Pinappleman Triathlon

Pinappleman Triathlon is one of my favorite races and of course, how could I miss it this year? But with my focus on 2 70.3 races and a full IronMan races this year, I was in a completely different training mode. But heck, I knew I was putting in the work, so worth still racing and having a good time.

Of course, racing with my best training partner always makes the day better. Tammy and I setting up transition for the day and rocking our new tri kits. #badassisbeautiful

They switched up the swim course this year and I swear it got longer...if it didn't I got way slower. I felt like I was swimming strong in the water but seeing my time was frustrating and confusing at the same time. So what do you do when you aren't performing well? Push harder. And that is what I did. On to the bike I was determined to make some moves and make up the time that I felt that I was behind, so I hammered out as hard as I could. I managed to have my best course ride by almost 5 minutes that day, which I was stoked about. But, it was an extremely hot day, so by the time I got to the run, I might have overdone it. The run is one of the best because it goes through a neighborhood and everyone comes out to cheer on the racers. Even with the heat and pushing hard on the bike, I managed to pull through a solid run for a good finish. I was actually 4 minutes slower than last year...I've learned this year that training for an IronMan and for a sprint are two very different things. In fact, I might have been slower, but I was way less tired than years past due to some of the longer workouts I've done. Maybe next year I will focus on sprints and getting some big PRs!

Post race celebrations!

The Heart in Heartland

Last December, after completing only my first sprint triathlons, I (pretty much over night) decided to complete at half ironman in the 2014 season. With the race fast approaching and my uncertainty in the water, even after many Lucky's Lake crossings, I still wanted to test my swimming skills in a race longer than a sprint. And that is where the Heartland Olympic race comes in.

Nothing new, as I approach transition, the nerves set in and I realized that I would actually have to not drown in the water and then somehow ride 40K and run 10K following the potential drowning situation. The morning was filled with nerves, doubt, and of course tears.

First shot of the lake. Looks calm, so that is good, but 1.5K is a really, really, might I add really far way to swim. Trying to fake not being nervous, but it wasn't much after this that my tears began to fill a bit with tears. The race had both the sprint and olympic distance races that morning. So I tried to focus and warm up as the sprinter's waves each set off into the water. Once it was our turn to line up and wait for the gun, nerves came over me and the tears that filled my eyes finally started to stream down my face. A nice lady came to reassure me that everything would be alright. And I tried to reassure myself, that is what training is for and I got this.  The gun went off and I took a second to let the others go ahead and walked out to the drop off. Finally I jump in. Once I got going (maybe 25 meters out). The nerves disappeared and I was finally getting in a groove. I just focused on swimming; not fast, not hard, just strong and consistent. I never looked at my watch or worried if I was ahead of people, I just swam. Turns out, I can swim! Making it to the end and then popping out of the water to cross the mat and head into T1 was such a good feeling that day and at that moment, I knew this would be one of the most memorable races of my life.

I was seriously so thrilled with completing the swim and coming so far from just two years ago when I took swimming lessons and attempted to get in triathlon mode. And what better way to celebrate than to take take this lovely photo while trying to focus on the bike.  Okay, probably not the safest thing I've ever done, but you have to live every once in awhile!  The bike and run were great. Not my fastest but still my best effort for the day and with a smile on my face the entire time. The run portion of this race is both interesting and fun in itself. It is a 5 star loop, so lots of spectators and opportunities to talk with the other athletes, cheer each other on, and meet some new racing friends. I gave it my all that day and I think that is what puts the heart in Heartland. For my first OLY, it was one for the books and obviously now my current PR. It was a great distance and lots of fun, so I am certain I will be back next year to see what more I can do. 

Jacksonville Bank Marathon Finish

I've been dreading this post for so long; mostly embarrassed by the time it took me to finish the marathon.  Until recently, I decided I just wouldn't speak of this race; and I knew that with time everyone else would forget too.  But then I realized...I FINISHED a marathon.  That is pretty great in itself.

Here is a look at the day through pictures.

The morning of the race, Josh was in full Christmas spirit and I struggled to keep that smile covering up all the nerves and crazy thoughts going through my mind.

Running through the start line help alleviate most of my nerves and we began our journey.

 Still smiles as we cross the 5K mark.

The sun began to come up and the crowd began to thin.
















At the half marathon point, we were doing great.  Holding steady with the pace we wanted, still moving along and still in high spirits.  I thought I had this in the bag. But as we got closer to the 17 mile mark, my foot started to ache and I slowed a bit...okay a lot more than a bit, I felt like I was walking on a broken foot. And with every step, I got closer and closer to quitting.  In fact I encouraged Josh to run his race, he was still killing it. Josh took off and we agreed to meet at the 18 mile point.  Right before that mark, I sat down with a few cops patrolling the race and said, "I quit."  I even asked them to arrange me transportation to the finish, where I could wait for Josh to finish.  But I could see him waiting ahead and decided I better tell him the bad news before he waited any longer on me.  As I caught up to him, I knew he could tell I was hurting but he wouldn't let me quit.  We argued how close/far the finish line was.  He argument...only 8 to go, we've already done 18.  My argument, it was EIGHT more miles.  But then as all the volunteers at the water stop were cheering for us and encouraging me to continue...I decided to suck it up and keep going.  I mean I couldn't let Josh become a marathoner and not do it myself.  He was gracious enough to stay with me for those last 8 miles as I struggled to even get a mild jog going.

 As we rounded the corner and came into the stadium, you could see the pain in my face as I mustered up a slow jog to the finish.

Not sure if this is a fake smile or a smile of relief that the finish line was in sight.

 AND FINISHED! That was brutal.

Josh finished just before me, so that on record it shows he won.  He definitely could have finished a good 15-30 minutes faster if he didn't walk with me those last 8 miles.  (He also won the "Best Husband of 2012" award that day.)

Barely smiling. I was saying "never again" at this very moment...but I change my mind a lot. :)

Proof that we finished.

hot Hot HOT!

What a cool running season for me - I went from running my first half marathon in January and crossing the finish line with my mom to running my fourth, personal best half marathon and crossing the finish line with my father in April.

Leading up to the run, I was stressing a lot of the outcome.  I really wanted to run a half marathon at a sub 2 hour race and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to make this race the race for it to happen in.  But I knew it was going to be hot and I didn't train very well during the 4 weeks before.  I decided not to write any goals on paper and just make my last half marathon of the season a good race to end with...and that it was.

By 530 the temperature was already ready 79 degrees and the sun hadn't even come up yet.  I am super paranoid of dehydration and decided to run with a bottle of water since it was only getting hotter by 7.  They were expecting temps of 86 during the day with no cloud coverage.  And when I say no cloud coverage, I literally mean there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. So the race was off (you can catch a glimpse of my mom in the picture as well to the left).  My dad, who is like speed lightning, volunteered to help pace me to a sub 2 hour race.  I was just off of this mark a few weeks earlier by 1 minute and 13 seconds at the Gasparilla half.  The first two miles felt great even though the heat was brutal.  My plan was only to do 9:15-9:20 for the first three miles but I wasn't complaining about the 8:56, 9:02, and 9:00 miles.

By mile 3, I was drenched in sweat, almost through an entire bottle of water (even though I stopped at each water stop) and having a little fun since my times were slightly faster than I planned.  We were still with the masses at this point and had a couple interesting conversations.  Two nice ladies recognized my dad from the previous month's Double IronMan wished me luck for my finish.  It was a little too early on, but still got me a little too excited about really doing this. This is my first season of running and really committing to training for long distances and I want that sub 2 hour goal more than anything. The mile markers started giving a few people concerns.  Being off by any where up to a half a mile.

By mile five I picked up a friend.  Met #614, Emily, who was on her 7th half marathon and trying hard for her first sub two hour finish.  We quickly decided, without speaking it, we'd work together and push to that goal...of course relying heavily on my father to help us pick up the pace when needed. I find is so awesome how many people are actually willing to have a conversation out their even when we are huffing and puffing to make it to the finish.  The three of us chugged along and head to a pretty steady pace during the long stretch that ran right up along the beach.  Next set of miles were 8:54, 9:10, 9:15, 9:16.  Slowing down a bit but knowing we weren't off our mark...or were we? The mile markers were still giving us issues and I wasn't sure if we had ran 6.5 miles or 6 miles at the 6 mile marker.

Approaching the turn around right around the 7.5 mile mark, I was able to get down a gel (gosh those things are disgusting, seriously all flavors suck) snag a cup of water, push toward the finish and actually match right around 7.5 miles on my watch.  Silly mile markers.  The next 3ish miles were really exciting and helped to get my mind off of the agony of the heat.  We got to pass all the others that were still running to the midpoint.  Passed a friend, passed some of my mother's co-workers and got to cheer on my mom who was just about a mile behind us.   I was burning up though and made the decision to de-cloth slightly to try and stay cool.  My wonderful father even agreed to carry my drenched shirt just so I could concentrate on running. Clocking these miles at 9:05, 8:59, 8:59.

We made it down the coast and back into the neighborhoods and it suddenly wasn't fun anymore.  There no longer was a sea breeze and the heat seemed to intensify.  I seriously contemplated just stopping and walking the rest of the way.  My father on the other hand thought he would stop and take a shot of rum.  No seriously, at the "free rum shots" stand he stopped, told a joke, took a shot and then caught back up.  What a daughter I am...I didn't even wait on him or attempt to slow down.  So with that in mind and seeing him be such a sport (he doesn't drink liquor) I decided to tough it out. And tough it was.  I was really started to struggle, but sub two hours could still be met. Emily dropped off a bit as well.  Powered through a 9:10 and 9:13 mile but hit the 12 mile mark on my watch way before the sign.  

As we rounder the corner and came out from the neighborhood, the finish line was in sight. But I knew I only had a minute or two to get there and it wasn't going to happen.  I wanted to just give up right there, nearly broke into tears and broke down.  My dad wouldn't let me stop though and even with wanting to quit and getting hotter by the second I did my final full mile in 9:26 and the last stretch in roughly 2:39 (my watch says this was .34 miles).  We picked up the pace and pulled the last little bit of energy out to finish strong ( I totally to kicked my dad's butt by one second).  Final time 2:01:06; that is a 7 second PR.  Not what I wanted, but it felt good.  I raced a good race and had a solid finish to my first of what should be many seasons of running.

So, yeah, a cool running indeed - I went from running my first half marathon in January and crossing the finish line with my mom to running my fourth, personal best half marathon and crossing the finish line with my father in April.