The end of 2013, the begining of the recap posts!

I love year end recaps! I enjoy writing my own to relive the year's fun moments (from back in the days when the world was not coated in ice- bleeerch!) I also like to read everyone else's recaps, I like to see what other crazy people have been getting in trouble doing.
It's also amusing to remember the worst, stupidest races of the year too so rest assured I'm going to do that too. 

I think I might do a few of these in a similar manner to last year. I'm so cool, I have multiple year end posts whooooo!!!

Okie Dokie. On to the good stuff.

Best Race.
Oh man... How I want to say Boston! That was supposed to be the race that sticks out in my memory like a shining beacon of amazing athletic accomplishment! I wanted it to be my perfect race so badly, and as fantastic as it turned out (my personal race, not anything else clearly) it isn't at the top of the list. Boston wins for other things though so stay tuned.

OK so REAL best race. It's an effing tie. Between a race that counted for a lot and one that totally did not.
Smuttynose (October-Marathon, 3:25:45)
And... The run leg of the Rev3 OOB team I was on (I know, random...?) (August-13.1, 1:37:10)

It was perfect and amazing (and VERY much worked for) for things to be perfect at Smuttynose. I had never had a marathon like that before and I know they don't play out that way every time. I went in determined to BQ with a time that would enable me to sign up earlier than this year- NO more squeaking in for me! Despite the crapola weather my race went exactly to plan. Every mile flew by, I did everything right, I left it all out there and was not 100% happy in the leg department for a few weeks.... And it was amazing. Whenever I need to remember why I do marathons I just remember that and I'm like "oh right..."

Smuttynose.... The last 400 hurts like a bitch. Woof.

As for Rev3 that was a complete surprise, and I don't get many of those since I pretty much know how my legs are going to react. It just happened that I was at the exact point in my marathon training, on a course that played to my strengths, on a day where the humidity finally broke (somewhat) and I was able to crank it up and run fast and badass. I had encountered a couple 13.1's this year that left my confidence shaken slightly- mostly just wondering if I had lost quite a bit of speed with ultra training. This took care of that nonsense and reminded me how much I like the Half Distance.

Rev3 OOB.... If I can show boat like this I'm clearly not pushing hard enough!

 

Best race because you only get one first time, and DUH I got engaged...
Well Boston Obviously. (and I did run a PR that day which I then killed at Smuttynose)
Other fun facts from this race: I did not have a great first half but then felt better and better, I certainly was tired at the end but maintained pretty well after I made it over the pesky hills. This was a huge confidence boost since my previous marathons had been a struggle for the final 10K.
I'm really excited to be qualified again this year. I have a feeling that I am going to enjoy myself even more since I know what to anticipate. I also expect the aftermath to be requiring fewer swat teams.... I'm not sure how Eric is going to top 2013 but he has 4 months to think about it (kidding Eric, kidding...)

Yay! A happy post race moment!!!

Worst stupidest biggest waste of time races.
UGH Effing Old Port Half. On the merits of sheer stupidity. I will never ever do this race again because it was terrible on so many levels and I don't make repeat mistakes. Like signing up for races that are awful more than once.

Stupid Old Port Half.

Also.... I just hate the Derry 16 miler. It's a well run race! They do a nice job running a decent sized race, in the dead of winter, in a pretty tiny town. What I hate about this race is nobody's fault- it's a race that leaves me questioning everything and 98% dead. So yeah, no thanks.
(and for 1st time Boston runners who do this race for the "prep" quality of it- the hills here do NOT accurately represent what you will see in Boston. Boston has hills. Derry has mountains. So actually, if you want Boston to feel easy do this ASAP!!!!)

Race that I ran on a whim to get an aided training run, which had a bad reputation and I ended up really enjoying.
Bands On The Run in Lewiston.
Who knows why I enjoyed this. Maybe because all I had heard was that it was a shit show in 2012 so my expectations were low. Reaaaaaaaaly low.
Now honestly, the majority of the course is nothing to get excited about. But it is fairly challenging without being brutal, has a section of trail that is entertaining if you aren't going at a blazing speed, and they did a good job this year with plenty of water stops and bathrooms. So, all in all not a bad race. I would consider going back in 2014 and I'd suggest it to friends as well.

Races that will be perennial favorites of mine, forever.
Mount Desert Island, Full or Half
Now that I have run both I can honestly say that the full is one of my favorite courses to run on, hands down. It is not an easy course or one that would be ideal for a guaranteed PR or BQ (although it is doable!) I really missed doing the whole course this year- although it would have god damned killed me.
As far as the half goes same deal. Challenging course for sure, but I expect that it will draw some very fast people in the upcoming years ending my reign as a podium finisher. There are a few wrinkles to work out after this year but nothing major or worrying. It was definitely "MDI lite" in 2013- a little messy at the start (and much less exciting! the start of the Marathon is legendary) and it would be nice to have a little pomp and circumstance for future podium finishers (*ahem* *use the podium* *ahem*) But those minor silly things aside, I'd definitely force my friends to get up to MDI and run this. Yearly.

MDI is even pretty in the rain! (good thing...)

My favorite picture.
Because why not? It's my blog and if I want to post all the pictures of myself I can!
This is the winner, from GCI back in July when it was warm and not snowy out.

It looks like I am winning.
I'm not.
I am, however, leading the peloton...
(before I bombed at mile 19 and they all caught me! Hah!)

 

So that is it for today's recap post. Much more to come since I like to string these things out for as long as possible!

Rev3 Maine recap, in which Pace Booty lives up to its name.....

Once upon a time, a long LONG time ago (as in the middle of winter) a turbo charged super competitive all woman's relay team was formed.
Knowing that all three of us were more than capable in our respective disciplines we had the podium in our crosshairs. Well, this was before we discovered that in relays there are no gender prizes. Oh well, we don't mind beating a lot of male and mixed gender teams too!

The whole team, workin' it for the camera.
And I'm not short. These girls are just tall.

Jules (on the left) is an amazing swimmer. Cranks out the HM distance like it is NBD and only occasionally pukes a little in her mouth. Pretty damn impressive! She had just done a HM the week before so this was a walk in the park for her...
Kellie (the very tallest one in the middle) came with a reputation of being "an animal on the bike". She does centuries regularly just for fun! She is actually an Ironman which is pretty ridiculous/amazing.
And then there is me, the short one, the BQ marathoner, the pink haired, ninja socked, peanut butter soaked runner. 
And yes, we are amazing.

What a beautiful morning!

After a night in a slightly seedy motel, mostly tossing and turning to the dulcet sounds of a malfunctioning a/c unit and the typical set of youngsters fighting drunkenly in the hallway at 3:10, we awoke (or, acknowledged the alarm) to the most spectacular day imaginable!

There is no better team name. NONE.

After a bit of texting and twittering I found my team mates as Jules prepared for the swim. Kellie had had an unfortunate lapse and forgotten her water bottle cage and all her nutrition. Whoops! Luckily Julia and Dutch had a few extra bikes and a bag of snacks in their car so she was set straight without further ado. It is always good to have friends who are prepared. 



Julia ready to ROCK the swim!

Jules hopped in the water to acclimate to the frigid temps and  to fight off the sharks and a small disaster struck. The timing chip fell off her ankle and floated away, out to sea, on the low, low tide. She had such peace of mind that I hardly noticed the incident and she came back to where Dutch and I were animatedly chatting about National Waffle Day without missing a beat.
It is good to get the trouble out of the way early.

There goes Julia's swim wave. All 8 million of them, yikes!

Once Jules (and Eric) were in the water Kellie and I decided there was nothing more that we could do on the beach in the freezing cold sand. After leaving 400 tri bags in Jules and Dutch's car the two of us went to transition to strategize our imminent victory.

Kellie getting psyched!
Or something like that...

Kellie spent a moment questioning her life choice to ride 56 miles on legs that she claimed were slightly untrained (false.) We had just struck up an excellent conversation about her upcoming nuptials when BOOM! Julia ran in, the second relay-er out of the water in ALL kinds of blazing speed. There was a .25 mile run from the water, or something just ghastly like that.

AND she was OFF!!!

We were sitting pretty, on top of the world. Jules had a solid swim (34 minutes? I think?) she did not vomit, she was about 98% coherent and 100% badass.  Then.... We had a few hours to kill.  We watched the pro's roll in. I chilled with my family in law. I got into my race gear hours early to appease my SIL who is basically Eric in a a female body (which is why we get along like peas and carrots.)  I ate 2 PB&J's. And then I walked back to transition.



Jen (picking me up like a boss) murdered the bike in something insane like a 2:20. WHAT?

The best part of being on a relay team is the fun of sitting in transition, cheering for athletes as they run in and hanging with your friends. Who like to pick me up.
Kellie had guessed that she would complete the bike in 3 hours, Eric swore up and down that she was sandbagging and to be ready at the 2:45 mark (and as previously mentioned, I was ready at the 1:45 mark.)
At 3:00 Jules and I started getting edgy.
At 3:05 you would have thought the world was ending.
At 3:10 we decided that she surely had sustained grievous injury or a flat.
We might be impatient people?
At 3:12 she cranked in and I HIT THE ROAD!!!

And yeah. There are currently no pictures to prove that I did anything other that twiddle around all day eating and mouthing off.
I'm going to spare everyone the blow by blow of the run since this was a team day but here is a recap:
The course was pretty flat, much more flat then anything I have run this year. It was close to 80 but not too humid, a VERY nice change. I had a couple of pretty amazing runs before this one which planted the seed in my head that my (Boston 1/2 split) or 1:42 might be feasible.

It was the best race I had run since Boston. At every mile my whole body said "yes, I can do this, no problem" and so I did. I saw many of my friends out there which was awesome but my focus rarely shifted from running and how amazing it felt. We all know that races like this can be hard to come by so I simply enjoyed it, and motored on to a 1:37:10 finish. Pretty damn close to my current PR of 1:36:40 (from April of '12)

I was a touch incoherent at the finish. All in all though I felt great and was really pleased with my effort! Finishing as a team was really awesome and that is something that makes a relay unique! Our overall finishing time was 5:30:23. We are fast and dangerous. The following pictures give an excellent representation of this amazing badass/danger persona that we all bring to the table. 



Finishing as a team!! Whoooo! Badass!



I have to put in the official picture because it's cool!

Pace Booty! 2nd pace female team, 6th overall. What a blast!!!

Rev3 OOB Relay weekend!

I'm very excited for this weekend!
It's Rev3 round 2 for the season, as I head down there on Sunday to be part of a kickass women's team. Thankfully, all I have to do is show up and run. I'll leave the shark infested ocean swimming and the 56 mile bike to the other ladies, thank you very much.

Hopefully we look as pumped as these people. #enthused

My hope is that I can woman up for a better half than at Quassy. Or at the Old Port Half. Or, come to think of it, any half I have done thus far in 2013. A heads up on the fact that this is a ridiculous goal at this time as I am freshly off Ultra training and happy (boring) rest time. The past two weeks of training have been wonderful and I feel fantastic but these legs will be hard pressed to do much better than a 1:49 or so. BLERCH.

Lucky for me we have a team with a truly excellent swimmer (she wins awards, for serious)  and a biker whose prowess is quite remarkable (she rides 100 miles before breakfast pretty much daily). They are beasts of athletes and I am delighted to be teaming up with them. I guarantee lots of pictures and tales of total domination. (those pesky all male teams better watch out!)

Oh, and the weather is shaping up to be glorious! So unusual. So exciting!

 

Since this is my first official race as part of the Oiselle Volee team I'm justifiably bragging (and not humbly) about how excited I am to represent! YAY I'M EXCITED!!!

Ok I'm done.

Except not really. 

That's ME! Somebody has to bring it coast to coast! ME!

That's ME TOO!!!
My first time on the Athletes page!!!

I can't promise that these screenshots won't become a regular thing.

 

Post OOB excitement I promise to catch everybody up on where I'm at with my Fall Marathon training, it's almost time for an August recap, and I have recently been asked some excellent questions regarding running, prancing, eating and being awesome which I plan to answer here on my blog. Luckily, these queries were not the kind which require an expert reply. (it is good to note, ask me questions at your own risk and remember that I'm the queen of slightly crazy/fantastic life choices!)

 

June Recap

Before I wax poetic about June 2013 I want to reflect for a moment about where I was a year ago.  

So yeah, I had a 202 mile month in June of 2012. I also ran every single one of those 202 miles on such a badly injured leg that I could not walk normally, go down stairs, or (honestly) remember what pain free running felt like. I was about to start the count down to my first marathon and was scared to death that one missed workout would spell certain doom. I still am not sure how the hell I got it done, but I did (and then had to essentially the the entire month of August off. Yeah that was awesome!)

Two major changes in the last year.

-I have a fantastic coach who has kept me fantastically healthy. Clearly I could not do that myself. I don't want to say it out loud but I have not had ANY problems since I began to follow her plan and that is not my norm (my norm is awesome, but chronically injured awesome which basically equals terrible...) 

-A year ago I was very new to long runs. I was under the assumption that they should feel good (and thus, was quite shattered when many were rather awful.) Bottom line: long runs should NOT hurt because you are suffering from a grievous injury. But shit- they DO hurt. Physically, mentally you name it. They can suck hairy ball sacks. Getting a good long run in is awesome but often concerns me because I fear that I have blown my load too early. I'd rather suffer in training and save the good stuff for race day! 

Moving on... 

Race # 1 in June: Quassy! REALLY HOT REALLY BADASS AND FUN.

Number of races run: 2

Number of PR's- HAH. haha. HAH! ZERO homies, ZERO. I did set a 2013 Half PR in (for me) a rather abysmal 1:49 and change. It was a training run, that's my excuse and I'm gonna stick to it!

(and yes, this has me itching to actually "run" a half as I consider this to be one of my better distances. However, it isn't in the cards for this year...)

Number of times I puked on my shoes: Z-E-R-O

Running miles- 155

Cycling miles: 177 plus an hour on the god-damn-useless-torture-trainer

Core: FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL

Times running gave me an adult tantrum: 1 (more on this later...)

Longest run: 20 miles

Number of failed track workouts due to Reginald Doodie: ONE. He is such a shit. Haha get it? 

Number of times I quit running/being an athlete/all the things: 1 (and once again, it didn't take,. I quit then promptly ran 17 like an effing boss.)

Number of times I wore a sundress and compression socks to family dinner: 1
But if I could get away with it this would be my go to outfit.
I'm so hot. It's ok to be jealous.

Take away message for June of 2013: While I might not have the running mileage of 2012 I have more actual hours of working out in the bank. I feel good. The plan we are following for this ultra might be a little left of center but have you met me? So am I. I have complete confidence that the work I'm doing is going to get me to the finish of my longest race to date. 

Other fun facts? I'm focusing my efforts this year on distance vs speed. Last year I did both (train for a marathon! PR in a 5K every week! F**K my legs royally! Cry for my Mom!) I have the 4 on the 4th in the schedule next week and I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I am not going to be able to run as fast as last year. One side of my brain is like "dude, that sucks!" But the logical side of my brain says "you have been training for a freaking 50K. Don't be a hero. Run 8:30's and be cool with it... drink a beer!"So with a pretty huge training week in store we will see what my sprint to non-victory brings. But dudes really? I'm just excited to have a day off in the middle of the week. 

May Recap!

YAY! A finish line photo from Quassy!!!

I look like I'm about to die.

Please note the awesome tan lines that I'm going to get from my most favorite bra (Oiselle strappy for anyone curious- GO GET ONE. Or two. I need many more!)

 

 

So what happened in May...?

Running miles- 107 (yes, this is 90 miles fewer then in 2012. I'm more fit now than I was then. And uninjured. And all around badass!)

Cycling miles- 96 miles. Not bad for a noob :-)  Needless to say, I'm going to beat that amount before the first 10 days of June is over from the looks of things...

Core/Yoga- NOT ENOUGH. I vow to really up the core work in June.

 

Cute outfits? MANY!!! Thanks Oiselle for a skirt a tough girl can wear!

Times I quit running- 2. And I REALLY MEANT it on one occasion. It didn't stick though. 

 

Times I puked on my shoes. Zero. But I really, really wanted to a couple times...

 

Races run- 1. My epic Duathlon debut!

 

Hence, ONE PR! Hah!

 

Longest run- 14 miles. LAME!!! I wish ALL long runs could be 14 miles though. Not gonna lie.

And I looked damn good after. Per the norm.

The big takeaway message from the month of May is that when I start getting really busy with work I end up suffering a lot more than normal when I workout. My job is pretty physical and for a couple of weeks until I adapt I honestly feel downright resentful of having to workout for an hour or more at the end of a relentless 10 hour day. Luckily, I get used to it and get over my LEGIT first world drama. I am lucky that I have the leisure to pursue my athletic fun, and that I have a job to keep me busy (and hopefully keep me from living in a cardboard box!)

 

I always feel like quite the little princess of whiney-ville during the times when training seems like a terrible life choice. (it is during those times that I can see- but still not really understand- how people can fall of the exercise bandwagon... not me though, not me...) The good news is that once I start acclimating to the heat/busy days/exhaustion running and I become very good friends again!

And this is a good thing. Because GCI is looming on the Horizon....

Rev3 Quassy, HEAT! HUMIDITY! HARD HILLS! Part 2

So as expected the alarm went off at 4AM and Eric and Andy were instantly READY TO GO!

We told them to do just that as we needed 5 more minutes. Boys...!!

The first stop was coffee at Dunks, although we were clearly tempted by the fanciness that is McDonalds which was right across the street. Barf...

 

 

Brilliant FB post inspired by the grossness of Mickey Dees..

We noticed that the temp was already 72 degrees. "How can THAT be good??" Kate mused..

Shortly thereafter traffic came to a screeching halt.

Apparently leaving 5 minutes after the super twins did NOT pay off. They hit NO traffic!

 

Awwwwwwww shit.

Fortunately we had plenty of time and the traffic actually moved pretty smoothly along. Definitely a plus for the location- plenty of parking. And plenty of porta potties and a REAL bathroom for those of you who indulged in a McTriple...

One of the first things we noticed when we arrived was a very enthusiastic cheerleader of a guy, dressed in a cape and crown and just harassing the bejeebus out of people. My first thought was that he was the Burger King (my mind was still on the McTriple apparently) and for the rest of the day we saw the Burger King enthusiastically shouting at people. He was everywhere. And he was PUMPED.  It was funny and we want to know who he is and what's his story?!

We walked to the beach to watch the Pros start.
My Boston jacket is just denial, it was already quite warm. Muggy. A nice beach day!

Eric had already pumped up Kate's tires so we had plenty of time to take pics.

Stashing multiple water bottles.
Which would be gone by mile 3...
Notice the guy body gliding his balls in the background? Sorry dude... HAHAHA!
 

Oh Eric! So manly and tough!

I am always convinced that people are going to drown during the swim but I was less concerned when I saw that they had a party barge, about 40 kayakers and a bunch of paddleboarders playing lifeguard. What a paddleboarder would do is a bit of a mystery to me but perhaps they just act as a flotation device. If I ever swim I plan to just grab onto one of them and have them tow me in!

 



Off they go!!

Eric is never scared of swimming so he jumped in and took off in a sea of  churning orange capped bodies. Knowing we didn't have much time Kate and I hustled to the bathroom (for the 400th time) and devised a plan where I would scoot down to the swim finish and text her as Eric came out of the water. Then I'd RUN to the bike start to send her off!

Kate sent me some texts in the 4 minutes that followed.

Wise words.

We absolutely noticed that the relay teams were SERIOUS. Legit athletes. Shaved legs, backwards rhino helmets, body-glided balls, the works.

And the fight to avoid a last place finish began. BWA HAHAHA!

 

Right on schedule Eric leaped out of the water in 36 minutes, noting that the sun had gotten in his eyes making a straight swim a bit challenging. He was fast though and right on schedule! And good looking too which is a huge plus.

 

I sprinted to the bike start and yelled a bunch of useful things like "BE SMART DAMMIT! GO FAST BE CAREFUL WHOOOOOO!!!" And like an aqua streak of lightning she was off.

 

ZOOM! Off she goes!

AND THEN THE WAITING BEGAN....

We managed to fill the time with a variety of entertaining things. I drank a lot of water and Gatorade so I had to pee many times. We watched the pros come in off the bike and start the run which was exciting! I ate some food. We sat on rocks in the shade with Eric's coach and watched as some of our friends came in, hot and sweaty, from the bike. the word on the bike course was that it was "Hot, relentless hills and anyone who can manage it in 3.5 hours is a rockstar..."

About 3 hours after Kate left we started to formulate a plan for making the transition into the run since we really did not know when she'd be coming in. After Andy came thru we made a rough calculation, figuring that Kate went out 30 minutes after he did and she would need 20 minutes more on the course we concluded that if she had a PERFECT ride it would be about 12:10-12:20 when she arrived.

At 12:05 my butt was planted in the shade at the dismount line with the plan that as soon as I saw her I'd run to the bike rack. Much to our delight at 12:15 she cruised on in, hot and sweaty but good! No need for the med tent! I had no time to chat but as it turned out she had a very good ride over the brutal hills. Her finishing time was right in the 3:54 range so, as she had hoped, NOT ONE SECOND OVER 4 HOURS!!!

 

Apparently nobody loves me enough to take my picture as I run so I'm noticeably missing from my own blog!!! Sad face. I looked cute though and had a great outfit so hopefully I find some pictures later.

Anyway, off I went on the run. The first mile was really great because it was straight downhill. And THAT, my friends, was the ONLY downhill thru the whole course.

I can honestly say that it was the hilliest and hottest half I have ever run. I can't imagine coming into a race like this with a goal of being fast- it would have been rather demoralizing. Luckily, I had set reasonable goals for the day and knowing that gave me the ability to actually have quite a fun run. (fun is relative...)

That's not to be confused with easy though... I climbed the dirt road mountain at mile 4-5 and just had to laugh, it was brutal. Unrelenting. Around that time I started picking up fluids from the well stocked aid stations and just couldn't get enough down- I was already shockingly hot and the Gatorade was SO COLD that I instantly developed horrible side stitches. Regardless, I was better off than the poor triathletes who looked totally finished. I can not imagine trying to run after such a brutal bike course, they are a bunch of tough cookies. Who were tossing their cookies on the roadside, ugh I've been there.

 

I saw a LOT of people that I knew! I saw Julia twice who claimed to be hurting but looked strong. I saw quite a few people from TSA all of whom said the same exact thing "the heat is kicking my ASS!" I saw Big Tall Ben!  I also chatted a bit with some friendly strangers who hated me because I was running not walking, so I apologized many times for being a little cheating ahole relay runner. I counted that I passed 207 people (I had to do something to keep my mind off my misery!) (I did not count people who were vomiting I asked those people if they needed help) and I did not count people in the bathroom line. If I had done the full tri and a relay runner had passed me I might have kicked them so I tried to be quiet and not a little showboating jerk like I sometimes am :-) I did pass 2 relay runners and I did not apologize to them, haha...

 

The last mile was legit awful, straight up a hill and I was about cashed at that point.

The Burger King and his merry men totally jumped on me in the last 0.25 and ran me in with great enthusiasm! I was a bit discombobulated and totally missed seeing a whole flock of friends at the finish including Kate and Eric who found me shortly thereafter. Thank heavens as I was lost and wandering aimlessly...

My finish time was 1:51 and dudes, I was hot. I was fine but just radiating heat. The only logical thing to do was jump in the lake so that happened.

 

We met our goal of not coming in last as we finished 7th with a final time of 6:24:10. PHEW.

 

Once again, I can not fathom being a solo athlete facing such a course alone! Definitely not a goal of mine. But a giant congrats to the badass triathletes who conquered that beast of a course!!

 

All of us were pleased with how we did on such a tough day. When I asked Kate and Eric how they felt about it here is what they had to say:

 

Eric: "Well, the swim was very flat....!"

 

Kate: "The course was challenging, technical and at times unrelenting. But fun!" (what she actually meant if you read between the lines is BITCH SHIT HILLS!!!!

 

Despite the heat, etc it was a good fun event, well run, nice BIG medals, and lots of helpful people to answer questions which I always appreciate. I am VERY excited to do Rev3 OOB on an incredibly badass all women's team in August. from the looks of things it is considerably more flat and after this weekend that is music to my ears! (and a big congrats to Julia for her podium finish! super pumped to have you on the OOB team, it's gonna be incredible!)

 

Rev3 Quassy, Heat, Hills and Humidity part 1

It has been a quiet few weeks (months?) in the racing department around here so even when we suddenly had a LEGIT 40 degree temp spike late last week it did little to deter my enthusiasm for the big 70.3 relay at Quassy.

Anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows that I'm not a big fan of the heat, especially when it is a huge shock (going from 52 on Wednesday to 95 on Friday. Hello?)

Just gotta roll with it sometimes kids, and stay hydrated!

 

 

Team Shut Up Legs
Me for the run, Kate for the bike, Eric for the swim.
Don't be fooled by out cuteness, we are terrifying athletic beasts!

Kate and I drove down on Saturday in 98 degree heat, we consumed an absurd amount of Scratch and water in an effort to get a jump on the hydration. We were already sweaty which led to conversations about chaffing, which led to discussion of rashes and how they make us uneasy, which rather bizzarly transitioned to chat of horrific communicable diseases and their symptoms. WHAT? Yeah, just a normal conversation for us.

When we arrived the first thing we said to Eric and Andy had something to do with HIV which was a good conversation starter. Sweet Jesus....

Luckily things got somewhat more socially acceptable after that..

 

REV 3 FTW.
They put on a damn good triathlon.
Please lower the heat next time though...

The lake was the best place to hang out as it was legit boiling out.

We got to know the lay of the land, took in the athletes meeting (which was actually worth staying for and for the first time in my life I listened... What is happening to me!?)

Part of my compulsion to listen was this was my first time doing a Tri relay and I didn't want to f**k it up. I also had my ears open on Kate's behalf as it was her first race EVER and I figured (as most older sisters do) that maybe she'd be too nervous to listen or would have inherited my inability to pay attention in athletes meetings. As it turned out, she was fine.

We chatted as a team about what we thought we could bring to the table in such warm weather. Eric was not concerned about his leg for obvious reasons (if he started dehydrating he could just gulp some lake water after all) but since it has been 30 degrees out here in Maine open water swims have been almost non existent. Eric is a very good swimmer though and could do 1.2 miles with one arm tied behind his back so his estimation of a 35 minute finish seemed very reasonable.

Kate is a strong biker but hasn't had many competitive opportunities thus far. She openly admitted to having a whole list of cop outs should she need them "I just gave blood! I have a really bad back! I am undertrained! (and after the discussion in the car we had diagnosed any number of vile illnesses... hahaha) She really, really wanted to make it around the course in 3:30 and since Eric and I are dinks we kinda said "ummmmmm. about those hills?" She was adamant that she would not go one minute over 4 hours, not ONE DAMN MINUTE. Unless her lack of blood/a good back/training got the best of her. :-)

I straight up suck at running in sudden onset heat (that's MY cop out!) So I decided to run the half in 2:10.

That is a lie.

I said if it was flat (it WAS NOT) I could run it in 1:45-1:50. If there were hills (THERE WERE) 1:50-1:55.

It was, after all supposed to be well into the 80's.

 

We saved this turtle who was trying to cross the road.
This might not seem to apply to my race report but I love turtles!
When I saw him almost die there was much screaming...
I picked him up so that he did not have to climb this mountain and he RAN back to the woods.
Then, forgetting my fingers were all turtle-y I ate some pretzels and got nervous that I had turtle germs, haha!

A Perfect name for our team!
And it was justified, as well.

We wrapped up night one with normal activities. Eating tons of carbs at the OG, having a car dance party to old school rap, not allowing Andy to go to sleep early as he had hoped for because we needed to chit chat, read, take online tests for school, drink a glass of wine, put on our race number tats, ya know the usual.

However, with a 4AM alarm set we all crashed eventually. Crashed is relative as we were all a little nervous that our number tattoos would end up stuck to the sheets. They were a bit tacky, and did stick a bit which was alarming if you wanted to roll over but they made it thru the night!

And how would we fare in the intense heat and humidity the next day? Would we all make it over the legendary hills? Would Eric be able to make his swim goal with only a tiny handful of open water swims in 2013? Would Kate's lack of blood allow her to motor on the bike? Would I puke on the run? Stay tuned for the answers to these pressing questions!

 

 

NYC Marathon! Track workouts! Who needs AAA??

The good news of the day is that I seem to be the only person in the world to have snagged a NYC Marathon lottery spot. I consider this to be a stroke of amazing luck and am VERY excited to run another major Marathon in 2013. Yay! Yay. YAY!!!

 

In other news in between some of the worst Spring weather that we have had in years there have been some glorious days, although they have been few and far between.

My workouts have returned to a place of feeling mostly good, which doesn't mean that I go skipping out of the house in the morning singing a happy song about muddy miles (of crap, yes I do...)

Lots of kickass track miles. Some decent long (ish) runs! I'm feeling good and really excited to race at Quassy this weekend since my competitive opportunities have been few and far between lately.

 

OK. Before you all get bored and quit my blog here are some pictures of my best faces.

 

I totally did hurdles at the track. ALL the hurdles.

Giving anger fist to the track. I love the track so this was silly...
No really, I LOVE the track!!!
Seriously. I'm not joking.

Need a trailer tire changed? I'm your girl...

 As you can see I am a woman of many talents. Tire changing, yes. Hurdle jumping, yes (NO). Able to still run at a sub 7 pace, YES! Lottery luck, HELLS YES!

I'll be blogging with some actual purpose over the next few days as team Shut Up Legs prepares to travel to, and conquer the Rev3 Half at Quassy with great attitude, talent and style. Can't wait!

The Epic 2013 Race Schedule!

Now that 2013 if officially here it's time to talk about ALL THE FUN THINGS that are in the plans!!

After running more races that was good for me in 2012 I fully plan on more of the same for this year. Well.... Maybe not quite.

The awesome thing about 2013 is the number of new adventures that are already in the plans. I'm excited. Big surprise there.

Here are the "big" races that I have on the schedule so far. Boston is noticeably missing, only because I have already overtalked it into the ground, and plan to do so as it draws closer. There are also some other random races that haven't made the cut for today's list because they are just too damn boring. :-)
So here are a few of the most adventurous races that are officially on the to do list!

 

 

This Monster is next on the agenda.
It's going to be a Hyannis training run for both Eric and me and I don't expect to enjoy it- HAH!!!

 

This is my "A" Race.
Boston is supposed to be my FUN race dammit! FUN! MEH!
So this is where the smack is going to get laid. BOOM! (trash talk..)

In order to keep things interesting this is the post Boston destination.
AS AN ULTRA TEAM.
I'm seriously excited for this because nothing says fun like an Ultra Relay!

Calm down, I AM NOT doing a Tri. That would be ridiculous.
(And I am known for my good choices.)
Eric, Kate and I have formed a Half Ironman Relay Team.
ERMAHGRD. We could not be more pumped.
There will definitely be a LOT of blog chatter about our training escapades for THIS one.
It's already a Sufferfest in my basement. Quite a party.

Looks like it is going to be a busy winter and Spring indeed. I'm REALLY looking forward to the new experiences! Last year was a great year for trying all kinds of crazy new things and this year is taking it to a whole new level of absurdity. Can't wait!