Ragnar DC 2012

Our team, Lickity Split, has a start time of 11am on Friday September 21, 2012 for the Ragnar Relay from Cumberland, MD to National Harbor in DC. Here is one account of our adventures!
(For a review, here is the account of my first Ragnar in 2010 from CNHB!)

Thursday 9/20/2012:
4:30pm - I've left work on a mission to get the few things I need. The list is made!

6:30pm - The last of my things have been acquired, a wicked sweet sleeping bag and my own headlamp to protect me in the woods at night. I've also put in new batteries, so no one will be blamed for me being stranded in the dark! (thank you!)

7:15pm - off to kickball! All my clothes are packed in ziplocs, by outfit and clothing type. Toiletries and running accessories too!

9:45pm - Dinner, packing, organizing. Hydrating. Thanks to LD for talking me through my food supplies. We've got peanut butter for days!

10:52pm - An email from NDH that simply says "you are awesome". That's all I needed to hear. Until tomorrow!

Friday 9/21/2012:
6:52am - Am awake. I'm surprised by the lack of panic.  This is going to be fun!  Time to tackle this morning's to-do list: shower, dishes, trash, bake muffins, pack snack cooler, and the elusive playlist!

7:43am - Cooler of snacks is packed. Gatorade, coke zero, chocolate slim fast, bagels, peanut butter, apples, bananas, and power bars. Seems like way too much food but you never know!

8:08am - AHHHHH!  iTunes has died and apparently "can't save my library file for unknown reasons" in the midst of making a new playlist.  NOOOOOO!  PANIC!

8:27am - iTunes is back and running, phone is charged and playlist has synced (save for 8 songs that won't go, but I can't care about that now.

8:35am - BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS REQUIRE EGGS (or applesauce).  PANIC!  I don't have either

8:47am - oil it is, muffins better bake quickly.

9:38am - muffins are done. Bags are packed. Am restless and pacing. Let's do this already. Still 20 minutes until my ride comes.

9:54am - Call from C.J. And we're off to Frederick MD to meet up with van 2!

10:24am - we've arrived in Frederick at a house full of bags, kids, dogs, and decidedly no serial killers! Ty tells us our start time has been pushed up, and the other van was off at 10:30am

11:10am - they tell me the other last minute runner they picked up is "Ronnie the runner" (and he has a website ronnietherunner.com). He's an ultra marathoner who is apparently pretty energetic. I'm hoping they're not disappointed with acquiring slowpoke me!!

11:22am - we get word that the first runner exchange went off without a hitch. Runner 2 is off!

12:22pm - Our van is loaded and we're off. For food!

2:34pm - We've arrived at the first major exchange and headed to safety check-in.

3:13pm - no service at this exchange, but we've heard word that the last runner in van 1 is out and on the way. 30 minutes and our van takes over.

3:15pm - All tatted up!

3:47pm - CJ, our first runner is off!

5:05pm - our second exchange is over. And I'm getting nervous! My bib is on my vest ready for a "night time" leg.

5:36pm - In the middle of a leg called "what the hill?!" As far as I can tell its the only leg with a name. Rightly so, holy hill - but Erik is rockin' it!

5:37pm - my phone needs some serious charging, particularly if I'm going to use it for tunes and gps. I'm determined not to let this team down and get us behind our projected time.

6:00pm - third hand off, Patty's off on her 4.5 mile run. Which means I'm next. And nervous!

6:12pm - I'm taped up, laced up, vested, head lamped and butt lamped. And ready to (wait a bit more before its my turn to) run!

6:34pm - headed to the chute, see you on the flip side.

7:41pm - and my first leg is done!! In at a solid 11 min pace. First four were 10:15 splits even. Then I lost it a bit. Great run along the trail from Hancock MD. Ended in the dark, course lined by glow sticks and Holocene in my ears. Perfect!

8:33pm - changed into my sweats and awaiting Ty to finish up and do the last hand off to Raleigh!

8:57pm - left our last exchange, Raleigh is on his own for this leg again - the last three have been non support legs along the rail trail. On our way to the next major exchange, to meet up with van 1 and finish our first set of runs!

8:59pm - thanks nanio for your endomondo recommendation. Here's the break down of that first run. What the heck is a 7:34min max speed doing in there. Must be why I lost my pace at the end. Good news, my legs are attached!!

9:29pm - we've arrived at the next major exchange and are waiting for Raleigh so we can call it a night! We've been tagged for the second time. This teams van says "everyday I'm shufflin'!" I love their magnets too!

9:51pm - Best exchange ever! We're here at the second major exchange. Which means van 2, anchored by Raleigh, had to pass off to van 1, lead off by Taryn! In keeping with team tradition (save for me) Raleigh is also a sandbagger and got in about 11 minutes early. The chute volunteers yelled out "272!" but we were not quite ready, Taryn was in the bathroom. Raleigh was coming in fast, so Ty yells out "slow up Ral, like A LOT!" as van 1 members are telling "TARYN, FASTER!" Taryn comes running up a hill from the port-a-potties, jumps the fence at the chute, and makes it just seconds after Raleigh arrived for the hand-off! Taryn drops her bag of stuff in the chute and is off! Nice work, Lickity Split!

9:56pm - We're off now. For pancakes I do believe!

10:25pm - Pancakes!

11;32pm - we're headed to exchange 18, where we will hopefully catch some sleep. Van 1 is doing great, we are now 51 minutes ahead of our projected time - so maybe only a little sleep. I've taken over the role of navigator for now. My first question upon getting into the front seat "um, guys, where are we going?" A+ for effort!!

11:35pm - In Hagerstown, MD. 77 miles from Bawlmer.

Saturday, September 22nd:
12:22am - we're at the major exchange for some sleep. We've parked near a small playground with most of the van in sleeping bags under the slide. Raleigh and I have opted to sleep in the van (despite my wicked awesome sleeping bag)! G'night y'all.

12:51am - Not asleep. In fact, very awake as Patty is back at the van, knocking on the window to make sure we have her phone number so she's not lost.

1:23am - Not asleep.

1:59am - Not asleep.

2:05am - We're up and getting ready for our on time! Seems everyone else has slept a bit.  First song on the radio when we turn the van on says "I'm wide awake!" Raleigh and I disagree.

2:43am - CJs off, and we're back to the van. Ty has resumed driving and I'm back as navigator. Second legs for van 2!

2:54am - driving through Middleton MD. It looks like it would be a cute town, were it light outside.

3:20am - No one tell my mom, but I just changed my complete outfit in a scary dark corner of a shopping center, behind the dumpster. Exchange 1 over. Erik's out for his second leg!

3:32am - breakfast of champions: coke zero and a bagel.

3:43am - my peoples back home are all asleep and no ones around to hear me be nervous. Erik's leg is almost over and Patty's up next. And I don't feel ready.

3:45am - bang, crash. "what was that?" "I think that was my Gatorade!" CJs Gatorade just rolled off the roof of the van as we pulled to a stop sign. Nice driving Ty, we went about 5 minutes without it moving up there!

4:25am - Patty's in the midst of her second leg, 6.7 miles. CJ says it was this leg last year where he nearly kicked a possum while running. Awesome! Wildlife!

4:26am - I'm ready. I think. Maybe. Probably.

4:32am - I'm now wondering if I should switch the outfit I am wearing for this next leg. It dark and chilly. I should save this pair of shorts an tank top for my daytime run. Crap. Is there time to change?!

4:44am - Yes, time to change. On the side of the road. Now I'm wearing capris and will save my shorts for the last leg! We've also just seen Patty, who is half way done!

5:08am - NDH is up and checks in with me just as I'm heading to the chute. I decide I wish I'd had time to use the bathroom, and am now unsure how this will go!

5:13am - official hand off Patty to me!

5:50am - Holy Fuck Yes! (sorry Mon!) but that was the most fun run ever. That's why I did this this weekend. 3.6 miles, me, a head lamp, and a road between corn fields and farms. I passed 7 people, had a negative split (for the first bit), swallowed a massively huge bug, and finished well under my projected pace.

6:07am - after a bit of banter about what the appropriate thing to say when passing someone in a race, N is off to sleep and I'm going to try and do the same. Ty's in the midst of his 9+ mile run, then Raleigh has the same.

6:45am - I have been asleep in the middle seat when the van stops suddenly. I open my eyes to see a runner hunched over and CJ is out to help. At first I think it's Ty, but quickly realize its not and we're taking him in. To my seat. Quick maneuver to the back seat and we've got the downed runner. We are very close to the exchange where we drop him to his team and move along to meet up with Ty for the last exchange of this round.

6:59am - And Raleigh is off.

7:04am - And now I'm driving....

7:39am - hi!

7:43am - Ty hands water off to Raleigh 6 miles into his 9+ run.

Ty's got excellent flag skills, and Raleigh is almost too fast to catch on film. Almost time for breakfast, guys!

9:58am - Nap Time! (oh ya, somewhere in here we ate breakfast at panera.)

12:44pm - after a team nap, some food, water, stretching, and the like van 2 is out for the last 6 runs of this thing! Most people have short runs, CJ leads us off with 2.2. We've left him early so that poor Erik can get ready for his non-short 6.9 no van support leg!

1:14pm - lots of confusion at the last exchange. Teams without bracelets, runners over-running their runs, runners under running. But not us, CJ was in in record time and Erik's off on his last one!

2:09pm - Erik's done, it looked rough - 6.9 miles in the blazing sun, uphill. "A hill that got so steep it had to end in stairs!" Patty's off on her last 2.7, and I'm up next. I'm awfully stiff right now, with some interesting low back pain. Hopefully I can pull out this last 4.4 without too much trouble. I'm back in a trail for this one - along the Potomac! See you when I'm done.

2:19pm - the van has taken a wrong turn, we're running the risk of being late to meet Patty. Not making me panic at all!

2:25pm - we've found our exchange point and see Patty coming in strong. Ty barely has enough time to stop the car; I'm out, carrying my belt, and running into the chute in the same direction as Patty, confusing everyone.

2:26pm - off to a discombobulated start I am thankful for the don't walk sign right away at a huge busy intersection so I can start endomondo, iTunes, interval timer and situate my belt.

2:35pm - this is really the most beautiful run of the whole race!

2:43pm - the trail narrows and a sign indicates that bikers should get off and walk. The biker in front of me tries, but crashes into the trail railing, falling off her bike and basically flipping over the railing into the street. It was a little ordeal to help clear that up before I was back on my way.

2:55pm - it is hot. My skin feels like its on fire, my water is gone. I am barely moving. But, I'm running along the Potomac, I can see the Jefferson memorial, the planes are landing at National directly in front of me. I try to ignore that I am dying!

2:56pm - a fork in the trail and no sign. I choose incorrectly. I'm back on the right course a few minutes later.

3:22pm - I finally hand of to Ty. It was a rough rough leg, however pretty! It ended in a little park where people were taking wedding pictures!

4:07pm - at National Harbor! Off to find Raleigh, van 1, and finish this up right! More from the beer tent

4:25pm - Raleigh finishes his leg, with a "Fist Bump Yeah!" from the whole team as we crossed the finish line, got our medals, and a few team photos. I think this makes our time about 29 hours and 55 minutes! Nice work Lickity Split!!

7:04pm - Monica, Ronnie and I are headed from Frederick to Hagerstown to drop Ronnie off when we realize one of the car magnets is missing. On the way out to I70, I spied it in the road face down. We stopped quick to rescue it, one small crack but perhaps salvageable!!  This finally makes me feel like I've contributed something useful to the team that let me join them the day before Ragnar!  Thanks Lickity Split, it was great fun!

Ragnar was a Norse god

A few years back I ran the Ragnar New England with NDH and several of our friends.  It was one of the most awesome running experiences ever, and I've been dying to do one ever since.  On Tuesday night, I was given an idea.  Someone made a post in a facebook group of mine, asking for an extra runner to fill in. I jumped at that shot, and told her I could do it.  And then I waited.  And waited for her to respond.  As I waited, the idea got bigger and bigger, and I really wanted to do this.  It seemed like such a random adventure - oh, right, I should mention the race was 3 days away! It seemed like the type of adventure I could really get on board with right now. So, I found the Ragnar DC facebook page, and located a different team in need of runners, and as of late last night I was their latest teammate!

As much as I loved New England Ragnar, it was a bit of a situation.  I was co-captain (NDH, we did do awesome), but it was stressful.  I was very concerned about logistics, and everyone being happy, healthy, safe (also, on time, in the right spot, following the rules).  Add to this, my own nerves about the actual running, some extensive sleep deprivation, and the fact that our team nearly lost a runner on the second to last leg of the race, and then entered Gillette Stadium dead fucking last. Let's just say, there were tears.

What I'm most excited for about this Ragnar is....none of that.  I'm not in charge.  There will not be exhaustion-exaggerated-personal-drama.  There will just be running, through what hopes to be some ridiculously beautiful scenery.  And hopefully a group of new friends when I'm done.  We're basically BFFs already, as all day they've been referring to me as SuperStar.  It's like they know me!

I'll be trying to live-blog/update as I go, so please check-in, it'll be nice to hear some friendly encouragement.

So here goes something.  Tomorrow, Ragnar number 2.  

Terry Fox Run pt 2

The Terry Fox run itself was less than awesome. I had to drive out to Confederation bridge, which is about 40 minutes from my house. Once I got close, the traffic was backed up all down the highway, and it took me about 45 minutes to go the last kilometer and get parked. I had planned on being parked by 6 am, but it was about 6:40 by the time I was actually parked (in a farmer's field) and out of my car. The last bus to Prince Edward Island (PEI), which is where I wanted to start the race, was supposed to leave at 6:45. I ran in the direction of the buses, only to find there were none going to PEI, only to the start line on the New Brunswick side of the bridge. No one seemed to know what was going on, so I took the opportunity to use the potty. While in the outhouse, I heard someone yell, "Any runners going to PEI, get on the red bus. This is the last bus to PEI!" I quickly gathered my things and ran towards the bus. Once on the bus I realized that I had forgotten my water bottle. Because I have not replaced my broken water belt, I had planned on just carrying a water bottle. So now I had no water. I figured it wasn't the end of the world though, since it wasn't going to be crazy hot and humid like in Texas. As we drove over the bridge, I didn't see any water stations as promised, which made me a bit nervous. (I found out later that I was just looking at the wrong side of the bridge.) I definitely couldn't complain about the view, though! It was beautiful.

Once on the other side of the bridge, I hopped out of the bus and onto Prince Edward Island for the very first time. It was very exciting, and really pretty. I got there right at 7 am, and the race was supposed to start at 7 am. By 7:30 there had still been no announcements, and buses were still coming over the bridge. Lots of them. At least 20 more had come after me even though my bus was "the last bus to PEI." So I wandered around and people were all chatting to each other. and laughing and hanging out. It was all very informal for a race. Finally at about 7:40 we were told that the race would be begin soon. A few minutes later, they asked us to line up at the start line and that we would be starting in 5 minutes. Three minute later, we were told that there were actually a few more buses that had just started across the bridge, so we would have to get out of the way and wait about 10 minutes for them to get across the bridge so that we could start the race. The announcer kept saying things like, "We know you don't mind waiting because this is for such a good cause." and "We have a really good reason for running late because so many people showed up to support this really good cause." That did not fly because there was no on-site registration, so they had to have known how many people were coming.

Finally, around 8 am we went back to our places across the bridge to the starting line and then it was time for some short speeches. The whole crowd groaned, and I felt so bad for the speakers. One was an MP from the area and one was Terry Fox's brother, which I think made people feel REALLY bad for groaning. Each of them only spoke for about 30 seconds and then we were off. And damn was it windy! I guess I knew that running a race over the ocean would have to be windy, but I wasn't expecting the wind to be so strong. And, those of us starting from the PEI side were running into the wind. Fortunately, though, we were running west, and so the sun was behind us and not shining in our faces. The wind got a bit better as we got further from land, and I think it was also blocked a bit because we were running uphill and the high point of the bridge might have blocked it a bit.

Picture from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pont_confederation.JPG

The first 5.5 kilometers of the 12.8 kilometer run were uphill. At first it was a fairly obvious incline, then a less obvious incline, and then a very obvious incline as we got closer to the peak. I have to say that I did the best hill running that I have ever done in my life. Ever. I just kept going. And it wasn't so bad! I think that the constant wind helped keep my body cool and made it seem like less work, even though it was more work to battle the wind. I kept thinking that once I had crested the peak that the wind would die down. I am not sure what alternate universe that I thought I was in, but the wind got WAY WORSE once I was on the other side of the peak because there was no peak to at least block it somewhat. As I got closer to land on the New Brunswick side, I really felt that at points I was running backward or just running in place. The wind was that strong. And then my knees started to hurt. BADLY. And I had to stop running because I felt like someone was smashing both of my knees with a hammer at the same time. I walked for about 3 minutes, during which time my knees did not hurt at all, so I started to run again. Instantly they hurt REALLY badly, so I walked again for 2 minutes. This time I started running and it didn't hurt as bad, so I just kept at it. Usually when I feel pain, I will stop running completely for fear of getting permanently injured and not being able to run in some future event. I figured that since my next planned event is the Austin Half Marathon in February, I had some time to recover if I did do some damage. So I just kept on running. And I am still suffering the consequences - going down stairs is very painful endeavor these days.

There was no actual finish line. I just stopped running when I saw a bunch of people standing around stretching. On the bridge there were little kilometer markers posted and I ran past the one that said 13 km, so I am not sure if I went too far, or if maybe we started after the 0 km parker or something. Either way, the finish was very anti-climactic.

Overall though, the run was amazing. How often do you get to run an entire run over the ocean. The view was was so spectacular that I often forgot that I was running and it was supposed to be hard work. I also found out that they don't do this run over the bridge every year. The last time they did it was in 2005, so I am very glad that I was able to participate in this year's run over the bridge because I might not get the chance again.

Distance: 8 miles
Number of stars: 3.5
Lessons learned: A strong cool wind keeps the body temperature down and makes for more enjoyable running
Song that rocked my run: Kiss by Prince

Terry Fox Run

Today was the Terry Fox run across the Confederation Bridge that I have been sorta training for since I got to Sackville. I was running in memory of my paternal grandparents, both of whom were had cancer. I took an old picture of them that my aunt had digitized and attached it to my shirts.

I wanted to have shirts made with the picture on it, but I couldn't find anywhere around here that did such things. I printed out one picture just on paper and put it on the back of my long sleeved shirt.

And then I took a smaller version of the picture, laminated it with tape and attached it to the front of my short sleeved shirt:

The goal of the Terry Fox run is to raise money for cancer research, and thanks to my awesome donors, I raised $560 for the run. Thanks everyone!

I am too sleepy now to write about the actual run, so I will finish this tomorrow. 

AustinFit Red Group

I've run with Austin Fit before. I did it in preparation for the 2008 San Antonio half marathon. LDH and I did it together in preparation for the 2009 San Antonio half marathon. I was meaning to join this summer, but with LDH gone...let's just say I couldn't do it without her. And then I realized I was going to be out of town for the San Antonio half. So, no group for me. Combine that with this crazy heat, and here we have a poor showing for my summer, running-wise.

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed at 6:20. I wasn't totally excited, but I wasn't dreading it either. I pulled on my pink shorts and I thought, "hi shorts, haven't seen you in a while". I headed down to TxDOT to meet the group. It's not for the San Antonio race, but for the Austin race (Nanio, it's the 20th anniversary on February 20th, which seems like the perfect time for a trip to Austin to run!) I decided to join the Red running group, instead of the Orange, and run with the 10:30 pace group. I'm not quite at 10:30, but it's where I'd like to be. So I'm hoping if I start with them it will push me there.

Man, oh man, the head coach Janice - she's intense. Go ahead, please, click that link. Check out her bio. How can she not be exactly the running coach I need. It says she ran her first marathon in 2004 in just shy of 6 hours, and now she's completed half and full ironmans and is basically like the terminator.

We started today and she said, "We're going to forget the pace today" and I thought, sweet! What she really meant was, I'm going to run you up and down hills and we're still going to finish in a pretty decent time, but I want you to not think about it. She stopped the whole group (the 10:00, 10:15, 10:30 and 10:45 pace groups) at the parking lot of Joe's Crab Shack, before heading up a slight hill to Travis Heights to go over proper up-hill form. She said, LDH listen up, to look at the top of the hill and don't look down at the ground. You see, we always look down. It helps to trick us in to not being TERRIFIED of the hills. Well, Ironman Janice says that looking down keeps you all hunched over and you are inefficient and you expend more energy. It was like she was speaking straight to my scientist heart. Inefficient, expend energy - I don't want to do that. So, looking up I will do. She also says you need to shorten your stride. She had spoken a bit about running on flat ground, and how your stride should be long and you should see your feet if you look down. LDH, girls like you and I probably should only be seeing our toes, but you should see them. However, on the uphill, when you look down you shouldn't see your feet at all. Your stride should be short, your body should be straight, your eyes up at the top of the hill, and your arms pumping lightly. With this lesson, we were off.

Up Travis Heights. It was about this time that I realized there was something weird going on. We weren't stopping. There was no walking. We were just, running. I thought to myself, I'm totally screwed. I can not do this. I'm asking too much - faster pace, longer distance (oh, I haven't spilled that one yet), AND no walk breaks. But, Ironman Janice to the rescue. She then spoke about active recovery. She said to use the top of the hill and the downhills to control your heart rate. She said to take a few deeps breaths, hold them in, and slow your breathing. Holy cow, it was like resting without the walking. Don't get me wrong, the walking - way easier!

Once we reached the top of Travis Heights, she stopped us again to discuss downhill form. She spoke about keeping things controlled. She said you still want to keep short strides, but you can increase your cadence so that you are still using the gravity of the downhill to get you down faster, but that your perceived output is not greater. She even mentioned the "inverse relationship" between stride length and cadence in a downhill - Ironman Janice, you are killing me with the technical terms. Where have you been all my life. So off we went down Travis Heights. and back to TxDOT.

Now, I won't lie. I stopped to walk a few times. But only for brief spurts. And while I finished just about last in the 10:30 group, I was still ahead of the 10:45. I'll take it. in total I think we did 3 miles. But, we weren't done yet. Ironman Janice had DRILLS for us. While all the other groups were sitting around on the parking lot drinking their water and chatting the red group was off to the side. We did 4 or 5 small running drills - side shuffles, high knees, butt kicks, side lunges. But, this was not enough for Ironman Janice. We then moved to the other side of the parking lot and did 50 step ups, followed by 20 push-ups and then 20 tricep dips. (During the push-ups I was on the wall next to the leaders of my group, the 10:30 pace, and she said to me during my second set of 10 push-ups "Good for you, those look perfect, I'm about spent and couldn't get good form if I tried." I smiled inside and thanked boot camp and Jillian Michaels.)

It was at this point that Ironman Janice was satisfied, and lead us through some stretches. I think she skimped on the quad stretches though, mine are still ON FIRE! She says that we are going to do these drills every saturday for the next 6 or so weeks, and we will be working on form and building a good base. She says the miles will come easier if we've got this down. And hell, I'm not going to argue with that woman. This morning was tough - but it felt good. It felt useful, it felt like I was going to get better. And as I have joined the Austin FULL Marathon training group, I think I'm going to be needing all the help, advice, and occasional yelling, to get myself across that finish line.

The goal: February 20th, 2010 - 26.2 miles. Rumor has it LDH is going to come to Austin and run the half. I encourage anyone and everyone to come cheer us on, or run with us. And in the case of my first attempt at a marathon, bring a chair...you'll be waiting at the finish line for a long, long, long time. But, Ironman Janice assures me I'll make it.

and, for my next trick...

My labmate, her boyfriend, one other friend, and I just registered for what appears to be my next race. It's called the Warrior Dash, and is a 5K run with 11 obstacles along the way. When I say obstacles, I mean...OBSTACLES:

*Warrior Wall - conquer the wooden barricade

* Breathless Bog - trudge through waist deep water and over the logs

*Walk the Plank - traverse the gully on wooden planks

*Knee High Hell - speed step through hundreds of tires

*Tunnels of Terror - burrow through the black tunnels

*Black Forrest - forge your way through uncharted forrest

*Hay Fever - hustle up and over giant straw bales

*Junker Jump - clamber over the rusted wreckage

*Cargo Climb - maneuver over the cargo nets

*Warrior Roast - leap over the warrior fires

*Muddy Mayhem - scramble beneath barbed wire as you near the finish

Team Hard Coretex takes on the Metro Triathlon

Meet the team, VC is up first with the 1500m swim, then KW with the 40K bike, and then my turn with a 10K run. We are all of the consensus that our individual legs are the easiest - which I think means we are a great team!!  Follow along for a semi-live blog of the event.

12:20am - VC and I return to her house to realize that she has left her swim stuff at her office. She headed off to retrieve it while I went to bed.

5:25am - my alarm goes off, and results in only minor confusion. A flurry of getting ready, making breakfast and otherwise prepping after 5 hours of sleep. 

6:02am - and, we're off! We've heard from KW and she's off too!

6:27am -we've arrived, parked right next to KW, and head with the masses  to the start.

6:45am - we've been body marked. I'm not feeling confident in the organization of this event. Its smaller than the Austin one, and there seem to be less rules. I have concerns that there ARE as many rules but they haven't told us. 

7:17am - swim briefing. VC is ready to go!!

7:32am - VC is off!! Team Hard Coretex  is officially racing!! KW and I think VC is totally crazy and awesome. GO TEAM!!  KW and I are off for the bathroom and to prep for the biking...

7:44am - VC has finished her first lap, of two! 

8:01am - first transition over. KW is off on the bike, with only minor problems with the timing chip. Sadly, she wants it on her wrist, but they need it on her ankle!! VC finished in an amazing 29 minutes. We're off to an excellent start!

8:20am - I feel ill-prepared and nervous. I've made my mental list of things I need to do to get ready. First of which is figure out how to tape my leg, because I'm finally admitting to some shin pain that should be dealt with. Thank goodness for the kinesio tape I got in my San Antonio Half Marathon bag!!

8:56am - VC is changed, I've affixed my runner number, and used kinesio tape for the first time! We're now sitting on a grassy knoll watching the elite men who have already finished the biking. Two words - eye candy. Also, they are so fast. So. Fast.

9:08am - VC and I have made it back to transition, and I ask her if I have time to go to the bathroom. KW has given us a 9:30 early geusstimate of her arrival, and VC knows I'm prone to pre-race anxiety, so she rolls her eyes and says "plenty!"

9:19am - KW has entered transition and realizes we are not aware of it. She yells "TEAM HARD CORETEX!" and I instantly panic. I'm not wearing my belt, my head phones are tangled, I don't have the gps on on the phone, and I havent taken my pre-racing endurolytes. ACK! While I rushed off before fully congratulating her, this was HUGE! She was so fast, and so early, I think she even surprised herself. A great, great, great, first cycling race for KW!

**Format change** This bit must be done by mile, and not minute!

Mile 1 - I started off looking like a real tri-athlete, I was fumbling to put myself together while on the move. I was discombobulated and unprepared, and I felt like I was on the brink of colossal failure; did I even have everything I needed with me?! It really was what a real triathlete must feel like, not a relay triathlete, who has all morning to prepare for a single event. During this mile I saw the lead runner heading the other way, about to finish up. I believe it is important that I mention I was on the course BEFORE the lead runner finished. This is how amazing my teammates were.

Mile 2 - I'm feeling awful. I think team events are particularly hard on me, because too early I start being angry at myself for letting everyone down. I mean, I had 4 miles to go and I was already mad at my performance. I had finally gotten into a bit of a groove, but I was already feeling tired and over-worked. Does not bode well

Mile 2.5 - I check my watch, and do some quick mental math. Holy Moses! I'm not even to 25 minutes yet. No wonder this is feeling challenging. Redoing some calculations, I believe my first mile was sub 10-minute (and included at least one walk break), which means I was mo-oo-oving (at least in YJP terms!)

Mile 3 - I slowed down some, but have still crossed this at 31 minutes. Which makes me feel better for feeling tired, but makes me feel like I may have used too much too soon to make a good time for the end.

Mile 4 - This was for sure my best mile. Not my fastest, but the best feeling. I was ale to stop thinking about things and just run. I was running on my toes this whole mile, and felt great. Why is it that I need a THREE mile warm-up before I stop criticizing myself and start enjoying the run?! It's ridiculous.

Mile 6 - Yes, I'm not sue what happened to mile 5 either, but rest assured that there was running, walking, and cytomax! When I passed the mile 6 sign, point two miles to go, I was concerned that I was dragging it. By this point, I'd let the entire race pass me by, hadn't I?! I managed to eek out passing ONE woman. I'm guessing she had already passed me, so I really didn't make up any ground. I rounded a corner where some finishers were walking back my way. They stopped to cheer me along, and it was exactly what I needed. I ran it on in, greeted by the cheers of VC and KW on my way!

In the end, not my best 10K time, but still a run to be proud of. I grabbed a finishers medal, a bottle of water, a banana, some strawberries, a piece of pizza, and some weird electrolight drink with special vitamins in the cap, and sat on the grass to stretch. We stuck around in admiration of the badass people who won awards. There was a 17 year old boy who did the tri, also the winners had sub-hour bike times and runs of like...35 minutes. amazing.

11:47 am - Team Hard CoreTex was also amazing, winning first place in the women's relay division. This is all credited to VC and KW's crazy badass-ness, keeping giving us a substantial lead to start off with. Even though I let most of the race pass me by, I guess I drew the line at the relay members, as they mostly stayed behind me.

12:25pm - We've returned to the cars, with our medals, wine, and gear only to find out that in the excitment of the morning, VC has left the lights on. But, this is no roadblock for Team Hard CoreTex - the three of us are quickly able to jump start the car and head on home!

1:46pm - We have returned to VC's house, Winner's Wine in the fridge, and are basically useless. I will now go stare at the wall for a bit, and then shower.

a delightful day with an awesome team!! Yippee!!
Song that rocked my run: Keep On Keepin' On by Jack Ingram

run, thwarted.

Yesterday I realized that the Metro Tri is a week from Sunday. That's 9 days, if you count today. And celebrations of last week kept me from running, I began getting nervous. I laid out an intricate plan to LD yesterday.
Friday am - 4 miles
Sunday am - 6 miles
Monday am - boot camp
Tuesday am - boot camp
Wednesday am - 5 miles
Thursday am - bootcamp

See, the care that went in to that planning. It'll get me ready for a 10K in 9 days - and also for a nap! In fact, I think I need one just looking at that. I'll sleep on the plane on Friday for sure.

Turns out, I'm already behind schedule. Her Highness woke me up this morning at 4am whining. This is not a new development, and I believe it's an actual problem which I will explain elsewhere, but it was 4am and I was awake to feed my master. OH LORD. When I stood up, I could count the muscles in my butt. Because every last one of them hurt. When I reached up on the shelf to get Mia's food - I could also feel every single aching muscle in my arms and shoulders. There was no way I was going to make it 4 miles. I wasn't sure I would get myself back in to bed.

Luckily, for all involved, I did make it back to bed, and opted to sleep a little later. I woke up and tried (painfully) to stretch - and resorted to the Stick for a little muscle relief. My legs feel fine now, ohhh boy my arms and shoulders are screaming. I might be able to pull out a four mile run later this evening, especially if it rains! Otherwise, I'm behind before I've even begun.

Metro Triathlon, San Jose CA

It's official, Team Hard Coretex will ride (swim/ride/run) again! Last fall my friend VC came to Austin and we put together a team for the Austin triathlon - VC did the swimming, one of my grad school friends did the biking, and I rounded us out with the running. We had to come up with a team name, and as we are all researchers in neuroimaging, and completely bad-ass - Hard CoreTex seemed appropriate.

I'm going out to San Fran in the middle of July, and my trip happens to correspond with the Metro Triathlon in San Jose, CA. We've swapped in a new biker, as our old biker won't be in SF. Instead we're picking up another neuroimaging researcher from Berkeley. I couldn't be more excited! I mean, the rest of my trip out there is jam-packed with awesome shin-digs, celebrations and activities, but doing another team triathlon is going to be so fun. And VC is such a good little swimmer!

So it's on, my training is officially behind schedule, but I think I can eek out a good enough 10K in 2.5 weeks!

A promise

Here is it, my stuff for the treadmill today! I went for an outdoor run yesterday, and it was alright. it was hot, and I was slow. Today we're going to go inside - which I've decided is better than not going.

Yesterday I agreed to do a race, and it's coming up really soon. All the pieces haven't fallen quite into place yet, and when they do it certainly deserves it's own post. But this may just be the wake up call I needed.

This week's goal: tempo work on the treadmill. As much as I hate (hate hate hate) running on a treadmill I am really terrible at pacing myself. LDH can attest to that, I have two speeds - running and walking. I'm not very consistent, nor am I able to tell if I'm starting too fast (which means I generally start too fast). If I can't have LDH to set me straight, the treadmill will have to do. Now to search for some good articles and training plans on how to actually do that!

Terry Fox Run

For me, a key component in my motivational strategy involves training for something. I have been looking for runs in and around the Sackville area, and there are quite a few. In fact I was having a hard time making a decision. That was until this morning when I saw the site for the Confederation Bridge Terry Fox Run. Terry Fox is a Canadian hero who attempted to run across Canada after losing a leg to cancer. He called his journey the Marathon of Hope. He also just happens to be from Vancouver and just happens to have attended my alma mater, Simon Fraser University.

Every year in mid-September, there are Terry Fox runs held all across Canada to raise money for cancer research. I spent my childhood participating in these runs at school, but have lapsed in participation since high school. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Terry Fox run, and I am going to renew my participation by running 12.9 km across the Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick to P.E.I. to raise money for cancer research. Both of my paternal grandparents were taken by cancer, so this is a cause that is near and dear to me.

You can sponsor me here http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=910099