Okay the week start out like this----Do I run. . . yes, NO, yeS, nO, yeS, no, YES, I will!
Well here it goes
I got up EARLY to eat. I had a bagel with PB and Jam and a banana with lots of water. I then laid back down for about 40 minutes. That was an awesome feeling. I left my sisters house headed to the race parking site. I should have arrived about 1 1/2 hours before the start. I got to the final exit and knew I was in trouble--the exit ramp was very long and both lanes were backed up onto the highway. SO I finally got to the parking to catch the shuttle at 8:10am. The start was at 8:30am. No I was not panicked or anything. I did have time to hit the port-a-john while waiting for the shuttle to pickup. Oh yeah, I also realized my Nike+ sensor was dead. Oh well, I needed the music and had my watch for my time. I got to the start at 8:20am and actually found my friend among the 10,000 runners in the area. That was definitely a GOD thing. There is no reason I should have been able to find her.
The national anthem and the flyover and then we were ready to start. The gun went off as did the people on the 13.1 mile journey. The temp at start was about 60 degrees. I wish it had been a little cooler. My first 3 miles were 9:00 miles. I felt great with my Berry Fusion Jello powder that I ate right before the start. Then I took a wrong step around the corner and my foot and heel were shooting pain. So I said to myself--now what do I do. I have a couple choices--walk which I thought I could still do and then run again if I could get my foot in order, sit down on the side of the road and hope that security came along. So I decided to see if I could walk and get my legs and feet back in order. It seemed to work. I then started running again and had not lost much time. We ran throughout base, through the General's housing, and such. It started to warm up more than I wanted but I still felt good. I was able to do the port-a-pot stop at mile 5. Then it was just a walk here and there to keep moving. My foot did not feel great by this point but was still pretty good. Then, with only 2.1 miles to go I had to stop. There was a marathon guy laying on the side of the road. Two other people came over and placed a call to the medics. They were 5 minutes out so I told them my time is nothing for me to concern myself with and that I would stay with him. He was talk (not much sensible, but talking and I could get a glazed over eye contact), then he rolled over and stood up and started to stagger along. I told him I thought that he should just stop because if he fell I would probably not be able to catch him. Then the medics came on their bikes up over the hill. YEAH! I am still wondering what happened with him once the medics arrived. I am sure he was under on Gatorade, nutrition, and water--all on his own doing because there were lots of aid stations.
So I do not have my official finish time because I forgot to stop my watch at the end. However, I am pretty sure I was under 2 hours 30 minutes. I had hoped after the wonderful start to be finishing around 2 hours. I am thrilled with my finish. I was praising the Lord the entire route with my iPod music and just thanking Him for allowing me to meet up with my friend after 20 years to run a race. She finished in just under 2 hours. Hurray!!!!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Le Tour de Donuts - Klackle Orchards
Well sometimes you do a race for the t-shirt and then there is a ride for donuts. Okay I thought how fun and yummy! Now I can say the first one was great the last one (#8) was horrible as it is sitting in my gut.
Weather--cool to cold and drizzle the entire ride
Riders--Denise (along with Paco Jr and sidekick), Kristen, Jen, and myself
So my story goes like this. We were up early so that we could arrive at Klackle's ORchard to pick up race packets. I am not sure they really had an idea what they got themselves into by sponsoring the ride. They were a little flustered on what to do if you have a line of people needing to register and ones that were pre-registered. We hot our small bag to fill with apples at the end of the ride, a t-shirt that if I had Andrea high-heels and leggings I would have to take a picture (longer dress than Reed's Lake-only in white), a couple coupons for Meijer's Naturals items. All the race volunteers were friendly and smiling through the rain.
So we ride the first ~10 miles before our first donut stop. The first loop had a crazy unexpected hill but other than that was a great ride. We pulled into the donut stop and found a seat. We drank some water, delicious apple cider, and ate some donuts (okay, I ate 4). Yikes! I also belched better, louder, and longer than Kristen. Yes, a proud moment. We then had to pull out and do the next 10 miles before we got a stop for bathroom and donuts again. Brrrrrrrrr! Until we got to riding again it was quite chilly. I think it is during this leg and not too far into it that my bike started to rebel. If I wanted to shift to my easiest gear and onto the smallest ring my chain would jump off.
So we arrived at the second donut stop and I felt the need to ingest another 4 donuts. Oh did my tummy start to hurt. Geee Pam, I wonder why. Please do not mention donuts again for a long time. After not having sugary things for almost 6 weeks I enjoyed a little too much the last two weekends. Now, I wish I could just sleep. Okay, now we are headed out again home-free in 10 miles. It seems like an easy task.
The last leg ended up being "The things that you can only laugh about" because crying would not be any good. So before mile 28 my chain had popped off a total of 5 times and the dreaded -- I got a flat. So I got all my stuff out and began to take the old tube out and put a new tube in with the assistance of Jen. HAHAHA! Wait Jen, I think I hear the tractor. YAhoooooooooo! We've got a ride back. I knew I needed to take my bike in to Village for the chain/gear issue so we might as well hitch a ride and let them finish the tire/tube issue. So we hopped on the back of the SAG vehicle with our bikes. It was a tractor pulled hay wagon.
What fun! So all of you that were home dry and warm. Now you know what you missed out on. This is my take on the ride. We did have fun but would have been better if the sun had been shining.
Weather--cool to cold and drizzle the entire ride
Riders--Denise (along with Paco Jr and sidekick), Kristen, Jen, and myself
So my story goes like this. We were up early so that we could arrive at Klackle's ORchard to pick up race packets. I am not sure they really had an idea what they got themselves into by sponsoring the ride. They were a little flustered on what to do if you have a line of people needing to register and ones that were pre-registered. We hot our small bag to fill with apples at the end of the ride, a t-shirt that if I had Andrea high-heels and leggings I would have to take a picture (longer dress than Reed's Lake-only in white), a couple coupons for Meijer's Naturals items. All the race volunteers were friendly and smiling through the rain.
So we ride the first ~10 miles before our first donut stop. The first loop had a crazy unexpected hill but other than that was a great ride. We pulled into the donut stop and found a seat. We drank some water, delicious apple cider, and ate some donuts (okay, I ate 4). Yikes! I also belched better, louder, and longer than Kristen. Yes, a proud moment. We then had to pull out and do the next 10 miles before we got a stop for bathroom and donuts again. Brrrrrrrrr! Until we got to riding again it was quite chilly. I think it is during this leg and not too far into it that my bike started to rebel. If I wanted to shift to my easiest gear and onto the smallest ring my chain would jump off.
So we arrived at the second donut stop and I felt the need to ingest another 4 donuts. Oh did my tummy start to hurt. Geee Pam, I wonder why. Please do not mention donuts again for a long time. After not having sugary things for almost 6 weeks I enjoyed a little too much the last two weekends. Now, I wish I could just sleep. Okay, now we are headed out again home-free in 10 miles. It seems like an easy task.
The last leg ended up being "The things that you can only laugh about" because crying would not be any good. So before mile 28 my chain had popped off a total of 5 times and the dreaded -- I got a flat. So I got all my stuff out and began to take the old tube out and put a new tube in with the assistance of Jen. HAHAHA! Wait Jen, I think I hear the tractor. YAhoooooooooo! We've got a ride back. I knew I needed to take my bike in to Village for the chain/gear issue so we might as well hitch a ride and let them finish the tire/tube issue. So we hopped on the back of the SAG vehicle with our bikes. It was a tractor pulled hay wagon.
What fun! So all of you that were home dry and warm. Now you know what you missed out on. This is my take on the ride. We did have fun but would have been better if the sun had been shining.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Reed's Lake Triathlon - 2009
Well, I had a great nights rest which I usually do not have the night before a race. I woke up and felt great. However, my stomach started acting up shortly after that. I get up with a lot of time to spare so it all worked out. By the time I left my house to meet Kristen and Jen (yahoo!) I was feeling fine.
I arrived at my bike rack at around 6:20am and was the first bike on my rack. I did not count on getting this spot but was pleasantly surprised. The air was quite cold (54 degrees) this morning but was perfect for a race.
I planned for the swim to be my weakest area so was glad that it is at the beginning. I figured my time up when I got home, and realize I was faster than at Three Rivers. I felt people kicking and nudging me as I was finishing up the last half of the swim. I swam on the outside at the back. The worse part of the swim was my yucky yellow swim cap. So I fixed that with some yucky yellow nail polish. I got to come out of the water with a high five along side Lori. YEAH! I familiar face!
Then I had a good out of the water to the bike experience. I laid my bike helmet wrong on my bike so I had trouble get my straps untangled. Other than that my transition went just fine. I was ready for the bike. I was able to get 2 training rides in so knew what to expect on the course. I have been so happy to be able to have a new road bike this year. I feel sooooooooo fast. I was under the time I had originally set for my goal time for the bike. When I was close to coming in on the bike I was so disappointed. I felt so great there that I wanted to ride more! My only bad part of the bike was taking full packet of Gu and then take a swig of water. I then went to put my water bottle back in the cage and missed and off my NICE water bottle went across the road. I had another bottle on my bike but it was Gatorade.
Then I was off to run. I stopped at the first water station out of transition so that I could have water. I still had that gut full feeling from the Gu sitting without enought water. My the back of my arch through my heel was tender and my legs were not quit ready but I started to slowly jog. Well I tried to continue and started to be able to pick up pace when my foot was telling me NO! I kept trying to walk a little, run a little, walk a little, etc. I finally found a familiar face here--YEAH it's Bekah! I thought she must have a migraine but her main concern was her stomach. So we talked, walked, and jogged together. I started to go ahead and then realized we both would do better if we could stay together and get each other through it! THANK YOU, THANK YOU Bekah for waling and jogging as we both could. I tried to kick in the last bit with my foot killing me and I felt some bad pains as I kicked it in.
So in the end, I had a great time today until the run! The run was discouraging for me. I hoped to be able to have a great run time since this year had seemed to be soooooooooooo good for my runtimes. Oh well, the best part is finishing!!!! Once again, it was so fun to be with our group. This group is the most awesome. There is absolutely none like us!
My foot feels slightly better. I have stayed off of it except with necessary to walk. I was not sure I would be walking after I finished. Thank goodness for Kristen and Jen!!!
I arrived at my bike rack at around 6:20am and was the first bike on my rack. I did not count on getting this spot but was pleasantly surprised. The air was quite cold (54 degrees) this morning but was perfect for a race.
I planned for the swim to be my weakest area so was glad that it is at the beginning. I figured my time up when I got home, and realize I was faster than at Three Rivers. I felt people kicking and nudging me as I was finishing up the last half of the swim. I swam on the outside at the back. The worse part of the swim was my yucky yellow swim cap. So I fixed that with some yucky yellow nail polish. I got to come out of the water with a high five along side Lori. YEAH! I familiar face!
Then I had a good out of the water to the bike experience. I laid my bike helmet wrong on my bike so I had trouble get my straps untangled. Other than that my transition went just fine. I was ready for the bike. I was able to get 2 training rides in so knew what to expect on the course. I have been so happy to be able to have a new road bike this year. I feel sooooooooo fast. I was under the time I had originally set for my goal time for the bike. When I was close to coming in on the bike I was so disappointed. I felt so great there that I wanted to ride more! My only bad part of the bike was taking full packet of Gu and then take a swig of water. I then went to put my water bottle back in the cage and missed and off my NICE water bottle went across the road. I had another bottle on my bike but it was Gatorade.
Then I was off to run. I stopped at the first water station out of transition so that I could have water. I still had that gut full feeling from the Gu sitting without enought water. My the back of my arch through my heel was tender and my legs were not quit ready but I started to slowly jog. Well I tried to continue and started to be able to pick up pace when my foot was telling me NO! I kept trying to walk a little, run a little, walk a little, etc. I finally found a familiar face here--YEAH it's Bekah! I thought she must have a migraine but her main concern was her stomach. So we talked, walked, and jogged together. I started to go ahead and then realized we both would do better if we could stay together and get each other through it! THANK YOU, THANK YOU Bekah for waling and jogging as we both could. I tried to kick in the last bit with my foot killing me and I felt some bad pains as I kicked it in.
So in the end, I had a great time today until the run! The run was discouraging for me. I hoped to be able to have a great run time since this year had seemed to be soooooooooooo good for my runtimes. Oh well, the best part is finishing!!!! Once again, it was so fun to be with our group. This group is the most awesome. There is absolutely none like us!
My foot feels slightly better. I have stayed off of it except with necessary to walk. I was not sure I would be walking after I finished. Thank goodness for Kristen and Jen!!!
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