2014 Race Plan (a Work-in-Progress)

I have been playing with race plans for next season in my head and on paper for over a month now...and I think it's time to get something written out to hold myself accountable.  I've gotten a good start on it, but there are still some "unknowns."

I have registered for one race in 2014 thus far...the Tri Shark sprint-distance triathlon in Hudson, IL on May 31.  This is the only thing for me, race-wise, that is set in stone for next season.  Other than that...I am not completely sold on my schedule yet...but here it is (reminder: somewhat tentative!)~

1.  Saturday, April 25:  Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon/Urbana, IL
HISTORY:    I ran my first half marathon at this event in 2009 with my sister (in 1:57).  I credit this event with kick-starting my endurance event habit!  Therefore, I try to make it a priority each year.  I ran the event in 2010 (seven minutes faster; 1:50!) and registered again to run in 2011...but unfortunately had a stress fracture in my left foot and couldn't run.  I also ran in 2012, so including this year's event I have run it 4 times.  I'd like to make it 5!  It would also be great to earn a PR.  My current half marathon PR is 1:46.49.
GOAL:  1:40 (big jump...I know.  Go big!)

2.  Sunday, May 18:  One thing is certain...I will do SOMETHING this day.  However...I am currently torn.  The two possibilities are:  Rev3 Knoxville OR Run River City (Peoria, IL).  This will be a really tough decision for me.  I completed the 70.3 relay at Rev3 Knoxville in 2013 and would love to do it again in 2014.  It was an AWESOME kick-off to my triathlon season, plus Rev3 events are frankly unparalleled.  However, Run River City has a special place in my heart.  This past season, I ran in the inaugural Run River City event...I completed the marathon distance after signing up just the day before.  This event was one of the most pivotal in my racing "career," as it is where I had my "chance meeting" with random-stranger-turned friend Jenn.  So...I will either do a 70.3 relay at Rev3 Knoxville OR the half marathon or full marathon event at Run River City with Jenn.  Serious thought will go into this decision!
GOAL:  TBD

3.  Saturday, May 24:  Tri for Kids Sake (sprint distance triathlon, pool swim)/Morton, IL
HISTORY:  This year I finished in 1:21:22.9, which was 3 1/2 minutes faster than my time the previous year (2012).  I even got 3rd overall female at the 2013 event!  In 2012 signed up to complete the event just a few days before the event...having just signed up for my first 70.3 in Branson later that season and realizing I needed to get my butt in gear and figure out this triathlon business!   
Fun fact:  when I did the Tri for Kids Sake event in 2012 I hadn't been in a pool for approximately 6 months prior to that.  Ha!
GOAL: 1:15, and getting an overall or age group award would be pretty sweet as well!

4.  Saturday, May 31:  Tri-Shark Classic (Sprint distance triathlon)/Hudson, IL
HISTORY: This year I finished in 1:27:07.3 and earned 5th in my age group.  Next year I should be much faster...I know I finished this season with the skills to ride 13 miles in WELL under 43 minutes (what I rode the Tri Shark course in during the race last year).  Additionally, last year's event was turned into a duathlon (run-bike-run) due to dangerous water conditions.
GOAL:  I'm shooting for more in the 1:15 range for next year, and would like to get 3rd or higher in my age group.

5.  Sunday, June 15:  Rev3 Williamsburg (70.3)/Williamsburg, VA
This race will be a NEW one for me!  This fall I applied to be a member of the Rev3 Triathlon Team and I recently found out that I am a semi-finalist in the process!  There were approximately 600 applicants...and from that pool 50 of us were chosen to move forward in the selection process.  I'm nervous/excited/hopeful and am looking forward to early December when they announce who the 15 final candidates are (before 8 are chosen!).  Regardless of the outcome, I am planning to participate in the 70.3 event at Rev3 Williamsburg.  Not only is the venue gorgeous, but this year's medal was just AWESOME...I'm hoping next year's is just as cool!  Check this out:

Something like this must be added to my collection!

GOAL:  My goal for the 70.3 is sub-6 hours.

6.  Sunday, June 22:  Rev3 Dells (70.3 relay)/Wisconsin Dells, WI
Back-to-Back 70.3 events?!  Why not?! Well...because I am not quite THAT hard-core, I will likely do the Dells event as a relay.
HISTORY:  I participated in this tons-of-fun event this past August on a relay team and got 1st in the female relay team division!  I did the run and friends Melissa and Martha did the swim and bike, respectively. 
GOAL:  TBD, depends on if I do the full 70.3 event or if I do the relay...and if so, which leg(s)! 


That at least gets me through April, May, and June!  I will add in 1-2 additional Rev3 events, likely Rev3 Cedar Point on Sunday, September 7 (most likely the 70.3...though to be completely honest the idea of doing the 140.6 at this event is rolling around in my crazy skull...) and Rev3 Florida in November (sun in November?!  YES PLEASE!).

I also need to put some serious thought/planning into my marathon schedule for next year.  I now have 10 marathons under my belt and am 8 states into the 50 States Challenge (working toward completing a marathon in every state!)!  I will obviously keep working on toward that goal over the coming years, though I am not quite sure yet when/how in 2014.  There's a tentative possibility that I would run the full marathon at the 2014 Run River City event...and I've also had a friend mention to me that I should do the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon with him and some of his friends on April 27...and another friend has suggested the Salt Lake City Marathon on April 19.  I am hopefully planning to register for the Chicago Marathon (taking place in October of 2014).  October of 2014 will be the 5 year "anniversary" of my first marathon...the 2009 Chicago Marathon...which makes registering for the 2014 Chicago Marathon quite motivating and sentimental for me.  Obviously, running another marathon in the great state of IL (Run River City and/or Chicago) does nothing as far as furthering my count in my 50-states quest...but running some more local, more familiar races could also allow me to focus more on a long-standing goal:  qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  Hm.  So many possibilities to consider...

While this isn't set in stone and clearly I have some more thinking and planning to do...it's a start.  I'm a lover of lists, so it feels good to have something recorded to at least start with.  Seeing as I am still rocking a boot on my right leg (almost to the three-week point now...so hopefully halfway done), I need to continue to focus my thoughts and energy on getting healthy and on cross training through this winter to get me stronger and ready to race in 2014!  Bring it, 2014!

I'm quite open to suggestions for races to add to my 2014 schedule, particularly July/August events...let me have 'em!  Happy training!

Rev3 Dells

I had the privilege of running a relay at Rev3 Dells this past weekend with fellow triathletes and friends.  I made a quick (too hurried!) weekend of it and drove up to the Wisconsin Dells Saturday morning, approximately 4 hours from my home in Central IL, and returned home on Sunday after participating in the race that morning.  I made a pit stop for brunch in Rockford with some good friends and their sweet one-year-old daughter on my way, adding some more fun to the weekend.

I had planned to complete the 13.1 run-leg with friends Melissa and Martha who planned to complete the swim and bike, respectively, of the Half Rev event (70.3 miles).  This was my second Rev3 relay this season (and second relay ever, actually).  In May I swam in a relay with Steve and Laura at Rev3 Knoxville.  All I need now is to complete the bike portion of a Rev3 70.3 event and I will have completed an entire Half Rev event!

After checking in at the expo (which didn't take long as this was a smaller event!  I was actually pretty surprised by the relatively small size of the event), I hopped on my bike to ride the bike course of the next day's race.  It was intense!  LOTS of climbing...and many scary (to me, Queen Wimp) descents.  Actually, at one point after a long climb when the course turned to the right to continue ascending (when in my head I thought it would've made MUCH more sense to level out or descend)...I actually whimpered out loud to the grass and trees around me about the unfairness of the situation.  Yeah, I'm not a fan of tough biking :).  I've been told, though, that the total ascent of the 56-mile Rev3 Dells bike course is MORE than the total ascent of the 112-mile Ironman Wisconsin course.  So, it was some good practice for my legs for what is to come in now LESS than a month.

I made a really stupid mistake of assuming there would be gas stations/places to purchase water along the bike course.  I brought with me two bottles of water, but really should've taken more than that.  I was out on the course for about 4 hours.  I tried my best to "ration" the water I had, but was fresh out well before I finished the course.  The worst part was...at mile 22 I passed a farm that had a table with a cooler on it placed at the end of the driveway.  There was a sign on the cooler that said "WATER $0.75" and had a jar for money.  I thought about stopping and buying a few bottles...but decided not to because come on, there HAD to be a gas station later right?!  IDIOT!  Lessons learned:  1.  bring MORE than enough water on self-supported rides and 2. if you SEE water for sale in someone's yard...BUY THE FREAKING WATER!  I was VERY thirsty at the end of the ride.  I ended up immediately going through a Starbuck's drive-thru for a passion fruit iced tea after the ride!  It tasted like heaven....I had decided around mile 50 when my mouth was sticky from slight dehydration that I NEEDED a Starbuck's passion fruit iced tea.  Thoughts of it got me through the final miles of torture.

After enduring and surviving the bike course, I met up with some friends for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the Dells.  I had actually never before experienced Wisconsin Dells and was amused by the odd shops and various establishments along the uber-touristy Broadway Street as I drove to dinner.  It took what felt like FOREVER to drive the short distance because the traffic was crazy busy and pedestrians were crowding the streets.  I was hungry and thirsty and cranky from the bike ride...but was VERY happy upon my arrival at the restaurant.  I was late due to taking forever on the bike and my friends David and Kelly ordered dinner for me...and it had been placed at my spot just prior to my arrival.  Instant food!  MMMM!

I stayed with David and Kelly that night and we went to bed relatively early.  David was participating in the event as his FIRST-EVER 70.3 and Kelly was there to support David and be super-spectator-woman (seriously...Kelly is the best spectator, ever I think!;)).  Our alarms went off simultaneously at 4:30 am...disgusting!  We got ready...and hit the road.  The start wasn't far from our hotel, which was great.  It was a chilly, drizzly, yucky morning.  We got our relay team situated in the transition area (easy for me!  Running requires very little accessorizing!) and got David ready to go.

Kelly and I cheered on David and Melissa in the swim....waited in the transition area in the pouring rain (woe is us!! ;)) and once David and Martha (the biker in my relay team!) were on the bikes...left to go to Denny's for some delicious breakfast :).


David "walking the plank" prior to his swim!  Lookin' GOOD David!!! :)

 

Martha pre-bike, waiting on Melissa to return from the swim!

 

Side-view of Martha's AWESOME Wonder Woman helmet!



Melissa and Martha swapping the timing chip as Melissa came in from the run and Martha
got ready to set out on the bike!

 

After a delicious warm, egg-y breakfast we headed back to the transition area to watch the bikers come in and athletes get started on the run.  We got to watch many of the pro athletes completing the Olympic-distance event wrap up the bike and get going on the run.  It was pretty awesome, even if it was rainy and soggy.

Check out the puddles/"creek" at the beginning of the run course!  Fun times!

After Martha returned from that hilly beast of a bike course, I set out on the run.  The run course was pretty decently hilly.  Definitely hillier than I "like"! It was a fun course, in spite of the ugly day.  It was easy to see that this area of Wisconsin is quite pretty.  Although the hills were painful to my legs that were still sore from yesterday's intense ride (I know...I shouldn't complain...most of the other athletes completed the courses back-to-back-to-back on the same DAY! :)), they also kept things interesting.  It definitely wasn't a boring course...and the time seemed to move quickly.

I saw David when he was at mile ~8ish and I was at mile ~4ish.  I shouted some likely non-sensical words of "encouragement" at him and we carried on our merry ways.  I was impressed by how great he looked!

I felt super guilty running past quite a few other athletes on the run course.  One man actually said to me, "WOW!  You're the freshest runner I've seen out here yet!"  I quickly told him I was doing the relay and he replied, "OH!  Well you SHOULD look fresh then!"  I seriously felt like a big cheater while everyone else was suffering profusely.

Shortly after the turn around, a man ran up next to me along my right side.  We ended up chatting and stuck together for the rest of the race.  He told me that he had run the Ironman 70.3 in Racine a few weeks ago...just like me!  However, he ended up bonking at mile 8 of the run and had to quit.  He told me it was his first 70.3 and he had no idea what he was doing nutrition-wise and hadn't eaten anything!  He learned his lesson and wanted to give it another try.  He told me it was embarrassing that he had told so many people that he was going to do a half-Iron distance race and was unable to complete it!  So, he signed up for Rev3 Dells just a few weeks after Racine.  I told him there was no way he'd quit that day...and we ended up running the rest of the race together.  It's fun meeting new "friends", even if they are just "temporary friends" on race days!  It was pretty great to see him cross that finish line...and made me a little choked up to see his three daughters meet him on the course at mile 13.  They ran the final .1 mile with him and he crossed the finish line with his daughters and wife.  Pretty neat that Rev3 allows people to do that!  Martha and Melissa met me and ran with me as well...fun times!

I ended up finishing the run in 1:54.77.  That's a pretty average 13.1 time for me.  I was actually kind of disappointed in myself...I had wanted to be a bit faster.  I did hit my goal of staying mostly in my zone 3 heart rate (set by my coach).  However, my pace should've been closer to 8:00 minutes/miles and it averaged 8:41 minutes/mile.  I should probably allow myself a bit of grace...my legs were spent from the day before and the course was hilly :).  I completed it...ran under 2 hours...and had fun!

PLUS...our relay team ended up placing first for female relay teams and we got a ton of sweet loot!  Some blue seventy goggles, Powerbar goodies, a Rev3 pint glass, a gift certificate for the expo store...and an awesome medal in addition to the regular finisher's medal!

Left:  1st place relay medal, Right: Finishers' medal

The medals are made to connect!

 

Melissa (Swim), Martha (Bike), Me (Run)
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All in all...it was a fun weekend, full of good training and great friends!  Counting today...26 training days remaining until Ironman Wisconsin!  Cue the acrobatic butterflies!!