USAF Half-Marathon

It's been one week since my triathlon, and yesterday I completed my eighth half-marathon in Dayton, Oh. The weather was a bit hot, and by the fourth mile I had shed my shirt and was running in only a sports bra, which only barely helped the conditions. I brought along four Gu's which I downed every half-hour or so - by the third and fourth ones I was nearly ready to vomit, but knew that I had to do whatever it took to finish the race.

You see, I signed up for the Chicago Marathon in February 2009. That gave me 9 months to prepare - both physically and mentally - for the race which was to be my first ever full length marathon. Sure, I had run 6 half-marathons by that point, one of which was completed with no training whatsoever. So I thought that with the minimal amount of training possible (have I ever mentioned that while I LOVE participating in these endurance sporting events, I really despise the training portion), I would be able to pull off the full marathon - piece of cake. Well, needless to say, that fantasy came to a halt during the USAF Half-Marathon when, by mile three, I had already decided that if I had to run 23.2 more miles I would surely die.

I thought that what I lacked in physical preparedness, I would and could make up for with my mental state. I figured with some positive self-talk and a cool and catchy mantra I could make it. And well, if I didn't think that I could make it by mile three, then by mile twelve when that last 1.1 dragged on I knew it wasn't going to happen. By that point, if someone had come up to me and said, "congratulations, now do what you just did one more time" then we would have had a homocidal runner on our hands.

So, I finished this half-marathon with a personal best of 2:27:07, and decided that during the next three weeks while waiting for the Chicago trip, I would just focus on being supportive to my boyfriend who will be running his 13th full marathon that weekend. Besides, I'm a bonafide "triathlete" now - and cannot be bothered with the task of merely RUNNING anymore. Anything not involving a swim and a bike, count me out. :)

Day 48 - TRIATHLON!!

Ahhh. All the hard work has paid off and the day of the triathlon has finally come - and gone.

Had to get up early and get to the tri site by 6:45 a.m. We went inside the Oldham Co. Community Center to get our packets, timing chips, get marked and mentally prepare for the day. Set up our gear in the transition area, and had lots of time to stand around and watch all the other atheletes prepare as well. Our start times weren't until 8:30 a.m. so we watched the first of the triathletes take off in the pool. Surprisingly, it didn't look as if they were swimming very fast, but as I was told in my earlier swim lessons, form will get you further faster - plus, this isn't exactly the Olympics!

Shane (the boyfriend) showed up and I bribed him to take plenty of pictures. Pretty soon we were lining up and before I knew it I was standing at the end of the pool with my tri suit on, swim cap in place, and goggles around my neck. Hopped in the pool, which was only slightly frigid, and simultaneously kicked off the wall and hit the timer on my stopwatch. I was off!

Now, since in every one of my practice rounds of this 400m swim I could never get the full length without doing a little backstroke every now and then, imagine my surprise when I made the entire swim doing freestyle with a minimal amount of breaststroke. It felt great, and at no time did I feel winded or too tired to make it. Twelve minutes after my first stroke, I was pulling myself up out of the pool.

Surprisingly, I ran pretty adamantly to T1 to dry off my feet, lace up my shoes, put on my helmet and sunglasses, and I was off again. Transitioning from swimming to the bike was fairly easy, but the big burden was yet to come. This was an extremely hilly course throughout with an eight mile out-and-back which lent very little breaks. It seems that every time I got down one hill or around a corner, another hill was staring me right in the face. I didn't think to check the stopwatch when getting on the bike, but according to the computer on my handlebars I completed the miles in 40 minutes. I probably could've saved a mere 10 seconds or so if I hadn't missed the turn to the finish line and been forced to do a quick turnaround - but overall it was a good ride. Even if my glutes and hamstrings were barking afterwards.

On to T2 and all I had to do was slip off my helmet, don my hat, and take in a quick Gu and some water. My watch told me that I crossed the start line for the run at 52:23. Now, they had told me that this was a cross country run and, knowing only that meant that we would be running on a grassy trail, I didn't anticipate the uneven ground and - oh jeez - are those MORE hills? Through the grass, over a stream, onto some gravel, and back through the hills to the finish line I go. At mile one (of the 1.86 total mile run) I was a little disturbed to see that it had apparently taken me sixteen minutes to run that distance. This only made me pick it up a bit during the last leg, and I cross the finish line in an unofficial 1:15. Yeah me!

Felt great afterwards, and a nice big brunch at Cracker Barrell just topped it off! A few things I will have to remember for next time around: Invest in the cycling shoes and clips. My tennis shoes got wet in transition and my feet kept slipping off the pedals. Consider a silicone swim cap which will actually keep my hair DRY - not just out of my face. And definitely bring a change of clothes for afterwards. Although the tri suit serves it's purpose for the race, a wet, constricting one-piece isn't ideal for standing around and celebrating.

Until next time...

Day 45

Well - did a trial run of the triathlon tonight and I feel very confident that Saturday is going to be so much fun and totally do-able.

Started off with the 400 meter swim which was somewhat exhausting. Quickly got out of the pool to transition and get on the bike as fast as we could, and did a full 8 mile bike ride which is what the tri is. Transitioned from there again to the run, which felt REALLY weird for the first mile or so - almost like lead and I'm sure we looked totally funny running. Did a 1.8 mile run which is just under what the actual tri run will be - all of this in around 1:10. I'm feeling great!

Thought it was going to be at least an hour and a half, but apparently not. Still, with 199 other people participating, things may get a little hairy in the water and also on the bike ride, so it may hamper our time. Also, wore the trisuit for the first time to get a feel for what the actual tri will feel like. Fits good, feels good, and can't forsee any problems with it. Woo Hoo!!! Now time to relax and take a breather for the next two days until GAME TIME!!!!

Day 44

Went on a 16 mile bike ride yesterday, after a one week haitus from all types of exercise - unfortunately by choice since I just didn't have the motivation to do much of anything for the past 8 days. Felt pretty good, did a lot of hills, and felt pretty worn out by the end of the day.

The pool opened back up today, and my tri-partner and I are going to do a practice run tomorrow with all three events. Not sure how far we'll go, but am certain that I'll do atleast the 400m swim if not more since it's been about 3 weeks since I last swam. Going to do everything with my trisuit on to get a good feel for it and get used to biking all wet - should be nice and comfortable.

Yawnnnn. Tired now, gonna hit the hay and prepare for tomorrow - and Saturday! Just 4 more days now!

Day 41

Computer got a virus and haven't been able to post anything for the past week - not that there has been much to post. Went for a 3.5 mile run last Monday and the shins felt great. Since then, haven't done jack-smack. Supposed to get up this morning for a 10 mile run, but slept horribly so that didn't happen. On-call for work all weekend (36 hours straight) which tends to put a huge damper on things. Looking forward to Labor Day, finally getting a break, and doing either a bike or run.

Got some information in the mail about the triathlon - just one week away!! So excited. Went out and got some new running shorts, a few biking jersey's, sunglasses and a swim cap. So ready for this!