actual time would have been 4:22:30. Do you know this is the second time this has happened to me? i ran a half marathon in dc last year - and they told us a few days after the race -that the 1/2 route was really longer than it should be. ha! i think that is funny. well a 4:22:30 looks better than a 4:25:01 - so i'll take it! That's a 25 minute and 40 second p.r!

Piggy Bonk

As brian said in a recent blog - the marathon is a distance that is intimidating and should be resepcted -- well at least he said something to that effect... and he is right. Going into the pig I didn't quite have my head on right. I went in there knowing that I had improved by great strides and that i was capable of doing big things - but i went in there also underestimating the marathon. In the one year and eight months since i completed my second marathon I seemed to gloss over the fact that a marathon is a mental challenge and that you have to be mentally tough. I need to work on my mental toughness - this race was the first race where I bonked and I was alone - i didn't have anyone there to pick me up an take me the rest of the way in. I was spoiled on my other two marathons to have that - but the experience of bonking when alone has taught me much more. I know that i will probably bonk at some point on my next marathon - but I know that i can get through it now - even by myself.
So quick run down....
Got down the race - stood in line for the bathrooms - got done with just enough time to run towards the start to try and find the pace team. The start was so packed and so tight that I sure there was no way we are going to find the pace team. Well the 3:50 and 4:00 pace teams were right at the front. I'm talking my chip time was only a minute off the clock time close to the front - which is ridiculous - but i wanted to make sure i was near the pace team - b/c i knew that was the only way i would maintain even pace. Well I get into the starting line and i can see the 3:50 pace team on the other side of the start - and there is no way i'm getting over there. ok - i'll just find them once i start running. Well the race director gets on the microphone and says we are going to be delayed by about 15 minutes -there is a fire around mile 20 and we are going to have to detour the course. The bad news is the course will be a little long - the good news is it will at least be as long as a marathon. everyone laughed b/c we thought he was joking. Nope - the course was some like a quarter mile too long -- they are apparently going to adjust everyone's times once they figure it out.
Well the gun finally goes off and my friend clare and I are off. It was 39 degrees when we got up that morning - and yet by 6:45 when the race finally started - it was warm enough to ditch my throw away shirt and mismatching pair of one red and one teal gloves. My plan was to follow my pace chart and go with the 3:50 team as they came up on me - b/c i was a little ahead of them at the start. First mile 8:45, perfect. second mile I was about a minute ahead of 3:50 pace, 3rd mile about 1.5 ahead of pace - figured that was ok- i had the hills coming up around mile 5 - so i figured it would be ok to have a little time in the bank. Lost clare around mile 6 in the middle of one of the hills. i have to say i was very happy with my hill training - I barely noticed the hills - and i felt great even as a i reached the top around mile 8.5. I saw my parents and my mother in law right before mile 7 - it was great to see them - and I felt really good - my mother in law took this picture at mile 7 - this is the top of one of the hills.




look pretty good i think. Well kept about a minute ahead of pace through the half. my official 13.1 time was 1:54 -- that's a personal best. Well around mile 14 i had to stop at the port o pot - and things got kind of ugly after that - never got back into my rythem. The 3:50 pace team caught up with me finally at mile 15 - and i was excited to see them - b/c i was needing someone to run with -- but they blew by me like i was standing still. That's when I think i became a head case. My stomach starting getting upset and I felt like i was going to throw up if i put another gatorade or gu in my face - so i started just rinising my mouth with water. Looking back i think I actually started to be dehydrated at that point. Training through the winter - i know i did not train to properly rehydrate myself - and although i felt i was putting too much in me - i wasn't putting in enough. Well around mile 16 i walked for a bit b/c i was tightening up big time - and i was getting upset at how far off pace i was falling. Well funny thing is - up until mile 19 or so I was still on pace to break 4 hrs. But things go worse - my hamstrings tightened up so badly that my back and calves locked up too. Walking hurt worse than running and the only thing i wanted to do was to lay flat on back and make the tightening spasming pain stop... which wasn't an option. I have never hurt that bad while running - ever and I don't know what caused things to tighten up that badly. Well i never saw the four hour group go by - heard the 4:15 group go by - maybe i would have had the energy to go with them - but the pacer was the loudest person i have ever heard in my life. She's is yammering on at the top of her lungs how we only have a 5k left - and although we are hurting and our muscles are in pain and we feel terrible, and we feel like we are not going to finish... it is only a 5k. Then she says i'll tell you my mile 23 pep talk.... when i was 13 my mother died of cancer - and as much as we hurt right now - this doesn't hurt as bad as she hurt when she was dying of cancer.

I couldn't take it anymore -- i was hurting so bad and feeling so sorry for myself that i couldn't speed up to get away from this women - so i started walking again. I made sure to finish my last mile strong - no walking no matter what. Steve literally caught me after i crossed the finish line. I cried. I was so upset at how dumb of a race i had run. how do you go into a race with hopes of breaking four hours - and end up walking as much as i did? but i learned a lot and finished in 4:25 -- well maybe 4:23 depending on how long the course actually was. But - I learned a lot - and even though i bonked bad - it was still over a 20 minute pr! can't beat that right?
So - what's next? I know i have better than a 4:25 in me right now - and i don't want to wait til fall. So - found a marathon in south bend indiana in four weeks. You finish in the notre dame stadium. So I will be yelling "Rudy Rudy Rudy" when i cross the finish line. The course is flat - but it will be hot. But here is the plan - suck it up bridget - it's going to hurt - you are going to probably bonk. I'm going to shoot for a more reasonable goal - like 4:00 - 4:10 - you know another p.r. by twenty minutes. Maybe i'm capable of more right now - but I think i'll ease into. Get a race in under my belt - were i actually pace myself and run smart... - and i'll revamp my training for a fall marathon - need to up my weekly mileage and my speedwork. eventually i'll get there - some things just take more time then you would like!