Well, I survived another round of training and work. It is definitely easier when it's not my weekend to work. My run week runs Monday - Sunday, but my work schedule runs Sunday-Saturday, so when I work 12s on the weekends it just mess everything up.
I don't know why I set myself up this fall the way I did. It could be I like a challenge, maybe I like to just be stressed out about a lot of things, or perhaps I'm a sadist and just glutton for some punishment. Whatever the reason I signed myself up for a full, a half and the Akron marathon relay. I'm the least nervous about the half, but the other two.... Well, I would like to PR in the marathon again and with the relay I have 3 freaky fast chicks counting on me to drop the trailer and move my butt.
Training is much more difficult than I thought it would be with 3 days/week off. One day, half the time is just dedicated to recovering from the long hours I put in at work. Not to mention, I am a sucker for OT. These last two weeks at work have been extremely stressful on the unit, because the patient acuity is so high and we are short-staffed. This stresses the nurses that are coming to work out and then they call off, so it's just one stressful day after another. I refuse to call off, even though I dread the thought of going in some days and I hate having too many patients I don't know where to begin, so when the boss asks if I can come in early to help alleviate evening shift, of course I say yes.
All that said, here is the run down from round 3. I am on borrowed time as I offered to come back in at 7:00pm tonight and it's already 10:30am and I need some sleep.
Mon: 13 miles (long run - 8:34/mile)
Tues: 2 miles (easy treadmill - 10:00/mile) and rehab exercises (SI joint in my spine is bugging me)
Wed: OFF
Thur: OFF
Fri: 8 miles (tempo 2 mile warm-up with 4x100 strides, 3 miles at 8:00/mile, 1 mile easy 10:00/mile, 1 mile 7:30/mile, 1 mile cool-down)
Sat: 7.5 miles (easy roads - 9:12/mile)
Sun: Double Day 2 miles (easy 8:42), 7.5 miles (easy - 8:34/mile) and rehab exercises
Total: 40 miles
Peace OUT!!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Work vs. Training - Let the Battle Begin
I am still fighting the good fight, trying not to succumb to the ever popular American lifestyle. That one which the way too many are overworked throughout the day and come home to eating comfort food and laying on the couch only wishing they had the energy to get out there and do it.
All that said, last week's training was pretty much thwarted by my 53 hours of work (not counting drive time). Saturday night, I barely made it to A-train's house a little after 10pm, without falling asleep at the wheel, to pass out and get back up at 5:15 am and do it all over again. Each day at work was more and more stressful for me. Lots of complications (neutropenic fever, nausea/vomiting, constipation, high methotrexate levels, bone mets with compression fractures and my all time favorite c-diff) made the thought of the day "F me!!" I couldn't hang blood, potassium, set-up PCA pumps and provide emotional support for extremely anxious family members who wanted to vent on me fast enough. I kept thinking "who is gonna die?" and that's who I would go see and that meant sometimes 1 of my 5 patient's didn't see me for a few hours.
Anyway, here is the rundown for the last two weeks.
Week of 8/8-8/14
Mon: off
Tues: off
Wed: off
Thur: 11.11 ran (3.0 in afternoonat 10:00/mile, 2.96 warm-up and 5.15 race)
Fri: 4.5 ran easy (9:25/mile)
Sat: 9.55 trails at S. Chagrin (10:03/mile)
Sun: 10.5 long run (8:40/mile - ran around at Perfect 10 miler)
Total: 35.67 miles
Week of 8/15-8/21
Mon: off
Tues: off
Wed: off
Thur: 6.5 speedwork (2 mile warm-up, 2 x 1 mile at 7:38 and 1 x 1 mile at 7:35 with 800 meter RI at 10:00/mile)
Fri: 10.15 trails at N. Chagrin (9:09/mile)
Sat: off
Sun: off
Total: 16.65
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Twilight Trail 8K Race (My Eleanor)
Every year that I have run this race, I have barely made it up th big hill only to blow up. Hell, I have even thrown-up throughout the race sometimes and always at the end.
This year I hoped it would be different. I wanted a PR, but more importantly I wanted to do the course like a progression run with each mile getting faster, until I was at all out effort coming into the finish (not the first mile).
I had only been running about 10-15 mpw and knew I needed to get back into the groove of things, work or no work, this couch potaot/lazy ass BS had to come to an end (I'm not really lazy, work just sucks up a minimum of 48 hours/week now).
I jumped on the treadmill a little before noon and did 3 easy miles, then did some upper body and core training for about 20 minutes. I ate and waited for 5:00 pm to come, trying to get caught up on laundry, blogging and cleaning up in general. I almost chickened out, but somehow made the drive, 2 detours and all to the start. I was really early, hoping the race had not filled up and I could still get in. I even donated an extra $5, since the race proceeds go for such a great cause (Cleveland Rape Crisis Center).
I decided to run an easy 3 mile warm-up 1/2 road, 1/2 trails with my headphones on full blast. I felt a little warm with my shirt on, but my legs didn't feel dead as per there usual at this race. E-speed passed me on my warm-up pointing to her ears, later telling me that she had been screaming at me, but I hadn't even heard her (I know IMPOSSIBLE right?).
Almost forgot to spray myself with bug spray before the start, but caught my mistake with about 5 minutes to go before the start. I lined up in the middle of my age group. I also had my headphones on. I felt I needed to be able to drown out everything around me and get it done today. I know 'phones are a sin in some groups and I never wear them when I race, but today I was going to break the rules. I had every intention of going out nice and easy, too slow if need be. Nothing mattered but keeping my heart rate low and surviving the first 2 miles.
God, I was so nervous I was going to mess this race up like every other year that when the horn sounded I almost didn't move. I trotted through the grass, trying not to pass people and go out too hard. We hit the woods and before I knew it, we were crossing the stream me, daisy, twizzle (and of course e-speed too) had foolishly jumped in, on an all girls Halloween run a few years ago. It was much shallower and I opted to ford it in a different spot than most of the racers (didn't even get my feet wet).
The big hill was next. I was going slow enough still. I was breathing easy, but just the thought of the hill stressed me out as I ran. I started up the hill nice and easy, slowing as the effort increased until I felt I was working too hard and then I WALKED. To hell with this hill I thought. I have run it before and it kills me. I watched person after person pass me on the steepest part and kept wondering what the hell was wrong with me, why couldn't I do that. I got to the top and started running again and then it happened. Many of those people that had run up the hill started coming back to me and I FELT GREAT!! I felt like I had just started running. I upped my effort a little for the second mile, but not too much as it is rolling but a little uphill. Mile 2 came and went and now it was time to up the effort even more.
I was getting passed by guys but no women. I was the one passing other women today. My form felt relaxed and I was picking up my feet, no shuffling yet. My tunes just kept me jamming along and before I knew it the big hill I normally run up was in my sights. I went down it quickly but safely, EE caught me and went careening down it a little wrecklessly with his hands flailing in the air trying to slow himself down and overcorrect for taking the first turn too wide.
I grabbed some water at the aid station and worked my way up to Squire's Castle and could feel my right calf turning to what felt like cement. Oh No!! I had less than a mile and I was running out of gas. My legs had covered 10 miles today and had, had enough. Blah! It had been awhile since my mental self had pulled out a can of whoop ass on my physical self and with a 5+ minute PR looming within my grasp, I let the beating commence. I mentally told myself to keep at it and to not back down (I used a lot of obscenities at this point) and I thought e-speed may be somewhere up ahead to drag me along, ensuring my inability to back down. Lo' and behold a little after mile 4 there she was. I let her pull and push me along, trying to give it a little gas on the downhills. She was talking to me, but I couldn't hear a thing. It didn't matter I was glad to have some human lightning at my side. She pulled off right before I exited the woods and I gave her a thumbs-up as I pulled away from her.
There was a girl about 200 meters ahead and I was able to close the gap a little, but the legs were so tired and for the first time in a long time I ran with everything I had through the grass, cursing in my head the whole way. I felt slower than ever and there seemed to be a hundred cones between me and the damn STOP line. I told myself somewhere deep in that pansy ass was one more gear and I could go faster. I did and it got me to the line. I staggered through. Spit on the ground and thought "Hell Yeah!!" I finally completed this race successfully. My time was still weak, but I finally knew I had defeated my Eleanor. I had beaten the course today. It had hurt me, but I had run it as planned.
Splits via my Garmin: (I even tried to cut the corners and run the tangents and still ran over 5 miles!!)
Mile 1: 9:37
Mile 2: 8:29
Mile 3: 8:11
Mile 4: 7:59
Mile 5: 8:05
189 ft. 0:16
Total Time: 42:39, Pace 8:19 (I like what my Garmin says much better)
OFFICIAL TIME: 42:37, Pace 8:42 (6 min 4 second PR)
I am a very weak trail runner as you can see. I just don't have overalll good general strength to handle that type of terrain, but I am committing myself to run trails more often and learn. I may never be a mountain goat, but here goes nothing. I got you now Eleanor!!!!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Fairport Triathlon 2011
Sheesh!! It's been such a whirlwind the last 3 weeks I just published some comments from my June race.
Anyway, after doing the Crossfit Triathlon, I was re-inspired to swim, bike, run and whip myself into shape to have a better than average race at Fairport!! I paid my $20 early in hopes it would force me to train, but alas I swam zero times between the 2 races and got out on my bike 2 times the week before the race. I did however manage to pick up some OT in the weeks leading up to the race and even hit 52 hours one week (so now I am richer and lazy).
I waivered on doing the race until e-speed stopped by and said she was coming to cheer with NC and daisy, and then A-train reminded me it was KP's annual birthday celebration after the race too. It wasn't too hard to convince me to go.
Packet pick-up was a little slow (like usual), but for $20 really who can bitch? I had gotten there early and had plenty of time to prepare.
The race brings about 300-400 particpants, so the 35 and under women's wave always has a decent sized group. I actually positioned myself pretty well throughout the swim. I spent most of it swimming side by side with a girl that had no wetsuit on. It felt like it took a lot longer than it should have to get out to the turnaround buoy and of course, I was gasping for air every time my right arm came out of the water. There were lots of pokey men in the waves ahead of us we had to swim over and around. I took no mercy clobbering them on my left and right, just as they have done to me in races -- hehehehe!! Swam to shore until my hand scraped the ground (since I can't dophin for jack), jumped up and ran for transition. I heard my friends cheering for me as I ran by, kicking sand all over my suit. Thankfully, they have people with hoses spraying you off as you run to T1. I looked at my watch and it was a little over 10 minutes when I go to the hoses (good but never good enough -- seems I have one speed in the water, whether I train or not).
T1 takes forever to run in, change and run out of. It was fairly smooth, except for the fact that I had left my race belt clipped and decided to wear it on the bike for some reason. As I ran out of T1, I tried to awkwardly put it on and steer my bike, but no dice. I had to stop at the mount like and do it. T1 was probably around 2:00, but it's added into the swim time, so no exact time for sure. (Swim and T1 were 12:30, per results -- I think). The thing is I was the fastest swimmer in my age group and probably in the top 10 women. I'm guessing there weren't a lot of strong female swimmers at this event.
The bike course was the same as usual on the way out flat and fast with a tailwind and only minimal turns. The tailwind was not as strong as in past years, which meant the headwind wouldn't be as bad on the way back either (YIPEE). I figured there were 10 or 15 girls tops in front of me. I was about 3 miles in when I started to feel tired. I hit the wall and was overcome with this urge to stop and lay down in the grass. I kept going trying to shake it off, but then a girl on a cervelo passed me and I knew I was in trouble. I tried to get amped and go after her, but I had nothing. I was out of shape and weak. My endurance was lacking (I was slow). A few miles later I caught up to a girl and realized it was MJ. She looked really strong. I asked her if she was running too and she said "no" she was doing the relay and someone else was running (she had been one of the women that had beaten me out of the water sans wetsuit). She pushed me to ride harder on the bike and I took the lead when the turns on the course increased. I noticed a guy drafing off her when I looked back and thought that was pretty shitty, but once we got back out on to Fairport-Nursery Road, MJ dropped that guy and caught me and then blew by me in the headwind. I tried to duck down as low as I could on my aero bars, but she just rode away from me like nothing. Thankfully that guy was even worse off than me and couldn't catch me to draft off of.
I came down the hill to the T2 and volunteers were screaming at us to slow down. I didn't really listen, whoops! I had no time to soft pedal and get my feet out of my shoes, so I did something really stupid. I unclipped on the right side, swung my leg over to the left and stayed clipped in on the left side with my bike moving and then it dawned on me!! I was stilled clipped in and going to try a flying dismount. Oh my God!! My foot was still locked in the pedal and I was going to crash. I thought about grabbing the brakes and stopping and then dismounting, but my weight was all on the left side and I would fall for sure. I did what I had to do. I sent up a very silent, but huge prayer to God "Please let me make this dismount without crashing. Please God protect this idiot!!" I cracked my left foot at the last second before I hit the dismount line and the curb in hope my left shoe would release from the pedal. It did!! It worked. My feet were on the ground and I was running for T2. YES!!! YES!! YES!! I ran in ditched the bike and was off like a prom dress. My bike split and T2 were 39:20. I remember my total time was about 52 minutes at that point by my watch.
I started passing people right away and that was pretty much the way my whole run went. I told every person, "good job" or "keep going." One guy said I was "running great" and wanted to know my secret. I told him "I'm trying to hurry and get this thing over with." In years passed I have always had one woman pass me through the condo/apartment complex at about the half way point. I swore it wouldn't happen this year and I started running harder, but it happened anyway. NH passed me from the Erie Tri Club (Damn!!!). I tried to keep the gap as small as possible and surged on and off from there to the finish. As I turned to run through the grass I picked it up to a hard effort, in hopes no one would try to challenge me at the line (I really didn't want to sprint, but I would have if need be). No one did and I finished in 1:13:54. The run was about 2.8 and I did it in 21:59.
The race itself was fun, but I am losing to people I used to beat and that is a hard pill for my ego to swallow. I am killing myself in these races and I'm slower. I just can't come up with a training schedule with my ever changing and time-sucking work schedule (heck, I can't even find time to type up a race report hardly). I like racing, but my ego is definitely getting a little banged up in the process.
Anyway, after doing the Crossfit Triathlon, I was re-inspired to swim, bike, run and whip myself into shape to have a better than average race at Fairport!! I paid my $20 early in hopes it would force me to train, but alas I swam zero times between the 2 races and got out on my bike 2 times the week before the race. I did however manage to pick up some OT in the weeks leading up to the race and even hit 52 hours one week (so now I am richer and lazy).
I waivered on doing the race until e-speed stopped by and said she was coming to cheer with NC and daisy, and then A-train reminded me it was KP's annual birthday celebration after the race too. It wasn't too hard to convince me to go.
Packet pick-up was a little slow (like usual), but for $20 really who can bitch? I had gotten there early and had plenty of time to prepare.
Me and Twizzle before the swim
T1 takes forever to run in, change and run out of. It was fairly smooth, except for the fact that I had left my race belt clipped and decided to wear it on the bike for some reason. As I ran out of T1, I tried to awkwardly put it on and steer my bike, but no dice. I had to stop at the mount like and do it. T1 was probably around 2:00, but it's added into the swim time, so no exact time for sure. (Swim and T1 were 12:30, per results -- I think). The thing is I was the fastest swimmer in my age group and probably in the top 10 women. I'm guessing there weren't a lot of strong female swimmers at this event.
The bike course was the same as usual on the way out flat and fast with a tailwind and only minimal turns. The tailwind was not as strong as in past years, which meant the headwind wouldn't be as bad on the way back either (YIPEE). I figured there were 10 or 15 girls tops in front of me. I was about 3 miles in when I started to feel tired. I hit the wall and was overcome with this urge to stop and lay down in the grass. I kept going trying to shake it off, but then a girl on a cervelo passed me and I knew I was in trouble. I tried to get amped and go after her, but I had nothing. I was out of shape and weak. My endurance was lacking (I was slow). A few miles later I caught up to a girl and realized it was MJ. She looked really strong. I asked her if she was running too and she said "no" she was doing the relay and someone else was running (she had been one of the women that had beaten me out of the water sans wetsuit). She pushed me to ride harder on the bike and I took the lead when the turns on the course increased. I noticed a guy drafing off her when I looked back and thought that was pretty shitty, but once we got back out on to Fairport-Nursery Road, MJ dropped that guy and caught me and then blew by me in the headwind. I tried to duck down as low as I could on my aero bars, but she just rode away from me like nothing. Thankfully that guy was even worse off than me and couldn't catch me to draft off of.
Me and MJ after the race
I came down the hill to the T2 and volunteers were screaming at us to slow down. I didn't really listen, whoops! I had no time to soft pedal and get my feet out of my shoes, so I did something really stupid. I unclipped on the right side, swung my leg over to the left and stayed clipped in on the left side with my bike moving and then it dawned on me!! I was stilled clipped in and going to try a flying dismount. Oh my God!! My foot was still locked in the pedal and I was going to crash. I thought about grabbing the brakes and stopping and then dismounting, but my weight was all on the left side and I would fall for sure. I did what I had to do. I sent up a very silent, but huge prayer to God "Please let me make this dismount without crashing. Please God protect this idiot!!" I cracked my left foot at the last second before I hit the dismount line and the curb in hope my left shoe would release from the pedal. It did!! It worked. My feet were on the ground and I was running for T2. YES!!! YES!! YES!! I ran in ditched the bike and was off like a prom dress. My bike split and T2 were 39:20. I remember my total time was about 52 minutes at that point by my watch.
I started passing people right away and that was pretty much the way my whole run went. I told every person, "good job" or "keep going." One guy said I was "running great" and wanted to know my secret. I told him "I'm trying to hurry and get this thing over with." In years passed I have always had one woman pass me through the condo/apartment complex at about the half way point. I swore it wouldn't happen this year and I started running harder, but it happened anyway. NH passed me from the Erie Tri Club (Damn!!!). I tried to keep the gap as small as possible and surged on and off from there to the finish. As I turned to run through the grass I picked it up to a hard effort, in hopes no one would try to challenge me at the line (I really didn't want to sprint, but I would have if need be). No one did and I finished in 1:13:54. The run was about 2.8 and I did it in 21:59.
Me running to the finish (that's about as fast as I get these days)
The race itself was fun, but I am losing to people I used to beat and that is a hard pill for my ego to swallow. I am killing myself in these races and I'm slower. I just can't come up with a training schedule with my ever changing and time-sucking work schedule (heck, I can't even find time to type up a race report hardly). I like racing, but my ego is definitely getting a little banged up in the process.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Crossfit Triathlon
I had never done this race before and I was very hesitant to sign up for it this year having only swam one time about a month or 2 ago in a swimming pool with e-speed, but I thought it's only 400 yards, how bad could it be, right? It was also A-Train's 41st birthday and some of his training buddies would be there and even my parents were going to come down to watch. It was a done deal, I had to race (or try).
We arrived in plenty of time and I actually got to rack on the end for once. I hoped it was a good sign. I realized I had not packed a gel while I was setting up, but wasn't too worried. It was only a sprint. I rummaged around in my packet and to my delight found a complimentary one! I successfully taped it to my top tube on my bike and thought - SCORE! Then my first bad sign of the morning occurred. A girl was asking me about where to rack her bike (the racks were clearly marked) and as I looked up to answer her I saw it was "pink shirt" from this race. Oh crap!! Not her again. She started to put her gear by me on the rack and I told her she could go to any of the four around me and there was even an end spot open on a different one. Lucky for me that idea appealed to her way more than racking by me and she headed over there - whew!
The women 34 and under were to go off at 7:06am in the first wave. Usually, the women all go off in one wave (and last for that matter), but surprisingly this race drew quite a decent size of women participants and we had two waves with mine going first! This I knew was going to be weird. There were 6 minutes between waves and although BH had once told me how he had swam over a ton of slow old ladies and "clobbered them," I wasn't worried.
I lined up more on the outside and toward the front for the swim, not wanting to get trapped between the lane line and swimmers, course being near the outside would have it's own challenges I would find out. It felt so weird standing in the water about to race. It seemed like another lifetime ago when I had raced a triathlon. I was nervous and praying by some miracle of God I would make it out of the water and be able to put in at least an average performance. The horn sounded and arms were a flying!! There was more body contact than I am used to on the way out, my arms hitting others and vice a versa, a couple women swimming on my ankles and legs. I felt my heart rate going up and up and before long I was gasping for air. Swimming on the outside allowed me to see the lane line and sight easily, but it put a lot of girls between me and the ropes and more times then not I had to hold my line and take an arm to the body to keep them from pushing me wide of my line. My arms and back were on fire even before I made it to the turn around. I had a little trouble getting under the lane line and practically clothes lined myself trying to dive under it at the same instance some girl grabbed it and lifted it up. I was completely anaerobic, just trying to hang onto the pace and relax. I found some feet and hung on them for part of the way back. I had a much clearer path, but then there was another lane line and I was a little confused as to where to exit. This time however, I successfully cleared it without mishap.
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I hit the beach and felt how much the swim had taken out of me. My arms felt like dead weight and as I ran for transitioin, I reminded myself "this is fun and it's only going to hurt more - weeeeeee!!!" I had put my chip on outside my wetsuit and I struggled to get it off (rookie mistake #1). I ended up sitting down and wrestling with my right leg for what seemed like two minutes. Finally, with one quick burst of strength and my dead arms I got the thing off. I pulled on my bike helmet and realized my hari bun was too high on my head and my helmet was choking me a little (rookie mistake #2) I tried my best to re-adjust it, but I had to go. I had already wasted too much time trying to get my wetsuit off (tick-tock, tick-tock).
I sprinted for the transition exit and noticed my legs felt okay (surprisingly). I figured there were about 15 girls ahead of me. We climbed up out of the park and I was immediately able to pass 4-5 of them in the first 400 meters.
The bike course was 2 loops of rollers with right turns. The climb up route 91 at the end of each loop was the most challenging part of the course. I noticed a weird sensation on my back end when braking and noticed when I was in my easiest gear I was working really hard. My legs felt the same as always, but I didn't seem to have any power. I assumed the swim had just killed my body from top to bottom. I decided to ignore my computer and just go with it. What other choice did I have? (Later, KP and A-Train were working on my bike and noticed my brake was rubbing (every time I don't check it before the race, it seems to happen!! DARN IT!!! rookie mistake #3). I got another 4 or so girls on the first loop and after that couldn't tell anymore with other waves merging. I rode alone for most of the race. No girls passed me on the bike, but as I re-entered the park one girl had caught up to me. I started ripping my feet out of my shoes and soft pedaling on the downhill a few hundred meters from transition. I jumped off my bike and after not doing it for nearly 2 years managed to successfully complete a flying dismount - WOOT!! I was on the ground and running when my pedal flipped and my shoe dragged and went flying as I was running. "Shit!!" I said. I went back for it, even though I wouldn't have gotten a penalty for abandonment of gear as this was not USAT race. A volunteer tossed it to me and I ran back and grabbed my bike where I had leaned it against the transition tent, but the nose of my seat go stuck on the tent pole and I wrestled with it trying to get the bike lose without taking out the entire tent. Arrrgggghhhhh!!!! Come On!!!! It was only a matter of seconds, but in triathlon, it always feels like forever.
I finally racked my bike changed my shoes and blew out of T2 (Some people's forte is the bike or the swim or even the run, mine is unfortunately transition, even when it's bad, it is usually faster than most. Too bad it doesn't buy me a lot of time back).
I saw my mom and the Bails and I waved and yelled "Hi Buddy!!" That was a mistake, apparently he became super excited to see me and wanted to run too. He spent the latter part of the race trying to drag my mother on to the course for her own unsanctioned 5k. I grabbed some water and gatorade at the turnaround table and headed out for my first loop. I saw my dad taking pics and cheering for me right after that. I was breathing really hard and blubbering and wheezing from the get-go, but my legs felt way better than normal. The run was thankfully shaded most of the way and flat too boot. I was alone and it was dead quiet. At about 0.5 miles in there is a little turn around area near the main gates and I saw a girl less than a minute behind me. Yikes!!! Her stride looked fresh and strong. I was holding steady, but knew if my breathing got worse or my legs got tired I was D-O-N-E. I yelled at her "Good job!! You look great!!!" She yelled "Thanks, you too!!"
Around one mile we hit the only climb on the course and I saw A-train coming into the park off the bike. I knew he had put up some insane bike time as soon as I saw him. I worked my way up the hill. I had no idea how many girls were in front of me. I saw nobody. BM passed me as he entered on his bike and yelled some encouragement. He too had had a good bike. As I was working the downhill, a young man blew by me like I was standing still. Without thinking I just said "Holy Shit!" as he passed me. The kid never slowed and later I would come to learn it was DJ, a former Perry HS cross country runner. We had taken him with us to Footlocker Nationals a few years ago in Wisconsin, now I experienced first hand why!!!
As I started the second loop I was still holding off that girl, but not wanting to look back I forced myself to run hard every few cones, trying to gap her and let her think it was impossible to catch me. At the turn-around she was still about the same distance away. My dad had yelled at me that A-Train was only about a quarter mile ahead and I could catch him (haha, funny!!). I had a little less than a mile to go to hold her off, but then out of the blue a female KG also a recent graduate HS cross country runner, went by me. I was in shock. She would go on to finish in 18:00 with one of the top 5 runs out of the women and men!! At the hill I finally started to tire and it took a lot more energy to climb it the second time. Over the top and heading for home I tried to open up my stride until I hit the grass and then I just cruised on in, prepared to kill myself if someone tried to sprint me down at the line (thankfully, that didn't happen). I crossed the line in 1:10:xx. Again, opted not to do splits and just go with it, just glad it was over and I had survived.
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We arrived in plenty of time and I actually got to rack on the end for once. I hoped it was a good sign. I realized I had not packed a gel while I was setting up, but wasn't too worried. It was only a sprint. I rummaged around in my packet and to my delight found a complimentary one! I successfully taped it to my top tube on my bike and thought - SCORE! Then my first bad sign of the morning occurred. A girl was asking me about where to rack her bike (the racks were clearly marked) and as I looked up to answer her I saw it was "pink shirt" from this race. Oh crap!! Not her again. She started to put her gear by me on the rack and I told her she could go to any of the four around me and there was even an end spot open on a different one. Lucky for me that idea appealed to her way more than racking by me and she headed over there - whew!
The women 34 and under were to go off at 7:06am in the first wave. Usually, the women all go off in one wave (and last for that matter), but surprisingly this race drew quite a decent size of women participants and we had two waves with mine going first! This I knew was going to be weird. There were 6 minutes between waves and although BH had once told me how he had swam over a ton of slow old ladies and "clobbered them," I wasn't worried.
I lined up more on the outside and toward the front for the swim, not wanting to get trapped between the lane line and swimmers, course being near the outside would have it's own challenges I would find out. It felt so weird standing in the water about to race. It seemed like another lifetime ago when I had raced a triathlon. I was nervous and praying by some miracle of God I would make it out of the water and be able to put in at least an average performance. The horn sounded and arms were a flying!! There was more body contact than I am used to on the way out, my arms hitting others and vice a versa, a couple women swimming on my ankles and legs. I felt my heart rate going up and up and before long I was gasping for air. Swimming on the outside allowed me to see the lane line and sight easily, but it put a lot of girls between me and the ropes and more times then not I had to hold my line and take an arm to the body to keep them from pushing me wide of my line. My arms and back were on fire even before I made it to the turn around. I had a little trouble getting under the lane line and practically clothes lined myself trying to dive under it at the same instance some girl grabbed it and lifted it up. I was completely anaerobic, just trying to hang onto the pace and relax. I found some feet and hung on them for part of the way back. I had a much clearer path, but then there was another lane line and I was a little confused as to where to exit. This time however, I successfully cleared it without mishap.
(My dad got a good laugh out of the stupid look on my face)
I hit the beach and felt how much the swim had taken out of me. My arms felt like dead weight and as I ran for transitioin, I reminded myself "this is fun and it's only going to hurt more - weeeeeee!!!" I had put my chip on outside my wetsuit and I struggled to get it off (rookie mistake #1). I ended up sitting down and wrestling with my right leg for what seemed like two minutes. Finally, with one quick burst of strength and my dead arms I got the thing off. I pulled on my bike helmet and realized my hari bun was too high on my head and my helmet was choking me a little (rookie mistake #2) I tried my best to re-adjust it, but I had to go. I had already wasted too much time trying to get my wetsuit off (tick-tock, tick-tock).
I sprinted for the transition exit and noticed my legs felt okay (surprisingly). I figured there were about 15 girls ahead of me. We climbed up out of the park and I was immediately able to pass 4-5 of them in the first 400 meters.
The bike course was 2 loops of rollers with right turns. The climb up route 91 at the end of each loop was the most challenging part of the course. I noticed a weird sensation on my back end when braking and noticed when I was in my easiest gear I was working really hard. My legs felt the same as always, but I didn't seem to have any power. I assumed the swim had just killed my body from top to bottom. I decided to ignore my computer and just go with it. What other choice did I have? (Later, KP and A-Train were working on my bike and noticed my brake was rubbing (every time I don't check it before the race, it seems to happen!! DARN IT!!! rookie mistake #3). I got another 4 or so girls on the first loop and after that couldn't tell anymore with other waves merging. I rode alone for most of the race. No girls passed me on the bike, but as I re-entered the park one girl had caught up to me. I started ripping my feet out of my shoes and soft pedaling on the downhill a few hundred meters from transition. I jumped off my bike and after not doing it for nearly 2 years managed to successfully complete a flying dismount - WOOT!! I was on the ground and running when my pedal flipped and my shoe dragged and went flying as I was running. "Shit!!" I said. I went back for it, even though I wouldn't have gotten a penalty for abandonment of gear as this was not USAT race. A volunteer tossed it to me and I ran back and grabbed my bike where I had leaned it against the transition tent, but the nose of my seat go stuck on the tent pole and I wrestled with it trying to get the bike lose without taking out the entire tent. Arrrgggghhhhh!!!! Come On!!!! It was only a matter of seconds, but in triathlon, it always feels like forever.
I finally racked my bike changed my shoes and blew out of T2 (Some people's forte is the bike or the swim or even the run, mine is unfortunately transition, even when it's bad, it is usually faster than most. Too bad it doesn't buy me a lot of time back).
I saw my mom and the Bails and I waved and yelled "Hi Buddy!!" That was a mistake, apparently he became super excited to see me and wanted to run too. He spent the latter part of the race trying to drag my mother on to the course for her own unsanctioned 5k. I grabbed some water and gatorade at the turnaround table and headed out for my first loop. I saw my dad taking pics and cheering for me right after that. I was breathing really hard and blubbering and wheezing from the get-go, but my legs felt way better than normal. The run was thankfully shaded most of the way and flat too boot. I was alone and it was dead quiet. At about 0.5 miles in there is a little turn around area near the main gates and I saw a girl less than a minute behind me. Yikes!!! Her stride looked fresh and strong. I was holding steady, but knew if my breathing got worse or my legs got tired I was D-O-N-E. I yelled at her "Good job!! You look great!!!" She yelled "Thanks, you too!!"
Around one mile we hit the only climb on the course and I saw A-train coming into the park off the bike. I knew he had put up some insane bike time as soon as I saw him. I worked my way up the hill. I had no idea how many girls were in front of me. I saw nobody. BM passed me as he entered on his bike and yelled some encouragement. He too had had a good bike. As I was working the downhill, a young man blew by me like I was standing still. Without thinking I just said "Holy Shit!" as he passed me. The kid never slowed and later I would come to learn it was DJ, a former Perry HS cross country runner. We had taken him with us to Footlocker Nationals a few years ago in Wisconsin, now I experienced first hand why!!!
As I started the second loop I was still holding off that girl, but not wanting to look back I forced myself to run hard every few cones, trying to gap her and let her think it was impossible to catch me. At the turn-around she was still about the same distance away. My dad had yelled at me that A-Train was only about a quarter mile ahead and I could catch him (haha, funny!!). I had a little less than a mile to go to hold her off, but then out of the blue a female KG also a recent graduate HS cross country runner, went by me. I was in shock. She would go on to finish in 18:00 with one of the top 5 runs out of the women and men!! At the hill I finally started to tire and it took a lot more energy to climb it the second time. Over the top and heading for home I tried to open up my stride until I hit the grass and then I just cruised on in, prepared to kill myself if someone tried to sprint me down at the line (thankfully, that didn't happen). I crossed the line in 1:10:xx. Again, opted not to do splits and just go with it, just glad it was over and I had survived.
(I was waving my arms saying "Thank God that's over!")
It wasn't even close to my best performance ever, but I had put out a lot of effort (all that I had as a matter of fact), just to finish where I had. The stupid mistakes definitely needed fixing, but because it was A-Train's birthday and my parents had come down (my mom had never seen me race a triathlon before), not to mention it was a beautiful day, how could I not be on cloud 9 about the day!!
--------- Edit-----------------------
Splits for the Race
Swim 400 meters: 7:07.7
T1: 1:34.1
Bike 12 miles: 37:16.8
T2: 0:39.5
Run: 23:32.7
Total: 1:10:10.9 (6:09.4 back from the leader and most of my time was lost to her on the bike)
--------- Edit-----------------------
Splits for the Race
Swim 400 meters: 7:07.7
T1: 1:34.1
Bike 12 miles: 37:16.8
T2: 0:39.5
Run: 23:32.7
Total: 1:10:10.9 (6:09.4 back from the leader and most of my time was lost to her on the bike)
Monday, June 6, 2011
Twinsburg Duathlon
I had worked all nights the past week and by the time I finally got to sleep on Saturday afternoon, I was whipped. I woke up around 9pm, having missed the Captains game Saturday night, only to fall back asleep within a half hour and not stir again until 2:45am on Sunday. Having nothing better to do for a few hours I got up at 3am.
I left for the race a little after 6am, so I was there in plenty of time to set-up. It would be my first multisport race in nearly a year and only my 2nd since September 20th, 2009. It had been awhile. I loved the RD and whole heartedly supported North Coast Multisport by volunteering and racing any chance I got. I had just volunteered at the Tallmadge 5k for him on Memorial Day and just a week later I was about to compete in one of his duathlons. (I hate duathlons by the way. I would rather do an entire marathon).
I saw my buddy MK and we ran a short warm-up before the race meeting. I feared she was going to completely kick my a$$, along with a few of my Snake Bite teammates.
The race was a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike and 2 mile run. It started out downhill and in the sun. I had a side-stitch almost immediately and like a baby ended up kinda spitting-up/vomiting on myself before mile 1. The course wound around my old high school and then up into the woods and into the shade, except it was uphill. I could see a lot of familiar faces pulling away from me. I looked at my watch and saw I could make it in 15 mins if I pushed. I made it to transition in 15:03.
There were no mats exiting the bike to transition or re-entering so our bike times would include T1 and T2. If one multisport skilled of mine has remained with me, it was my ability to transition quickly. I definitely made up time on a few chicks that were at least 20 seconds ahead of me on the first run.
As we exited the parking lot we headed into Twinsurg. The first few miles of the course we climbed up out of the town. It was a little congested throughout the first few miles. There was some inadvertent blocking and definitely one chick, "pink shirt" drafting. I was so proud of myself when I caught her trying to hang on my wheel that I only yelled at her "you can't draft!" without dropping one "F" bomb at the cheater. She would continue to hang back behind me on and off throughout the race drafting off another girl until we finally dropped her in the last 2 miles. One of my teammates "P" BLEW by me like I was on a stationary bike and ended up crushing the course and placing 2nd overall. My computer had been messed up on my bike for the last week, so the only true number I had was time (no cadence, speed, or distance available). My stomach was not getting any better and I puked again on the bike (seems to be the norm these days -- I did that a week ago trying to beat a storm home too). At about mile 6 there is a section that I knew could be bombed and I hit it hard, hoping to get back some time. We had to go through an intersection and as I passed a girl (who would later get a penalty for blocking), I yelled "On your left!!!" and she pulled LEFT!! I screamed again and she continued to stay on the left. I was debating pulling right, but feared she might figure it out at the last second and side swipe me into a crash, so I did what any bada$$ would do -- I broke the rules!! I pulled into the oncoming lane of traffic blew by her and rode outside the course cones for a minute (techinically I could be DQ'd, but the girl put me in an unsafe and unavoidable spot). As I cruised, she came back on me and passed me a mile or so later. She apologized and I told her it was ok. I wasn't mad. I didn't care, she wasn't doing it on purpose like "pink shirt" was who, had also come back on me riding the other girls wheel up to me.
Thankfully, we hit the climb on Glenwood right then and I watched the girl who passed me pull away from me as I shifted into my easiest gear and started spinning up it. "Pink shirt" was so close to my back wheel she said, "Aren't you wishing for a downhill now?" I was lit at that point!! I dropped it down 2 gears stood up and climbed away from her. I made it to the top and hammered it! I had had enough. I had already puked twice and was killing myself and NOT about to give another chick a free ride.
Back into transition. I racked my bike and for some reason felt compelled to straighten up my transition gear in a neat pile before leaving (I have no idea why), so I did. As, I ran out I asked the RD jokingly, "does my hair look okay?" He said "Yep, you look great!!"
I felt like poop, by this point. I was panting and gasping for air and my legs were like bricks. I wished so bad at this point it was a biathlon. I was slowing down....a lot. I could tell I was outta gas. There was a mom and her 2 kids ringing a cowbell directing runners about a 1/2 mile in and I thanked them and hi-fived them both (carry over from Boston, I guess). The hill the first time had been challenging, now it was just rough. I staggered up it and managed to pass a few people (all guys). The chick on the bike I had been battling with was also right there with me. I saw one guy doing the "pissed off, I can't do this, someone ruined my race walk." I yelled at him not to give up, but he didn't even look up or acknowledge me. Fine! Be pissed you got chicked, a lot.
With less than 3/4 of a mile one of my teammates, ND who I had passed on the bike came flying by me like she hadn't just run 2 miles or biked 10. I was totally impressed, but I had nothing and she literally ran away from me. Finally, with about a 1/4 mile to go I started pushing, but so did the chick I had been battling with since the bike. I started to make up ground on her, but just couldn't run her down and she finished a few seconds in front of me and man was I glad that was over --- whew!!
I had projected my finish time at 1:30:00 for imATHLETE, but managed to finish in 1:06:xx. I have not paid attention to my finishing time in a race for a long time now. I figured I was about 20th for the women and in the 50s overall. I had a lot of fun racing, but I was feeling a little rough and my tummy was not happy with me.
USAT results finely came out after a few penalties were issued. I was happy to see a lot of the people blocking and drafting got caught. A-Train raced super well and was in 6th place when I saw him, but unfortunately, the official drove by him at some point and gave him a drafting penalty. He did so well and was extremely upset, the official would ever think that of him. He hates cheaters as much as I do and he ended up 11th overall with a 2:00 minute penalty. He is still bummed now, but his spirits seem a little better. He had the 3rd fastest bike split on the day (including his T1 and T2 times).
Overall, I felt a lot of mediocrity about my race performance. My training just hasn't been the same since before starting nursing school and I thought I would be able to get it back, but I am definitely struggling to get in the training and to accept the fact that this just might be all I got now. Kind of stinks after finally having my breakthrough year in triathlon in '09, only to take a year off for school and now just not being able to get it back for whatever reason.
I came home took a shower, took some Excedrin and drank a beer. I felt like I had a bad hangover. It was sad but true, after starting an exciting sunny day at 3:00am, I spent a large part of the remainder of my day laying in my bed, in the dark fighting a headache and a nauseated stomach. It was still a great day and the funnest of the 3 duathlons I've ever done.
Oh and to boot, there were 4 girls from SBR racing and we all placed in the top 10, and not one of us drafted, blocked or cheated. It makes me proud to know that I am on a team in which the members race their butts off, but do it clean and still kill it!!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Mad At The World
When I first started on my floor a few moths ago, one of my first patients was a young man (a baby in my eyes, significantly younger than me who was definitely in my opinion, just starting out in life) who had a wife and a 17 month old baby. I had had patients near my age before, but never this young. As the weeks went by I got to know him, his wife, his parents, his in-laws and his siblings. They became part of our unit almost. They slept on floors, cots, chairs, anything they could find to just get a few more moments with him. He had beaten cancer once at 19, but it had come back and it was moving faster than I had ever seen cancer move before. He spent a month with us, before I discharged him the week before Easter and told him "I hoped I'd never see him again."
He came back in less than a week to my dismay and he was worse than ever. The doctors told him it looked bad and they didn't think he could handle another round of chemo, unless things changed. I watched him fade away before my eyes, until God finally took him earlier this week. It was a blessing. He had held on for so long, fighting for his family and for the long life he should have had, but he couldn't do it any longer and with just a few gasps for air he passed and was gone.
I had a wave of nausea pass over me and I almost broke down in the medication room, but I managed to close my eyes and take a few deep breathes. I reminded myself "I had to keep going." I had patients to take care of. I was calm on the outside but a turmoil of emotions on the inside as I tended to my patients and helped the family through the aftermath, as best I could.
The night took forever and when daylight crept through the hospital windows signaling my shift was nearly over, I felt so relieved. I had to get the hell out of there. I stopped at the store at 8:30-9:00am and bought a six-pack of beer, under the circumstances beer for breakfast seemed the way to go. I made it through one before I fell asleep exhausted.
I woke up angry that a child so young had to grow up without knowing what an amazing father he had, a man who apologized to his mother about a week before he passed saying "I'm sorry, I didn't do more mom."
I couldn't email anybody or call them that day. I hid from the world. I wasn't up for talking or sharing. I never am when things like this happen. My anger was of course, full throttle, not that he died when he did, but that it had to happen to him at all. I spent most of my time wondering what the hell God was thinking and what more I could have done to help him.
I finally, dragged myself out of my hole on Tuesday to go to the track, not to do the workout, but to go back and face the world. Seeing my friends was really nice, a few knew something was wrong almost right away and when I told them they hugged me and told me they were sorry. It was a short conversation, without a lot of dwelling or details. I couldn't deal with a heart to heart, but just the short talk took a load off. I ran absolutely terrible. I was too hot, I couldn't breathe, I felt sluggish and completely blew the workout. All those awful feelings though meant I was still alive.
Even in the moments of road rage, the crappy track workouts, the pain in my feet, the cotton mouth, the tears and the unimaginable sorrow that accompanies loss I'm not dead and I still have a lot to do with my life yet.
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