2013 Races

Here is a rundown of my 2013 races. A mileage update will come soon.

• Endeavor Performance Indoor Time Trial
  2/23/13
  TT: 10K, 16:45, 239W, 3.4w/kg
  1/2 P/1/2; 2/9 women
• Hell of the South
  3/23/13
  10/25 overall, 5/5 P/1/2
• Cedar Hill Circuit Race
  4/07/13
  14/20 overall, 8/8 P/1/2
• Team Camp
  4/12-4/14/13
• Sunny King Criterium
  4/20/13
  32/40 Cat P/1/2
  16/22 Cat 2s
• Foothills Road Race
  4/21/13
  31/50 Cat P/1/2/3/4
  13/16 Cat 2s
• Joe Martin Stage Race
  4/25: TT: 50/52 P/1/2; 12:53
  4/26: RR: 46/52 P/1/2
  4/27: RR: DNF
  4/28: Crit: DNS
• Girls on the Run 5K
  5/04/13
  Kaiya: 4th in AG, 26:30
• TN State TT
  5/05/13
  5/5 Cat P/1/2: 55:22
• Berry Peddler RR/TT
  5/11: 16 of 24 o'all; 8/8 P/1/2
• US Pro Nat'l Championship
  5/27: Road Race, DNF
• Rockabilly Gran Prix
  6/01: RR: 14/22 P/1/2/3/4
  6/01: TT: 12/17 P/1/2/3/4
  6/02: Crit: 1/21 P/1/2/3/4
• Tour of America's Dairyland
  6/20: Shorewood, 52/59 P/1/2
  6/21: East Troy, 57/71 P/1/2
  6/22: Grafton, 68/76 P/1/2
• Cookeville State RR
  6/29: 11/14 o'all; 8/9 Cat 1/2
• Firecracker 5K
  7/04: 23:22, 4/56 in AG
  21/369 females
  102/734 overall
• MOAB Criterium
  7-21: 2/12 Cat 1/2/3
• NashvilleCyclist.com Crits
  5/22: 4 of 14 Cat 1/2/3/4
  5/29: 2 of 18 Cat 1/2/3/4
  6/12: 2 of 18 Cat 1/2/3/4
  6/19: 5 of 19 Cat 1/2/3/4
  6/26: 6 of 23 Cat 1/2/3/4
  7/03: 1 of 18 Cat 1/2/3/4
  7/20: 1 of 12 Cat 1/2/3
  7/24: 3 of 21 Cat 1/2/3/4
  8/04: 1 of 7 Cat 1/2/3
• US Pro Crit Nat'l Championships
  7/27: 35/44 P/1/2
  4/4 Cat 2s
• I AM Racing Crit
  8/03: 3/9 Cat 1/2
• IM Louisville
  8/25/13: 13:13:14
  33/110 AG
  1:13:01 swim
  5:48:22 bike
  5:52:35 run
• Franklin Classic, 9-2-13
  10K: 50:41
  5K: 26:21
• The PATH 10K, 10-6-13
  10K: 50:48
  5/21 AG, 93/261 OA
• Team Mango, 10-13-13
  Sprint tri: no time or place
  800m swim, 14mi ride, 5K run
• Harvest Half, 11-02-13
  Half Marathon: 1:50:15
  1/14 AG, 9/118 female
  38/226 OA
• Girls on the Run 5K
  12/8/13: XC race w/Anslee
  35:15 in 25* temps!
  

Hawaii in Pictures

Leaving

Our new friend Greg

Pro Hillary Biscay

At the Mahalo Party

At the Mahalo Party

At the top of the Mamalahoa Bypass

My new Wigwam socks from my new friend Natalie

Cheering on winner Mirinda Carfrae

At the PATH 10K (time: 50:48)

After the race; it was hot and fun!

The PATH 10K with Dad

Riding with the PROS!
Jackie Arendt, Beth Walsh, Tamsin Lewis,
Kate Bevilaqua, Bree Wee

On the Queen K with Dad's friend John

Yep!

Franklin Classic 10K and 5K

Val, me, and Catherine before the 5K

Friday or Saturday night, race director (and my Team Belladium teammate) Kat texted a few of us from the team and asked whether we'd like to race the Franklin Classic race her company was putting on for Labor Day. Although I would be just a week off of Ironman and I had done NOTHING for that entire week, I couldn't pass up the chance to race :-)

Val, Anna, me, and Cath after the 5K

Monday morning, I headed downtown early to register and run the first race, the 10K. I have my 10K race PR (46:36) from the Franklin Classic in 2009, and I also raced in 2010 (48:32). This year was a much different course, though, and I was in no condition to PR after Ironman, hence the 50:41 (8:11 pace).

10K course: 50:41

As you can see, it's pretty hilly. But they're all familiar roads, so I just wanted to have some fun. I started out somewhere in the middle of the pack and ended up in pretty much the same place.

I finished at 10 to 8 and the 5K started at 8:45, so I had almost an hour in between races. I had a little eat and drink, and then went back to my car to change shirts (it was hot and muggy already!) before meeting up with Valerie, Anna, and Catherine for the 5K. Again, we started pretty much in the middle of the (seemingly much larger) group and moved our way up a little. I tried to keep this right around an 8:30 pace, and somehow despite the slower pace it hurt more than the 10K!

5K course: 26:21

Cath, me, Val, and Kat after both races and after breakfast

After the races, I picked up a lady walking her bike and took her home. I've been trying to be aware of other people and what they might need, and any cyclist walking a bike is a big blip on my radar. I was driving home from Catherine's house and saw this lady walking her bike that had a flat tire. I had a pump but no tubes, so naturally I offered to take her home. She had a volunteer shirt on from the race and I had raced, so we had a connection and she wasn't a complete stranger. She'd said she was walking maybe half a mile, but I insisted her bike would fit and it wouldn't be an imposition for me to drive her. I didn't have to persuade long, and I found out she had two stress fractures on her foot and had very recently (like the last day or two) been cleared to bike without her boot. It ended up being nearly a 2-mile drive, so she would have been walking too long for her nearly broken foot. I was super happy to help :-)

2010's Races Aggregated

These are all the races I recorded in 2010, along with results, links, etc.

Crits: 1
TTs: 0
RRs: 0
Circuits: 0
(Total bike races: 1)
Triathlons: 8
5Ks: 9
8Ks: 1
10Ks: 2
10mi: 1
Half marathons: 1
Marathons: 0
(Total running races: 14)
Relay races: 1

Resolution Run 5K
01-01-10; 23:56; 4 of 40 (AG); 21 of 376 (females); 121 of 754 (OA)

Predators Fangtastic 5K
2-06-10; 22:58 (23:12); 3 of 174 (AG); 14 of 660 (females); 86 of 1,206 (OA)

WSM Online Springer Mountain Farms 5K
3-06-10; 23:09; 2 of 112 (AG); 4 of 303 (females); 25 of 502 (OA)
female winner: 20:26, then 21:49, then 22:34, then me

Tom King Classic Half Marathon/5K
3-13-10; 23:17; 3 of 46 (AG); 10 of 239 (females); 47 of 430 (OA)
female winner: 20:00, then 20:58, then 21:06

Purity Moosic 10K
4-10-10; 49:06; 8 of 83 (AG); 26 of 366 (females); 102 of 627 (OA)
female winner: 38:10, then 42:08, then 43:51

Team Belladium Cycling Camp
4-16-10 thru 4-18-10

Crazy Legs World 8K; Madison, WI
4-25-10; (unofficial results) 38:26; 55 of 1,363 (AG), 289 of 6178 (females), 1,956 of 12,893 (OA)
female winner: 26:48

Rev3 Knoxville Olympic-distance Tri
5-09-10; 2:41:01, 8 of 16 (AG), 39 of 107 (females), 164 of 359 (OA)
female winner: 2:03:48

Memphis in May Sprint-distance Tri
5-22-10; 1:09:55, 8 of 20 (AG), 24 of 120 (females), 102 of 350 (OA)
female winner: 59:38

Memphis in May Olympic-distance Tri
5-23-10; 2:35:49, 25 of 56 (AG), 92 of 388 (females), 395 of 1,119 (OA)
female winner: 2:05:55 (this amateur beat the pro women!)

Rev3 Quassy Olympic-distance Tri
6-05-10; 2:53:05, 6 of 25 (AG), 23 of 134 (females), 112 of 375 (OA)
female winner: 2:27:58

Bell Buckle 10-miler
6-19-10; 1:26:33; 9 of 70 (AG), 46 of 348 (females), 202 of 786 (OA)
female winner: 1:06:36

Old Hickory Lake Sprint-distance Tri
06/26-10; 1:10:45; 1 of 19 (AG), 10 of 126 (females), 42 of 383 (OA)
female winner: 1:06:45

Andrews Cadillac Firecracker 5K
7-04-10; 23:42; 6 of 60 (AG), 40 of 488 (females), 186 of 990 (OA)
female winner: 19:07

I Run for the Party 5K
7-05-10; 24:39; 2 of 50 (AG), 5 of 274 (females), 40 of 500 (OA)

Chattanooga Waterfront Olympic-distance Tri
07-11-10; 2:41:26; 13 of 68 (AG); 57 of 406 (females), x of 1,234 (OA)
female winner: 2:13:41; AG winner: 2:28:57

NashvilleCyclist.com Criterium
7-24-10; 40 minutes; 7 of 15; won 2 primes

Music City Olympic-distance Tri
07-25-10; 3:09:12; 11 of 28 (AG); 60 of 125 (females), 140 of 422 (OA)
female winner: 2:14:22; AG winner: 2:34:33

Mountaineer 5K, Kannapolis, NC
07-31-10; 24:32, 3 of 10-ish (AG); no chip timing, so no linkable results, but I set a new mile PR: 6:20!

Fall Creek Falls Olympic-distance Tri
8-15-10; 2:31:10, 2 of 12 (AG), 11 of 98 (females), 75 of 309 (OA)
female winner: 2:17:23; AG winner: 2:31:06 (yes, 4 seconds)

Franklin Classic 10K
9-06-10; 48:32, 4 of 42 (AG), 21 of 381 (females), 157 of 908 (OA)
female winner: 39:12; AG winner: 46:39

Women's Half Marathon, Nashville
9-25-10; 1:48:30 (not registered so no official results)

Ragnar Relay (Chattanooga to Nashville)
11-05-10 through 11-06-10

Turkey Trot/Pumpkin Pie Run, Nazareth, PA

11-25-10; 24:02; 6 of 43 (AG), 50 of 361 (females), 173 of 706 (OA)

Jungle Bell 5K
12-04-10 (not registered so no official results; didn't finish because I wasn't registered)

Franklin Classic 10K

If I'm not going to win, I'm at least going to wear something fun!

Here is a pic from this morning's 10K. Suffice it to say this was not my best nor my worst, I had fun, I didn't place, and it was absolutely amazing weather this morning.

It was 2 minutes slower than last year's race, but I ran each mile pretty consistently (according to the timers, I hit the first mile 15 seconds under 8 minutes, the second, third, and fourth miles in 8-minute increments, the fifth 15 seconds under an 8-minute pace, and the finish at 15 seconds under a 8-minute pace. My mile splits don't show quite that much consistency, but I felt consistent while running and I didn't look at my watch at all. My total time was 48:32, good enough for 4 of 42 in age, 21 of 381 females, and 157 of 900 overall. Although my time was slower than last year, my AG place was higher (last year: 5 of 60), my place in females was the same (last year: 21 of 363), and my overall place was worse (last year: 117 of 896).

The 5K was first, and there were 937 participants there. Then the 10K followed (900), and after that was a 4K walk (a couple hundred) and a 1K (or maybe 1-mile?) kids run. It was a busy morning on the square!

The finish line for all 4 events

What is the Object of Your Focus?

Today I'm re-listening to a podcast from last week's Let My People Think broadcast. Normally Ravi Zacharias is the teacher, but last week one of their other team members, Arun Andrews, talked about "What's Love Got to Do with It?" One of the points that he brought up is something I hadn't thought about before, and I'll try to summarize here. After God created Adam, he said it wasn't good for him to be along and put him to sleep. He didn't need Adam to be asleep for Him to take one of his ribs to use in form Eve—so why was Adam asleep? It was likely so that, after Eve had been created, the first person she would see, the first object of her focus, would be God.

That is how we still should be living. God is the one who created us. He knows us better than we could ever imagine, and He alone is worthy of praise and honor and adoration. I am not always diligent about remembering that, but this has been such a good reminder lately: God should be the first object of my focus.

Marriage is not standing apart; it is standing together, and transparency is the key.

At the end of the message, he prayed that God would help each marriage "celebrate transparency, trust, and teamwork." What an amazing prayer, a wonderful thought about what marriage is supposed to be--a representation of the eventual perfect relationship between Jesus (the groom) and the church (the bride).

As far as training went today, at lunch I headed to DHY for my favorite version of 5 minutes of work. First it was lunge, which I've started doing in the kiddie pool. It's amazing how much help 1.5 feet of water can be but how hard you still have to work to pull hard and keep your back knee off the ground. I was focused on getting through the entire 5 minutes, each leg, and this time I moved up closer to the 1-foot mark. I have 2 weeks until the outdoor closes, so that's my motivation to get up to actually doing 5 minutes of work, each leg, no support from water. After that and a walk around the pool deck, it was on to standing ham. The ground was hot, hot, hot, but I made it through 5 minutes without stopping to put my sandals back on. I like doing this all on the pool deck because I still have to work super hard but I also get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

I also managed to get a run in between the many patches of rain we saw. It was OK, nothing super fast, and ended uphill. I can't really avoid that, I just decide that it will make me stronger in a race that ends uphill.

8-18-10 (home); 8-12-10 (DHY), 8-10-10 (MFY); 8-09-10 (MFY)

• 58:25, 6.20 miles, 9:25 pace (6:50 best), 167 HR (187 max), 738 cal
  52:44, 6.20 miles, 8:31 pace (6:34 best), 172 HR (185 max), 744 cal
  51:31, 6.20 miles, 8:19 pace (5:59 best), 170 HR (185 max), 743 cal
  53:14, 6.20 miles, 8:35 pace (6:41 best), 165 HR (181 max), 741 cal
  
• Mile 1: 7:58; Mile 1: 8:04; Mile 1: 8:38; Mile 1: 8:40
  
• Mile 2: 8:25; Mile 2: 7:47; Mile 2: 8:03; Mile 2: 7:58
  
• Mile 3: 10:23; Mile 3: 9:30; Mile 3: 8:09; Mile 3: 8:38
  
• Mile 4: 8:24; Mile 4: 8:25; Mile 4: 8:19; Mile 4: 8:46
  
• Mile 5: 8:55; Mile 5: 8:37; Mile 5: 8:15; Mile 5: 8:11
  
• Mile 6: 12:45; Mile 6: 8:51; Mile 6: 8:23; Mile 6: 9:18
  
• Mile 6.2: 1:31; Mile 6.2: 1:28; Mile 6.2: 1:40; Mile 6.2: 1:39
  

Fall Creek Falls Olympic

Running up one of the many hills

Pre-race sunrise; though the flash went off and you can see my Team B t-shirt, you can also see the sunrise in the background—it's actually a pretty cool pic!

Today's race was great. I don't have much time to write today, but hopefully I'll finish a race report soon. In the meantime, here are the highlights:

• The best thing I heard before the race: "Race for Jesus!" It was from a man talking to someone else, but I decided it should be what I focused on.
  
• I swam well and knew I was in the top 10 coming out of the swim when I got out and heard, "Top 10, Baby!" from a man to his SO. But I knew if she was, I was too (at least in my wave)! Plus I could see 6 women ahead of me and one beside during our 400-meter run up to transition, so I knew I was close. I passed a couple of them in transition and at least 2 on the bike.
  
• I rode super well knowing how close I was to the front. Didn't see the first man (who would have started up to 9 minutes before me) until my mile 9 (his mile 15) on the bike and the first woman (Tammy, with Lynn close behind) until my mile 11 or 11.5 (their mile 12.5 or 13).


Out on the bike



• I actually ran down a girl on the run, but also got run down by a couple.
• My final time was 2:31:10, I was second in my AG, and 10th overall female. Woohoo!

In previous races, I had the following times:

• Knoxville (5-9-10): 2:41:01, 8 of 16 (AG), 39 of 107 (females), 164 of 359 (OA)
  female winner: 2:03:48
• Memphis (5-23-10): 2:35:49, 25 of 56 (AG), 92 of 388 (females), 395 of 1,119 (OA)
  female winner: 2:05:55
• Quassy (6-05-10): 2:53:05, 6 of 25 (AG), 23 of 134 (females), 112 of 375 (OA)
  female winner: 2:27:58
• Chattanooga (7-12-10): 2:41:26, 13 of 66 (AG), 57 of 406 (females), x of 1,234 (OA)
  female winner: 2:13:41; AG winner: 2:28:57
• Nashville (7-25-10): 3:09:12, 11 of 28 (AG), x of xx (females), x of xx (OA)
  female winner: 2:14:22; AG winner: 2:34:33

Shows you some of the hills in the area; if I remember right, we rode this road as part of our out-and-back bike route.

OK, here are the official results:

• 75/309 overall
  3/12 in AG (I ended up with the second-place award because the other girl was in the Athena category)
  11/98 females
  
• Swim: 22:21 (96th OA; 19th female, 10th in my wave)
  
• T1: 3:58 (71st OA; 19th female)
• Bike: 1:12:13 (77th OA; 11th female)
• T2: 1:04 (T-94th OA; T-28th female)
• Run: 51:36 (75 OA; 18th female)
• Total: 2:31:10 (75th OA; 1th female)
  

Finished! I try to stop my watch after I've finished so it's not in the picture, but evidently I was too early on this one.

10K Stats

Because I like to see stats, keep records, compare numbers, watch improvement (or decline), and all that good statistics stuff, here's a compilation of all the 10K-tagged posts:

• 8-10-10: 52:44
• 8-09-10: 58:25
• 7-25-10: 1:08:xx (Music City)
• 7-11-10: 53:21 (Chatt Waterfront)
• 6-11-10: 55:xx
• 6-06-10: 53:51 (Rev3 Quassy)
• 5-23-10: 59:09 (Memphis in May)
• 4-10-10: 49:06 (Purity Moosic)
• 9-07-09: 53:08 (Franklin Classic)
• 5-05-09: 47:xx
• 4-11-09: 47:12 (Purity Moosic)
• 3-06-10: 48:22 (2-17-09 through 9-14-08 are from this blog)
  
• 2-17-09: 46:29
  
• 12-13-08: 49:55
• 12-08-08: 49:58
• 11-20-08: 45:25
• 11-05-08: 48:39
• 10-30-08: 49:xx
• 9-30-08: 48:13 (not the right date since this was IM Loo)
  
• 9-19-08: 49:33
• 9-14-08: 51:08

It was hot today! The noon-time run didn't so go well because of that (I didn't make it the full 10K), but I still ran and enjoyed being outside. Then it was back to the Y for isos and off to Titans Stadium to watch Team B take 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th, and 6^th (and a few other positions later in the 15-woman field) in the crit. It is so much fun to watch them dominate!

5 Minute Lunges

Today's run was significantly better than yesterday's, but still it's not where I want to be. This might be an all-winter/all-off-season project. Still had one bathroom break again today (Granny White Park, mile 3), but hopefully that won't be a daily stop!

First, at lunch, I went to DHY and did my 5 minutes of work. I made it all 5 minutes on both legs for the lunge, no stopping, no putting my knee down. Will about fell out of his chair ("started to freak out" in his words) when I told him, but then he read my secret: 1.5 feet of water. It took a little weight off :-) But now I know what it feels like to actually do the entire thing without my knee on the ground, so hopefully eventually I can make it happen for real!

8-10-10; 8-09-10

• 58:25, 6.20 miles, 9:25 pace (6:50 best), 167 HR (187 max), 738 cal
  52:44, 6.20 miles, 8:31 pace (6:34 best), 172 HR (185 max), 744 cal
  
• Mile 1: 7:58; Mile 1: 8:04
  
• Mile 2: 8:25; Mile 2: 7:47
  
• Mile 3: 10:23; Mile 3: 9:30
  
• Mile 4: 8:24; Mile 4: 8:25
  
• Mile 5: 8:55; Mile 5: 8:37
  
• Mile 6: 12:45; Mile 6: 8:51
  
• Mile 6.2: 1:31; Mile 6.2: 1:28
  

Why Wait?

I'm not a pro. It's on my list of things to be when I grow up, but I'm not there yet. However, that hasn't stopped me from following the pros, reading their blogs (some of my faves are Bree Wee, Linsey Corbin, and Hillary Biscay), and generally following their careers. These three women are favorites of mine for all different reasons:

• Bree didn't grow up in the swim/bike/run world. She's turned her passion for surfing into great triathlon potential. Not to mention I've met her, she's super nice, and she gets to train with my parents in Hawaii. She lives where I vacation now (Kona) and lived where I vacationed when I was a kid (Siesta Key). How could I not like her?
• Linsey has persevered over the last couple years; she has a great enthusiasm for improvement—it has paid off, and she recently won her first IM! Tho I don't know her personally, I rejoiced with her when I read about her win.
• Hillary is an Ironman force. She has a couple IM wins under her belt, but what she's best known for is how many IMs she can do in a single year—or even better, in a single month.
  

For the pros this year, a new rule was instituted, and here are the basics: 1. Win and you'll get paid. 2. If you don't win, you must finish within 5% (or 8% in some races) of the winner's time in order to get paid.

This has generated tons of debate, controversy, strange behaviors, you name it. The athletes have spoken, and USAT has listened and is reneging the rule starting in September, but until them, if you finish outside the time limit, you don't get your money. Lately some athletes have been speaking with their feet. Yesterday, Julie Dibens won the Boulder 70.3 but paused at the line to give her competitors more time to finish. Last weekend, Kelly Williamson won the Steelhead 70.3 but stopped at the finish line to give the 3 other pro women a chance to finish within the allotted time.

Here's the scenario: Julie wins a 70.3 (half-Ironman). If she beats her opponents by more than 5% of her overall time (i.e. she finishes in 4:20; then the other women have 12.5 minutes to finish), the other women don't get paid. Instead, Julie and any other woman who comes in within that amount of time (and is in the prize money) split the unallocated money. So the faster you go, the more money you make because you blow away the competition. In yesterday's race, Julie stood at the line before crossing it to give her OPPONENTS a chance to finish within the prize money by making her finish time slower than it should have been.

This doesn't make any sense to me, an outside observer to the pros but a competitor nonetheless. Both Kelly and Julie stood at the line before crossing it so that their fellow competitors could finish within the 12.5 minutes and get paid. Kelly said something like, "There were only 4 women in the pro field and no one was going to walk away without a payday." If you ask me (which no one did :-), that's so stupid. If your competitors can't keep up with you, can't win the race, why should they get paid? This should motivate them to work that much harder!

As a side note, the same rule is in effect for the pro men, but I haven't read or heard anything about men standing at the line.

Some people have wondered, "Why couldn't you just win, and then square up with the other pros later if they've landed outside the allotted time?" But think about that: You make (earn) the money, it's your income, you pay taxes on it, all of it, then you give it away post-tax to people who aren't your employees? You can't very well give them all W2s or other similar forms, so they get gift money that they didn't earn and you're out more than you made because you paid taxes. So not only are they not as good as you physically, now they're taking advantage of you monetarily. Go all out, take what you earn, and be ready for them to be breathing down your back (or steps in front of you) during the next race!

Anyway, off my soapbox now, I still had to do a little training today. My plan for the week is 5-minute lunges R (2:55—maybe a new record, but still not 5 minutes), L (2:20) and 5-minute standing ham plus running a 10K loop at MFY (or DHY when I have to stay north). Isos: done. Run: done. It was not a pretty run; so much for thinking I was fully recovered. The first mile started out OK, and when I finally made it back to MFY 58 minutes and 2 bathroom breaks later, I was feeling good about only the fact that I'd finished. This was slow—a few minutes less than it took Bree to finish 10 MILES recently. I wanted to do really well to have a benchmark time for the rest of the week, but my body said, "I'm not going to give you that luxury." Thank you, Granny White Park and Chick-fil-A, for open bathrooms. It can only go up from here!

The stats are sad; I almost don't want to record them except that then I can look at the end of the week and see how much better I've gotten.

• 58:25, 6.20 miles, 9:25 pace (6:50 best), 167 HR (187 max), 738 cal
• Mile 1: 7:58
• Mile 2: 8:25
• Mile 3: 10:23
• Mile 4: 8:24
• Mile 5: 8:55
• Mile 6: 12:45
• Mile 6.2: 1:31
  

Music City Triathlon and NashvilleCyclist.com Crit

Michael C and me at the finish—his wife was at the finish to catch both of us :-)

I almost don't want to recap this weekend because it was so brutal and I did not end up with the results I wanted, but I have pictures and want to share them!

Saturday was a 40-minute crit put on by NashvilleCyclist.com. I ended up in 7th place behind a breakaway of 3 and 3 others I couldn't out-sprint because my legs died. But I did win one sprint and a cash prime, so all was not lost.

Me, Laura, Valerie, Marsha, Shelly

Jessica, Marsha, Olga, me, Lisa C, Laura, Valerie, Lisa S, Cali

Sunday was an Olympic-distance tri put on by Team-Magic, the Music City Triathlon. The swim was brutal, keeping me in the water 10+ minutes longer than I should have been in there. It all went downhill from there, with me not being able to get my HR down and probably not regulating my body heat well. I drank at least 32 ounces (water) before the race, at least 64oz (water, gatorade) during the race (not including any river water I might have consumed), and up to 200 oz (water, gatorade, recovery drink) during the rest of the afternoon, but I still didn't feel totally quenched. And that was after having up to 132 oz (water, gatorade, recovery drink) after 1pm on Saturday. Yikes! Needless to say, it's been HOT here!

I loved being able to race with Team B on Saturday, and loved that a few of them were out there on Sunday to cheer us on. It definitely helped with my motivation, and I was glad that Lisa and Lisa were there at the finish and especially glad that neither had to accompany me to the med tent (tho I know Lisa S would have); thankfully after I spent a few minutes in the shade I felt well enough to watch them all crush the crit in just has hot or hotter weather. The asphalt and open parking lot are completely unforgiving.

Finished with the swim, finally!

Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon

This was the 4th Olympic-distance triathlon I've done this year, after Knoxville, Memphis, and Quassy. Today's times are pretty comparable (as in, little improvement) to those races.

• Knoxville (5-9-10): 2:41:01, 8 of 16 (AG), 39 of 107 (females), 164 of 359 (OA)
  female winner: 2:03:48
• Memphis (5-23-10): 2:35:49, 25 of 56 (AG), 92 of 388 (females), 395 of 1,119 (OA)
  female winner: 2:05:55
• Quassy (6-05-10): 2:53:05, 6 of 25 (AG), 23 of 134 (females), 112 of 375 (OA)
  female winner: 2:27:58
• Chattanooga (7-12-10): 2:41:26, 13 of 66 (AG), 57 of 406 (females), x of 1,234 (OA)
  female winner: 2:13:41; AG winner: 2:28:57
  

Today's time was good enough for 13th in my age group of 66. Not quite the 5th place or higher that I was hoping for, but I felt like I raced well and went about as fast as I could on that course.

Stats from the watch and the Garmin (full results and stats to come):

• Swim: 25:41 (I thought my time was about 23 minutes); T1: 2:33
• Bike: 1:22:01 (watch); 1:20:22 (Garmin), 1:14:54 (results); 25.84 mi, 19.3 avg (40.1 max), 1,676 cal, 160 HR (187 max); T2: 4:57
  
• Run: 53:21; 8:31, 8:29, 8:15, 8:27, 8:36, 9:25, 1:38
  
• Swim: 23 of 68; fastest was 20:37; T1: 20 of 68; fastest was 1:46
• Bike: 3 of 68; fastest was 1:12:47 (Mindy)
• Run: 17 of 68; fastest of 43:44
• Fastest bike for females was 1:07:41; I was 19 of 406 for bike time!

MFY Loop

I ran the MFY loop yesterday for the first time in a while. Not the best overall time (55 minutes), but I was trying to run fast, then recover, then run fast, then repeat. I didn't have my Garmin on so I'm not sure about distances or paces or anything.

0.72 miles to the first corner
1.56 miles to the second corner (2.28 accrued)
1.24 miles to the third corner (3.44 accrued)
4 miles accrued to McGavock/Belle Rive
1.48 miles to the fourth corner (4.92 accrued)
1.2 to the end (6.2 miles total)

Quassy Rev3 Triathlon

Race report to come. Or maybe not.

Total time: 2:53:05 (2:52:34 on my watch). Super slow. Ugh.

• Swim: 28:37 (27:43 on my watch)
• T1: 2:05
• Bike: 1:27:22 (1:28:10 on my watch)
• T2: 1:10
  
• Run: 53:51 (54:19 on my watch)

I was 6 of 25 in age group, 23 of 134 females, and 112 of 375 overall. Definitely a super slow time, but everyone was slow; the first male finished in 2:09:12, and the first female finished in 2:27:58 (splits: 24:06 swim, 1:15:46 bike, 44:58 run). For my AG rankings, I was 9th of the swim, 7th off the bike, and 8th after the run, but it was enough for 6th in age.

Memphis in May Olympic

Not the results I was looking for, but I definitely raced well, did well, felt good, and am happy. I really tried to pus my pace on the bike and tried for the fastest bike split in my AG. I ended up 18. Two unforeseen circumstances lengthened my time slightly:

1. Around mile 10, my Garmin fell off my bike. If you've been reading this for any length of time you know I heavily rely on that watch for all my stats. It's a fabulous tool. I couldn't let it be lost, so I turned around to pick it back up. The 3 people I'd just passed passed me, but I turned around and passed them back again!
2. Around mile 19 or 20, a fire truck and an ambulance with their lights on were coming toward me (in the opposite lane, of course). Thought #1: What do I do on a bike?? Thought #2: Maybe they'll keep going and I won't have to worry. Realization #1: They were turning into the parking lot I was nearing. Action #1: Slow down, basically stop, to let them into the parking lot. Realization #2: Someone's bike was down, I didn't see the athlete, and I hoped they were OK. Then I continued.

Those 2 events likely added at least a minute to my time. If I'd have been at 1:06:30 instead of my 1:07:48, I would have been ranked 15th of the 56 in my AG (69 were preregistered). If I'd have finished in 59 minutes, I would have been first. Still, after having to slow down like I did, I was less than 8 minutes off the fastest bike split.

The run wasn't nearly as good. I gave so much on the bike that I felt like I didn't have much on the run. I finished under 60 minutes; that's nothing special. In fact, it's probably my slowest 10K yet. But I finished. I ended up 25 of 56 in my age group, and 95 of 339 female finishers. There were 731 male finishers, which means 1,119 total finishers (395 of 1,119 if my calculations are correct).

For the amateur challenge, where they paid out the top 15 age groupers, I was 23rd of 40 entrants. Again, not where I wanted to be, but I don't regret the way I raced either today or yesterday. I came out to crush the bike, and I felt like I did my best on both days. I raced, was competitive, enjoyed it, and overall am very pleased.

1. Swim rank, time: 31 25:59
2. T1: 1:40
   
3. Bike rank, time, pace: 18 1:07:48 20.8
4. T2: 1:24
   
5. Run rank, time, pace: 28 59:09 9:32
6. Finish time: 2:35:57

Sometimes I wish I were still in the 20–24 AG—there were only 6 entrants, and I would have placed second with my time!

Purity Moosic 10K

The start line—maybe 1400 runners/walkers?

This morning's race I completed in 49:06.

Running pictures are always so attractive

I was the 26th female (of 366), 102 overall (of 627; 851 did the 5K). Before that I had to do a 1:15 ride (on the trainer to get a legit brick workout. Then it was off to the park for a Harpeth Bike Club picnic.

This is a slightly better picture of me, which is why I captured it even tho it's mainly of some random guy (with a great bib number)

Overall results from the Garmin:

• 49:06, 6.25 miles, 7:52 pace (6:12 best), 178 HR (188 max)
  

My first 3 miles were at the perfect pace, although I see that I did get progressively slower:

• 7:26, 7:37, 7:42

Right after the 5K mark, I got super hungry and felt like I was really slowing down. I ate some Power Bar Gel Blasts which helped, but it still felt like my stomach was empty. I also had about 2 oz of water at the mile 4 water station. The rest of the stats looked like this:

• 0.48 mi, 7:54 pace
• 0.52 mi, 8:17 pace
• 0.44 mi, 8:08 pace
• 0.56 mi, 8:12 pace
• 1 mi, 8:18 pace
• 0.25 mi, 7:45 pace

So I definitely slowed down, and that really hurt my pace. I got beat my 2 girls in my age group by 9 seconds. Ouch. Especially since I could pretty much see them the entire time.

Blogs from previous 10Ks:

Purity 10K, April '09

Franklin Classic, September '09

Other various blogs

The best one: (45-ish time)

2009's Races Aggregated

These are all the races I recorded in 2009, including results, links, etc.


Crits: 10
TTs: 0
RRs: 0
Circuits: 0
(Total bike races: )
Triathlons: 5
5Ks: 7
10Ks: 2
Half marathons: 1
Marathons: 1
(Total running races:11)
Relay races: 0


Predators Fangtastic 5K
02-14-09; 23:51; 3 of 183 (AG); 161 of 1,504 (OA)

Tom King Classic Half Marathon
03-14-09; 1:49:19; 20 of 94 (AG); 385 of 1,074 (OA)

Harpeth Bikes Training Camp
04-03-09; 15,000 ft. (10 climbs); 150 mi.

Purity 10K
04-11-09; 47:12; 2 of 58 (AG); 74 of 439 (OA)

Country Music Marathon
04-25-09; 4:07:53; 59 of 469 (AG); 714 of 4,136 (OA)

Memorial Day Dash 5K at Greer Stadium
05-25-09; 22:58; 5 of 19 (AG); 72 of 328 (OA)

Madeira Beach (FL) Sprint Triathlon
05-31-09; 1:19:30; 3 of 45 (AG); 11 of 375 (females); 100 of 904 (OA)

Siesta Key (FL) Sprint Triathlon (Duathlon)
06-06-09; 1:18:40; 2 of 17 (AG); 8 of 87 (females); 35 of 217 (OA)

Cookeville Crit
06-21-09; 30 minutes; 3 of 5 (Cat IV); 7 of 11 (females)

Cadillac Firecracker 5K
07-04-09; 22:10; 3 of 61 (AG); 18/412 (females); 140 of 944 (OA)

Muncie (IN) Endurathon Half Ironman
07-11-09; 5:28:26; 6 of 22 (AG); 41 of 191 (females); 262 of 698 (OA)

Anthracite (PA) Olympic Triathlon
7-19-09; 2:43:26; 2 of 7 (AG); 9 of 40 (females); 61 of 154 (OA)

NashvilleCyclist.com Criterium Series
Wednesdays from July 1 through August 26
7-01: 2nd; 7-08: 4th; 7-15: 3rd; 7-22: 6th; 7-29: 4th; 8-05: 1st; 8-12: 2nd; 8-19: 1st; 8-26: 1st; 1st overall
8-09-09

Ironman Louisville (KY)
08-30-09; 12:21:22; 1171/764/910
30 of 91 (AG); 156 of 523 (females); 951 of 2447 (OA)

Franklin Classic 10K
9-07-09; 46:36; 5 of 59 (AG); 21 of 362 (females); 117 of 896 (OA)

Shelby Bottoms Boogie 5K
9-26-09; 22:48; 1 of 5 (AG); 2 of 49 (females); 16 of 98 (OA)

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
10-10-09; 22:47; 2 of 55 (AG); 8 of 326 (females); 54 of 527 (OA)
(unofficial results because I didn't register)

Hoover Run for Hope
11-07-09; 23:30; 1 of 18 (AG); 6 of 164 (females); 55 of 344 (OA)

Frostbite 5K Hendersonville
12-12-09; 23:54; 2 of 18 (AG); 8 of 113 (females); 41 of 226 (OA)

Franklin Classic 10K

This morning's Franklin Classic 10K went well. Although I didn't win or even place in my age group, I'm pleased with my results.

Run (I’m pretty sure the mile markers were a bit off, because although I split at every one, some on my Garmin are over or under a mile:

• Totals: 53:08 (race time: 46:36; PR); 6.17 miles; 8:36 pace; 752 calories; 159 HR; 198 max HR
• Warm up: 11:43; 0.67 miles; 17:34 pace; 91 HR
• Mile 1: Unfortunately, I missed most of the first mile. But I hit mile 2 at 14:50 on the clock, so subtracting would make this mile about 7:10.
• Mile 2: 7:30; 7:22 pace; 178 HR; 5:39 best pace
• Mile 3: 8:04; 7:41 pace; 180 HR; 6:49 best pace
• Mile 4: 7:17; 7:36 pace; 176 HR; 6:48 best pace
• Mile 5: 7:32; 7:33 pace; 6:58 best pace; 178 HR
• Mile 6.2: 8:59; 7:22 pace; 194 HR; 5:34 best pace
• Cool down: 16+ minutes (lots of paused time); 0.69 miles; 23:49 pace; 114 HR
• It was 66° and humid at the 7:30am start. Way hotter and more humid at the finish.
• The course is very hilly.
• Fastest male:
  
• Fastest female: 39:25
  

This is significantly better than my last 10K:

Purity Moosic City Dairy Dash 10K 4-11-09/Franklin Classic 9-07-09

• 47:12 total (7:37 pace); 7:23, 7:27, 7:29 (22:21), 7:47, 7:47, 7:40, 1:35; pace); 46:36 total (7:31 pace); 7:10, 7:30, 8:04, 7:17, 7:32, 8:59
  
• Sex overall place: 18 of 247; 22/362
  
• Overall place: 74 of 439; 116/896
  
• Age group place: 2 of 58; 5/59
  
• The course is pretty flat (through Metrocenter business park and on the Shelby Greenway for a mile or two); the course is very hilly (down Del Rio, across 96 on Carlisle and Boyd Mill, and then back into town).
  
• Fastest male: 32:19 (5:13 pace); 32:54 (5:19 pace)
  
• Fastest female: 36:56 (5:58 pace); 39:25 (6:22 pace)

I spent most of the afternoon at Farkases' (after working a little at MFY), playing games with Lauren and making dessert.

All the necessary ingredients...and the chef

We played some speed, ate grilled steak for dinner, worked on my wheel, and then watched Wipeout with Marables while eating banana pudding and Publix ice cream. Mmmmm!

Lauren making the pudding look presentable

Rebounds

Something new again today, but Will was home to explain—100 rebounds. Basically it's start around the top, drop down, and then rebound up as quickly as possible. Oh, and don't think of it as 1 set of 100; think of it as 100 sets of 1, so you should be doing each one like it's the only one, and each one should look the same as the previous and the next.

• Lunge: 100 on the right, 64 and then 36 on the left (the only reason I stopped was because Will said stop [only he didn't mean stand up, but I didn't know that]; I wanted to do all 100 without stopping).
• Standing ham: We had to do this one twice, because when he asked how many I did as fast as possible, I said probably about 40. It was actually supposed to be glute ham, but maybe next time.
• Wall squat: I started to get tired around 90, and that meant I was drawing my knees together (not good!)
• Curl (light bar): This one I still need to work on. First, I wasn't getting the full range of motion with my arms—they should go all the way down to my hips and then back up. I also still am not very fast, and the bar keeps dropping farther than I think it should. The one time I tried the push/pull away thing, I threw the bar toward my face. Oops!
• Push up on knees: For the last 30, I only did half push ups. But 100 push ups is a lot!
• Crate crunch: Pretty sure I didn't get the rebound part of this.

When Will first said to do the lunge, he said I might not be able to do it, and that was OK. He said it was going to be hard and if I had to stop, I could stand up and then finish. But I was determined to do them all; it was all in the attitude. I didn't just want to prove him wrong; I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, and I wanted to use my attitude and determination to push myself even when I didn't know if I was physically able to do it.

When he said to do the push ups, I immediately thought there was no way I could do all 100 all the way. I didn't say it, but I must have looked it, because he said, "Why are you thinking negative thoughts?" I wanted to ask him how he could read my thoughts; he said later he could practically feel my negativity. So I readjusted my attitude and just focused on one at a time, doing it right, and not worrying about the next one. I didn't necessarily do them all right, but I did them all, mainly because my attitude was positive; I COULD do it. Zach was in there with us doing the 3-minute extreme slow; now I know that the second way I did it (starting up and pulling down rather than starting down and going further down) was the correct way!

I finally broke out the running shoes again after having been off since April 25—pretty much 9 days off! Ran the MFY loop in just over 47 (not too bad for trying to stay in Z2 except for 2×4.5-minutes in Z4 @ 1.5-minute jog; I don't think I made it up to Z4, and I don't think I stayed in Z2, so I've got some work to do on the HR). Then I swam 300m. I wish I could let things not bother me, but today the guy swimming next to me in the lane was bothering me so I got out. I would try to let him be ahead of me, and he'd wait for me. Then he'd stay right next to me. Then I'd try to get ahead and he'd catch up to me to stay right next to me. Then he'd stop and stay on the wall so I couldn't flip turn. Then I'd had enough and left. Maybe tomorrow, definitely Thursday I'll get back in the water.

Purity 10K

Yeah, not having a reliable internet connection at home means the blogs aren't as nice as normal. But today was a 10K race (my first race at that distance, although I've done tons of 6-mile runs.

Purity Moosic City Dairy Dash 10K

• 47:12 total (7:37 pace); 7:23, 7:27, 7:29 (22:21), 7:47, 7:47, 7:40, 1:35
• Sex overall place: 18 of 247
• Overall place: 74 of 439
• Age group place: 2 of 58 (we had the largest age group; female 30–34 was the next closest with 46)
• It was 48° and cloudy at start and finish.
• The course is pretty flat (through Metrocenter business park and on the Shelby Greenway for a mile or two).
• It was a loop course (not out and back, so I never saw the leaders).
• I did not get passed by many people (maybe 10 in the last two miles) and was definitely at the back of the front rather than the front of the back. That’s a good feeling, and it’s way better at the finish; I could actually get a massage without having to wait. Although the girl did say that I should come in for a 1-hour full massage (half price because they’re still in school) because I have lots of knots around my shoulders).
• The finish had the massage tables, spaghetti or mac’n’cheese and rolls, chocolate milk, ice cream, water, and bananas.
• The awards ceremony took forever because they did the kids’ fun run, the 5K, and then the 10K.
• Fastest male: 32:19 (5:13 pace)
• Fastest female: 36:56 (5:58 pace)

After that, I headed home to get whatever done I could and then headed to Farkases' for the evening. We had fun baking (Lauren made a bunny cake for Easter), sat around, looked at a ton of coupon and saving sites, made pizzas and ate them for dinner, and then played a few games. It was really laid back and different for them, since UJohn is usually at church most of the weekend during holidays.