Plans for 2010

It's official, I'm going to be doing the Revolution 3 Cedar Point 1/2 on September 12, 2010! Oh my! I just signed up and booked a room at Hotel Breakers. Boy do I have a lot of planning and training to do. On the sign up page I had to list my estimated total finish time. I went for 7 hours and 30 minutes. :) I have no idea how long I'll take. ?? I figure that amount of time allows for plenty of walking, if needed. Some time next summer I'll come up with a better detailed estimate. I'm looking forward to lots of fun training with many fellow CTCers. :-) I also need to take some time to figure out which races I should do leading up to the 1/2. I'll have to compare the timing and the prices. Oh, and I'm going to have to finally take Matt up on his offer to get me a long wet suit (to replace my shortie) for the Olys and 1/2.

Portage Lakes Olympic Tri - Sept 13, 2009

I figured out how to make my word document "paste" onto here! :-) Since this was my first Olympic Tri, I wrote a lot. Just a warning - it's long.

This past Sunday I completed my first ever Olympic distance triathlon, and my last tri of this year. With about 14 sprint tris under my belt, I decided it was time to try the next step. It was a cool sunny morning. I went through my usual morning routine, and left in time to make it to the Portage Lakes State Park by about 6:45 am. The sprint races were scheduled to start at 8 am with the Olympic races beginning at 8:15. My wave (all women) was planned to start at 8:31 with only the 50 and older men going after us at 8:33.
After getting checked in, I collected my gear from the van and began setting up my transition spot. In addition to my regular set up, I laid out a long sleeve jersey and put a gu in the back pocket. I also filled up my new bottle. Thankfully, Erin spotted that I had the sponge in wrong and showed me how to fix it. That's what I get for trying something new at a race. :)

The first racers began about 15 minutes late, which pushed everyone back. Just before transition closed, I pulled on my wetsuit and grabbed my gu and water. As I was making sure I really had everything ready, an announcement was made that transition was closing in 90 seconds! Jen and I quickly jogged to the exit before our timing chips got messed up on the timing mat. We all made our way down to the beach for the start. It was nice seeing so many familiar faces - plus Matt and the boys showed up just before I entered the water for a quick warm up.
Eventually it was time for the women. Not wanting to get run over, I lined up in the back of the 41 ladies. When they blew the horn, I took my time so I wouldn't get kicked. Very quickly I was surprised by the long vine like weeds that felt like they were wrapping themselves around my arms and legs. More than once I had to pull one off of me. Yuck. Thankfully when we got to the deep water, the weeds were gone! About half way through the first lap of the swim course, I finally felt like I was in a good groove. I was taking my time and trying to stay steady. Knowing I had to go through the shallow water and weeds again was looming in back of my mind though. For the second lap, I made sure to stay in the deepest water possible without going off course. The sun was bright and right in my eyes while trying to sight. Once I was back in the deep water again, it was a smooth swim around the buoys and to the water's edge. I checked my watch when I hit the sand, and it said 29:00. Wow! I thought it might take me 35 to 40 minutes for the 1500 meter swim. I took my time up the hill to transition, which took another 1:40, putting my total swim time at 30:40.
I also took my time in transition, about twice as long as I would in a sprint. Knowing I had to be on my bike for about 23 miles, I wanted to be comfortable. I made sure my feet were dry, put on my long sleeve jersey, and put on my bike gloves. T2 time was 3:36.
Just like the swim, my plan for the bike was to go steady, but not too hard. I didn't want to use up all my energy in the first lap and be miserable in the second lap. I wanted to finish the bike portion and still feel strong for the run. About half way through the first lap I pulled the gu out of my back pocket and had another first - eating a gu while riding. Also, the water bottle Matt installed on my aero bars the night before was working perfectly! I just had to lean forward a bit to reach the straw. I'm sure this saved me time since I didn't have to slow up to get out my regular water bottle. At the end of lap one I was averaging 16.4 mph on my bike computer. I felt really good and decided I could probably pick up the pace a bit for lap two. I had also passed 7 women near the end of that lap. I later passed two more on the second lap. On the first big downhill on lap two I made it over 30 mph. Yikes! A man passed me while going down the hill, and then tried to turn right at the stop sign at the bottom and wiped out pretty badly. Thankfully a cop was there and ran to help him immediately. I was able to go around the two of them and make my way up the next hill. I later saw this man after the race and he said he was able to finish the whole race, but he was headed to the emergency room just to be safe. I finished the bike course in 1:22:59 (about 10 minutes faster than my estimate.) My bike computer said that was an average of 16.5 mph, but the race site shows 15.9. ? Oh well. I felt good and was happy with my ride.
T2 was uneventful and took me 2:12.
I was a bit confused about where to run as I left transition, but quickly got on course. I took another gu with me, but it took about all of mile one to get it down. Even though I took my time on the bike, I was having trouble keeping my heart rate down so I could run well. I had to keep slowing down and walking some. I also battled with some pain in my left shoulder. It was really nice having a fellow CTCer nearby to talk me through a good bit of the run. (Thanks so much Jim!) I think the only mile I ran well was the last one. I missed some of the mile markers, so I gave up on keeping track of my times. All I know is that mile one took me 10:34 and my total run time was 1:09:08, an 11:09 pace. Very slow. Several of the women that I passed on the bike passed me back on the run. I only finished before 6 of the other women, putting me in 35th out of 41. Again, it was so nice to see so many familar faces at the finish line! :-)
My total time was 3:08:33, 15 minutes faster than my estimate. Other than having trouble running, my day went pretty well. Looks like I need more time working on bricks.

Now, I have to decide what I want to do next year. Of course there is the debate about the Cedar Point Rev 1/2, 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. With the training that I could do between now and September 12, 2010, without an injury, I feel like I could finish. Between the entry fee and the hotel cost for the weekend, it's not cheap. Plus, since it does cost so much, I feel like I'd have to skip a lot of the smaller local races next year to make up for the cost. I would probably just do an early summer sprint and a midsummer Olympic. I don't need to put us in debt for my racing fees. I'm not sure if I want to give up all the small fun races though. I enjoy looking forward to lots of little weekend races. Since I now know so many others that are signing up for Cedar Point (and all of those cheering me on to sign up), I think I'm leaning towards doing it. Having so many others to train with, race with, and share this whole experience with would be amazing. When I return to teaching the year after next, I know my training will suffer. I suppose that would be the time to just enjoy small local races. We shall see.

My first Olympic distance triathlon

Yesterday I signed up to compete in my first ever Olympic Distance triathlon. It takes place on Sunday September 13, 2009 at the Portage Lakes State Park. I'm not sure if I'm really ready for this. I'm sure I can finish, but I don't think I will really be able to "race." The distances are: swim 1500M, bike 40K and run 10K. Seperately, I can do each of these distances just fine, but all at once will be a challenge. I'm thinking I will finish in about 3 1/2 hours, which based on last year's results will put me in the last 5 finishers. Ugh. Just finishing will be my goal. I've run three half marathons, and they took me 2 1/2 hours, 2 1/4 hours, and 2 hr 7 mins. Competing for over 3 hours will be new for me.
My best guess for times:
Swim 40 min.
T1 3 min.
Bike 93 min. (16 MPH Avg)
T2 3 min.
Run 64 min.
Total = 3 hrs. 23 min.

I never got around to writing a blog for the triathlon at Fairport Harbor on July 26 or the duathlon in Mentor on Aug. 9, but I will try to write one after this Olympic Triathlon!

Planet X Triathlon - June 21, 2009

Sunday morning was the Planet X Triathlon at the Munroe Falls Metropark. Once again, my goal was to beat my time from last year. Thankfully we had a nice day and an early start time of 7:15 am. All of the women went first in one wave and then the men followed in 3 more waves.

Being more comfortable with my swimming ability, I’ve been starting closer to the front lately. I would guess I came out of the water somewhere in the middle of all of the women. Overall I was 59/149 in the swim. I had a pretty fast transition and got comfortable on the bike right away. Until I began riding up the long gradual incline around the corner from the park, I had forgotten about it from last year. Ugh. That slowed me up, but the flats and downhills allowed me to pick up some speed and time. I had some trouble shifting in a couple of places and I thought I was getting a flat on my front tire for the last few miles. Even with my troubles, I finished the bike course 53 seconds faster than last year. The second transition went well; I even remembered my race belt / number – unlike at Clay’s Park. My run felt slow, and again I was having trouble catching my breath. We ran two laps around the lake, and when I saw a woman with “31” on her leg pass me at the ½ way point, I was determined to not let her beat me. I had been counting the women my age, and I thought by letting her go I would be 4th in my age group. So, I stayed about 10 feet behind her for most of the second lap, and then I went all out for the last 200m. I managed to beat her by 4 seconds, but it turns out that was for 4th place. Well, if she hadn’t been there, I’m sure I would have run even slower, so she really did help me out. I looked up her results from last year and it turns out I beat her by 3 minutes in ’08. She really improved! Anyhow, my overall time was 1:18:12, 1 ½ minutes faster than last year. My run was 18 seconds slower than last year, so I guess my swim and transitions must have been better this year!

STATS:
400 yd swim – 7:48
T1 – 1:40
11 mile bike – 38:27 ~17.2 MPH AVG (my bike computer showed 17.6 AVG?)
T2 - :57
5k run – 29:18

4/8 females 30 – 34 (plus the overall female winner was 30)
84/149 overall for men and women

Lion's Biathlon - June 14, 2009 and CTC Time Trial - June 16, 2009

The Lion’s Biathlon was held in Willoughby on the Mentor border. The start and finish are at a park right on Lake Erie. Last year Matt and I teamed up for this event, and we decided to do the same this year.

The race begins with a fairly flat 5k run and then ends with a 13.4 mile bike course (with 2 laps.) There is also a duathlon option with one more bike lap for a total of about 20 miles and another 5k run at the end. My brother did the duathlon this year.

Last year I was very pleased with my run time here of 25:58, which was my second fastest 5k ever. Just getting close to that again would have made me happy. Well, I wore my heart rate monitor for the first time running in years. It was a bit distracting, but it was also nice to keep track of where I was. I wasn’t sure if I was running fast or hard enough, because at this race there are no mile markers. So, I just kept going as hard as I could. One girl passed me around the half way point, and I then did my best to keep her from getting away. I like to finish strong, so when I had about a ¼ mile to go, I gave it my all. I passed her and made it to transition in 25:57. Surprised and happy.

At this point Matt took off on his bike to complete our relay for the biathlon. There were two other male / female teams and I knew the one runner had been faster than me. Well, Matt caught the biker on that team and then knew we were in the lead. I ran down to the corner and caught Matt making the turn for his second lap. My brother wasn’t far back and I so I was able to see him make the bike turn, too. After that I made my way back to the park to see Matt finish. Our finish time was about 1:03:54, which is one minute and one second faster than last year. I get credit for the one second and Matt does for the one minute!


Tuesday night, June 16th, Matt and I rode in the 8 mile CTC Time Trial along with 2 other women and about 8 other men. It was an out and back course on a mostly flat but curvy bike path along a canal. I made sure to go last so that no one had to pass me on the skinny bike path. Although Tim, who put the event together, did end up going after me and passed me at the ½ way point.

My final time was 25:40 which is an average of about 18.9 MPH. I was the 3rd female, but of course there were only 3 of us. J and E are great triathletes, so I was just happy to be within a few minutes of them.

Clay's Park Triathlon - June 7, 2009

I’m a few weeks behind on race reports. After the Clay’s Park Tri I was busy getting ready for our garage sale and then running it for two days. Then Matt and I did the Lion’s Biathlon as a team, followed by a 5 day education class. During that week Matt and I also rode in a CTC Time Trial. This past weekend was the Planet X Triathlon at Munroe Falls Metropark. (formerly the SummiTri.) My sons and I are finally back to a pretty normal week, so I decided it was time to write some recaps. I don’t remember too many details, so this will mostly be the basic facts.

At the Clay’s Park Triathlon my goal was to beat my time from last year. My swim time was fine last year, but I wasn’t very happy with my bike or run average. The bike course is very difficult for me with all of the hills, but I was still determined to do better.

Well, my swim time was almost the same (5 seconds slower), but then T1 was 2 seconds faster. The bike course was still very tough, but I ended up 3 ½ minutes faster. Great! (Although I wasn’t very happy when 2 girls caught me at the top of the last hill.) I was 6 seconds faster in T2, and then began the run around the campground. The course was 2 short laps instead of one long lap like last year, but I still had trouble catching my breath. I ended up running almost 20 seconds slower which is my slowest 5k EVER. Ugh! Thankfully my bike speed allowed me to meet my goal of a faster overall time of about 3 ½ minutes.

STATS:
500m Swim – 10:51
T1 - 2:01
13 mile Bike – 47:33 16.4 MPH AVG
T2 - :55
5k Run – 32:18

The top 3 overall women just happened to be in my age group, so that allowed me to place 3rd in my age group awards. (Which is really 6th, but I’ll take it.)

Cleveland 1/2 Marathon - Race Report - May 17, 2009

Thrilled, overjoyed, amazed, shocked, proud... It’s going to be difficult to thoroughly explain how I feel about my performance this past Sunday. Not only did I finish my third ever half marathon, I also destroyed almost every goal I had set for myself. I’ll get back to the “almost” part later.

First of all, I drove downtown, found a place to park, and walked to the starting line all by myself. At a race this big, I think that was an accomplishment for me. :-) I even ventured into the scary bus station to use their flushing toilets – a tip I got from my brother last year - no lines and warm running water for hand washing.

Once onto 9th street, I made my way through the crowd, looking for any familiar faces and looking for the pacers. I was a little disappointed to not find anyone I knew. There were so many people I knew running, but in a crowd this big, it’s not a surprise to miss them all. I did locate the pacers easily with their signs and balloons. I went past the 4:30 group and positioned myself just behind the 4:15 pacers. At this point I had about 10 minutes until the start. This gave me time to consume one of my GU packs, drink some water, and debate if I dressed okay for the weather. I went with the “new” capris and two light long sleep running tops, plus an ugly sweatshirt that I knew I’d throw away after a mile or two and some of Matt’s old socks to keep my hands warm for a couple of miles - which was good since it was only in the mid 40s. I also turned on my MP3 player, which for the first time ever I decided to use in a race since they were allowed. I was very happy to have my own music several places along the course.

The race began, and a few minutes later I was crossing the starting line. I was quite surprised at how quickly the 4:15 pacers were pulling away. There were so many people packed together so tightly, that I had a difficult time dodging between people in order to keep up. I was a bit discouraged that I couldn’t see them, but I did my best to keep going.

Mile 1 – 9:53

I’m not familiar with the names of the streets, so I don’t know where I was at each of the mile markers, but early on we crossed a bridge that seemed to go uphill for 90% of the time. It was a very pretty site, with all the runners and the decoration on the sides, but I really wanted to get to the top and start going back down.

Mile 2 – 9:46

Wow, I ran not one, but two miles under 10 minutes each. This had me on track to finish around 2:10 – something I didn’t really think I could do, but it sure would be nice! I knew there was a long way to go though. Somewhere in here I threw off my warm-up sweatshirt.

Mile 3 – 9:22

I don’t remember looking down and seeing that time. It would have shocked me if I had. I finished the first 3 miles in 29:01. Three years ago I ran some whole 5k races slower than that! I think I kept the sock on my hands until this point. They really did help.

Mile 4 - ?

I never saw this mile marker. I guess I was really focused on running around this point.

Mile 4 and 5 – 18:37

Did I really run miles 3, 4 and 5 all under 9 ½ minutes each?? WOW! Unfortunately, around mile 5 I felt a blister starting on the arch of my right foot. I stopped and tightened my laces, hoping there would be less friction. It seemed to help, and I kept going strong.

Mile 6 – 9:38

At this point I took my second GU with some water from the water station. I was feeling a little slower, and really hoped the GU would help.

Mile 7 – 9:43

I knew we were going to turn right and head towards Lake Erie, and then quickly turn right again and head back towards downtown. To me that meant we were that much closer to finishing!

Mile 8 – 9:55

Clearly miles 6, 7, and 8 were slower, but I was still running less than 10 minute miles. WOW again!

Mile 9 – 10:01

I was bummed to see the 10 by 2 dumb seconds.

Mile 10 – 9:31

That’s better. My thoughts were, “Three miles to go. I can do this!”

Mile 11 – 10:50

Ugh – and I could still see more uphill ahead. I was really worried this part of the race was going to ruin my goal time. I had worked so hard to stay with 10 minute miles.
Somewhere around here I spotted a red shirt that looked like the back of a CTC top. I got up close and realized it was someone I knew. The first person all day that I recognized. Thanks Phil – you helped me keep moving!

Mile 12 – 10:06

We got to the top of the uphill portion, and made it back to downtown. Somewhere around here I spotted Erin on the sidewalk. I wanted to finish hard and took off the best I could.

Mile 13.1 – 9:48

Finish Time – 2:07:17
Pace – 9:42

I did it! I really did it! I beat my time at Akron (2:15) AND I beat my goal of 2:10. WOW! I didn’t know I could really do this. I had NO idea I could run for 13 miles and keep going at a pace of under 10 minutes per mile.

Sunday evening my right knee began to hurt. I can’t seem to straighten it all the way so I’m icing it several times a day. I took off from working out yesterday, and it looks like I’m doing the same again today. This is the only goal I didn’t meet – being injury free. Bummer. I’m so glad I ran hard though! It’s nice to know I had it in me.

I don't know if a full marathon will ever be in my future. My knee doesn't seem to like running too far at once. For now I think I'm going to focus on speed at shorter distances. If I can run 13 miles at a 9:42 pace, I must be able to run shorter distances faster than I have been. Once my knee feels better, I'll start setting some new goals. :-)

Goals for Cleveland 1/2 Marathon

The current forecast for Sunday is mostly cloudy with a low of 46 degrees and a high of 54 degrees. There's only a 10% chance of rain. I'd have to say, that's pretty good. Unlike the 10 Miler a few weeks ago, we don't have to worry about being too hot! However I'm left with the dilemma of what to wear. We start at 7 AM, and I hope to be done by about 9:15 (part of the goal.) So, it will probably only be about 50 degrees during most of my running time. I'm leaning towards capris and a light weight long sleeve running top. I'm most comfortable in running shorts and a tank top, but there's no way I can do that. The capris are new, and I've only run in them once, so I'm worried that after 10 miles they might not be as comfortable as I'd like. ?? My under armour would be too hot though. Hmmmm.

Anyhow, back to my goals...

I've run two 1/2 marathons - both were last fall. At Akron I finished in 2:15:18, and at the Stomp the Grapes I finished in 2:30:07.

Of course I want to be under 2:30, and I would REALLY like to be under 2:15. A finish time of 2:13 would be nice (10:10 pace.) I would LOVE to finish at 2:10 (9:55 pace.)

I don't really know what to expect. A BIG goal is to finish without any injuries or bad pains. My first outdoor tri of the year is in just THREE weeks. I've signed up, paid, and prepared to beat last year's time on that one. :-) I'd hate to push it too hard this weekend and jepordize all of my summer triathlons. The tris are more important to me than a fast 1/2 marathon. BUT - I'd also hate to not try hard on Sunday. I'm torn. How hard I end up running on Sunday will probably be left to how I'm feeling.

Silver Springs Biathlon - May 3, 2009

First of all, I'm very happy to say that I met my biking AND running goals for today!! I didn't set a goal for my transition time, but maybe I should have. I didn't expect for it to be twice as slow as last year. :-) I still finished the entire race in 1:08:19 (on my watch), which is about 4 minutes faster than last year!

The transition area was moved to a different parking area at the park, but otherwise, the course was the exact same as last year. It might have been a touch warmer and slightly less windy today. Overall, it was a pretty nice day for a race!

Only one woman was in the duathlon, the rest of us (8 ladies, I think) took part in the biathlon. The biathlon and the duathlon began at the same time, with the bikes all up front slowly rolling. The bike course had two identical loops of about 5.75 miles through some rolling streets here in Stow. The run course followed some local roads for the first two miles, and then looped back to the park on a bike path.

One lady and I stayed together for the majority of the bike part. We took several turns passing each other at various points of the race. She entered transition just before me (in 2nd place overall), which put me in 3rd at this point. Sandy (another racer) entered transition as I was leaving on the run. Within a half mile she caught and passed me, leaving me in 4th. She clearly had a strong run, and I knew I wouldn't be catching back up. So, this left me trying to catch the woman who came out of transition just before me. I had a hard time on mile one of the run today, but felt pretty strong during the second mile. I slowly caught up to the runner in front of me, and then passed her at the mile 2 marker. With one mile to go, I was now in 3rd. I felt pretty good, and I knew I'd better run hard to keep my place. I ran miles 1 & 2 in 20:07. I then ran the last mile in 8:37 - and felt really good. :-) I finished in 3rd overall for the women, which is exactly how I placed last year, but against different women.

Stats (on my watch and bike computer):

11.4 mile bike - 38:24 - Average 18.1 MPH

Transition - 1:10

5K run - 28:44

Total time - 1:08:19

Race goals - May 1, 2009

In two days I'll be biking and running in the Silver Springs Biathlon here in Stow. This will be one of the first times that I'm getting a chance to race on a course for a second time! I competed in tris and 5Ks for a year in Dayton, and then we moved up here to NE Ohio. So, I didn't get to try to improve my times on any of those courses. I'm excited (and nervous) to be getting the opportunity this summer to see how my times will compare to last year's times in several races - the first one being this Sunday.
The biathlon is 11.6 miles on the bike and then a 5K run. Last year my bike time was 41:43 (17 mph avg), my run time was 29:52 (9:36), and my transition was 28 seconds.
My transition time was fine, but I want to improve on the bike and the run. I'll be happy with anything better than last year's times, but I'd really like to see at least a 17.5 avg on the bike (18 would be even better, but I don't know if I can do that on this course and this early in the summer), and I'd like to run at least a 29 minute 5K (again, 28 would be better, but I haven't practiced too many bricks lately, so I don't know how my legs will be when I try to run off the bike.)
We shall see. :-)