Race for a Reason/Athletes in Action Sprint Triathlon Race Recap

First of all, yesterday morning was a beautiful day for a race!  The sun was shining bright, the sky was clear, and many of the budding trees in Athens still have their beautiful pink and white flowers.
 
The swim was in the OU Aquatic Center pool.  I started towards the back like usual: I'm not the fastest swimmer and I hate getting passed.  There was a small group of us from a group I've been training with and we enjoyed chatting and cheering on our faster friends as they hopped out of the pool and ran to transition.  The start of the swim was just jumping in, one at a time  The swim was 500 meters and I felt pretty good, especially considering the fact that I haven't been to the pool nearly enough lately.  And I'm not going to lie: I really appreciate races with a pool swim sometimes.  It's so much less intimidating than open water swimming. 

The bike was a very hilly 15 miles.  I felt ok with it: didn't feel like my best or my worst.  The scenery was gorgeous and there were some very friendly spectators on the way. The only problem was having to stop for a car by an intersection (at a point when I was cruising along at a great speed-go figure).  This jerk passed me and then stopped right in my way waiting to get unto her street.  She was over to the right far enough that I couldn't get by.  Grr.  I remember yelling, "Are you kidding me?!"  Luckily it wasn't too long, but still enough to throw me off for a little bit and halt my forward progress for a minute (every second counts during a race).  Other than that incident and a little twinge of hip pain, the bike split was not bad.  The section with the gently rolling hills past a bunch of freshly blooming trees was my favorite part of the whole race.

When I got to the run, I was booking it!  I zipped passed person after person, weaving through the groups of walkers and other runners.  That was my only real issue with the race by the way: the 5k for the triathlon was the same course as the regular 5k.  Many of us were still doing the triathlon and had to deal with all the people in the way.  I felt really good about my time on the run (I think it took me about 22 minutes, but I could have done even better without having to go around so many people).

The finish was pretty cool.  We ran off the bike path accross a grassy field, where the 'fitness fest' was, greeted by the excited crowd.  As I crossed, I heard a couple people yelling my name really loud.  That's the beauty of smaller races like those in Athens: it's super easy to find people you know.

I'm not sure what my finishing time was and am looking forward to seeing the results.  This race was an overall good one, with a lot of the registration fee going towards charity as well, and I hope it fits in my race schedule next year.

**Edit: The results have been posted (only 2 days later: not bad at all).  I finished in 1:49:06, meeting my goal of under 2 hours, and came in 4th place (out of 8) in my division, collegiate women.

Trying to Process the Tradgedy

This entry is a day late because I was too shocked to come up with the right words yesterday. 

Words cannot fully express the tradgedy of the bombings at the Boston Marathon. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims. 

The Boston Marathon is more than just a race: it is the biggest of accomplishments, a lifelong goal, for runners all across the nation and even from other parts of the world.  It is the ultimate symbol of dedication and achievement.  Any finish line really is supposed to be (and usually is) the most joyful and triumphant place on Earth.  And some sick **bad word** took that away from thousands of people.  It just doesn't make sense.  And I really don't think it ever will.

One thing that may come to mind is hatred towards whatever monster is responsible for this.  But let's take this opportunity to instead be even more unified.  Fight hateful acts like this with love.  In spite of the terrible scenes in the news yesterday, as well as the shock, disgust, and terror that came with those images, it was heartwarming to see so many responders comforting and caring for both the physically and emotionally wounded.

Finishing races will not be the same.  There will be anxiety, of course, especially for those who had to endure the tradgedy of April 15, 2013.   But, we will all be stronger and more unified than ever.  We will be even more grateful every time we cross that finish line and never take it for granted.  We will hug our friends and family so much tighter upon finishing.  We will have even more mutual respect for our fellow runners. 

My message to whoever is responsible for what happened yesterday: we will never understand why you did this terrible thing, but you will not bring us down.  You have only made us even stronger.  Good always overcomes evil and always will.

Athens Marathon 2013 Race Recap

      I've done this race before (the half in 2007 and the full in 2008) and have a love/hate relationship with it. I love that I know most of the volunteers, spectators, and a fair amount of the other racers.  OU/Athens has a pretty tight-knit community and it's reflected in the race day atmosphere of the Athens Marathon.  I also love the much more laid back feel of it and the fact that my fellow runners are generally much friendlier than many of those in my experience with city races.  I've also always really enjoyed the finish: a lap and a half around OU's track with a bunch of spectators cheering you on.  However, I hate that the race is almost entirely on the bike path: flat (in case you don't know, I really prefer hill running) and boring, with repetitive scenery and very few spectators for most of the way.  And it's an out-and-back.  Overall, though, it's a great, well-organized race with wonderful people.

       I figured this race would be perfect timing this year in preparation for my ultra on May 11 (though a trail marathon would have been better preparation).  It was also wonderful getting to sleep in my own bed, only having to walk right up the road from my apartment to the start line (no traffic or parking hassles), and not having to find the money for putting gas in my car or someplace to stay. 
       There couldn't have been much better weather!  It was a cool temperature, but felt good once I started moving.  The sun was shining bright all day.  I actually managed to not even get much of a sunburn even though I totally forgot sunscreen: I'm terrible at remembering that.  
       I kept a slow, easy pace since this was preparation for another race rather than being my goal race.  Unfortunately, I also had some hip pain and a really tight IT band.  A physical therapist in the message area said it was a little swollen and I'll have to be careful over the next couple weeks and do extra icing and stretching over the next couple days.

       Overall, the Athens Marathon was a pretty good experience: perfect weather, beautiful (even if repetitive) scenery, and some great people to talk to during the course.

       Yay for finishing marathon #7!  :-)

A Barrier to Overcome

One major update I neglected to post...

When the weather started getting cold in November, I was having issues with breathing during and after my runs.  I'd cough and wheeze like crazy.  These issues have happened in years past with cold temperatures and stress during running, cycling, and swimming but it seemed to be getting even worse.  Between this and my constant sinus infections over the past several years, I decided to see an allergist.

Dr. Clark was incredibly knowledgeable and approachable (one of those doctors who truly cares and goes above and beyond his duty).  After a couple hours of tests, including allergy testing, he gave me some alarming news.  I have severe allergies to just about every indoor allergen there is (dust, a couple types of mold, even cats and dogs), I have chronic sinusitis (not much of a surprise there), and I have asthma. 

While this was shocking and unpleasant news, I've come to view finding out as a blessing.  I'm getting treated for all of these things now, and the improvement in my training and overall quality of life are amazing!

There are still bad days, though, and today has been one of them.  I've been trying to clean up my apartment yesterday and earlier today, plus we were visiting my fiance's family for Easter.  His dad smokes.  A lot.  So, the combination of these things probably has caused my respiratory system to go into freakout mode.  I had to cut my run short because I was hacking to the point of almost gagging at the top of a couple of the hills.  Later, I was planning on going to both Mixed Martial Arts and Taekwondo club, but my sinuses started acting up and my airways started feeling a bit tight.

As the type of person who always wants to be invincible and strong, and to do everything, this is extremely frustrating.  I hate being slowed down.

Hopefully I'm not developing another sinus infection (which almost always happens during a change of seasons).  And hopefully tomorrow will be better.

A super crazy training run

On Tuesday I set out to run about 22-23 miles, including the Lakeview trail around Dow Lake in Athens, Ohio.

It started off as the perfect day to run: some sunshine, but a little bit of cloud cover and a pleasant temperature.  The first hour went by with wonderful conditions. When I got about a mile into the trail, though, everything changed.  The wind began to blow pretty hard and ice pellets (not just snow, but ice pellets) tumbled from the sky.

The trail itself was extremely muddy.  It was like running through a creek at times.  And the actual creek crossings were so large that I had to crawl across a log in 2 spots.

As soon as I got off of the trail, the ice pellets came down even harder, and giant snowflakes mixed in.  The wind was going crazy.  A couple groups of people packed up their stuff and zipped out of there as quick as possible.  I was now officially the only crazy one in that park.

As I began the trek home, the precipitation died down a tad, but the wind was still relentless.  As I started to make my way up a large hill, a rather large dog came barreling out of nowhere barking angrily.   I picked up the pace a bit, thinking, 'Make it go away, make it go away.'  I really need to start carrying that dog repellent stuff.  Luckily, it lost interest.

A cyclist showed up when I was about halfway up the hill, also making his way up.  "Great day to be outside huh?"  "Sure is!"  It's always comforting to know there are other insane people out there.

About an hour(ish) later, I finally arrived back home to my wonderful fiance, my favorite flavor of Greek yogurt, and a wonderful hot shower! 

Yay distance running!  :-)

Running: you're doing it right!  :-p