Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day
Vacation Fun

April 30, 2010

Flying Pig - the lunacy

It's Friday. On Sunday morning I will be toeing the line at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. I did this dumb thing last year. I have to think that I was a bit better prepared - despite the somersaultingly dramatic bike wreck a week prior last year. We had done 18mi runs, had been more consistent on both the long run & the mid-week running. I was, just overall, in a bit better shape I think. When I wrecked my bike & could hardly move for the majority of the week & STILL my dumbass ran the event I'm pretty sure I proved whatever I needed to prove to myself and to anyone else. Yeah, my standalone marathon time is only 6:00 (MINUTES!) faster than my Ironman marathon time - sowhat?! I still finished, under duress I might add.

So what have I got to prove this year? I'm certainly not going to prove that I can run one fast (yeah, like I'll ever be able to say that I'm "fast"...fastER than I was...maybe...but never FAST) with as ill-equipped as I am. I'm certainly not deluding myself that this is going to be really fun (perspective: longest run to-date is a couple of 16mi). Top it off - the weather forecast is shit. (Yeah, I'd like to say it nicer, too...but forecast is about 2-2.5in of rain this weekend....)

IF I toe the line to run the full, IF I go the distance, IF I don't hurt myself & IF I am able to enjoy the overall experience - who cares?

I've soul-searched a few times this week trying to figure out why I'm so immovably stuck on this thing & can't come up with the answer. I don't know what I'm proving to who or if this will even do the trick. But I know I can't get this thing out of my head & out of my mind. So on Sunday I will suffer a bit with a bunch of other folks. Here's hoping the expo is cool, the boyfriend rubs my legs well (or doesn't touch me at all, depending on the outcome's severity) & we get a HELLUVA cheeseburger on the way home. There will be a report at some point. (my training log will be caught up too.....after pigs have flown)

April 26, 2010

Mutt Struts!

The mutts, Cory & I took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track yesterday to raise some money for the Humane Society of Indianapolis. It's a good cause & I figured the dogs would be entertained by the chaos, or participants, whichever. I wasn't disappointed on that level. Add in the chilly temperatures & the ugly rain & it was just kind of a gnarly day. All things considered, we had a pretty good time - there was a lot of laughing, quite a bit of dog impersonation & Vivi even calmed down most of the way around the track! Ellen took a few photos of us kinda early on...they're hilarious because they make Monty look like the "difficult" one...ha!



How do you know the weather's decent?

Because the blog postings get fewer & further between! (Either that or work goes totally INSANE. In this case, it happens to be both...so I'm trying to keep the "me" balance in check & make sure I get my time - away from a computer. I'm not doing a great job, but I'm surviving & there's an end to this insane schedule in sight.)

Spring flowers (& one of Vivi, just 'cause she's purty..), as promised over a week ago.....





This is the first year I've had tulips...well, multiple tulips, if you don't count the one that bleeping bunny has chewed off in years past.




This little guy just makes me happy...& more tulips!









This also makes me happy...morning dew + hostas...

These are the back hostas....this is mid-April! Holy cow...I'm going to have to divide most of these this year (again)....

Also the first year for some hyacinth...hoping it all comes back next spring!

The flox! I love the flox...it's a bit untamed though...

More to come...I'm having tons of fun with the little camera & the flowers!

April 20, 2010

Florabama MulletMan Triathlon - Race Report

Ahh, the familiarity, the festivities, the food, the fun! This is just about my favorite race, because I just have so much darn fun. This year was no exception, though it seems this race offers a different dynamic each year depending on who's around, how we/I feel & the wind. Amazing how little things affect the overall outcome of the day....

Swim -
There was an odd surf break this year. Course is out 100yd, down 200 yd, in 100yd. Fairly straightforward. Last year because of the wonky weather/waves/rip tides they cut the swim massively & basically made it optional. I was one of only a few that went around the buoys. This year had a GREAT forecast - middle of the night Friday the wind was supposed to swing around & be offshore, making it a glass surface. Glass may be a bit over-stated, but it wasn't too bad. The first break was out just past our line, decent if you kept an eye on it, entertaining when/if you didn't. I got rolled a couple of times but nothing major. Main break was just a few yards offshore, so it was fairly easy to cruise in with the current, as long as you kept an eye on the break & didn't get slammed to the sand (read: my warm-up swim, depositing sand where there shouldn't ever be sand present). Fairly uneventful, though a bit more pushing than I'm used to here. No worries, I swing with the best of them. I was top 13 overall on the swim, top 3 chicks outta the water, dominated the age group. (1/4mi Swim - 8:32)

T1 - the usual cluster of sand, rocks, pain & cussing. As always, I could be quicker. I could also be much slower. Moment of brilliance: squirting off my feet with the extra water bottle I had. No need for buckets/pails, just one more bottle & enough sense to make sure I don't use the one with the energy drink. (2:06)

Bike -
First race with the aero helmet...(read: charity silent auction dare-devil antics gone bad). Gotta say, having my ears covered isn't such a bad deal. Maybe increases the focus a bit. Race wheels with the trispoke bump were a bit annoying, maybe worse than normal & not entirely straight - not sure, but when you can only hear what's right in front of & below you, it's annoying. That wonderfully promised wind wasn't quite as promised, it was slightly out of the northeast, but only had a noticeable affect for about 2-3min after the turnaround. No noticeable push or drag otherwise. Had a great ride up the bridge - dropped people all over! And of course, this tank goes downhill quickly...THE singular advantage to being VP of the chubby girls running club - biking downhill! I think I topped out in the upper 30's on speed.

Didn't have the aero bottle on the bike...neglected to remember where I put the rubber bands AND the velcro to hold the bastard down. So I went old-school with the regular bottle behind the seat. NO worries, eh? Except that gulping down liquid in mass quantities while in the fetal position pumping one's legs into one's stomach (a la pistons) does NOT make for good digestion. Add in some hard effort & hard breathing & the scene is ripe for regurgitation, yes? Yes...let's just say I brought a new meaning to "I just threw up in my mouth a little." NO worries, most of it stayed down, the rest of it decorated pavement. It was just liquid anyway & a sprint race. Note to self: find bleeping velcro & bands - one band is in purse/on gearshift in car...idiot.

Another note: getting a haircut the day before a race might not be a great idea. Either that, or the tiny little pigtails sticking out might have a drawback on the aerodynamics of the helmet. Whatever, it makes for a smile & a funny shadow. I'm not too worried about it.

I whipped out a PR on this bike course by a few minutes. Felt pretty good outside of the liquid rejection thing, position on bike wasn't uncomfortable, legs were steady but getting tired at end. (17mi bike - 50:13, 3 AG, 6 Female, 59 overall)

T2 - Oh, if I were just a quicker person. I will say I like coming back to an empty rack. The downside is there's no weight holding it up - I almost sent it all flying. No worries, I even remembered to take off my helmet - which in turn ripped off my sunglasses. (At least I discovered why they wouldn't sit straight on my face - they were tucked around a strap!) Grab the number & the visor, put on a shoe or two (opting to, once again despite my own intelligence otherwise, neglect socks - thinking that washing trick really did a great thing) & away I went. Note that I did tuck the gel I had into my shorts - I had every intention of actually eating it at that point. I can still (as always) gain some time here...(1:47)

Run - Forget the gel, forget the breathing, forget the hydration. Just. Keep. Running. Determined to pound out a good time I was pushing pretty hard right off the gravel. Ran by a cheering section/gauntlet - C's recruiting new friends & the parents on the other side of the road & quickly reached my "pain threshhold of running". Having learned last year in July on a track in Indiana that no, in fact, running hard won't kill me - I was quite determined to pound out a decent (for me) run. First mile hurt a bit, struggled with my breathing some & just pushing up against where my body wants to slow down. I did grab some water at the aid stations - I figured not capturing as much water as I could on that bike combined with having a microwave on my head was having an effect on my hydration levels. I also figured that, despite I thought was a quick swim & a great bike, an extra minute or so at my run pace wouldn't kill me. So I grabbed some water, walked a smidge & pushed back up the pace as soon as I could. Prob. ~ 30sec walking at 2 aid stations. (The third station is less than a mile from the finish - I grabbed the little cup on the run, splashed about half in the direction of my mouth - a.k.a. up my nose - & the other half down my chest. I'm not sure how much of either was intentional...) I hurt quite a bit but pushed my limits a bit. Got chicked once but very much deserved it - she was tiny, flying & running harder than I was. Just a solid, consistent run effort all the way to the line. Not much gas for a finishing kick - ok.
(4mi Run - 35:15, 167 overall - slow, but it was 8:38s!!!!)

Overall - 2nd age group, 75th overall, 7th chick, 1:37:51, I'm counting it as a PR, in 2005 the race was 2mi shorter (bike) & I was right at 3:00 slower than that. It was about ~:25 on the swim, about 1:00 on the bike & just over 2:00 faster on the run. I think the 2005 numbers include transition though...so that's clearly where I'm slower. Which, ok, my feet are a bit more sensitive. Maybe I just need to get the lead outta my ass.

Either way...we then proceeded to have a blast. The typical post-race of hanging out with some of the family, a couple of friends new to the scene & the other Indiana crew that heads out. Acquired a rockin' set of Klipsch earbuds, slurped down a few Whackers of the Bush, cashed out on a reserved cabana-dealy for a bit & strolled on the beach awhile. I've got to say...it was a fan-freaking-tastic way to spend a day. Great way to start 2010.

April 13, 2010

Training is lacking, but the weather's nice....

Training is training...fairly blah. Haven't been running NEARLY as much as I should, but what else is new? Finally getting back out on the bike a bit - actually enjoying it this year! And of course the swimming...so a couple more weeks of this HARD CORE running thing (definition of hard core being very, very loosely interpreted - one run last week hardly counts, but I think about running a lot..surely that means something) before this marathon & then I'll turn a LOT of my intensity to swimming...I'm hoping to spend a lot of time outside in prep for Sharkfest & the 10K. I'm not so much worried about the tris...kicking back to a couple/few runs a week of no INSANE distances or pain & some bike rides with some fun, throwing in some speedwork & some really consistent swimming (think mornings) & I'll feel good about life & maybe drop a few pounds. (Note that will depend heavily on me A)doing what I just said & B) not eating everything in sight....so we'll see.)

Ran somewhere between 14 & 15 this weekend - we totally thought it was about 15+ - I still think that Googlemaps is whacked. It wasn't too terribly bad. Right hip flexor got pissed, left foot (1st met) was unhappy but not too bad. My body was just mostly done. And that's ok...I deserved it. Looks like I might be heading in the same direction this week - not much volume heading into this marathon thing....doom. Oh well....I just want to run it, survive it, not have to medicate too heavily after it & finish with a time under/around 5:15...doom on me for setting a time goal, since I should be happy if I can breathe & stay upright & be ok. We say every training run, "One of these days we're going to really train right for one of these things & see what we can do." Unfortunately, this will not be "one of these days" on May 2....but I'm hoping it's still fun.

My swim form is all jacked up for some reason, no idea why but I'm working on it. Just seem a bit wonky & not really connected still. Maybe my head position is a bit weird, maybe I'm not getting enough 'real' sleep, maybe my arms are crossing over a bit, not really sure. I'm just getting pushed around quite a bit & just don't feel as comfortable in the water. Times are still decent, but do seem to be a bit off. My volume is also probably down a bit as well, so that might contribute. Not sure, just annoyed with it. But...with volume comes speed & the natural working out of kinks...so it'll all be ok. Worst-case scenario...I can still survive a damn long time in the water...so there's always that.

Stay tuned for neat spring photos coming soon....the flowers are a boppin' in the yard right now.