Chicago Marathon {10-11-15}

Chicago Marathon

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Chicago, IL
*My 12th time running 26.2*

So this past spring, I signed up for the Chicago Marathon with Easter Seals' charity team, "Team Believe." Team Believe was born in 2013 and started with a team of 10 marathoners running the NYC Marathon. I was part of this original group. The next year, Easter Seals secured charity spots for both NYC and Chicago. I decided to sign up with the team again, this time for Chicago (NYC was amazing...but in my opinion it is the kind of race that I only need to experience once in my life). Last fall, however, I was dealing with some irritating and painful tendinitis in my right lower leg and had to make the difficult (but logical!) decision to not complete the race. After that experience, I decided that I wouldn't put that kind of pressure on myself again over a race and wouldn't sign up as part of Easter Seals' team the following year.

Well...in April the Easter Seals team for Chicago consisted of 8 runners and they had 10 spots. They reallllly wanted to fill those last two spots because they didn't want to be at risk for losing charity spots in subsequent years. So, I gave in to "peer pressure" ;) and signed on as runner #9. In more recent months, two of the runners ended up dropping out because of injuries. Then...in August Clint and I found out we were expecting. After we made the decision that I would still try to run the September marathon I was registered for (Last Chance Boston Qualifier) as long as I was feeling good, we decided that I would just play October/Chicago by ear and make a last minute decision. I continued my fundraising attempts as if I was indeed running, though.

The week leading up to the race was ROUGH. This pregnancy has been largely uneventful and for that we are grateful. I haven't had any morning sickness (which is a true gift because I am TERRIBLE in the morning without that, just ask poor Clint!)...but I do get quite nauseated later on in the day (2-3pm and on until I go to bed). Some nights I have passed out on the couch before 8pm and eating dinner is a chore. BUT these are all things that are relatively easy to deal with. The Tuesday night prior to Chicago during my evening doctoral class, though, I started feeling extra-rough. I got home around 8:30 and was largely useless. That night, I tossed and turned and around 5am got up to request a sick day from work. No sooner had I sent the e-mail....and I was in the bathroom "getting sick."  Awesome.

Wednesday that week was spent trying to force myself to drink water and orange juice (keeping it down was not always successful), taking my temperature and texting my doctor's nurse to check in. While it somewhat steadily climbed throughout the afternoon, my temperature never got over 101 and by evening was almost gone...whew. That day was MISERABLE. I stayed home Thursday as well, but felt already vastly better than I had on Wednesday. Friday, I went back to work...though it was somewhat not-so-hot.

The hotel we had booked in Chicago was non-refundable, so we planned to go up on Saturday to the city and check out the expo and hang out even if I decided that I wouldn't run. But, Saturday morning I woke up feeling pretty darn great. I slept in while Clint went out for a run. We grabbed coffee and lunch in BloNo and got on the road. Clint started out the drive and lasted about 20 minutes before getting really tired ;)...so I took over for the rest of the drive (don't worry...he drove the whole way back :)).

We found our hotel after many detours due to roads being closed for the marathon...and waited in line for over an hour to check in. We finally made our way to our room and headed out to start walking toward the expo. Our plan was to walk a good chunk of the way and then catch a cab for the last half (it was quite a ways from our hotel downtown to McCormick place where the expo was held). After we'd walked a half mile or so, I looked into my purse and panicked because my wallet (ID, etc!) was gone. I couldn't remember if I had left it in the hotel room or if I had put it in my purse and left it open...and potentially someone had grabbed it out of there. 

So...back to the hotel we went (thanks, Clint, for your patience :)). Thankfully the wallet was on the bed...and we turned around and made our way back outside. We hailed a cab after just a few minutes of walking this time and rode peacefully to the expo. The expo provided a bit of sensory overload, as those things tend to do. We secured my bib and shirt and walked around for a while, sampling some products like different flavors of Nuun. I did find a great pair of Adidas shorts that I planned to run in the next day...my great purple Adidas shorts that I'd been wearing with my Often Running singlet are getting a liiiiitle tight :). Clint was able to see and chat with some different reps with Saucony and Asics that he knows from working at the shop. After an hour and a half or so, we made our way outside and got a cab which took us back to our hotel. Perfect timing...I was getting pretty darn tired and thirsty!

This is the picture we posted on Facebook to "announce" our Big News :).
I'm holding the bib that we ordered that I wore under my race number bib during the marathon.

We decided to grab dinner at Miller's Pub, a restaurant we saw on the same block as our hotel. I had a great omelet and some potatoes and Clint had a salad. Thankfully, I was able to eat a fair amount...as I said previously, dinner is sometimes rough for me. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for race morning.

I slept pretty well...and we went to bed fairly early, so waking up a little after 5am wasn't bad at all (for once! :)). Clint headed down to the lobby to wait in a ridiculous line for some Starbucks and I putzed around the room getting ready. When he finally made it back to the room, he gifted me with some amazing orange juice smoothie-blend thing that he had found that he thought looked like something I might like (OJ has been one of my big cravings). It. Was. AWESOME!! Perfect fruity pre-race fuel!

I was in corral F (apparently I didn't submit past marathon times when I registered or something...whoops ;)), but it was actually pretty nice because my start time was 30 minutes after the first start time (8am as opposed to 7:30). This made our morning walk to the start a lot more laid back, which was nice. We stood around for a while and people-gazed ;), took a picture together, and then I headed to my corral around 7:20. I easily found my place...in stark contrast to six years ago in 2009 when I had first done this race (which was also my first-ever marathon experience). I remember running around trying to figure out where the entrance to my corral is, only to have to climb a fence with a bunch of other runners...resulting in my capris getting stuck to the top of the fence and having the fence rip a small chunk out of the pants and out of my thigh! 

Gearing up for Baby's Second Marathon!

Soon enough, my corral made its way to the starting line...and we were off! My first few strides (my warm up! Ha!) were a little rusty, but I was soon able to find my pace and completed that first mile in a perfectly-executed 9:00. I planned to run the first half at or under a comfortable and conservative 10:00 minute/mile pace (kind of "funny" considering my target pace just 4 weeks prior was 8:00 minute miles :)). Following that first half, my plan was simply to do whatever felt best...and I fully expected that second half to turn into a run-walk situation. {Also, I gave myself the full liberty of bowing out if ever things felt TOO terrible!}

For the first half, I felt pretty good. My 9-10 minute pace was comfortable. The temperature was cool. I made my first potty stop at mile 5. I crossed the half in 2:10 (average per mile pace of 9:55). My splits were:

1- 9:00

2- 9:20 (**I saw Clint here around mile 2. I didn't know to look for him yet, but thankfully heard him yell! :))

3- 9:39

4- 9:18

5- 9:36

6- 10:09 (first potty break was in here!)

7- 9:35

8- 9:29

9- 9:31

10- 9:48

11- 9:36 (**I saw Clint just after mile 11! A definite highlight :). I stopped to get a kiss and to refill my belt with two gels :))

12- 10:09

13- 8:50

Clint snapped this pic when I stopped to say hi shortly after mile 11 and quickly stuffed two fresh gels into my race belt.
I was feeling pretty great at this point!

Keeeesses for my biggest supporter! :) Thanks, CW!

Total at the half (my watch was slightly over mileage-wise at this point, so I simply looked at what my watch said when I crossed the half on the course)- 2:10

After the half, my splits were NOT accurate. For example, my watch had mile 14 at 6:49. Yeah...I don't think so ;). Clearly the buildings started really messing with my GPS signal :). I did start slowing down considerably after the halfway point. I was definitely feeling tired and it was starting to get hot. I didn't want to ever get to the point of utter exhaustion/no return...so I played it safe.

When I got to mile 18....I walked. A LOT! Miles 18-24 consisted of lots of walking....lots of water (both drank and dumped over my head...it was really heating up out there!)...lots of checking-in with my body to make sure things still felt ok...lots of, "this race could be over NOW and I'd be fine with that" thoughts :). I had my phone out a fair amount and was "that" person who was texting during my "run." I had to keep my mind off of things somehow ;). This was turning into a LONG time on my feet!

As I neared mile 24 I told myself that I couldn't cross the finish line walking and did my best to pick it up. Miles 24-26.2 were slightly quicker than 18-24 and before I knew it, I was running up that darn ascent toward the finish line! Crossing the finish line and collecting my medal felt great. Sure, my finish time of 4:56:50 is really nothing to write home about compared to my other marathons...especially seeing as it is a whole 1 hour, 23 minutes and 36 seconds behind the marathon I had completed just 4 weeks prior (and with five more potty breaks in this marathon than the prior might I add! ;)). BUT...I still did it. I completed a 26.2 mile jaunt through an amazing city at 11+ weeks pregnant, just 4 weeks after running a BQ marathon at 7+ weeks pregnant. So, that's pretty neat ;).

Plus, the main point of this marathon wasn't my own personal accomplishment...but rather to raise awareness and money for the kids and families of Easter Seals. I didn't really get close to what I raised 2 years ago ($6600)...but I did raise around $500 and I feel good about that. We ended up having 8 runners toe the line at Chicago, including myself and good friend AP. We have a second team of runners who ran the New York City Marathon just a few weeks after Chicago. Though the efforts put forth to get this Team Believe business off and running seems a bit haphazard at times...all things considered, it's a pretty neat thing to be a part of and I'm hopeful for the sake of Easter Seals that it grows to be an even bigger "thing" in subsequent years.

AP was cold and I was hot post-race ;).

Glad we were able to locate AP after we finished!
Check out those sweet medals. Won't mine look great in the baby's room?! ;)

Now...on to my bigger, longer "ultra" marathon...gestating this sweet babe! We had the privilege of watching our little one via ultrasound bouncing around like a crazy-thing on the Tuesday morning after the Chicago marathon (at 11 weeks, 4 days). THAT was pure awesome :).

What's next (running-wise)? Clint and I ran the Allerton Park Trail race on October 25 and Canal Connection on November 1. Later in November I hope to run a Turkey Trot race on Thanksgiving. I'll likely post race reports for those races at some point. I plan on continuing to truck along until I can't any more!

THANKS to Mitch for letting this pregnant lady still be a part of the Often Running Racing Team. Thanks to Adidas for the great gear and to my teammates for the laughs, support and all-around FUN times. Thanks to Clint for the advice and for helping me and supporting me through these adventures and for being the best daddy-to-be.

Today (November 12!) I am one month out from completing the Chicago Marathon and two months out from my 3:33:16 marathon at the Last Chance BQ race. Tomorrow we are 16 weeks pregnant and I have a hard time imagining how on earth I managed to run so much early on while pregnant! Yesterday morning I ran a slow-but-comfortable 3.1 miles before work and that was just plenty!  I'm probably going to run a 3-mile race on Thanksgiving but other than that I won't be racing much (if at all) until after the baby is here. I do plan to keep running as long as I can do safely and somewhat-comfortably, though, and will keep up my yoga as well.

Until the next adventure...happy running, all! :)

Easter Seals Run, Walk and Roll Race Recap/Accidental 5k PR!

On Saturday, April 18 I ran a 5k in Peoria, the second annual "Easter Seals Run, Walk and Roll."  I work part-time for and volunteer extensively for Easter Seals here in Bloomington-Normal.  Easter Seals provides pediatric therapy services for children with special needs.  I've been a part of the teams that has pushed to get more running events in place as fundraisers to support Easter Seals.  I was a little disappointed that this event was scheduled for the same day as the MCStrong 5k event here in town (supporting another great cause and also with a large field of runners), but choosing to go to Peoria to run at the Easter Seals event wasn't really a difficult decision.

Last week was a busy one (I know you can all relate to life interfering with training sometimes!).  After a 14.1 mile training run the Sunday prior to the race, I did NOTHING Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  I do mean nothing...no running, cross training, nothing.  We had a track meet Wednesday night so that was part of my "excuse" in addition to increasing work and class responsibilities due to the end of the school year looming closer.  Somehow it was all-of-a-sudden Thursday and my 3 mile warm-up to the shop for the group run was my first run in 4 days.  Whoops.  However, the ten total miles I did on Thursday night were confidence-boosting...7:34 average (just one second/mile off of my goal average pace for the Champaign half that was coming up the weekend after the Easter Seals event).  Friday night I was in class after work until late...I ate a late dinner, rolled my legs for a while and went to bed after discussing with Clint the fact that I should take it easy at the 5k the next morning.

Saturday morning was an early one...the alarm went off at 5am (sick...not my idea of a good time to wake up on a Saturday!).  After hitting snooze too many times, I rolled out of bed, ate a Larabar, and packed up to hit the road to Peoria.  I was in the car by 6:15 and arrived at the race site around 7 to register and to help set up.  I spent time with my friend Jen at a booth talking about Team Believe, a team of marathon runners who raises money for Easter Seals, and attempted to recruit more runners for our Chicago Marathon spots this fall.  Soon, I looked down at my watch...7:45. The race started at 8am and I still needed to visit the bathroom. Looks like a warmup wouldn't be happening.  Whoops.

After hitting the bathroom, I joined the other runners at the starting line...just two minutes before 8.  There were 6 or so kids lining the start and two guys who looked like they potentially knew what they were doing right behind them.  I joined the guys and settled in.  When they sent us off, I took off at what I thought was a moderate pace.  I had no real expectations for myself, other than to run around 7-7:30 minute miles to have more time at my goal half marathon pace for the following weekend.  

The course of this race is not awesome ;-). It is two loops (yes....two loops for a 5k!) through a shopping area (The Levee District) in East Peoria.  The course has two tight little turns that kinda slow you down as well.  After the first tight turn (maybe a quarter mile in), I made a right hand turn down a road following two guys that were maybe twenty yards in front of me (at this point they were the first runners). A few other guys and the group of kids followed me.  Some guy not far behind us screamed, "don't turn! Go straight! Go straight!" Thank goodness he did because turning right would've resulted in going quite a bit off course.  I never did figure out if the two guys I thought I was following were actually in the race...or if they quit...or got lost...or what, because I never saw them again.  They really weren't far enough ahead to not catch back up (so it seemed) if they really were able to hold the paces they were running.

My first mile ticked off in 6:35. Whoops.  It really didn't feel like I was moving as fast as that suggested (adrenaline?) and I reminded myself that I really didn't need to push hard because I wanted to make sure to get through the race and this coming week and arrive at my half in Champaign strong and ready to run hard.  I slowed a bit, but then as we ran through the finish area where the crowd was waiting to start our second loop I sped up a bit as people were cheering us on.  Mile two was 6:45. The loop includes a lovely hill toward the back half that is just drastic enough to be annoying.  I ran up the hill the final time with the lead guy not terribly far ahead of me and the second place guy directly in front of me (he and I traded spots off and on throughout the race).  It was sometime after mile two and prior to mile three that I realized I might actually PR my 5k time at this race (besting 21:09; my PR set in January at the Frosty 5k). Mile three was 6:55 (I'm really good at this "positive split" nonsense :-)).  For the final 0.1 I decided to try to push a bit to catch the number two guy (because why not at this point?!) and managed a 5:56 pace for that final bit according to my watch.  I crossed the finish in 20:54 (chip time)...a PR by 15 seconds (but I didn't catch that second guy...he got me by a second!). 

After I crossed, they snapped a picture of us top three runners (I was glad I wore my Often Running garb as opposed to just my Easter Seals gear for this picture! :-)) and I joined my friend Jen at the finish to cheer the other runners in.  At the same time as the 5k, there was also a 1-mile walk going on.  It was pretty inspiring to see individuals with a variety of disabilities crossing that 1-mile finish next to the 5k finish.  Watching a little girl with Down Syndrome place a medal around the neck of a 70-something man who had just walked a mile in a huge metal leg brace was about more than I could handle.  Talk about a reality check...what they accomplished that day was far more challenging than my race.

Later on, I checked the results with Clint to see what the total number of participants was...looks like I got third overall out of 192 runners and 1st female!  I spent some time in the pool Saturday afternoon post-race to help deal with the resulting tightness in my legs and was hopeful that I would still arrive at the start line in Champaign next Saturday ready to run my goal 1:40 for the half.  Stay tuned :-)...

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

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!