Off-Season is officially over

Off-Season is officially over... First long run at the Arboretum at my best pace there so far, next weekend is my first race and in 10 weeks will be my spring 1/2 marathon. I'm really excited for what this year has in store for me. And so happy to have a great coach, to push me to beyond my limits, a great team to train with (too many to mention but you all know who you are), and a supportive fiance, Rich, who will push me to keep going, especially when we start getting out there on our bikes. This race season is gonna be a blast, but it will only get me ready for next years big feats...

 My race schedule is almost finalized and I've added a few more races since the initial post...

 So here goes:

2013 Schedule

March 10, 2013     Lisle Spring Sprint 10k
March 30, 2013     Egg Shell Shuffle

May  4, 2013     Wisconsin 1/2 Marathon
May 19, 2013     Tower Tri
May 25, 2013     Soldier Field 10 Miler
May 26, 2013     Bike the Drive

June 16, 2013     Color Run 5K
June 23, 2013     Pleasant Prairie Olympic Tri
June 30, 2013     LATE Ride (Tentative Date)

July 21, 2013     Racine Ironman

Aug 18, 2013     Ganther Race the Lake (90 miles)
Aug 24, 2013     DeKalb Corn Classic 10k

Sept  8, 2013     Madison Ironman - Volunteer
Sept 29, 2013     Apple Cider Century

Fall Marathon Options 

Oct 12, 2013     Baltimore Marathon
Oct 27, 2013     Marine Corp Marathon (sells out in 2.5 hrs)
Nov 24, 2013     Philadelphia Marathon

WOOHOO!! Bring it!!!

January goals... MET!!!

WOW what a month...

My goal was to complete at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. And I'm happy to say that I only missed one day (thanks to a late day at work) but there were several days I did doubles, so I'm really happy with my accomplishments

My monthly totals
Distance: 347.75 mi
Time: 30:35:17
Calories: 20,915

Running: 32.79 mi
Cycling: 303.86 mi
Swimming: 11.09 mi

Now to think of what to do next month :)

2013 - New Adventures Ahead!!!

Now that I have reviewed what I did last year, and with Racine on the plan for this year, it's time to sit down and figure out what I'm going to do this year.  I have an idea and just making sure I don't overload myself with races when I will be cross training thru the first half of the year... 

So here goes, and yeah it will change per Coach's suggestions (and coupons :) )

March 10, 2013      Lisle Spring Sprint 10k

May 4, 2013           Wisconsin 1/2 Marathon

May 19, 2013         Tower Tri 

May 25, 2013         Soldier Field 10 Miler 

May 26, 2013         Bike the Drive 

June 23, 2013        Pleasant Prairie Olympic Tri 

June 30, 2013        LATE Ride (Tentative Date)

July 21, 2013         Racine Ironman

Aug 18, 2013         Ganther Race the Lake (90 miles) 

Aug 24, 2013         DeKalb Corn Classic 10k 

Sept 8, 2013          Madison Ironman - Volunteer

Sept 29, 2013        Apple Cider Century 

Plus I also need to think for a fall half... This of coarse is all dependent on the Raven's football schedule but what I'm looking at is...

Fall Marathon Options

Oct 12, 2013          Baltimore Marathon

Oct 27, 2013          Marine Corp Marathon (sells out in 2.5 hrs)

Nov 24, 2013         Philadelphia Marathon

2012 -- Year in Review

After uploading my first workout of the year to Garmin Connect, I ran a few reports to see what I accomplished last year (this is only since end of March, since that is when I got my Garmin)...

106 runs totaling 490.91 miles
59 bike rides totaling 691.86 miles
66 swims totaling 64.04 miles
total calories burnt - 97,821

I competed in
4 - 5k's
1 - 4 miler
1 - 8k
3 - 10k's
2 - 10 milers
3 - half marathons
1 - marathon (my first :) )
4 - sprint triathlons
Plus I rode Bike the Drive and L.A.T.E. Ride

What a year... Now to see what 2013 has in store for me :)

Baltimore Marathon... Race of all Races!!!

All year long, well more like for the past 18 months of saying I would never do a marathon, here I am in Baltimore flipping my half marathon to a full... I could never have done it without the help of my team who stayed by my sided and pushed me along the long runs. And although I really would've loved to have them there with me, it was great to have Rich, Beth, Christin and Dave to celebrate with.  I was also happy to find Sid before the race to help calm my nerves before the start.

It's race time and I'm so excited. Dave said I should finish in 5:45 5:50, and I was ready for that, actually gave myself 6 hours to finish.

The race was a lot of fun. The first half was new to me and I found it quite interesting and not so challenging. Running thru the zoo was fun, and I had no choice but to stop and look at the polar bears or take a picture of the penguin.

Once out of the zoo, we hit Fall's Point, then off to Domino Sugar Plant and Under Armor Plant.  I was way ahead of schedule to meet Dave's predictions.  Once I hit the half way point I had PR'd on a half marathon. I couldn't believe it. But I didn't let it get to me because I remembered the second half was a challenging one... Rolling hills... YIKES.  It felt as hard as last year, but I made sure to have fun thru it all.  I found people to talk with, I smiled for the camera and I grunted when i saw a rolling hill... WOOHOO! I saw the colored overpass bridge and I knew the end was near.  Once I reached the gate of Camden Yard I knew I only had about a quarter mile to go... Time to smile for all the cameras and hoping Rich was at the finish to see me... Leaving Camden and running thru the parking lot of M&T Bank I saw the finish line, and just beyond it I saw RICH!!! WOOHOO!!! I couldn't wait to finish. Part of me wanted to cry part of me wanted to pass out... I did neither and finished strong.  I beat Dave's predictions by over 15 minutes... I did it!! I am now a Marathon Runner!!!

After getting my Medal's and food, I finally found Christin and Dave and there was my Guinness!!! Yes what a way to finish a race!!!

 

   

Official Time: 5:31:51

Tri the Creek ... But there was a coupon!!

Who can resist a coupon, and $20 off registration at that... Well looks like several of us were crazy enough to jump on this triathlon.  :)

This was a sprint and olympic triathlon out in Potato Creek Indiana... And what Tri-tator can't resist to go there, it's like a given we have to be there !!

Anyways, I opted for the sprint and boy am I glad I did.

To start, we all headed out on Saturday to check out the area and to get a bike ride in to know the route.  It had rained most of the day so we didn't know if we could get the ride in.  Finally after everyone checked into there hotels we headed to Potato Creek to see about getting in the ride.  And luckily it cleared up enough and we were able to ride... Little luck thou, on the ride back we got hit, and hit bad. Riding in the rain was a challenge, but in ice cold rain was grueling. Part of me was hoping to that someone, Dave, would come out and look for us and pick us up, another part of me just wanted to find my car.  Well it turns out that Dave did come out, but at that point we were about a mile away and I just looked at Helen and was like Screw this, lets finish this, and we did.  We all made it back alive and wet but now we were hungry and wanted to shower and get some food.  Dinner with the team was good and relaxing... Back to the hotel to get some sleep, hopefully.

So it's race day and it's FREEZING!!! There was a low lying fog over the water that just showed that the lake was warmer than the air... DAMN!

We suited up and waited around for our starts,waited in our nice warm cars that it.  Once we went to the lake to wait on our heat, we tried to get ready for the cold cold water!! Burr!!!  And we're off... The swim wasn't too bad once we got started. I did my best here in staying straight and on target with the bouy's. The run out of the water sucked. The ground was so hard on our frozen feet that it hurt to run to our bikes.  Once on the bikes I had trouble warming up and getting really moving. It sure felt harder than last nights ride.  After the ride it was off to a not so fun run... A trail run, mud, muck, roots and rocks, groomed trails my ASS... Really this is what we get for a coupon.  At one point I just hear "Hey Sandy" as Bill runs past me just leaping from side to side like it was nothing. After rolling my ankle on one of the roots I decided I didn't need to kill myself here and I walked.  On the way out of the woods, once I hit the clearing I started to run. I wanted to give up but Stephanie I found me and she ran with me and that helped me get myself into gear so I could finish strong.  Definitely a different experience when it comes to tri's and jury is still out on the whole idea of Trail Runs.  But it was a great way to finish up tri season :)  Oh and I even 3rd placed in my age group, we just won't say how many were in my age group :)

 

Official Time:
Swim:       10:41  
T1: 5:11  
Bike: 45:05 
T2: 1:31  
Run: 40:07 
Overall: 1:42:33

Hell Run - Muddy Fun!!!

OMG this run was so much fun.  This is definitely something different from what I've done all season long. No chip time, no having to be first, it was all just fun! It was great to run with my sister, Helen, Amanda and Erica.  We got so muddy and laughed so much I LOVE IT!!

The obstacles were a blast, running thru mud crawling up walls and watching Carol belly flop into one of the pools of mud were way too too funny.  There were some girls who were like oh no i'm going to get dirty.. We were like... HELLYEAH LET'S GET MUDDY. We didn't hold back at all.

We were clean... in the beginning :)

 

Damn... We Got Dirty!!!