Delmar Dash

The Delmar Dash seemed like it was finally the first day of spring! High's in the upper 50's with no wind and lots of SUN!!! Short sleeves were on and it was a beautiful day. We had to run 11 miles today in preparation for the Country Music Half Marathon. Our long runs have been fantastic time wise over the past few weeks. Much faster than the past few years. I feel like I could run a PR in the half anyday now. I am in great running shape.

But there was today... My run felt really fast and I felt really dehydrated. The calf pain I have been dealing with was non-existant but my weird righ upper abdominal issue was back. The pre-race 2 miles originally felt really fast but then I settled in. Then we set out for the 5 miles of the race and we had faster miles each and every mile. It felt exhausting. I even had to get water at the aid station to keep from feeling aweful. Once we finished I had a few orange pieces and a few cups of water. We then headed out for our last 4 miles. They were slower than the race but it was such a beautiful day out and Jenn and I have a tendency to get lost looking at the beautiful houses (I envision myself owning a house with an enclosed patio where Joe and I can eat dinner outside every night and have breakfast/coffee every morning). We also had a goal - to get to the Perfect Blend at the four corners in Delmar to get an iced coffee or smoothie. I had been telling Jenn that I bribe myself to run long runs by promising myself a frappucino if I finish my miles but it has been so cold that I haven't had the ability to bribe myself with a cold drink - I just want tea or coffee after every run to warm up lately. Today it was a perfect ending to a really good day of running (11 miles in 1 hr 53 min).

I feel like the next three weeks are all over the place. 1st we head to Boston to do the BAA 5K with Shauna, then we get to watch the Boston Marathon (looking forward to seeing Ryan Hall, Robert Cheruiyot, and Kara Goucher). I then head to Nashville for the Country Music Half Marathon with Jenn, Erin, Kim, Gretchen, and Maisie. This will be Kim's 1st half marathon ever and I am really excited for her! I see a PR in Jenn's future too. I am looking forward to our girls weekend in a place I have never vistited before.

The exciting part of this weather is that I will start biking outside tomorrow!! I am very much looking forward to seeing how spinning paid off! I have a 50 mile bike ride to train for now. I just have to get my butt in the pool consistantly soon. Hopefully all of these things will make me faster in the Lake Placid 1/2 Marathon in June too!

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the weather!

Getting my act together and Runnin of the Green

January and February brought more shoveling than anything else (or at least this is how I felt). It has been so nasty out that I really couldn't bring myself to run outside for the most part. I also went to Jamaica for a week! I have finally been running well though. I got into the pool and have still been spinning. I finally feel like a triathlete again.

Runnin of the Green
Stacy, Jenn, and I set out to run 8 miles total on the day of Runnin of the Green. It seemed to be the perfect day for a run, 40, cloudy, with only a slight wind on a flat course. We did the first 2 miles at 21:30 and then raced the 4 mile course in 38:03. This is my PR in that distance. It was tough and faster than I normally train at but felt great to be pushing so hard. Prior to this race I had run a 38:50 2 years ago. This was 4 min faster than last years race. We ran a pretty smart race starting out at a 10 min mile then getting down to a 8:58 mile for the last mile. It was difficult but great. We finished up with 2 miles at 22:15. 8 miles total and it was fantastic.

I think I am on the right course to do Nashville in April now and I am excited about it. I can't wait to have girls weekend with an event that I love to do in the mix! The weather is getting better out so I will have more opportunities to run outside on mixed terraine and soon enough the bike will come out! I am so excited! I am unsure when my next race is but I am sure it will be great!

We did well ladies!

Year Re-cap

What a year it has been!!! Tour de Cure 63 miler, the Lake Placid 1/2 marathon in June, Tinman 70.3 in June, Ironman in July, and the NYC marathon in November, as well as every traing day in between. My goal was to not overtrain for Ironman like I did last year and thus my numbers are lower this year than they were last year. This is a lot of racing (313.2 miles in those races alone). I remember the feeling of complete excitement that I did the Lake Placid 1/2 marathon in the fastest time I have ever done that race. I remember the sinking feeling when I woke up the day of Tour de Cure to very cold temps and driving rain and instead of the 100 miler I did the 63 miler (good thing too, they cleared the course before I would have finished due to a tornado warning). I remember feeling fabulous after taking time off from last years time at Tinman and knowing I was in great shape even though I tore my leg up in the process (Joe's comment was "Your missing a chunk of your leg. Oh, there it is on your other leg!") I gave back to the running community by volunteering at the No Boundaries program and met really fabulous mentees (Ron, Eeyore, Daci, Jess, and Janice) even though the rest of the experience was a little interesting. I went into Ironman having swapped out my bike seat knowing that I couldn't ride it anymore and ended up with major lower back and IT band issues 1 week before the Ironman. I also knew my training was great up until then. On Ironman day, we were given a perfect day (thanks Melinda). I was going to the start knowing that Christine, Melinda, Kate, and Joe out there as well as many other people I had met on my journey to the starting line and knowing that I was a veteran of Ironman and have accomplished this before. My parents, Alynn, Erin, Sam, and Daci were all there to cheer us on and Jenn and Andrew surprised me on the hill out of Lake Placid. It wasn't exactly my day with my swim being a little slower than last year (the extra people in the water were noticeable) and my bike being exactly the same as last year. I realized that being a seasoned Ironman, it also allowed you to feel this one more since you have been here and didn't have as much adrenaline running through your body the 2nd time around. My run was horrible (although faster than last year)and I remember telling my dad when we were walking back into town that "I need one more shot at this race as I do not have the training down yet and think I have learned a lot over the past two years." I left Ironman with a 16:09 finishing time (15 min faster than last time) and even though I said never again all through training, I now had a vision of doing 5 of these and then calling it quits (haha - those of you who know me know I dream of doing an Ironman when I am 80). I took August extremely easily and then ramped up for marathon training. Then I got strep and had a pretty big set-back. NYC marathon was amazing any way you look at it even though it wasn't fast (I was just getting my money's worth). It was one of the most amazing experiences outside of Ironman. From there I decided to do 30 min of activity 5 days a week for the remainder of the year. I ended the year running again. I ended the year biking again. I haven't quite gotten up to swimming yet but it is on the way. I ended the year excited about my prospects for the new year.

In the new year, I have deemed it the year of speed!!! I can't wait to do an olympic distance triathlon (I don't know when I did this distance last). I will use my time this summer to nurture my garden and keep fit and fast. I started the year on the correct foot in my year of speed. I ran a 3.5 miler today with Jenn and ran it in a 35:35!!! That is by far the fastest I have run in recent history. In the year ahead, I will be going to Jamaica in February with Joe, Kate, and Jeff. This will be our first actual vacation since our honeymoon in 2007! I will be heading off to Boston in April to see the Boston marathon, Shauna, Brenda, Scott, and their new baby. I will be heading to Nashville for the first time ever to do the Country Music Marathon with many friends including Kim - I will be running with her since this is her 1st 1/2 marathon and I always said I would run with her when she decided to do her first 1/2. Joe and I are hoping to do a 1/2 marathon in early April where he can qualify for NYC again and I can get a PR! The Lake Placid 1/2 marathon, Boilermaker, Tour de Cure 50 miler, the Lake George Olympic distance triathlon, and the HMRRC 1/2 marathon in October are also on the list. I expect this year to be full of excitement and enjoyment. I am looking forward to fun runs with friends since I can do any distance short of 13.1 whenever I want to! I am looking forward to volunteering and signing up for the Ironman again too. This will be a great year!

Stats for 2010:
278 days of working out (that I logged)
Swim distance of 44.74 miles
Swim time: 30 hrs 15 min
Bike distance of 1847.66 miles
Bike time: 139 hrs 44 min
Run distance of 568.05 miles
Run time: 108 hrs 43 min
Other distance (elliptical) 10.27 miles
Other time: 10 hrs 4 min
Total distance:2470.74 miles
Total workout time: 288 hrs 45min (12 full days of working out)

December

I am feeling a little lost right now, again!! I know that after Ironman last year I felt this way but this year it is different - Ironman then NYC made me even less motivated to do anything. I am working out for only 30 min at a time which is fine but I really want to do more. My legs just aren't ready for this yet. I am back in the gym though and I love that! I think today will be the day to get back on my bike and stop punishing it for not cooperating on Ironman day! This should be fun!

NYC Marathon Race Report

Four years after my first application to NYC I finally got in. The more exciting part is that Joe and Ryan knew I was guarenteed entrance this year so they qualified to get in as well so we could ensure that all of us did it together! The only problem with NYC this year is that it was 3 months after the Ironman. The first month after Ironman I took very lightly when it comes to running. The next month and a 1/2 were slow but good and then I got strep throat and was done for two weeks. The longest run before NYC was 13.5 miles. Going in, I knew where I was when it comes to being in running shape.

We left on Friday to go to the Bronx. Saturday we woke up, had breakfast and then headed into lower Manhattan where we were going to spend the night. The expo was crowded and we didn't spend a lot of time there which now, looking back at it, I am a little disappointed that we didn't spend more time there. We did check in, get our bib numbers, and our shirts (they only had large and extra large left so I have a massive shirt that says NYC marathon on it). The slogan on a lot of the shirts was "Hell and back" which I wasn't thrilled with so we didn't buy anything else. We went to dinner in Chelsea and then went back to the hotel to settle in.

The morning of the race, Joe and Ryan were off at around 5 am and I didn't get up until 6:15am - ahh, I actually got to sleep in on race day! I got up, piled on my clothing since it was 38 degrees out, and then packed my bags so I could check out of the hotel. I left the hotel around 6:45 am to go to the Starbucks a few blocks from the hotel. The Starbucks employee came to the door and told me that the person who was opening the store wasn't there yet but she could give me what I wanted on the house since I had to go and run. Such a good start to the day - free breakfast - I kept saying it must have been a good omen for the day! I went to the Staten Island Ferry building in lower Manhattan early and found a mass of people trying to get onto the ferry. It was my first experience with the insane amount of people who would be doing the race - WOW!!

Statan Island - On the ferry, I got to see the Statue of Liberty as close as I have ever been to it. How beautiful!! Then I got to see the garbage on Statan Island - not so beautiful. We were then herded to the bus to get to the "starting villages". The villages made it even more clear how many people were doing this race. The first wave was already in the corrals and getting ready to take off when I got there. The speaker system was broadcasting in at least 6 different languages. They were telling me over and over that I had 10 minutes to check my clothes though. Oh no!!! Found the green village, took off my checked clothing and piled on the throwaways. I had my second breakfast here - a bagel and tea with honey. I got to watch the beginning of the 1st wave and was in awe of the spectacular size of this event. It was being covered by 4 different helicopters!!!

Again the loud speakers told me to go to my start area. I moved in the massive village area to my starting area, saw the second wave go off and realized how much fun this was - who cares that you have to run 26.2 miles - this is amazing!!! I ended up standing next to a woman from Saranac Lake who I have talked to in the past which was so random and then we were off!! The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was cold and windy but, even though it is one of the steepest bridges and there are thousands of people on it, it never felt super crowded or steep! I could hear the bridge moving with the thousands of feet that were traversing it. This was the beginning of my saying out loud how amazing this experience was. I was surrounded by people from all over the world taking pictures, being happy and excited!! How often do you get to be a part of something this big! By the way, the mounds of throwaway clothing was amazing as well.

Brooklyn!!! We were in Brooklyn forever! I saw some amazing things though - hundreds of people out to watch - excited about the people running the race. I saw neighborhood churches having their community breakfasts and lunches outside so that they could be together and cheer for the runners, a woman who was cooking brought the police officers food since they had been there for such a long time, and the police officers smiling, cheering and excited to be there instead of angry to be working this event. These miles felt great and adrenaline was flowing high.

Queens - I kept saying if I got to mile 14 I would have someone cheering for me. I didn't see him there but I did see someone with a sign saying "Go Kelly" and that drove me forward a little further. Only a short time in Queens but that was good since you want to take the run burough to burough and at this point, I am already in unchartered territory from my training. In Queens I figured out that I was running near Jared from Subway because all I could hear from the spectators saying was "Hey, its Jared from Subway - GO JARED!!"

Manhattan - going over the Queensboro Bridge I tripped over a joint in the bridge and fell down. My first reaction was "Get up before you get trampled". One of the people near me picked me up so quickly that I didn't know what happened. Then another person asked me if I was ok so I asked her "If my fall was graceful?" She said "definetly" so it was ok. Jared was still around at this point too. Running down the middle of 1st avenue was amazing! I had made a deal with myself that I had to run to mile 18 without walking and then I could walk/run or just walk depending on how I felt. I was noticing a change in my legs after mile 16 - again, I haven't run this far continuously during training. I was getting nutrition and water but not doing a great job of it. The worst was that the aid stations were so slippery with liquid on the ground, cups, and bananas and peels (yes, those are really slippery).

Bronx - wait, we went through the Bronx!!! This mile of the race was slow and I was in run/walk mode. Still hearing "Go Jared, Go!"

Manhattan - the last stretch and my body spoke up vehemently "NO"!!!!! All of a sudden my legs decided they were done. I walked an entire mile - and it was slow since I couldn't get my legs moving - 18 mins - ugh!! I lost Jared - no more "Go Jared, go". I felt bad. At mile 24 though, I decided I wanted to be done so I sucked it up and started running. I was looking for Joe in the crowd although that seems stupid in retrospect since he couldn't have gotten that far away from the finishing area easily. The finish was amazing. What a huge crowd. I was preparing for my finishing line picture, smiling, being happy, and not looking at my watch and when I crossed the finish line the man next to me puked!!! I started laughing because of the craziness of how I prepared for my photo for the first time ever since both of my Ironman finishing photos are of me pressing my watch and then he puked again. (He was immediately attended to by the American Red Cross people so it wasn't like I was just ignoring him.) Can't wait to see that finishing picture though. What an end to a very unique experience. Hopefully, I can do it again sometime (no puking man at the finish line next time though and more training please).

End note: Joe and Ryan did well (Joe 3 hrs 12 min 21 sec and Ryan 3 hrs 18 min). We all loved the experience. The next few days for me proved to be pretty painful - between the fall and the run I had pains in many places. I am super excited that my year of activity is over and I get to rest and recover completely. Having done 4 marathons, 2 Ironmans, 3 1/2 Ironmans, 2 century rides, and countless 1/2 marathons since April of 2007 has allowed me to feel like I need a break. Next year is my year of speed and I have placed a limit of 1.2 miles of swimming, 13.1 miles of running, and 56 miles of biking as my longest distances I am allowing my body to enduring at one time - no 1/2 Ironmans or Ironmans for me next year, only sprint and olympic distance triathlons for me and a couple of 1/2 marathons. I am looking forward to the rest and recovery!