Chilly Half Marathon Race Report

The Chilly Half lead me through my Alma Matter neighborhoods where I used to run as a college student. It's a very pretty, upscale area that also happens to be right next to the Boston Marathon hills. Yes, we did indeed get to run the Boston Marathon hills in the direction you would least expect.  DOWN them. Yup, right down Heartbreak Hill and the other two smaller hills sitting just in front of the infamous Heart Break Hill. Despite this fact this race was more uphill than downhill.

Met up with Dan, Tracey and John (GNRCers) at Vellos and off we went. This is the crew just before the race. Dan and Tracey ran together and poor John's leg cramped up at mile 8.  

The day was fabulous. Yesterday had been a complete washout but today was smiling on us with clouds and just a spit of rain towards the end of the run. I got to wear, on November 15th, a singlet and shorts.

Within the past two weeks I started second guessing myself and I was not sure if my original plan of 7:05s was going to be to difficult to achieve. I didn't feel very confident since my cross training had been way down. So I decided that my goal would be to run just under 1:35 (7:15s) . This would be equal to my performance at Bay State last October on a flat course. I figured I could be happy with that. Such a wimp hu?

Soon after I started running I realized that I felt good and went back to my original plan of 7:05s. Even with the hills I still felt strong and was so glad I had trained on hills. The hills in this race didn't leave me staggering and sloppy. I was able to pick up the pace after I reached the top.

I went for the gusto today and came away very very happy. I PRd with a 1:33:25. (7:08s) Good enough for 5th woman overall/361 and 1st in my age group/96.  In the end I was MORE THAN PLEASED

After the race I met up with Mrs. Rosginol. Just like the ski. She came in just before me. She was nice and her husband has a bike repair shop right at their home in NH. She said he is also an artist.

In other news at this race some young stud (very cute) came up to me at the finish line and thanked me for "Saving his race".. I'm not sure exactly what that means. I can imagine that he probably used me as his pacer. This happens to me quite frequently actually. I have been told that I am a good pacer. Great.

This day was absolutely perfect. Started out with a PR, had time to walk my dog, had some quality time with Kathy.  To top it off we had an excellent steak for dinner with these tiny little gold potatoes that I roasted with onions.

What will I name her?

It is now November and I have taken a short reprieve from my wonderful  coach Jen and triathlon training. Why?

To save up some bucks for my new Cervelo P2 tri bike. I'm so thrilled that I was able to swing this. Believe it or not this bike is classified as an entry level bike to triathlon. I see this bike as anything BUT entry level.

First of all can you really classify a bike as entry level that was used to win the 2008 World Championships by triathlete extraordinaire Chrissie Wellington?

I also think that when they classify these bikes they must use the trickledown theory. The view from the top. The view of a professional triathlete. So if you are already a pro (at the top) then this bike would be entry level for you (looking down). I am not at the top looking down. I am probably a smidge above entry level still looking up thinking that this bike is much more advanced than my road bike is. It doesn't look or feel entry level. It looks and feels like a beautiful creation.

I'm especially proud to own her and I can only hope that I live up to her expectations.

My Perspective

Nineteen hours in an ER can bring even the toughest of souls to their knees. An emergency trip to the ER on Friday afternoon after Kathy lost site in her right eye accompanied by a very bad headache did just that.

These two symptoms can point to a number of ailments however within our realm of knowledge the most probable cause that came to mind was that of MS or a stroke. Yeah, we were a little frightened. Thankfully a stroke was quickly ruled out. She does not currently have MS either. We think she has Optic Neuritis. She should eventually gain site back in her right eye. We will know more when we finally, and I mean finally, get to talk to a department head on Wednesday morning.

On Friday and Saturday all of the Neurologists just happened to be across the country at a conference leaving NOBODY in Boston to properly read Kathy's MRI. My bawling in the ER and curt words with the resident doctors on duty did nothing to accomplish what we needed.

After seeing 13 resident doctors, 1 real doctor, and several fellow doctors over a two day period there really was nothing left for us to do except to go home. So we did.

We had an appointment set up for Monday to see yet another fellow doctor. The neurologists still were not back yet. The good news for Monday was that the doctor was able to determine that Kathy does not have any unusual activity on her brain. This means that she has a very small chance of ever developing MS. Even if she does develop MS there is only a small percentage of people who actually end up in a wheel chair like Annette Funicello. God bless her.

There is nothing better than a health scare to put your life into perspective. Sunday's run, although long (16 miles) and hard (5 miles at goal or faster than goal pace) felt easy and fun simply because I was no longer cooped up waiting endlessly, fearing the worst.

One Last Race

So, here I am training for the Inaugural Chili Half Marathon in Historical Newton MA.. Yeah! I'm getting more and more excited about running this race.


I was going to be a good little athlete and forgo anymore racing in an attempt to alleviate any lingering need to rest my brain as well as the bod. Well, I am going to do that just as soon as I run the Chili Half Marathon on 11/15.

I was on the fence about doing this half in response to my ups and downs I have been experiencing. That is until I couldn't get INTO the race. This race closed out earlier this month! When I found out it had closed I emailed the race director to see if I could get in. She was nice enough to put me on her waiting list. It only took a few days later to receive the OK to send in the application plus $55.

I was thinking I would just do this race in order to keep the weight off until I go on vacation in November to Aruba.. I would, after all, be on the beach a lot and I certainly don't want to put on any weight for that. But NOW I've decided that racing this race is by far, more exciting than just keeping the weight off.

I'm going to race hard. I want to see what I can do. Plus, having PR'd in the 10k recently I figure I am in decent enough shape to go for the gusto.

In preparing I feel I need to lose a couple of pounds. Yes... A couple of pounds make a big difference in my running. It is very hard to lose those last couple as most of you know. You have to count everything you eat. I find that weight watcher's point system is easy to use and has the best results. I can still eat frozen yogurt, a glass of wine, dark chocolate etc... as long as it's in small amounts. I just have to be diligent and soon I'll get to my optimal weight and hopefully have a great half marathon.

Tufts 10k Race Report

After a very bad week of hemming and hawing I ran the Tufts 10k in Boston on Monday, a holiday for many. This is the largest all womens race in all of the US. There over 6000 women. It is a very spirited race. I first ran this race when I was 14 years old with my mom. I have a picture from that race that I will post later. After I scan it.


As much as I love this race, because I know the course and it's flat, I was FLOORED by  the long lines that occurred this year. It was really bad. We had to fight through a sea of women to look up our number then try to duck out of that mess to go stand in line for at least 45 minutes to pick up our number.

I actually got up the desk and asked for the wrong number after waiting so long in line. My brain forgot it was 1080 and asked for 1090 which had already been picked up.

"I don't have your number. Are you sure someone else didn't pick up your number for you?" The woman was sure she didn't have my number. I stood there not hearing what she was saying.

"There's my number".. I chimed.

"Oh" she said. "You asked for the wrong number".

This was for those who registered early!! Not right.

The weather couldn't have been better. The weather was slightly cool with the sun shining. It was a beautiful day to have off and to run a race.

Once again I started RIGHT up front with the elites. This is so cool because they are all not more than 50 feet in front of you.

My plan was to hold 6:40's the entire way. I didn't wear a watch and hoped I would run very well. Up until the week prior I knew I was ready for a PR in this 10k. My "A" plan was to break 42 minutes. However the week prior left me wondering if I would have a PR at all let alone break 42 minutes.  Sometimes you really don't know how the day will unfold  until you start running.

I ran at a hard pace that I thought I could hold for the entire race. Judging by the clock my first mile was 6:37... Second mile was something like 6:42... I don't really know how the rest went as I didn't have my watch. I like running without a watch. It keeps me more focused on my breathing. I definately saved a little for the last mile.

There was a race with a few other women in the last 400 meters. We were all trying to break 42 minutes. I ended up with 42:01 and  missed it by a hair.  Next time, next time. That was fun.

After, we scooted out early and had pizza and coffee at California Pizza. Loved it.

Mindfullness

Quick question before blogging.. What happened to spell check on this new Blogger editer???

Mindfullness:

It may take me a while sometimes but eventually I DO get it.  I finally GOT it this week. I finally GOT that I really DO need more time off  now that I'm an old fart. 

I  stupidly THOUGHT that I would cruise through my recovery after Pumpkinman so I planned 3 extra races to round off the season. That, come to find out,  was a mistake.  I will finish my Tufts 10k on Monday and that will be it for a while.

Only two weeks after feeling ggggggggggggggreat, I feel RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROTTEN.

Thankfully it only took me THREE DAYS of agonizing over missed workouts to realize that it's time for a LOOOOONG break from training. It's time to put away the schedule and just enjoy all that life has to offer. No pressure.  Run, swim and bike as I feel.

You know the story..  Fighting off negativce thoughts, skipping workouts, tired, sad.. All the signs were there this week. Of course I fought it and didn't want to listen to my body.  There's no way to avoid that phase for me. I never give in easily.  I just don't learn quickly.

But alas.. I have finally figured it out.   All of my moodiness caught up to me and BAM... I'm done. I GET it.   This has happened to me before. So I KNOW it is temporary.  This time, though, I am taking it seriously and stopping all racing for a good two months. I'll stay in shape but no racing.

My coach is totally on board with me and I believe this is necessary.  After all I AM in my 40's .. yaaaahooo.. :))... Isn't life GRAND!

Medfield 5k RR

What an awesome Fall day this Saturday was. Great weather, catching up with the THE RUNNING CLUB, and yes, coming in first woman overall in the local 5k makes my day!

The race started at 9:00 am. Did my longish warm-up, blabbed with the club, and off we went. We had about 8 members in this rather small race so we must have stuck out like sore thumbs.  We all had our singlets on to boot. 

I forgot my watch this day. I always run with my watch. However, I decided that this could be a good thing and ran how I felt for once. At first I wanted Jeff Popper to let me know what my mile splits were since we would probably be near each other.  This plan quickly dissolved after he decided to take it slow. I think my first mile was much faster than I had intended but I felt I could sustain that pace for 3.1 miles.  That was... until.... I hit the 3 moderately challenging hills.. I slowed a bit and hung on.. Thankfully it was over before I knew it.  I love the 5k because of this reason. You are not drained for the entire day. It was more like a HIGH all day...

So today it is time to come down from the HIGH of yesterday and focus on the next three races. I will be racing TUFTS 10k, the Wrentham Duathlon, and the Newton Chili Half Marathon. For some reason I feel completely on fire this month. Maybe it's because I have been sleeping well. Hmmmm..

Also, I'm very happy to learn that my running club agreed to post weekly group swims and bike rides for next season. We actually have a number of runners who participate in triathlon so it makes sense to add a few group training sessions. This makes me very happy as well.