Somtimes You're the Windshield, Sometimes You're the Bug

My sprint tri at the Louisville Landsharks Triathlon this morning was a very humbling experience. I wasn't really nervous until the few seconds prior to the swim start when it dawned on me that I haven't done this in over three years, and haven't even been in the water in the same time period. Donning a wetsuit (the water temp was 75 this morning) and ready for what lie ahead, I was near the beginning of the pack with other triathletes, which included both the sprint and Olympic folks that all went out at the same time. Off we went with Todd Heady's countdown and, surprisingly, the water felt great. I started out with a freestyle stroke that quickly got a lot more tiring than it needed to be this early in the race. I thought I was holding my own, although I was getting passed by many folks, when I looked back about half-way to the turn-around point to see that there were only 3-4 other swimmers behind me. Still, I wasn't too concerned at this point because I know how slow I am, and I wasn't exactly going for a great finishing time anyway - just looking for a finish. At a few points prior to that turn-around though, I can say that I thought about telling the kayakers that I was done for - just take me in and call it a day. Luckily, my pride got the best of me and I muddled through the remainder of the swim. Sometimes I did a backstroke, sometimes a breast stroke, and often times a doggy paddle just to move forward little by little while catching my breath and relieving my already-tired body. I can't tell you how good it felt to finally be within eye-sight of dry land, and the feel of slimy, slick algae on my little pigs never felt so good walking up that boat ramp. I had an official finishing time of 28:31 for the 750 meters. On the way up the ramp to T1 I felt a little dizzy and light-headed, and that stayed with me for a while. I was pretty tired from that first leg, and sitting down to get my wet suit stripped, as well as to slide into my cycling shoes was a welcome little break. I climbed on the bike and off I went, ready for the somewhat-hilly 12-miler when, in anticipation for the upcoming hill, I attempted to get into an easier gear when my shifters malfunctioned. I hadn't made it to the bottom of the hill yet when I turned around and headed back to transition. I saw my boyfriend and started to cry, telling him that, once again, my shifters weren't working and I couldn't do the race while being stuck in a hard gear. We stood there for a minute or two when I decided, "screw it," I was going to at least give it another shot and see what happens. Off I went again, and I at least got a little bit up the hill when my quads and mindset got the best of me again and I climbed off the bike for a second time walking it, once again, back towards transition. I met up with the bf earlier this time though, and broke down sobbing - I had never NOT finished a race before. Dead last? Sure. Twice. But never DNF. I sat on the ground and wailed like a baby feeling totally defeated and frustrated that my bike was not cooperating. Once again, we messed with the gears/shifters a bit more and were finally (hopefully) able to get them in working order. I blew my nose and, still feeling a bit beat, hopped on my noble steed for the third and final time to conquer this darn leg. Up that hill I went and, despite feeling that my heart was going to pound out of my chest, my legs held strong and my motto became "higher cadence, lower energy" as I peddled my way towards the entrance to the park. Turning right onto the main highway I looked down to see that I had about 4.5 miles or so before the turn-around. I felt fairly well throughout this portion of the race, even though I was being passed in the other direction by several triathletes who were well on their way back into the park to complete the run. A few small but not-too-steep hills gave me a bit of a run for my money, but for the most part I felt strong and ready for the run. Turning back into the park I could see several people nearly finished with the run, but several more were just starting and I felt that, despite my setback, I could possibly finish out the race without a dead last place on my record (once again). Final time on the bike: 1:08:19 - I predict that meltdown cost me about 10 minutes or so. T2 took a bit longer than T1 since I had to pull on dry socks over still-wet feet, down a Gu for some energy, and give the bf a quick update on my mental status - better, by the way. I walked out of T2 and decided to walk up that first hill while working out my Jell-O bike legs. Once I began running a bit though, they loosened up and off I went. My cardio was feeling good, legs a bit tired, but overall a decent run. Once again, lots of folks passing me in the other direction, but with the support I was getting along the way with numerous Landsharks cheering me on, I had no doubt that I could finish strong. The turn-around came and as I headed back towards the finish line I remember smiling - something I can't remember doing much during any other race. I even caught up with a fella that ended up doing an Aqua-run due to his own bike malfunction, and we talked a bit to pass the time during our last mile. Cresting that last small hill and curve, the long downhill came into view and I looked forward in anticipation finishing out this experience. Down the parking lot I came, body feeling great and cheers all around as I finally crossed that mat to collect my medal and much-needed bottle of water - a slow and steady 37:53. Overall, despite the bike issues and struggle-laden swim, I had a great race. It gives me a good idea of where I am with each of the three disciplines and how much work I'm going to need over the next year to complete Ironman. If anything, I need some good coaching on my swim, to get stronger on the bike, and to know that I have plenty of people that will be out there to support me on race day. I'm definitely one of those people that require much kudos and validation to get those mental blocks out of the way. Official finishing time overall: 2:19:24. Not great, but definitely better than the millions of people who decided to sleep in this morning! :)

Urban Bike Adventure

It was a chilly morning when I woke up and let the dogs out as I thought, "Man, if it's this cold at the beginning of September, how cold will it be for my Ironman in October next year?" Never fear, IMLOU is more than a year away and I had more important things to worry about this morning - like getting to Bicycle Sport to get a new battery for my long-dead bike computer, making a quick detour before heading downtown to get a long-sleeve shirt for the race since all I had brought was a tank top, and convincing myself that, despite the cool breeze in the air and having biked no more than 10.7 miles in the past year or more, I could actively compete in this downtown bike race. Ah yes, the Urban Bike Adventure. This would be mine and Alicia's third consecutive year doing this race, and typically find ourselves early-registrants due to the good times that we've had in the past. Not to mention that some friends of ours, Bill and Lisa (aka Team Nowax), have also competed in the race the past three years and we've since had a friendly little competition going on with these two. 2012 was only the second year that the race was held in Louisville, so it proved to be rather small. I'd say 20-30 teams of 2-4 people. The size, mixed with mine and Alicia's competitive nature, meant that we took home a second place overall win, as well as the first-place female-only team win in 2012. Last year the race was A LOT larger, and looked to be inundated with more kids and families, however, the distance that we had to bike (going from Downtown to Cherokee Park to Germantown and back to 4th Street Live again) must have scared some folks off because for 2014, we were back down to maybe 20-30 teams tops. Shortly after arriving and signing in we met up with Bill and Lisa to get in our annual "smack talk." They finished before us last year, so today's race was to be the tie-breaker for our two teams. The premise of the race: Each team gets a sheet of clues, which you have to decipher and then bike around town collecting photographic proof that you have either visited or achieved each challenge. A few examples of this years race were to convince random strangers to 1) strike the Heisman trophy pose, 2) play "war" with Alicia and I, 3) give either one of us a piggy-back ride, and 4) engage in a fake kung-fu fight. Beyond this, the challenges that my team-mate and I had to conquer were to take pictures at various locations around town such as The Brown Hotel, The Lincoln statue on the Riverfront, the Desert Storm memorial in Jeffersonville and Vernon Lanes Bowling Alley just to name a few. We also had to take video of us singing the Big Mac theme song in front of an actual McDonald's restaurant. Good times. Most of these challenges we took care of right away, as the folks we passed on the street were more than accommodating to our strange requests. This means we knocked out half the list before even getting a mile down the road. Our Achilles heel during the first part of the race was trying to figure out where the Desert Storm Memorial was. Neither of us had heard of it, and Google wasn't much help (yes, you can use any source to help figure out the clues). So we continued to head to the places we were sure of, hoping that we weren't unknowingly passing by this memorial in the interim. And this is where Alicia and I differ on strategy. She likes to hurriedly figure out the clues and haul-ass to the site regardless of if we know for sure where everything else is. I like to calmly take my time, figure it all out, and logistically plan where we should bike so that we're not constantly back-tracking. After making our way to the Big Four Bridge for a ridiculous cookie challenge (after each of us carrying a golf ball on a tee held in our hands for probably 50 feet, either of us had to get an Oreo from our forehead to our mouth without using our hands - just as hard as it sounds, BTW), we peddled to Jeffersonville to get a pic with a candy store before heading back to the 'Ville and up River Road to Frankfort Ave. and over to Story Ave. to "strike" a pose in front of Vernon Lanes. It was only here, after getting some much-needed and kind assistance from another team, that we found out that the memorial is, in fact, in Jeffersonville. So guess who's going across the Big Four Bridge for the second time that day? At this point we had only biked 6 miles, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but the fact that we were still trying to beat Bill and Lisa, coupled with the hills that we would have to bike up, yet again, on both sides of the bridge, tarnished my momentum just a bit. As I made my way onto the Louisville side of the bridge I saw that our frenemies had just begun the "cookie challenge." Not knowing if they had already made their way over to Indiana or not, I hauled butt up the curved structure for my second Jeffersonville visit. By the time Alicia caught up with me just 30-45 seconds later I had still not figured out where this place was. To top it off, while looking around I spot Bill coming off the bridge with Lisa falling in not far behind. Luckily, the four of us put our heads together and biked along the Jeffersonville waterfront to eventually find, salute, and photograph our respective teams in front of the memorial. Making our way back, Bill and Lisa thought we were kidding when we said we had already gotten our picture at the candy store, so their surprise when we made our way back onto the bridge was an astounding "Oh!" With only one more monument to visit, Alicia and I were feeling pretty good that we would win back both our title, and bragging rights, from Team Nowax. Making our way back across the bridge, Alicia spotted our target and we quickly made our way over to a statue of Abraham Lincoln for one last click and then back to Fourth Street Live. Still not knowing for sure where Bill and Lisa were in their quest, we maneuvered our way through downtown traffic trying not to get hit, and found ourselves pulling up to the Sports and Social Club in no time. We got checked in and showed our lovely photos to the official, then stuck around outside to cheer Team Nowax in. When it was all said and done all of us agreed it was a great time. We all enjoyed the race being smaller again this year, and as the weather warmed up and the "catching up" commenced over the unhealthiest of lunches, it turned out to be a great day for an awesome race. Alicia and I ended up coming in 6th overall, while Bill and Lisa took home a 10th place win. Regardless of place or finishing time, this is a really fun race that combines some of my favorite ways to spend a weekend afternoon: biking, racing, laughter, friendly competition, and memories. Until next year....

Pre-Training Begins

I managed my first bike ride in over a year today and I must say, although there are certain parts of it that I love, it was not without its struggles. Firstly, I have never been hugely knowledgeable about how to work the gears. For instance, I simply go by "feel" rather than knowing exactly what gear to be in during a downhill, uphill, flat surface, etc. So as I climbed my first big hill visions of my second Olympic-distance tri flashed before my eyes. You know, the one where I couldn't get enough momentum going up the steep hill and became increasingly slower over time to the point that gravity took over and I dumped myself off my bike, ego and all? Yeah....so..... as I was making my way up this hill today I started messing with my gears and, unknowingly until it was too late, found myself in the hardest gear imaginable, mashing my pedals just to keep up enough speed to get up this darn thing. At one point I really thought I was going to fall over - and right in front of a golfer nonetheless. But alas, determination and quad-strength prevailed and I was able to crest the hill and finally catch my breath as well as a small break - able to change gears in the process. As I rounded the corner onto a long stretch of flat land I attempted to mess with the gears again, however, I found that they wouldn't budge at all. Neither one. So now I'm stuck in a relatively easy gear (again, I couldn't tell you what rig (derailer?) the chain was in because I'm a total dunce when it comes to bicycle anatomy - full disclosure, I just Googled "parts of a bicycle" to find that word "derailer"), but suffice it to say the remaining hills were relatively easy to maneuver, while my cadence on the flats was now much faster than it needed to be as my torque was too much for this easier gear. I decided to continue on though since I was only a few miles into my ride at this point (Oh yeah, the battery for my bike computer had also gone kaput over the last year so I could only guess how far I'd gone or what my mph was). Coming out of a relatively flat part of the park I could have turned left and headed home, giving me about a 5-6 mile ride, or go straight and muster up the strength (both mental and physical) to conquer the rather large hills I knew were lying in wait like a soccer-mom at the Grand Opening of a Starbucks. Surprisingly one of my nemesis hills ("Dog Hill" for those of you familiar with Cherokee Park) was rather easy to climb and I felt nice and accomplished when I found myself at the top. The long, steadily-inclining path up to Hogan's Fountain wasn't bad either, but I found my heart-rate took a little longer to slow back down by the time I completed that doozy. As I made my way back towards the final home stretch I found myself feeling optimistic about this ride, as well as the upcoming triathlon in a few weeks. It seems like I have to get past the first 5 miles or so before my body gets used to the ride and then I'm fairly comfortable and confident after that. It's the same with running and swimming too. As long as I get past the first 3-4 miles of a run, I'm good. Prior to that my entire body feels like lead and I question my ability to go on. And as soon as I get into a good groove swimming laps in the pool, I feel like I could swim all day. Slowly, of course, but endurance is what I'm going for here, ya dig? Anyway...back to the bike ride. I turned my last corner onto PeeWee Reese to head back towards Taylorsville Road and ultimately home when I came upon my last two hills. The first one was a killer. Of course I knew it was coming as I had just come down the backside of the darn thing not 40 minutes prior - but the fairly steep grade was still enough to take my breath away and grip my chest like a vice. The second wasn't nearly so bad and I recall being thankful that everything from then on out was a straight, flat ride in. After logging my route on Map My Ride I discovered that I had accomplished 10.75 miles. (I had to stop myself from typing "a mere 10.75 miles" just now since I'm trying to not be so hard on myself and at least give myself SOME credit for starting over somewhere.) As I've written in the previous post, the triathlon in two weeks calls for a 12 mile bike, so getting out and doing this mileage after not being out for a year, and managing to do it with some killer hills at that, gives me a sense of confidence that I can do this thing - even if my legs did feel like Jell-O afterwards. So on the agenda for the coming weeks - get the bike looked at to find out what's going on with the gears, get at least 3-4 swims in to get used to the water and working on my form, and have fun doing the Urban Bike Adventure next Saturday (three years running) with my bestie Alicia.

Going All Out (Or In?)

So I've been thinking about getting back into triathlons for a while. I enjoy the long distance running, but I didn't (don't) want to stop doing tri's altogether because I really did enjoy them when I was competing - three years ago. Yes, it was May 2011 when I completed my last tri. I had come in dead-last (again) in my third Olympic-distance race, and I think I just decided that training for long-distance running was less time consuming. I hadn't trained well for that last race, which probably contributed to my last-place finish (actually, last place never bothered me much - just being out there doing it was always enough. Besides, I got the same medal as the first place guy, right?) But after reading, seeing, hearing about all of my Louisville Landshark buddies competing in the Ironman Louisville race this year, I decided that it was encouragement enough for me to get back out there. So.... just so happens that the Landsharks are putting on a Sprint/Oly race in a few weeks and I'm already signed up. You see, I'm one of those people that will not get out there and run/bike/swim if I'm not signed up for, and need to actually train for anything specific. (Well, let's be honest - in the not-so-distant past I wouldn't even train for events I was signed up for, I would just go out there on race day and wing it. Something I don't recommend, by the way). But, with my newfound enthusiasm I signed up for the sprint distance race (750 meter swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run) and am gonna get out there and do my best. I feel I've already got a pretty good base going with my Orange Theory workouts, so the run is the least of my worries. I haven't, however, been on my bike in a year and even then only got one ride in. But, again, with OTF under my belt I figure a couple of rides out on the bike between now and race day will be plenty to get me prepared for that 12-miler. Now the swim.....well.... that's a little more complicated. I seriously cannot remember doing any lap swimming since that last triathlon more than three years ago. I still have the concept down - I mean, I remember what I'm SUPPOSED to do - I just haven't done it. So, I went to Mary T. today and got a punch-card for 12 visits, of which I'll probably utilize two per week leading up to the race. All of this combined, I'm pretty confident that I can pull this off. Again, I will not be, and don't expect to be, the fastest gal out there. And if I do happen to come in dead last once again - so be it. I mean, I gotta start back somewhere, right? Besides, it's the perfect comeback race for what I'll be enduring in another 13 months. Ironman Louisville. Yes kids, you read that right. I am planning on (Oh hell, what do I mean "planning" on? I have actually SIGNED UP/REGISTERED for Ironman Louisville.) This will be my first full Ironman distance race. I plan on doing a few Olympics beforehand to get prepared, and maybe even a half-Iron distance as well. I'd like to (and hear that it's beneficial) to get a few Century rides in on the bike beforehand - something I know I'll need if not for physical fitness than for mental preparedness of being on a bike for 6-7 hours. I'm pretty pumped about it at this point, and although I've struggled with just the marathon portion of this race in the past, I feel that proper training and drive will go a long way. Besides, I do have a full 13 months to train - the first 7 of which will probably be more or less building a better base with which to start off my REAL training in April. So, without further ado - let the tri training commence!

Moving Right Along

It's been a little over 3 months since I started working out at Orange Theory and I have stuck with it. It's gotten to the point that if I don't work out at least 3 days a week I feel a bit lazy and depressed. I had a tooth pulled two days ago, and hadn't worked out for two days before then, so when I went today for my hour session it was like a breath of fresh air. Being cooped up on the couch with Ibuprofen and soup had run its course and I HAD to get out. Although I must say, I haven't lost any weight since started this program, I do feel more fit and healthy. One of the trainers did a session on the "Science of Weight Loss" and the core message was calories in vs. calories out = weight loss. I had asked if it was possible that I had gained muscle weight in the (then) two months that I had been attending OTF, and was told "no," that it was probably due to my appetite increase since beginning the work out. I can see that. Even though I probably have been consuming more, my body still looks and feels like I'm getting more out of these workouts than just an increase in weight/appetite. I feel great. I haven't been running in a while, although I did do a four-miler with a few friends about 2-3 weeks ago. Because I had talked my friend/co-worker into running with me, and she isn't much of an outdoor runner, we walked the majority of the course, although I must say that I was feeling REALLY good and probably could have killed the flat course. I do have a lot of races coming up starting the end of September, and those will give me a good indication of where I am health/strength/endurance-wise. Considering I did my last half-marathon with little more than OTF training, and had a near-PR finish, I'm feeling confident that these fall races are going to be more of the same - awesome. We shall see.... Although honestly, I do know I need to get out and do some long-distance training between now and then. We rarely do anything more than a 5k at OTF, and many times that isn't a straight 3.1 mile run, but rather broken up between the treadmill, weights, and rower. Regardless, I'm excited to be keeping up with this great workout regime and would recommend it to anyone.

An Unexpected Injury (Wait... Aren't They All?)

Since starting my OTF classes and registering for all of these races I have been feeling really good about my fitness level, the way I feel mentally and physically, and my prospects of becoming healthier and faster in the future. My training took a turn for the worse, however, this past Wednesday. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with it or not, but we did deadlifts and squats during our OTF workout that morning - already making my back a bit sore. When I got to work I was still feeling a bit drained, rather than my normal, energized feeling after a workout. This may have been due to continued recovery from the weekend's half marathon along with this first workout since the race. In any case, I was one hour into the three hour psych group I facilitate at work when we went on our first break. I stood up from my chair and turned to my left to sit the legal pad and papers I had in my hands down on the chair before walking into my office and - SNAP! Something caught in my lower back and it was definitely uncomfortable and even somewhat painful. I walked slowly to unlock the door to let my patient's out into the courtyard and headed back over towards my office, all while cringing and playing out my physical impression of a 90 year-old-woman (although that latter part was not by choice). I began to feel nauseous and light-headed, and knew that if I didn't sit down soon the possibility of passing out and injuring myself further was very real. I literally laid down, on the laminate flooring, all the while donning a dress and heels while concerned co-workers asked me what had happened. I was hardly able to move, and began feeling anxious and concerned that I may have done something irreparable to myself (Notice how our minds always go to the worst case scenario? I seriously thought, just in those few moments, about having chronic pain for the rest of my life, needing pain management, never being able to run again, and all of those other ridiculous things that active people think of when injury strikes). The long and short of it is, I was able to get into a chiropractor right away, who determined that I had a compressed nerve (aka pinched nerve). He even did some x-rays to rule out anything more serious. That day alone I had a short lower back massage, an adjustment to my back, a topical pain medication that was supposed to help (but didn't), and was sent home with some exercises to do and to consider medication for inflammation, and to expect to return the following day. The next day came and went and I was still not feeling any better despite another round with the chiropractor, 800 mg of Ibuprofen and completing the stretches I was given. My biggest concern was being able to work out on Friday morning, followed by The Waterfront Challenge obstacle course 5k that I had signed up for on Saturday evening. The doctor said to give it another day of rest and to come back in on Saturday. I had previously scheduled a massage with my regular gal for Friday afternoon, so I kept that appointment hoping it might help. She focused mainly on the small of my back and my right glute, which she said was really tight. I left there feeling decent, but not great, and woke up on Saturday morning in even more consistent pain than I had been the day prior. Friday, I could at least walk around and get some relief after having stretched some after sitting for long periods of time. Saturday brought just a constant ache in my lower back, which was not helped at all by walking. I went back to the chiropractor at 10:45 that morning and told him what was going on. He was still concerned that I was not feeling better, did another round of the tens unit on my lower back, another adjustment, strongly advised again The Waterfront Challenge later that evening, and voiced a pre-emptive plan to contact my PCP if things still were not improved by the middle of next week. So.... I stumbled out of there with conflicting thoughts about whether I should, or should not, run the race. On one hand, the race was paid for, it was a fairly short course, it had a great medal, and I REALLY WANTED TO DO IT. On the other hand I didn't want to injure myself any further - although I was told by the Doc that I probably wouldn't injure it further, but that the healing time may be prolonged if I didn't just give it a rest, and while I may not feel anymore pain or discomfort during or after the race, the next day could prove to be brutal and why would I take that chance? Well, because I'm a hard-core athlete that's why. I went home and popped some more OTC anti-inflammatories, consistently did my stretches, sat with an ice-pack whenever I could, took a walk (and admittedly a small jog) around the block to test things out, and ultimately decided to do the race. I was pretty pumped up when I decided I was definitely in, and I think the adrenaline that was pumping through my body helped with the lack of discomfort I felt through the entire race. It was a stifling hot race (90 degrees, even at 6:45 p.m.) but I was just happy that I was going to be going through with it, albeit taking it a little easier than I normally would. The M.C. counted down the 6:45 wave and off we went. Had it not been so hot it would have been a fairly easy course. Lots of short, steep hills through the waterfront, climbing over flat beds and cars, hopping through and then carrying tires around part of the course, push-ups, lunges (okay, okay, so this was the one thing I didn't do as we were carrying water-filled PVC pipe on our shoulders and I didn't want to strain myself), and then finally down a large, inflatable, water slide to the finish. It was a great time. My official finishing time was 44:06 with Jim coming in just 10-15 seconds slower. He says that compared to last year he killed his time - probably due to the awesome workouts we've been getting at OTF. For the remainder of the evening, which mainly consisted of dinner and watching TV in bed, I felt good. Just prior to bed I took another round of meds, including half a muscle relaxer, and laid on the ice pack to reduce any additional inflammation I may have. In the morning - oddly enough - I felt great. I'd say 80% better than I had the previous morning. I'm not sure if that's the way my body would have healed regardless, or if getting out and getting some movement/exercise through the race helped, or what. But regardless, 25 hours after the end of the race I am still feeling fantastic. A little sore, which is to be expected after a race such as this, but as far as my lower back goes I'm walking again like the 37 year old fit woman that I am, I'm no longer having to take 10-15 seconds after standing up from a sitting position to stretch out my back with a scowl on my face. And I must say... I'm definitely happy that I went through with it, even against Doctors orders. Sometimes (well, most of the time) I think that we know our bodies better than the "professionals" do and know what we are capable of. Funny thing is, prior to the race last night I even had the thought that maybe the race would do me some good - physically - and so I just went for it. If I had any concern (or at least, more concern than I did) that I would have majorly injured myself or made things worse, I probably wouldn't have done the race. But... I was confident (and a little stubborn, I admit) that I could complete it AND possibly feel better. I'm glad I did. Next up, another round of OTF in the morning, and the possibility of a Warrior Dash sign up in September.

Bourbon Derby Half Marathon

Since I hadn't completed any long runs since the KDF HM in late-April, I was concerned about the Bourbon Derby. Lack of long-distance training coupled with June weather made for a race that, during the hour long drive to Paris, KY, I was not looking forward to. Jim and I had to wake at 4:45 to leave the house by 5:15 to make it to the race location, pick up our packets, prepare for the start, and head off for our second HM of the year. It was a brisk fifty degrees and low-to-no-humidity morning which, as anyone from Kentucky knows, is a rarity for mid-June. The race was set to begin at 7:30, which made the prospect of a hot race even less likely. The air-horn went off right on time and the HM participants (from what I hear there were only about 250 of us) took off. I hadn't looked much into this race prior to, or after signing up, so I wasn't sure what to expect as far as the shape of the course and the elevation. Jim had told me that there seemed to be some rolling hills but that it didn't look too bad. Well.... rolling hills was an understatement since it was hardly anything but ascents and descents throughout the entire race. I had decided ahead of time that I was going to go with my run a mile, walk one minute routine that had worked so well for me during KDF, which actually ended up being not too difficult to do even despite the hills. Up until earlier this year I had tended to walk up hills - deeming them too intimidating and taking up too much energy to put forth the effort, but since I have been working on endurance, stamina, and intervals at Orange Theory Fitness (OTF) for the past month, the hills actually weren't that bad. My heart rate and breathing seemed to stay pretty normal throughout, and for the first 7-9 miles the only thing that was really bothering me were my sore hamstrings, but that was due to the M-W-F workouts at OTF. It wasn't until mile 7 or so that I started to break away from the one mile run, one minute walk routine, as it began to get a little warmer and the hills were starting to get to me. I had broken away from Jim between miles 5-6 as he was uber-tired from a Tough Mudder the weekend before as well as his own OTF workouts that week. As I made my way to the turn around at mile 8.5, I came back down towards the finish and passed Jim yelling out to him, "One hour and thirty minutes at 8.65 (miles)." I hadn't really been keeping track of what my mileage and time meant in terms of possibly having a PR since I was sure I would not considering the hilly course and lack of training. As I did the math, however, I figured that I could at least get in one of my top four HM finishes - as long as I came in under 2:27. I was okay with that. When I hit mile 10 I started to feel the fatigue coming on and by mile 11 my feet started to feel the effects of the pounded pavement. When I got to mile 11 I checked the Garmin and noticed that I had only clocked about 10.5 miles and was a bit concerned that my mileage was so far off from what the road markers were telling me. I thought maybe it was a fluke as I've been one or two tenths of a mile off during races before, but never by a whole half-mile. As I made my way to mile 12 I checked again and, sure enough, I was still a half mile short per the Garmin. At this point a few things crossed my mind: one being that I could quite possibly finish the race in less than 13.1 miles which would mean less time on the course which would feel fabulous at this point. The second is that the mileage would be made up closer to the end of the race and I would have to mentally prepare that I really did have the mileage on the Garmin left to run rather than the mileage per the markers on the side of the road. Third was that I could also have a PR on my hands, which was very quickly followed by the realization that if that were the case I would not be able to (ethically anyway), count it as a PR given that the course was .5 miles short. As I crest that last hill I could hear the cheers at the finish line and see where the runners took their last right hand turn to make their way down the chute. A few yards from that chute, I hauled ass and sprinted faster than I have ever ran in my life to get across that finish line as quickly as I could, making my official finishing time a swift 2:20:18. I grabbed myself a cold electrolyte drink and looked back towards the finish line to see if I could spot Jim. I walked back down towards the last turn and saw that he had just crested that last hill and was making his way towards the finish. I ran alongside of him around the corner and down the chute once more, breaking away just prior to the finish line - not wanting to possibly throw off my own finishing time by crossing twice. At some point I checked the Garmin after finishing and noted my mileage at 12.64 miles. I even checked with a few other runners who also wore Garmin's to see if theirs came up short and, sure enough, they did. All in all, it would have been nice to have another PR this year - especially for the same distance as my last PR a month and a half ago, and I guess technically if anyone were to look up my time on the KDF and the Bourbon Derby then THIS race would be considered my PR. But because I know in my heart and in my mind that I didn't complete the full distance (through no fault of my own) I cannot claim it. I figure that considering my splits for the course I would have come in at approximately 2:26:30, which would have made for my fourth best time I believe (out of 22 half marathons) and I still feel pretty good about that. Hills and heat have never been my friend - or any runner's for that matter - but my workouts at OTF have completely changed at least the hill part for me, and I can tell that I'm getting stronger, more confident, and able to conquer my nemesis like I never have before. Up next: More OTF and the Waterfront Challenge 5k obstacle race next week. I can't wait!