Friday, November 8, 2013
Marine corps marathon
Marine Corps Marathon
I did my third marathon yesterday. Holy moly that was hard. I think what made it the hardest was that I was t really properly trained. Due to the 100 mile triathlon three weeks ago, the furthest I had gone was 15 miles.
My friend was doing her first marathon and when her other friend who was to do it with her backed out, she asked me to run with her. I agreed, but "with her" meant id start with her and find her at the end! She's a much faster runner than I and there was no way I could do it "with" her.
The expo and packet pick up the day before went pretty smoothly except for the long lines and the crowds. We cooked some spaghetti for dinner and stopped by the Goodwill for some throw away clothes and then went to bed early. What? Never heard of throw away clothes? It was supposed to be in the 30s in the morning. We bought sweatshirts, hats and gloves to wear before the race until we got warmed up, and the you toss the clothes aside. We assume the organizers gather up the clothes and donate them back to charity. I actually found great pair of pink gloves on the side of the road and snatched them up and tossed my others aside.
The race itself was I in a beautiful location through downtown DC and the local parks and monuments. As far as the running, I didn't to be fast. Miles 1-19 felt pretty good. 20-23 were very hard. I had to count steps and I did some walking and was in a lot of pain. I would run 200 steps and then walk 50. And the. Do it all over again. When I got to mile 24, I knew I could run the last two harder, so I did. But my goodness, that last half mile is a killer! Plus, my Garmin says it was actually 27 miles. So did my friend's. Sanctioned races are supposed to be spot on, so I don't know how it's off, but it was! I finished in 5:35 officially. Goal was to go under 6, so I'm pretty happy with that. When I finished, I was hurting more than I ever have at the end of anything. I laid down, and moaned and groaned and tried to make the pain go away. I stretched and moaned some more. Then I got up to go find my free beer. I got my medal from a Marine who saluted my (I saluted back), got a book of snacks, a water and a couple of bananas...moaning and limping the entire way. I made my way to the beer. My friend saw me and called my name and I said I couldn't stop. She caught up to me and told me they were out of beer. That was the last straw. I actually sat down on the curb and cried. She rubbed my shoulders for a minute or two while the tears of frustration and pain leaked out. Then I decided it was over, took a Motrin and we got up and made out way to the metro. Her husband and mom were with us and were so supportive. She finished in 4:25, which is a great time.
We got home and I drank two beers. After the first one and a shower, I felt
like a new woman. That night, we went out for steak and I added French onion soup and a crab cake. Plus some wine. Gotta have wine.
I slept terrible last night... tossing and turning. Ended up getting about about 40 minutes early at 0410 to get ready for the airport. Made it there and onto my flight, where I am writing this, with plenty of time to spare.
Next marathon will be in March. I'll do the Bataan Death March again, this time in ABUs. In April, I'll be doing the Mighty Mujer Super Sprint Triathlon (which I vowed last year to never do again because it was so poorly organized). A bunch of of the wives want to docs triathlon and that is a great beginner one. It's in a pool, so you don't even have to know how to swim. Probably do some long bike rides over the summer. If the Air Force doesn't move me next summer, I'll probably be doing my first Iron Distance race next October. I can't believe I'm even saying that after yesterday. We'll see...that's a long way away. In the. Meantime, I think I'll schedule a massage for this week.
One Hundred Mile Triathlon
this is so late because i couldnt figure out how to log on!
The 100 mile triathlon My oh my. I'd been training for this for about four months. Getting up at 0430, to run, bike, and or swim for months on end. Biking after work a couple of times a week meant trying to get everything done do I could be out of the office by 4:00 or 4:30 for what might be a two or three hour ride. Saturday found me riding with my friend for three to six hours- up to 80 miles on a weekend. We did a few 100 mile rides as well, in the form of races/organized rides. We also did the RAGBRAI ride in July, which was over 400 miles across Iowa. One day was 112 miles! Towards the end, I started doing "bricks". That's where you ride a certain distance and then run. I didn't have time to do these during the week, so I did them on Saturday and then my long ride on Sunday. The longest one was 53 mile bike and 10 mile run. That's almost as long as my previous longest race! Mondays were long runs before work- up to 13 miles. Who does that? My half half marathon, i trained for months. Now I jump up and do one before work. That's crazy talk right there! Jack was kind enough to come with me. Going to a destination race by yourself is no fun. Better to have someone with you. We took my bike apart all the way down to the frame and put it into two boxes. That takes about an hour. Then I packed up all my stuff. You cannot possibly imaging how much stuff there is for one race. First, there's the swim. That requires, at a minimum, a swim suit, cap and goggles. For a longer race, or if your are more serious about your craft, you get more specialized and wear a special triathlon suit that is worn during all three phases of the race. If you are swimming in cold water, you need a wetsuit. If you re swimming in very cold water, you need neoprene booties and a neoprene cap to protect the feet and head. For the bike, you obviously need a bike, which needs to be packed for travel. Or you can have a company ship for about $350 each way. I have a beautiful bike box, that my bike and wheels fit into, but after the airlines started charging a fortune ($200-300 each way), I found that I could break my bike down to luggage size and ship for free on southwest. You also need shoes and helmet at a minimum. If you want to eat and drink on the bike ( you do in a long race!), you also need bottles, electrolyte mix, and gels. For the run there are the shoes and maybe a hat. There are also sunscreen, Body Glide, Chamois Butter, sunglasses, RoadID, Garmin, race belt, chip strap, towel, after the race clothes and numerous other items to remember. I have my regular packing list and then there's the race packing list. It's a little stressful to make sure nothing is forgotten! We arrived safely in New Your a and I checked Ruby over after picking her up from the baggage area. She was perfectly fine. Rudy's my bike. Yes, she has a name. We found out bed and breakfast and had a delicious dinner and hit the hay. Up the next morning for breakfast...tht was the most disappointing thing about the B and B. Usually breakfast is awesome at those places. Not there. Yogurt and a premise cinnamon pastry. We spent the next two days exploring Niagara Falls on foot and by speed boat. The night before the race, we went to packet pick up and I got all my stuff needed....bib number and bike number, pus some other stuff. Up before daylight the day of the race. Jack helped me get everything set up in transition- it is SO nice to have an extra pair of hands! Then once I was done, so was he. He had no desire to stick around. But he was there when they announced, as I was squeezing into my wetsuit, that the swim was changed to a one mile run. What!?! I was so upset! I was here for a triathlon, not a duathlon! Grrrrr! Apparently the waves were too high for the little boats to put the buoys out and too high for the little boats to rescue a swimmer if something went wrong. It was swimmable, but not boatable. Dang it! So the start was a one mile run from where the swim was supposed to come ashore. It was a beautiful trail run through the woods and I loved every minute of that. Then I made my transition to the bike and off I went. That's right when the rain started. For two hours. Goodness. It was a Bit chilly...about 60 degrees. I had put on my leg warmers and my arm Warner's and liked my gloves. But I didn't end them. Around mile 25, my quads and knees started to ache. That had never happened on a ride before and I still don't know why it happened that day. But for the next 61 miles, I was in pain. The bike leg was supposed to be 84 miles and it was 86. The wind kicked up something fierce for last two hours. Tree dewars tons of road kill...87 frogs, 8 snakes, 1 vulture, 1 red fox, 1 grey fox, a few cats, 2 possums, and 1 skunk. And that was on one 43 mile loop! In the transition, I was rarely so happy to get off my bike. I took off my helmet, threw on my shoes, loaded up on a few gels, and off I went! I knew those -5 miles were going to be hard. For about two miles, I could hear foot steps behind me. Then a lady got next to means stayed there for a half a mile or so. She said, I. Don't . Mean. To. Run beside you. But. I. Can't. Go. Any faster. Just like that. She was so funny. It's considered rude to run for a long time beside someone without asking them if it's ok. I didn't mind. Then she started talking to me. Then another lady who had been walk-running joined us for a bit. They talked and I listened. I don't have enough breath to talk and run at the same time. Celeste said she had planned to walk some because of a hip injury, but she kept up. Then we settled into a rhythm, eventually lost the other lady, and decided to stick together at some point. I think we were both hurting real bad and decided hurting together was better than hurting alone. At mile ten, her husband joined us and ran the rest of the way. He is a prosecutor and I got him to tell me stories to pass the time. Celeste and I cam across the finish line together in 9:32. I took third in my age group! Out of three. I got a prize and everything. It was pretty cool. I drank some beer, ate some pasta, then went back got he B and B and are more pasta. Jack was wonderful enough to take my bike apart while I took a bath. I packed it, though. If something happened to her, I would never forgive him, so it's better if I just take that responsibility on myself. I took a motrin and went to bed. My legs were achy and restless, the worst they have ever been. Ever. I kept waking up. Then, at 0200, I was awake and starving. I mean, I HAD to have something to eat. I I was getting up and asking jack where the keys were because I was going out for food. I didn't think we had any ( except my Swedish Fish...and they are yummy, but not what I needed). He reminded me that he had some airline peanuts. Then I remembered I did too. And there was a small apple. So I sat up and ate four bags of Southwest airline peanuts and an apple and read for two hours till I could go back to sleep. Then I slept for about two hrs and we got up for the airport. This race was one of my most satisfying accomplishments to date. My first marathon and this one are probably right at the top. Now I am seriously thinking I could an Ironman next year. I want to do one someday, I just have no idea when I will have time to train. I'm thinking if I don't move, I will do the Beach2Battleship Iron distance triathlon next October. Yikes! And Jack said I could get a triathlon bike! I didn't know five years ago I would really like this stuff, but I do. And I plan to keep at it. My goal is to outlive my competition so I can start winning things. It might take about 30-40 years, but that's my goal.
The 100 mile triathlon My oh my. I'd been training for this for about four months. Getting up at 0430, to run, bike, and or swim for months on end. Biking after work a couple of times a week meant trying to get everything done do I could be out of the office by 4:00 or 4:30 for what might be a two or three hour ride. Saturday found me riding with my friend for three to six hours- up to 80 miles on a weekend. We did a few 100 mile rides as well, in the form of races/organized rides. We also did the RAGBRAI ride in July, which was over 400 miles across Iowa. One day was 112 miles! Towards the end, I started doing "bricks". That's where you ride a certain distance and then run. I didn't have time to do these during the week, so I did them on Saturday and then my long ride on Sunday. The longest one was 53 mile bike and 10 mile run. That's almost as long as my previous longest race! Mondays were long runs before work- up to 13 miles. Who does that? My half half marathon, i trained for months. Now I jump up and do one before work. That's crazy talk right there! Jack was kind enough to come with me. Going to a destination race by yourself is no fun. Better to have someone with you. We took my bike apart all the way down to the frame and put it into two boxes. That takes about an hour. Then I packed up all my stuff. You cannot possibly imaging how much stuff there is for one race. First, there's the swim. That requires, at a minimum, a swim suit, cap and goggles. For a longer race, or if your are more serious about your craft, you get more specialized and wear a special triathlon suit that is worn during all three phases of the race. If you are swimming in cold water, you need a wetsuit. If you re swimming in very cold water, you need neoprene booties and a neoprene cap to protect the feet and head. For the bike, you obviously need a bike, which needs to be packed for travel. Or you can have a company ship for about $350 each way. I have a beautiful bike box, that my bike and wheels fit into, but after the airlines started charging a fortune ($200-300 each way), I found that I could break my bike down to luggage size and ship for free on southwest. You also need shoes and helmet at a minimum. If you want to eat and drink on the bike ( you do in a long race!), you also need bottles, electrolyte mix, and gels. For the run there are the shoes and maybe a hat. There are also sunscreen, Body Glide, Chamois Butter, sunglasses, RoadID, Garmin, race belt, chip strap, towel, after the race clothes and numerous other items to remember. I have my regular packing list and then there's the race packing list. It's a little stressful to make sure nothing is forgotten! We arrived safely in New Your a and I checked Ruby over after picking her up from the baggage area. She was perfectly fine. Rudy's my bike. Yes, she has a name. We found out bed and breakfast and had a delicious dinner and hit the hay. Up the next morning for breakfast...tht was the most disappointing thing about the B and B. Usually breakfast is awesome at those places. Not there. Yogurt and a premise cinnamon pastry. We spent the next two days exploring Niagara Falls on foot and by speed boat. The night before the race, we went to packet pick up and I got all my stuff needed....bib number and bike number, pus some other stuff. Up before daylight the day of the race. Jack helped me get everything set up in transition- it is SO nice to have an extra pair of hands! Then once I was done, so was he. He had no desire to stick around. But he was there when they announced, as I was squeezing into my wetsuit, that the swim was changed to a one mile run. What!?! I was so upset! I was here for a triathlon, not a duathlon! Grrrrr! Apparently the waves were too high for the little boats to put the buoys out and too high for the little boats to rescue a swimmer if something went wrong. It was swimmable, but not boatable. Dang it! So the start was a one mile run from where the swim was supposed to come ashore. It was a beautiful trail run through the woods and I loved every minute of that. Then I made my transition to the bike and off I went. That's right when the rain started. For two hours. Goodness. It was a Bit chilly...about 60 degrees. I had put on my leg warmers and my arm Warner's and liked my gloves. But I didn't end them. Around mile 25, my quads and knees started to ache. That had never happened on a ride before and I still don't know why it happened that day. But for the next 61 miles, I was in pain. The bike leg was supposed to be 84 miles and it was 86. The wind kicked up something fierce for last two hours. Tree dewars tons of road kill...87 frogs, 8 snakes, 1 vulture, 1 red fox, 1 grey fox, a few cats, 2 possums, and 1 skunk. And that was on one 43 mile loop! In the transition, I was rarely so happy to get off my bike. I took off my helmet, threw on my shoes, loaded up on a few gels, and off I went! I knew those -5 miles were going to be hard. For about two miles, I could hear foot steps behind me. Then a lady got next to means stayed there for a half a mile or so. She said, I. Don't . Mean. To. Run beside you. But. I. Can't. Go. Any faster. Just like that. She was so funny. It's considered rude to run for a long time beside someone without asking them if it's ok. I didn't mind. Then she started talking to me. Then another lady who had been walk-running joined us for a bit. They talked and I listened. I don't have enough breath to talk and run at the same time. Celeste said she had planned to walk some because of a hip injury, but she kept up. Then we settled into a rhythm, eventually lost the other lady, and decided to stick together at some point. I think we were both hurting real bad and decided hurting together was better than hurting alone. At mile ten, her husband joined us and ran the rest of the way. He is a prosecutor and I got him to tell me stories to pass the time. Celeste and I cam across the finish line together in 9:32. I took third in my age group! Out of three. I got a prize and everything. It was pretty cool. I drank some beer, ate some pasta, then went back got he B and B and are more pasta. Jack was wonderful enough to take my bike apart while I took a bath. I packed it, though. If something happened to her, I would never forgive him, so it's better if I just take that responsibility on myself. I took a motrin and went to bed. My legs were achy and restless, the worst they have ever been. Ever. I kept waking up. Then, at 0200, I was awake and starving. I mean, I HAD to have something to eat. I I was getting up and asking jack where the keys were because I was going out for food. I didn't think we had any ( except my Swedish Fish...and they are yummy, but not what I needed). He reminded me that he had some airline peanuts. Then I remembered I did too. And there was a small apple. So I sat up and ate four bags of Southwest airline peanuts and an apple and read for two hours till I could go back to sleep. Then I slept for about two hrs and we got up for the airport. This race was one of my most satisfying accomplishments to date. My first marathon and this one are probably right at the top. Now I am seriously thinking I could an Ironman next year. I want to do one someday, I just have no idea when I will have time to train. I'm thinking if I don't move, I will do the Beach2Battleship Iron distance triathlon next October. Yikes! And Jack said I could get a triathlon bike! I didn't know five years ago I would really like this stuff, but I do. And I plan to keep at it. My goal is to outlive my competition so I can start winning things. It might take about 30-40 years, but that's my goal.
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