On disappointment

Last November I had one of the most memorable experiences of my life:  I ran the New York City Marathon.  In my opinion, this is one of those "add it to your bucket list" races.  Every moment of this experience is something I will always remember:  from dinner in Times Square the night before the race, sleeping (or TRYING to sleep at least ;-)) in an amazing hotel, riding a ferry past the Statue of Liberty on the journey to the start, and running through the streets of the most electric and exciting cities on Earth, it was all surreal.  The best part of the entire experience, though, was participating as a member of Team Believe. 

Me with JB, a Team Believe teammate and dear friend

Anyone who knows me...or who has glanced at this little blog just once...likely knows of my passion for children with disabilities.  I work as a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and recently had the privilege of combining my love of running with my love for children with disabilities as a member of Team Believe.  This team was created in 2013 and consists of marathon runners striving to further the mission of Easter Seals while raising money and awareness for children with disabilities who receive therapy services through Easter Seals of Central Illinois.  Last year's team consisted of ten runners who each ran the New York City Marathon.

 

The primary focus of my training efforts last year was to get to the finish line of Ironman Wisconsin in September, which was to be my first full-140.6-mile triathlon.  In August I started experiencing some aches and pains in my right leg that resulted in backing off a bit on my run training for about a month leading up to the race.  It wasn't too big of a deal, since it was basically time to taper training down prior to the race anyway.  After successfully completing Ironman Wisconsin, I gave my body a much-needed break...for a bit anyway.  Two weeks afterwards I ran a half marathon in the Quad Cities with my sister. After that, I didn't run much again until mid-October when I ran a 5k benefiting my sister's workplace and got second overall female (out of a very small field I must add :-)).  I do recall my leg feeling less than "good" during that race and wondering in the back of my head if it was a bad idea to run that race "hard" with the NYC Marathon just a few weeks away.

 

Though I was definitely feeling less than 100%, I made it to the start line of the NYC Marathon.  More importantly, I made it to the finish line of that race.  I ran the first eight miles of the race with my good friend Jen and after that let her carry on while I dropped back.  My leg had started bothering me, but not enough to stop me.  Crossing the finish line in 4:14:31 was an amazing feeling.  However, mere walking after that was NOT so amazing.  It's interesting how my body held it together just long enough to get me to the finish line.  The walk back to my hotel was pretty terrible. Walking around the city the day after the race was also awful.



Somewhere around mile 7-8 in NYC!

The Tuesday after returning home I went to visit a friend who is a physical therapist who suggested after doing a few tests that it seemed like I was presenting with a stress fracture in my tibia (knowing of course that we couldn't know for certain without imaging).  He suggests that I slap on a walking boot for 6 weeks or so and I didn't object.  For much of the winter months, I took it easy.  I did a teeny bit of swimming and I rode my bike on the indoor trainer a fair amount.  But, I gave running a good long break.

 

This spring I decided to commit to being a part of Team Believe for a second year.  This year, my plan was to run the Chicago Marathon.  Easter Seals had secured 10 charity spots in the NYC Marathon again for this year, as well as 5 spots in Chicago.  Not only was I excited to run for my Easter Seals kiddos again, but I was excited on a personal level as this event would be five years after the date of my very first marathon (which also happened to be in Chicago!) and it would be my eleventh marathon. 

 

My run training this spring and summer had been inconsistent at best.  I had the same lingering, nagging pain in my right leg that just wouldn't quit.  It seemed to become particularly intense after I ran a mile race in June.  I tried to push the pain sensations to the back of my mind for a while and carried on running in July.  I ran 14 miles on the 4th of July with Clint (one of my favorite summer memories, actually).  We ran a short warmup prior to a 5-mile race in our town, ran the 5 miles back to our car, ate some breakfast with friends and then ran an additional 3+ miles out on some trails not far from home.  The following week, I ran the Dog Days 5k for the first time (and won my age group with a time of 23:10) on July 12 and later that night ran the 4 mile Moonlight Chase in Eldridge, Iowa with Clint and my sister.  My last "hoorah" was the 7-mile Bix in Davenport at the end of July.  I ran the Bix in 56:46, identical to my time last year (so weird!) and just 4 seconds slower than my PR set in 2010.  After the Bix, it became brutally evident that my leg pain was not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

Enter August:  I finally decided to schedule some physical therapy appointments to get things taken care of.  It appeared as if I was presenting with posterior tibial tendinitis.  I learned some exercises and was fairly diligent with carryover.  I did exercises at work in my office and did exercises at home.  I received some kind of painful astym therapy that resulted in some crazy big bruises all over my leg (yet *hopefully* did some good as well).  I learned some techniques for improving my less-than-ideal running form from my therapist and from Clint.  

 

All throughout, I had my heart set on still running Chicago in October. I had my Easter Seals support letters written and ready to send out at the end of August, the deadline I had set for myself regarding making the decision whether or not I would be running.  I had it in my head that even thought I missed lots of training and all-important long runs this summer, I would still be able to mentally power through the race since I "know what running a marathon is like."  A number of people close to me made me realize that this was not in my best interest and was an irrational thought pattern.  Sure, I could probably get though the race.  But at what cost to my already injured body?

 

Last week I made the very difficult decision to remove myself from the Chicago Marathon.  I can't fittingly put into words how disappointed I was (and still am) to have to do this.  Not only was it stepping back from something I really wanted to do because I truly love marathoning, but it was letting down a team and a cause I feel strongly about and had committed myself to.  This is all very hard to swallow.

I'd be lying if I said I have handled this situation completely graciously.  I have had a few selfish pity-parties, including a cry on the couch moment (thanks, Clint, for not rolling your eyes at my dramatics ;-)).  But, I know it's NOT and it SHOULDN'T be about me.  In the midst of being wrapped up with my injury and my own disappointment, I was losing sight of the whole reason I had set out to run this marathon in the first place:  for the kids.

 

Regardless of if I run another step in my entire life, these kids are running races....Every.  Single. Day.  

 

They're pressing on, taking those first steps and saying those first words.  Easter Seals exists to help children facing challenges and to help their families learn how to overcome these challenges.  I'm honored to be but a small part of this organization and to have the ability to help change lives through speech therapy services and through my involvement with Team Believe. 

This weekend I will be attending one of our fundraising events, The Grape Soirée, with this little cutie and his sweet family.  I'm excited to hear them share their story and to talk about his challenges and ultimately his inspirational triumphs against some pretty big and scary obstacles.  For him...and for all of the other children who receive services through Easter Seals...it's important to keep spreading the word and raising support so more families can get the help they need.

What's next for my running?  Well, I have an X-ray scheduled for Thursday to get a possible peek at what might be going on inside my leg.  Obviously my plan moving forward depends on what is unearthed (if anything!) then.  If it's a stress fracture (which I do believe in my heart it is...though I'm definitely no doctor!), I'll be rocking a boot here for the next month and a half or so.  After that, I'm determined to get stronger.  I've  started working on my running form with "Coach Clint" (my accomplished boyfriend who happens to know a thing or two about running).  However, if I have a stress fracture and have to wear a boot...it means that this run-form rehab work must go on hiatus for a while...and frankly it kind of scares me to start back at square one in a few months.  But I'm definitely going to give it my best shot.

 

I'm learning that there's a lot of happiness to be found wherever you are.  Disappointment can be a catalyst for joy if you allow it to be.  I'm choosing to be grateful...grateful for the families brought into my life through Easter Seals, grateful for my supportive friends and family and boyfriend, and grateful for each new day for a chance to try again.

 

If you were considering supporting my fundraising efforts for Easter Seals this fall, consider instead a donation in honor of my dear friend Jen.  Check out her fundraising page HERE.  Jen is running the NYC Marathon this November for the second year!  If you want to read more about the "chance" beginning to our friendship, read this post where I write about our first marathon together.  Jen is an amazing woman doing amazing things for the kids of Easter Seals and I am honored to call her my friend.

 

Thank you...for reading and for considering supporting Easter Seals.  

 

Go out and have an amazing day...in spite of whatever disappointments may come your way, there's always something wonderful to be grateful for.

~Rachel

Rev3 Cedar Point Recap

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending and participating in Rev3 Cedar Point for the first time...let me tell you, as usual, Rev3 did not disappoint. What a fun weekend and stellar event!

At the beginning of spring when I made a loose plan for my season (bearing in mind that my #1 goal for this season was to have fun and to have a more relaxed approach to training/racing after last summer's more structured experiences), I registered for the 70.3 (half Iron-distance) at Cedar Point. I had never before participated in this event...but had heard only good things. I thought a later-in-the-season long race was a good plan...and the date fell exactly one year after last year's big race (my first full-Iron distance race at Ironman Wisconsin) which I thought was cool. 

Well, in July it became clear that a nagging injury (pain in my right lower leg) was beyond the "just ignore it" phase and I went to get it looked at. Turns out, I'm presenting with posterior tibial tendinitis (Basically, the inside of my right shin area hurts a lot with any kind of impact). I started attending physical therapy sessions and stopped running altogether (my last "real" run was a short ~3 mile trail run Monday morning in early August).  

I changed my Cedar Point entry to the Half Aquabike division (1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike), knowing there wasn't any way that I should try to gut it through a 13.1-mile run.  This was not a hard decision because I still had my heart set on running the Chicago Marathon in October and I wanted to preserve any glimmer of hope I had in finishing that event. 

A few weeks prior to the event, though, my Rev3 teammate Nicole sent out an email to all of us Rev3-ers asking if anyone was interested in joining her relay team as a biker since hers had backed out. I jumped at the opportunity...relays are a blast (and I may or may not have reallllly been slacking in the swimming department this season!). Nicole was the team's swimmer and another awesome Rev3 gal, Laura, was the runner.  Thanks for letting me join you, ladies!

So, Saturday morning I set out solo with my gear and my bike for Sandusky, Ohio.  The drive took about 6.5 hours from my home in Central IL which wasn't too bad at all. The weather was pleasant and the roads were clear...all in all not a bad solo road trip. When I'm driving long distances by myself, I despise stopping. So, I only stopped once...after about 4.5 hours of driving for some Starbucks and to pee (yeah...my bladder was close to explosion-status ;-)).

I got into town shortly after 6pm and stopped by the expo (which was being packed up/shut down by that point).  I chatted with some fun teammates for a bit, grabbed my packet/shirt from the registration area and headed off in search of my hotel not far from the expo. 

I stayed with teammate Eric and his awesome wife Christie in their hotel room...they were staying for a long weekend to enjoy all that the event had to offer. Christie had competed in the sprint distance tri held Saturday morning and had earned a spot on the podium!  So, over dinner in the hotel room, we chatted about her race and about the events to come the next day. Eric was registered for the full aquabike (2.4-mile swim and 112-mile bike)...and it was to be his first time biking more than I believe 80 miles!!

We went to bed fairly early (hooray for like-minded roomies who also appreciate an early bedtime, especially the night prior to a race). For some reason, I ended up getting more nervous than I thought I was/would be and had a little difficulty falling asleep. Before events with a long bike ride I tend to over analyze the situation and fixate on the possibility of crashing or having a mechanical issue.  I did my best to calm my mind and got at least a few hours of shut-eye. 

Sunday morning I woke up before my alarm around 4:45am and laid in silence thinking about the race for a bit before finally getting up and prepping for the race. Eric had gone down to the start already, so I got ready in what I hoped was a quiet manner so as not to further disturb Christie who was still sleeping.  Naturally, trying to be quiet resulted in being extra-clumsy and I dropped at least 3 items and was rather loud and obnoxious. Ugh. Sorry, Christie!! ;-)

I awkwardly made my way down to the parking lot, laden down with bags and trying to corral my bike as I walked (due to my late arrival I wasn't able to rack it the day before).  After getting things situated in/on my car, I set out to where I thought the race transition area was. I ended up driving onto the property of another hotel in the park and got yelled at by a security guard. Apparently that was some sort of "exclusive" area. Whoops!

I finally successfully found the transition/finish line area...only to get yelled at again. This time, it was by a police officer who said to me "you aren't leaving your car there right?" as I was working on getting my bike off of the car rack. I asked him what he was talking about (there were dozens of cars in the lot I was in) and he said race parking was, "way over there," pointing off in the distance (never mind the fact that there were precisely zero signs indicating this and the cars around where I was were definitely all there for the race too, bearing bike racks and race stickers).  After re-racking my bike on my car, I drove to an approved parking spot and began the gear-gathering process again. 

Racked and read in the wee hours of the morning!

I found our spot in the transition area, situated my things and put air in my tires. After a bit, I made my way down to the beach to watch the swim starts. 

I took this picture of the transition area/park from a distance race morning...

...And some random guy asked if I'd like him to take my picture.  Sure?  Why not?! ;)

As I walked down the beach, I watched the waves crash onto the shore of Lake Erie and breathed a big sigh of relief that I would not be swimming in THAT.  Frankly, it looked terribly intimidating.  I happened upon two dead, washed-up creatures during my short walk on the beach to the swim start...a bit menacing if you ask me!

Breakfast?!

Eek!

I spent some time sitting by myself watching the swim warm-up and thought about the race to come. Soon, I met up with some of my Rev3 teammates and we had a great time chatting, catching up and talking about the big race. 

Me with Ron and Nicole (my relay team's swimmer!); three of the four IL Rev3 teammates!

Rev3 teammate Pam and her husband Steve, ready to take on 140.6!

Soon, those doing the full (2.4-mile swim) were off!  I waited with my relay team's swimmer, Nicole, for a while prior to the 1.2-mile wave starts and then made my way to find a bathroom for the all-important pre-race ritual. 

I made my way back to the transition area and found Laura, our runner. She had been staying busy that morning, talking many athletes off of the ledge thanks to the terrible swimming conditions. Many people were getting pulled from the swim...and lots who didn't get pulled were getting sick from the waves. It was truly brutal!

Laura and I stationed ourselves along the wall between transition and the swim out to watch for Nicole coming out of the water and to cheer on the other hardy swimmers. 

Ready to go!

Poor Nicole looked dejected as she came out of the water...she, like everyone else out there, got tossed around and beat up by those darn waves. Frankly, I'm proud of her! She fought through a seriously crappy swim scenario and made it to the other side!  I was grateful it wasn't me in that water!  Nicole finished in 1:10:55. Though she verbalized wanting to be a bit faster, I'm truly proud that she FINISHED and persevered through a really challenging situation. 

After exiting the water, she hurried around to meet us in the transition area.  Laura grabbed the timing chip from her ankle and put it around mine. It was go time!

I had told the girls to look for me after around 3 hours and 15 minutes. Really, though, I was thinking in my own head that it could take me up to 3.5 hours. My best-ever time for a 56-mile bike was achieved last July at 70.3 Racine and was around 2:52. I knew I wasn't at that same level of fitness.  I also had been training somewhat sporadically over the summer. I had accomplished some long-ish rides, but nothing terribly regimented or consistent. In fact, Clint and I joked that I had kind of done a "reverse taper" leading up to this race:  the weekend prior (Labor Day weekend) I had completed 102 miles of cycling in 3 days (36, 43 and 23 mile rides).  I had heard that the course was relatively flat with only two small climbs, but that the wind from the lake could be an issue.  Truly, I had no idea what to expect from myself. 

After the first 30 minutes I noticed I had held pretty steady between 19-20 miles per hour. At that point I decided to make a goal of completing the 56 miles under three hours. As it turned out, this haphazard goal wasn't altogether unreasonable. 

The course was indeed relatively flat with some gentle rollers just to add a bit of variety. There was a climb around mile 22 that I had received a heads-up regarding, but it gave me no issues. I did see one unfortunate soul walking up the hill...that's certainly no fun and can be rather disheartening. 

I saw Christie cheering wildly ;-) a little before the halfway point. It's always a fun mental pick-up seeing a familiar friendly face in the midst of a race!

The course was pretty and scenic and is not what I would call challenging (especially compared to Rev3 Dells!!).  My ride was really without incident. I was able to hold on to a 19-20 mph pace for much of the race, with some slower paces put forth when there was a bit of a headwind to deal with. Unfortunately, my pace dropped quite a bit for the last 9 miles back to transition. The wind on the causeway (which had beautiful Lake Erie on both sides of it) was a bit too much for my tired legs. Had it not been the wind and my resulting letting-up, I would've finished under my goal of 3 hours.  However, I was very satisfied to roll into transition in a finishing time of 3:02:01 (avg pace of 18.46 mph).  This was a very solid finish for me, which made me feel confident in my performance...and hopeful for my potential when I am all healed up and decide to put forth some focused training efforts.

Laura was waiting for me in transition and quickly grabbed the chip from my shaky leg and set off. Before heading out, she mentioned that she had tweaked something in her foot and would pull out of the race if it gave her much trouble as she had a marathon coming up. I wished her luck, assured her that I would understand if she DNFed and waved her on her way. 

I gathered up my bike and gear and brought it all out to my car so that I'd be prepped and ready to head out on my long return trek once our relay was finished.  After sharing some Chipotle (THANKS Nicole!! :)) within an hour or so of Laura setting out, Nicole and I nervously checked her splits in the timing trailer...hopeful, for Laura's sake, that her foot was holding up.  We were excited to see that she was holding a sub-8 pace at both the 6.8 and 8.3 mile checkpoints. We made our way to the finishing chute and cheered the runners in while we waited. 

One of my favorite sights in the finishers' chute:

That's a SERIOUS, INTENSE beard!! I mean, isn't that like a heater on your face?! :-).  I love his enthusiasm!

Soon enough, Laura came blazing down toward the finish with a big smile. Nicole and I jumped onto the course and joined her for a big Rev3 finish!  I just love how Rev3 encourages families and friends (not just relays!) to finish together!

Laura finished her 13.1 mile run in 1:41:30 (pace of 7:45), a PR for her she told us!  Way to go, Laura!

Our total finishing time was 5:56:24.166. More important than the finishing time, though, is the fact that we had a great time and had some great personal accomplishments. Nicole muscled through and finished a challenging swim that many people were not able to complete. She told us that she wasn't sure that she would've finished had she not had two relay partners counting on her!  I rode 56 miles for only the third time this calendar year (once 56-mile ride each in May and June)...in one of my fastest times ever (and didn't have a much-feared mechanical issue!:-)).  And...Laura totally smoked the run with a PR!  Way to go, ladies!  I'm proud to know you and to have you as friends and teammates. 

Team Rev3-Lay!

I had an awesome weekend with some really fun and inspirational athletes. There were some really impressive displays of athleticism, perseverance and dedication all over in Cedar Point and I'm grateful to have had the experience of being but a small part of it all. It's been fun reading race recaps and checking out pictures on Facebook this week from others who completed the race!  I can't wait to see all of my Rev3 teammates again soon. 

This week after the race, one of my teammates passed on the following note of feedback regarding the Rev3 events at Cedar Point this weekend:

I just love this. It is a testiment to all that Rev3 is about and why I'm proud to be a part of this team that includes not just impressive athletes, but all-around upstanding individuals. Rev3 is about so much more than the sport of triathlon. It's about kindness, sportsmanship and about challenging yourself to be more and to do more in all aspects of life. And...clearly Rev3 is about some serious FUN as well!

Until the next adventure,

~Rachel

The Incredible PowerBar Performance Energy Blends

Fueling while training can be complicated and there are many opinions out there on what products are the very best for achieving particular desired outcomes. Personally, I lovelovelove me some PowerBar Performance Energy Blends.  These little delicious gems are 3.17 ounces of joy...and here are the top ten reasons WHY I love these delightful fruity snacks.

10.  They're just plain delicious. There are four flavors to choose from:  Apple Mango Strawberry, Banana Blueberry, Pear Apple Peach and the newest awesome flavor (introduced just a few months ago!) Pear Blackberry. With the variety of flavors that are all tasty, I don't ever get "burnt out" on a flavor. Frankly, I like them all and my "favorite" tends to change day-to-day. 

9.  They're easy to store.  I currently have boxes of them stacked in my pantry. However, a friend and training buddy introduced me to the fabulous idea of keeping them refrigerated. They are SUPER refreshing to come home to after a long run or ride. Another fun idea is keeping them in a small cooler in your car for after an event. YUM!

8.  The individual pouches are resealable. If you only want a small quick hit, you can easily screw the lid back on (I can even easily do this while cycling using my mouth and one hand) and you have the rest ready to enjoy later. 

7.  Performance Energy Blends can be a great food option pre-, during, and post- activity. The package states "Take 1 pouch 30-60 minutes before training or competition to top off your energy stores, and/or as part of your refueling plan during activity."  I personally also enjoy them after a workout or event as well. They're quite refreshing!

6.  They make a great "emergency" food option.  Since they are so portable and easy to consume, I keep some all over the place for a quick and easy snack option. I typically have some in my purse...in my car...and in each of my gym bags...you never know when you might need a quick, energizing snack!

5.  They're easy and quick to consume.  I was quickly able to master taking the lid off with my teeth while cycling.  Once the lid is off, it's very easy to suck the fruit purée from the package. I like the hands-free aspect of the package once the lid is off...great for speedy transitions as well!

4.  Performance Energy Blends are free of all major allergens (a must for me)!  They contain NO gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish or shellfish!  Hooray!

3. They are SUPER portable when cycling....they fit nicely into a cycling jersey and/or bicycle frame bag (in a pinch I've also shoved one in my sports bra).

2.  Cat-approved:  Kitties like them too!  Seriously.

During one of my solo training rides this summer, I came across a teeny-tiny, sad and injured kitten shaking in the ditch next to a cornfield (I hail from the Midwest).  I stopped and was instantly smitten with the little guy.  He wouldn't drink any water (I tried to squirt some in his little mouth to no avail) so I had the "bright" idea to see if he had any interest in the PowerBar Performance Energy Blend I had tucked into my cycling jersey.  He LOVED it!

After his little snack, I ended up carrying him in my cycling jersey back to where I had parked...Here he is, nestled next to more Performance Energy Blends:

When we arrived safely back to where my car was parked, I gave him another snack. 

 

Later, I had him checked out by a vet...and after a few minor medical procedures, gave him to my sister and niece who adopted him (he STILL loves his Performance Energy Blends by the way!).

1.  In my opinion, the BEST thing about Performance Energy Blends is the fact that are made with real fruit...read the ingredients yourself if you don't believe me. 

(Apple Mango Strawberry:  Dual Source Energy Blend (Apples, Mango Puree [Mango Puree Concentrate, Water], Dextrose, Strawberry Puree), and less than 2% of: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol Acetate).)

Actual fruit is pureed to make these products.  I don't know about you, but I do my best to eat real food at all times.  Some sports nutrition products tend to upset my stomach, but these awesome fruity products have never done so and I actually can feel good about putting them into my body.

Naturally, writing this blog post made me crave a yummy Performance Energy Blend...so this Banana Blueberry one made its way into my body to power me through writing...yum!

Check them out--you won't be sorry. Happy training!
 

Sweet Summertime

Ahhhh.....Summer!!

Life has been busy, as usual (not complaining, and I know everyone can relate...just sayin' :)).  Again I find myself lamenting the fact that I don't blog/record details of my races and training as much as I would like.  C'est la vie...  Therefore, this post is going to just be a whole lot of word vomit as I do my best to record the highlights of my past few months.

The name of my game this year has been "having fun."  Last year was very structured as I trained from December 2012-September of 2013 for my first full 140.6.  Nearly each and every day revolved around training.  My afternoon kids at school were used to seeing me with wet hair, rings around my eyes from goggles and the aroma of chlorine emanating from my pores (this was in my pre-TriSwim product days!) because of my lunch-dates with the student rec center pool.  Every "spare" minute was spent uploading data into Training Peaks, packing workout attire bags, washing sinks full of water bottles, doing endless loads of stanky laundry, having a backseat and trunk full of miscellaneous tri gear items (wait...this is still the case!) and watching YouTube videos of swim drills (not to mention the actual acts of swim-bike-running...and somehow managing to run 5 marathons in like 53 weeks).  I don't regret a second of it...but it's not how I personally want to constantly structure my life.

After I finished IMWI in September, I crashed...hard.  After a few fall events (including the NYC Marathon) I was mentally done with the constant training-and-racing cycle.  I slowly got moving again in the spring, but vowed to let myself take it easy and just do what I felt like I wanted to do...without being super crazy-regimented about my training.  Obviously this means I won't be breaking any speed records or anything like that...but when all of "this" starts to become "work" and not "fun," what's the point?  I realize this means different things to different people...and the trick is finding your own personal happy place in it all.  I've been having a lot of fun this season so far...mission accomplished.

"Quick" re-cap of some highlights from this year thus far...

1.  Mother's Day weekend I was home in the Quad City area visiting my family, so I ran the half marathon at the Quad Cities Distance Classic on May 11 with my friend Aaron who ran the 5k at the same event.  Why?  Why not.  I hadn't run further than 7 or 8 miles since the fall, but felt like running a half.  So I did.  It was my first time getting to run a race with this newbie-runner!  Aaron is KILLING his training...as a first-time-EVER runner, he is regularly logging 5+ mile runs at an 8-8:30 pace.  I'm bragging for him, because he would never do it for himself.  I ran my 13.1 mile race in 1:57 or something (if I cared more, I would look it up)...totally satisfactory to me.

Me with Aaron prior to the race...hanging out in Carver and reminiscing about college days

2.  The weekend of May 16-19 I traveled to Knoxville, TN for my first Rev3 event of the season.  Last year, this event was my first-ever Rev3 event...and this year's event was my first Rev3 race as a member of Team Rev3.  It was awesome seeing some teammates I met in March at our Team Summit, as well as meeting some new faces. I LOVE this crazyawesome team!

I had a great time....

...At the Glow Run Friday night.....



yeah....this guy had glow sticks stuck into his epic beard...I couldn't resist snapping a pic (and I asked permission ;))

....Volunteering at the Kids Revvie Saturday morning....

Hanging out with Chuck and Esteban, serious as always, in the kids' transition area.

Giving our final finisher a Rev3-style welcome to the finish line!

....at the practice swim with Kelly....

....at the expo/setting up transition...

....in our amazing condo with fun friends Esteban, Chuck, Richelle and Colleen...

Esteban made us dinner the night before the race (including GF pasta for Richelle and me!)...he's quite the chef!

...during the race...

...and post-race!

Enjoying time in the sun with Kelly after a fun race

I completed the Olympic Distance, and in staying true to my current theme of just having fun...had no real time-related goals for myself other than finishing.  Here are my stats...
Swim:  35:36
T1:  3:32
Bike: 1:33.05
T2: 1:54
Run:  56:55.44
Total:  3:11:03

3.   Saturday, May 31 I completed my first-ever Tri-Shark Classic sprint-distance triathlon.  I did participate in this event last season, however it was changed last-minute to a duathlon (run-swim-run) to eliminate the swimming portion due to some awful levels of nasty crap in the water.  My good friends Dave and Chuck came to visit and completed the race with me...we had a great time!  Love the friends this sport has brought into my life. 

Chuck and Dave were great roomies-for-a-night...we had a great time at the race!

It's no secret that I slacked a lot this winter, so I didn't do as well as I would have liked...but I did get what I deserved :). 

Swim:  12:13.7
T1:  1:44.4
Bike:  40:45.7
T2:  1:22.5
Run:  25:30.7
7th/16 in my age group (F 30-34)

A few weeks after the event, I investigated the results and saw that I had gotten 17th out of 118 women.  So...maybe I am in better shape than I thought.  Encouraging!

My friend Kelly is quite the talented photographer...and gifts us with amazing photos at events she spectates.  She took the following picture:

I think this picture fits with my current goal of "having fun" and not taking this stuff too seriously

4. A week and a half ago I spent the weekend in the Wisconsin Dells with my family, with the Rev3 Dells event being the focus of our visit.  My sister, Megan, and I made plans months prior to complete the 70.3 distance triathlon at the event as a relay team:  I would swim and bike and she would run.

The morning prior to the event, I attended the practice swim with some of my Rev3 teammates.  We handed out samples of TriSlide, Foggies and TriSwim products and took turns making a few rounds around the practice course ourselves.  

Team Rev3 members ready to lube ya up!

I swam a leisurely sixth of a mile to calm my nerves....I hadn't been in the water for a week and a half (at a Wednesday Open Water Swim with my area tri club) and prior to that had been in the water only a handful of times this season. 

 

After the swim, I took my bike out for a bit to run through the gears and spin my legs out a bit...and I'm so grateful I did!  After only a few minutes it became apparent that my chain would not move from the front small ring to the large ring. After fighting with it for a few miles, I turned around and brought it to the bike repair tent at the expo. Some nice gentlemen looked it over and made some adjustments...things seemed better after that. I took it for a few parking lot laps and ran through the gears without issues.  Whew!  After I felt like everything was in working order, I got my transition area situated....love Rev3's personalized transition area tags!

I grabbed a nice solo lunch at Sprecher and then met up with my family who had just gotten into town. My sister had gotten us a condo not far from the area of town where the race was. It was great to have them there to share the race weekend, as well as some other vacation-y activities, with. I took Megan down to the expo and transition areas to show her where everything was. 

Of course we had to take one of the goofy Rev3 VIP pictures at the expo...

Saturday night we ate an early dinner and went back to the condo where Megan and I prepared for race morning before heading to bed relatively early.   

Race morning...we woke up before the sun and prepared for a day of fun. Side note...I find it interesting that on average days I hit snooze 6-7 times before rolling out. Race mornings...I can somehow manage to get up right away or after only 1-2 snoozes.  

We ate some breakfast and got our last-minute things in order. We had a little debacle with the application of race tattoos, but nothing a big black marker one of the staff members brought to the transition area couldn't fix later ;-).

We headed down to transition about 90 minutes before the start, made sure everything was just-so, and did our usual race-morning-porta-potty song and dance. We then walked down to the swim start. The swim at Rev3 Dells is held at the Tommy Bartlett Show area, which is pretty neat. It's very spectator-friendly, as there is stadium seating available...also nice for the time before the race start. 

My fav race buddy

I saw my friend Kelly who wasn't feeling very well. She had re-injured an old back injury and was stressing about her role as the swim leg of a relay team. She decided to go ahead and swim in spite of the injury/pain...and did really well. Spoiler alert:  her relay team got first!

Kelly with me before our swim start

The swim was a time-trial start. We lined up two-by-two within our assigned waves and they had swimmers start every few seconds by jumping off a small dock.  Kelly and I started toward the back of our wave due to her apprehensions regarding the status of her back. Shortly after we jumped in, I lost her as she swam off much more strongly than I am currently capable off. I sent her silent wishes for a strong and incident-free swim and settled into my own rhythm. 

I'm not a strong swimmer, I never have been. I'm very average and very okay with that. I was a bit fearful about the swim at Dells seeing as I hadn't swam anything at or near 1.2 miles since IMWI in November. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the way that I fairly quickly was able to find a rhythm and moved into my mental swimming zone. 

I kept things steady (and slow!) and had no issues. I didn't once feel the need to stop/grab a kayak/flip over/breaststroke...anything. I hung onto my slow and steady front crawl for those 1.2 miles and was astounded to exit the water to see "46" shining at me from my watch. Somehow I managed to swim in 46:09 (pace of 2:23/100s) This is not a "fast" time...but it's certainly decent, especially for someone who has swam only a handful of times in the past 7 months. I was expecting something more in the 50-minute range. I'll take it!  It was a definite confidence boost to be able to do a swim of that distance without any issues after very little recent preparation. 

I ran up a hilly paved area to the transition area where my sister was waiting. She helped strip my wetsuit...I have this uncanny ability to get the darn thing stuck on my ankles and have spent many minutes in transition areas fighting with it. I sat down and she grabbed ahold of it and tugged. Instead of it sliding off nicely, she managed to drag me 10 feet across the grass, still attached to my wetsuit. More TriSlide next time?!

Once that slippery beast was off of my body, I gathered my bike gear and slurped down a Black Raspberry Pear PowerBar Performance Energy Blend (YUM!). I felt great, mentally and physically, as I exited the transition area after 3:48 (clearly I wasn't in any sort of hurry...that's basically enough time to have a quick picnic!).

For the first few miles, I mentally prepared myself for what I knew awaited me on the bike course. This was my third time out on the course. I rode the course last year at the Rev3 Dells 2013 event. I participated in the run on a relay team on race day, however the day before the race I rode the 56 mile bike course solo for training. That was INTENSE. This course is no joke!  It's freaking HILLY!  I have no idea if this is perfectly accurate, so don't quite this as gospel or anything...but I've heard a number of people state that the course had more elevation gain in 56 miles than the entire 112-mile Ironman Wisconsin course (which is known for being hilly and terrible).  Regardless of what the numbers specifically say, the Rev3 Dells bike course is tough...ask anyone who has done it!  My second experience with the course had been just a few weeks prior on Memorial Day at our Rev3 course preview day...so the torturous hills were fresh in my mind.

The weather was pretty nice...not too hot at the beginning of the ride, which was helpful.  I ended up dropping my chain a total of four stinking times on the course.  The first was after only 5 miles or so.  After the second time, I became rather irritated.  After three times...I was borderline mad.  On the fourth time I may have yelled a choice word or two and flipped my bike over so quickly and carelessly that I ended up cutting the knuckle on my right thumb with the cassette.  OUCH!  I finished the course covered in bike grease and a bit of dried blood from that debacle.  (I ended up taking the bike in to a local bike shop immediately upon my return to town on Tuesday and discovered that the derailleur had almost come off of the bike.  Scary!  However, everything is now in excellent working order thanks to the lovely Adam at Vitesse Cycle Shop).

Other than the chain issue, I did enjoy the my time on the bike.  Well...as much as you can enjoy climbing your butt off I guess ;).  On what I consider to be the worst/most difficult portion of the course, I actually (very slowly!) passed three guys who were walking their bikes up the very steep ascent.  I was proud that I never got off the bike and walked on any of the crazy hills...but I would be lying if I said that it never went through my mind!

After 3 hours, 50 minutes and 48 seconds...I rolled into the transition area, more than happy to be done and ready to pass the timing chip to Megan.  However, it had started getting rather hot...so I was also feeling a little guilty about "making" her do her work through the hottest part of the day.

While she set off, I cleaned up my gear in the transition area.  I chatted with fellow Rev3 teammates Nicole, Ron, Tim and Jeff. 

After a bit, I made my way to the finish line where I met up with my parents, Megan's husband and my niece Macy.  We had planned to meet up in the finish chute area where Megan would be running by toward her big finish...and then Macy and I would join Megan and all finish together (one of the coolest things about Rev3 races is the fact that anyone you want can run across the finish with you...it's such a cool experience to watch families finishing together!).  Megan had estimated that she would finish in 1:50 or so, so we were ready to go at the finish about 1:45 after she had started running.

I started run/walking backwards on the course to meet up with her.  After a bit, it became apparent that the heat of the day had likely gotten to her because it took longer to meet up with her than estimated.  When I saw her, she did NOT look pleased.  In fact, she may have informed me that she hated me...or something along those lines ;).  I ran with her about a mile or so to the finish and tried to chat a bit to give her something other than her suffering to think about.

Soon, the finish line was in sight.  My mom handed Macy to me (Megan informed me that she was too worn out to hold her) and Macy immediately began freaking out.  As we made our way to the finish line, Macy's freaking out became a full-on wail.  After we crossed the finish line and got our medals (and awesome cold/wet towels!), it took a while to calm her down...poor thing!  I felt kind of mean for traumatizing her, but the whole experience made for a funny finisher photo:

 

Our final time was 6:51:36...and we ended up scoring sweet medals for getting 3rd in the relay division.  It was a really fun day...and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to share the experience of racing with my sister and family.

After spending some time at the post-race festivities, my family headed back to the condo. I stuck around to cheer on more finishers...including our awesome and inspirational 70-year-old final finisher. To add some excitement to the day, everyone left at the finish line helped to hurriedly tear down the expo as a big storm rolled in!

The rest of the day following the race, I layed low. We ate at Sprecher (again for me!) and I crashed early...then later woke up around 1am still wearing jeans and my contact lenses were disgustingly suction-cupped to my eyeballs. Nice.  However, I woke up in the morning the next day feeling fresh and great.  Basking in that post-race glow is a goooood feeling :).

Monday was spent participating in decidedly non-athletic endeavors with my family. We enjoyed some of the many cliche/touristy attractions the Dells area has to offer...Paul Bunyan's Lumberjack Meals was met by mixed reviews by our group (but was definitely a "won't forget" experience)...the Wisconsin Ducks ride was pretty awesome and offered beautiful views of the area...and Wizard Quest was a unique experience as well (an interactive mystery/game).

My mom, sister and I went on a late-night hunt for some ice cream to commemorate our last evening in the Dells

...and then Tuesday mid-morning we all headed to our respective homes.  It was a great trip!  It was so much fun to share my love of triathlon and Rev3 with my family, and to get some quality Macy Jo time in of course!  I'm thinking we should make Rev3 Dells a yearly family tradition...
 

5.  I had spoken to some friends about my curiosity regarding the Main Street Mile in Peoria, IL.  I decided to go and give it a whirl...why not?  I had NO idea what kind of pace I could hold for "just" a mile and had heard the course was mostly downhill and the event was fun and festive...this event definitely piqued my interest.

I seldom do any real speed work (seldom = never) was hoping to run in under 7 minutes.  My "pie in the sky" time was 6:40.  Somehow I managed to pound out a 6:17.  I was pretty astounded by myself....as were my legs.  I can safely say they've never moved that fast.  A few days later, my shins were still reminding me of my efforts.  Lots of foam rolling, massage and yoga have been the recipe for recovery this week!

Before the race, I saw a man in an Easter Seals shirt that I suspected was Mark Scott.  I decided to be gutsy and introduced myself...it turned out I was correct!  Mark Scott is currently on a mission to run 50 races in 50 weeks and raise $50,000 (though he is really on track to raise $100,000!) for Easter Seals to celebrate turning 50 years old!  Here I am with Mark after the race. What a great guy and a neat idea!

Sooo...what's in store for the rest of my summer?

LOTS!

1.  July 4th is just around the corner, bringing with it races in communities all over our country.  Past summers have brought me home to the Quad Cities and to Peoria for races, but this year I will be staying here in BloNo and participating in Park2Park, a fabulous 5 mile race between two parks in our town.

2.  The following weekend, Clint and I have the crazy idea to run three races...all on the same day (Saturday, July 12).  I'm not sure exactly how this idea was birthed...I think I suggested two, and he countered with three.  Makes sense.  Regardless of how the plan transpired, the agenda is:  8am- Fisher Fair 5k; 6pm- Dog Days 5k and 9pm Moonlight Chase 4 Mile.  This will be a first for me...I once ran two 5ks on the same day here in town (with start times about 2 hours apart or so) and ended up with a stress fracture after that....here's hoping this isn't a repeat of that glorious performance (pretty sure that mishap had more to do with my footwear...ahem vibram 5 fingers ahem....than the mileage ;)).  This hair-brained idea is going to require quite a bit of drama and driving, but is bound to be unforgettable...so I am looking forward to it.

3.  After that, on Saturday, July 19 I will be walking and volunteering at the Walk With Me event supporting Easter Seals of Central IL.  I'm looking forward to a fun day with co-workers (including fellow pediatric therapists) and many of the kiddos and families I have had the privilege of working with over the years. Apparently there's also a dunk tank slated to be present...and I may or may not personally know some of the pediatric therapists who will be "doing time" sitting in it...

4.  That brings us to Bix weekend!  The Bix 7 is hands-down my favorite event of the year.  This will be my eleventh consecutive year running in it...and it is the event that I credit with transmitting the running disease to me.  Love it!  Megan, Clint and Aaron will all be running this year...in addition to thousands of other crazies. Can't wait!

5.  August....is currently wide open.  I should probably think about adding a tri or two (three?) because I am doing the 70.3 at Rev3 Cedar Point on September 7 and I am bound and determined to finish in under 6 hours.  My last 70.3 was Ironman Racine in July last summer and I finished in 6:00:51.  I have no real reason to not finish under 6 hours (aside from slacking off, that is ;)).

6.  The week after that I will be joining my good friend Jillian in Iowa for her grand return to triathlon...we are doing an Olympic-distance race together at the Best Dam Triathlon on September 14 as her first triathlon post baby number two!  This race will be two years almost to the day that Jillian and I completed our first half-iron distance tris together.  I also did my first-ever triathlon with this girl back in May of 2011 (I just re-read my post regarding this experience, "Confessions of a First-Time 'Triathlete'," and was very entertained by the musings and reflections of my three-years-ago self).

7.  October brings my second-favorite race of the year:  Run the Woods.  This trail run offers 5k and 8k distances and is a gorgeous, well-run event.  Ok...truth be told, I am on the committee so I am a little biased ;).  But really...if you're close enough to check it out, do so.  Trail running is so much fun, and the pancake breakfast (boasting GF pancakes as well!) afterwards is stellar!  Ok...end shameless plug ;)!!

8.  My 'A'-Race...The Chicago Marathon.  I'll save the details for another post, but I have high-HIGH hopes for this race.  It is going to be my 11th marathon on the 5th anniversary of my first-ever marathon (which was also in Chicago...back in 2009).  I'm running for my Easter Seals kids again, much more on that later as well.  I think it's high-time for a marathon PR.  We'll see...

Anyway, as per usual I will likely throw in a race or two (or seven) more...but that's how my year is shaking out so far.  I'm excited to see how it all plays out.  Love me some summer...and lots of running (and biking...and occasional swimming ;)).

Happy training...ENJOY this beautiful summer!