Why the picture of the duck? Why not? :-)
I'm going to jam a couple of race reports in, so when I'm REALLY old and decide that reading will be my new hobby...I'll have something fun to read to kill a couple of minutes to remind me of "the good ol' days"!
Wrapping up June, Susan and I headed to the Lake Front for the Chicago Pride Run. I'm not the biggest fan of this race. With an 8:04am start, there is plenty of time for the "crazy" to get on the lake front path and the race merges on with the cyclists, roller bladers, dog walkers, marathon training groups, and strollers. Enough said on that issue. But Susan had an awesome run and took second in her division and I had a decent run.
Mid July was time to head north for the third time around the Racine 70.3 course. Overall, it was my best time for a 70.3 race. I think I'm capable of getting to the finish line faster, but most importantly, the biggest problems I had at High Cliff a couple of weeks prior didn't carry over into this race.
Swim: 40:46
The past two years on this course I swam 46:xx, so taking off 6 minutes was pretty significant. At High Cliff, my swim felt like a disaster because right from the start I was having some issue with anxiety - I've dealt with it since my first race in 2006 so it seems to be just part of the swim for me. For this race, my goal was to stay relaxed, and limit those little moments were I need to "re-group". For this race I figured I would try something new and spent a lot of time the week before the race visualizing a relaxing swim and self talk - "it's the same water 26.7 miles north that I always swim in". Those "smartypants" are onto something! This was the first swim I stayed relaxed the whole time. I'm starting now visualizing swimming in Lake Monona @ IMWI with the algea eating snakes. (Yes, I saw 3 M.O.W.S. day / 0 race day last year...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) Now if I can mix swimming relaxed and move slightly to a brisker "race mode", I'll be able to take a couple of more minutes off the clock!
Transition 1: 6:59
A LOT longer than past years, but bright sunny day, Irish skin, and a course with no shade do not mix well. Well worth the extra time putting on the sun block and not dealing with sunburn.
A LOT longer than past years, but bright sunny day, Irish skin, and a course with no shade do not mix well. Well worth the extra time putting on the sun block and not dealing with sunburn.
In the High Cliff race, I LOVED riding my bike. This race, not so much. When I started the bike, the course was super crowded, people riding three across chatting up a storm, the roads are horrible....I'll stop complaining there.
After seeing a bike crash on the side of the road fairly quickly into the route, I just decided to ride it out and play it safe. The men's swim waves from behind me were flying by and I was running into slower people. I had some good sections of the bike, and others where I just wasn't focused. I pulled over because I thought I had a flat two times and really just tried to focus on getting the nutrition and hydration in to have a shot at a decent run.
Ditto...like T1.
I was happy with my first loop on the course. The second loop obviously wasn't as good, and I have a lot more "things to work on" then "positives" on this run, but since it wasn't the disaster like High Cliff - I'll take it. I am still working on consistency in the second half of the long runs and that has been especially true with the hot weather.
Sitting down after 6:42:18
For a 70.3 race, this was my best time by 12 minutes. I still think I'm capable of getting into that 6:15 range or better...next year!Hopefully there will be less hurdles in the spring to get over and I'll be were I want to be...or better. I know I still have a lot of areas to improve on, but that's half the fun. The good news is, as long as I'm aware of the issues, I can work to fix it! I'm still learning a TON and feel good to hit the next block of training. Trusting my coach and the plan...it's going to be a good year! (Note: I would post more pictures of the race, but Susan kept thinking I was other people...I might have to have a little chat with her! HA!)
San Francisco 1/2 Marathon
To wrap up July, Susan and I headed out to San Francisco to visit some of her relatives and run the 1/2 marathon. The weekend was such a blast with her cousins! Although it's another weekend, I don't know how I missed taking pictures. Susan, her cousin Matt, and I ran the 1/2 marathon and Susan's cousin's son, Peter, ran his first full marathon with a smokin' 3:45 time!
My couple of minute PR for a half may not compare to a crushing time on a 1st marathon run, but going into the race, I was just looking to have a steady run knowing I still had to run more after. It definitely was the hardest 1/2 marathon course I've run - running with a change in the elevation actually makes me want to move. I can't imagine how different and stronger my training would be if I wasn't running in the Chicago flatland. I'm still shooting to break 2 hours in a 1/2 marathon, but after a training week that included a solo 100+ mile ride + run in 100 degrees, I'll take the 2:08 PR at the race that I wasn't trying to PR. Things are moving in the right direction! Slowly but surely...
And one of the bigger highlights of the weekend was I managed to paddle board for the first time...Thank you Monica! Susan lost some money on that bet!
Next up
...more meetings, work, training, eating, sleeping, and repeat! Awesome time - I LOVE this time of year!!! Next week, we'll be crashing with the family down at the Jersey shore. I can't wait to run the nephews ragged!
