Hot fun in the Summer Sun

WOW, it’s already been a month since the last time I posted anything. This summer is FLYING by. I can’t believe there are only 3 weeks left until Labor Day. I’m wicked excited though because Labor Day weekend I’m going to Disneyland with a friend for the half marathon and to claim a Coast to Coast medal! Before I talk about what’s coming up on my race calendar I should mention what has kept me so busy in the last 4 weeks.

As I mentioned in my last post, I crashed my bike then did two 5Ks and a tri. My road rash is totally healed and I have some nice scars now to make the memory of my near death experience really last. The hematoma on my hip is still there, but getting smaller every day. There’s still a weird red blotch on my back like a bruise that just has never gone away. Aside from that, I’m pretty much back to normal. Not quite back to the speed I had before the crash, but slowly getting there.

Here are some picture from the Urban Epic Tri I did (July 10th):


The week after that I continued to rest and recover and then got right back into training for the Peak Performance Portland, ME Marathon. I did a nice 16 mile run and felt really good. I averaged just about 10:15s which was my pace for Boston. I started out a little fast and was averaging 10:00s and under, but the last 3 miles were really hot and humid.

The following week (July 25th ) I did another triathlon, SheROX Tri in Webster, MA. I finished it in 1:27, 20 minutes faster than the Urban Epic tri, proof that if I wasn’t injured I would have totally kicked my brother’s butt. I came in 13th out of 168 and had the 6th fastest bike split. Here are the pictures from that tri:


Next up was the Yankee Homecoming 10 miler. Every year it’s on the hottest day of the summer and I hate every minute of it and say to myself, never again. But then sign up for it again the following year anyway. This was my 3rd year running the 10 miler. It was a little cooler than the past years and there was a slight breeze. I was just hoping to beat my time from the year before which was 1:43. I was really hoping to even be able to get under 1:40 if I felt good. I wasn’t feeling very confident at the start of the race. I had to rush to get there and almost didn’t make it in time and I was a little stressed, but once I started running that stress melted away in the setting sun along the course. The miles went by and I was maintaining a very comfortable rhythm. I got to the last 2 miles and I felt great. I started to pick up the pace a little and passed people left and right that were struggling much like I had in the years before. I made it to the home stretch and saw my friend Ann and she screamed at me “You’re going to get 1:35!!!” and I took off like a bullet firing out of gun. I did it! Not only did I PR, but I got under 1:40 and by a couple of minutes! It was amazing.

That weekend I did another 16 miler. Still feeling great and getting stronger everyday. The following week the Good Times Summer Series started up again with the Bikini Run. I’ve run it 3 years in a row now. I may not have the best body out there, but it’s MY best body and I’m happy to run in a bikini even if my tan lines look a little silly. I didn’t PR or anything, but for me running in a bikini is a huge personal accomplishment no matter what the clock says when I cross the finish line. Here’s a photo:


August 8th was the Witch City Tri in Salem, MA. ½ mile swim – 13 mile bike – 3 mile run. I did pretty good. Finished in 1:28. I had a few fumbles along the way. I stubbed my toe on a giant rock in the water warming up. It wasn’t even really warming up, the water was FREEZING and the only way to warm up was to get out as fast as possible. When I was standing on the beach listening to the announcer and waiting for my wave to start I looked down and noticed I was bleeding, a lot! Great way to start the day. Luckily, as the woman next to me pointed out, the water was too cold for the sharks to come up the coast from the cape. The race started and I swam really well. I’m not fast by any means, but I wasn’t last either. Then getting out of the water I hit ANOTHER giant rock and tripped getting out of the water and gashed open the side of my foot. So now, my toe AND the side of my foot were bleeding. I got to the transition area and couldn’t get my wetsuit off. FINALLY, I got out and got to the mount your bike space and my chain was stuck and I couldn’t get started. Eventually, I got going and passed a ton of people and flew through the bike course in no time at all. Pulled on my sneakers and finished the race. I thought I did really great until I looked at the final results online the next day. I came in 8th place in my age group, out of 8! Apparently a bunch of local tri teams practice on the course and only really fast people registered for the race. I did really well, but everyone else did better. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I did an 18 mile training run the day before the race. Here are the photos:


Up next is the Graniteman Tri in Wolfeboro, NH. Then the Spartan race in Amesbury, MA and then DISNEYLAND! After Disneyland I’m doing Reach the Beach, maybe a few shorter races I haven’t decided on yet and then the marathon. No wonder time flies by, I’m always running, riding, or racing.

Epic Week

Well, last week was … I can’t even think of the right words to describe it. I was sick the entire week before and I started to feel better over the holiday weekend. Even did a 10 mile run on Sunday and a 20 mile bike ride on Monday. Tuesday morning I got up early to bike to work. I made it about 3 ½ miles from my house. I was flying down a hill going about 30mph when a trash truck coming from the other direction turned left in front of me!!!! I jammed on my brakes and went flying over the handlebars through the air and hit the pavement HARD. Cracked my helmet and landed just under the front of the trash truck. Somehow my bike landed 10 or 15ft. away in the opposite direction and one of my blinky lights landed a few feet behind me in the road. My water bottles were scattered on the road in front of me and the truck. It was pretty much a huge mess. The driver of the truck immediately got out and started asking me if I was ok. I just put my hand up and said “gimme a second to catch my breathe and assess the situation”. My first thought was “F*%&^& I have a triathlon this weekend!!!!!!” My second thought was “there goes my place in the good times summer series 5Ks” (I was tied for 2nd). Then I thought I hope my bike is ok. THEN finally, I thought I hope I’m ok.

I was able to get up and walk over to a grassy spot to sit and check out my bike. It looked ok, just a little banged up. I was in the same condition. Ok, just a little banged up. I had road rash on my arm, shoulder, back and hip. I don’t know why the driver didn’t just call 911. I was too out of it to make any kind of good decisions. I just asked him to drive me home. From there I took myself to the Emergency room. Luckily, nothing was broken. I just had a mild concussion and a bunch of bruises and abrasions. It could have been A LOT worse. I am extremely lucky. After the ER I went to the Police station to file an accident report and then to the bike shop to have my bike looked at. I rested for most of the day after taking care of everything.

My hip:

My elbow:


Wednesday, I went to work (not on my bike). I was in a lot of pain, but I couldn’t really sit around my house all day and with a mild concussion it was probably safer to be near people anyway. My hip really hurt and my shoulder started to turn lovely shades of purple. My elbow was still oozing and not really healing that well. I couldn’t focus on anything and I struggled all day with some short term memory loss. That made for a very long day at work and a very frustrating day. I went home after and fell asleep on my couch at about 5:00 and slept straight through til the morning.

Thursday I felt better so I took my bike (all fixed) out for a short test ride. The handlebars were a little twisted and the new saddle was a little too low and my new pedals were too loose. I made the minor adjustments and I was good to go. I followed the ride up with a short run. I was registered for a 5K and I decided to give it a go and just take it easy. I took it REALLY easy and finished in about 35 minutes. The first mile hurt, but after that I felt ok. So, I figured based on these efforts I could still do the tri on Saturday.

Drove up to Portland on Friday night and picked up the race packet and racked my bike. After leaving the race check in we drove around downtown Portland looking for parking for what seemed like an eternity. I was so friggin hungry I was getting really cranky. It was almost 8pm and I hadn’t eaten since lunch time! We actually found a parking spot but these ho-tastic b*tches were standing in it trying to save it for someone else. If my brother had stopped the car I would have jumped out and throttled the girl for the friggin parking spot because I was so hungry. Instead we ended up circling the block 3 or 4 more times before settling on parking in a garage. We had dinner at flatbreads (me, my mom, and brother). We ordered a Nitrate free pepperoni and mushroom and a veggie special that had pesto and summer squash and zucchini and grape tomatoes and, of course, the organic salad with blue cheese to start off with. It was yummy.

Then Saturday morning was the Urban Epic tri. The swim sucked. First of all, pulling on my tri top in the morning I split open the road rash on my elbow and my shoulder. Then my wetsuit, even though it’s sleeveless, came right over the road rash on my shoulder and rubbed it off completely. It was a ½ mile swim, but it felt like it took FOREVER. I felt good in the first ½ of it, but then I got really winded and a little dizzy. Got out of the water and stripped off my wetsuit. Then there was a ½ mile run to the transition area. Hopped on the bike and blew past people left and right. ALMOST caught up to my brother. I saw him on my first lap and my second lap. He was way faster in the swim though and had a 3 minute head start. The last mile of the bike course was this insane hill, actually two hills one right after the other. Both were ~10% grade (which is REALLY steep). I made it up the first hill fine and thought, that was easy, I can eat hills like that for breakfast. Then the second hill hit hard like a sucker punch. I dropped it into the granny gear and made it over the top ringing my bell for the people cheering. I saw my brother already a mile into the run and knew catching him was not going to happen. I made the fast descent to the transition zone and put on my shoes for the run.

I started to run the wrong way out of the transition area, but then got my bearings and I was off. Got comfortable pretty quickly, but then about ½ a mile into the run there was a huge grass hill to run up. It was more like hiking than running. I got to the top and I was gassed. Still 2.5 miles to go and I was out of energy. I pushed through and continued. My hip started to really hurt a lot and then after a little out and back loop we turned down a trail and had to run down a steep hill on a dirt trail and that hurt A LOT. Then at the bottom of the hill despite the huge orange sign with an arrow on it everyone in front of me turned the wrong way down the trail and I followed them not really paying attention and we got about ¼ of a mile down the trail before we realized we went the wrong way and had to turn around and go back. Got back on track and finished the race with a little kick at the end and then straight to the med tent for some ice. Overall, it was a fun race, tough course, but good times. If I was 100% and not injured I think I might have been able to catch my brother. Afterwards we hung out at the post race party for a while and I gave away my two free beers to some of my brothers friends. Pictures from the race will be posted as soon as I get them.

Escape the Cape

WOW, it's been a busy week and a half since I last posted something. I've been biking to work almost everyday despite the fact that the showers were broken until this morning (they worked, they were just freezing cold). So, I've logged a total of 160 miles on my bike since my last post and over 600 so far this year. Time flies when you're addicted to endurance sports.

Last weekend I did the Escape the Cape triathlon in Onset, MA. It was my first tri this year and my first swim this year and my first swim in my new wet suit. I finished in 1:12:48. Not bad for not really training for it and just wingin' it. Imagine how fast I could be if I tried. The distances were 1/3m swim, 10m bike, and 5K run. I was slow in the water (to be expected since I don't really train for the swim), I destroyed the bike and averaged over 20mph (would have been even faster, but there was a no passing zone and I got stuck behind a chick on a hybrid bike), and then I did better than I expected in the run and completed the 5K in 25:23.

Here are some of the pro photos (I might buy them because they actually came out really good):




It was a really fun race and they had pretty decent food at the finish and a DJ and the area was really beautiful. Advertised as the Cape without the bridges and it lived up to the ads. I will definitely sign up for this race again next year.

After the race I went home and chilled, did some laundry and cleaned my house. Sunday morning I got up and did a 10 mile run. Nice and easy, nothing crazy. This week has flown by. I biked to work Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and today (25 miles round trip each day) and Tuesday I did a 6 mile run in the morning and then did it again in the afternoon with my friend Kim. We ran it about 2 minutes faster than I ran it in the morning and it was almost 80 degrees out!

This weekend I'm going to break my nasty habit of not training for the swim and actually get in some open water swimming not in a race setting. We'll see if I can keep it up and maybe place in my next tri. I'm also going shopping for some tri gear with my friend Kristen a tri newbie this year. It'll be a really fun day of exploring topped off with some swimming and maybe a late day bike ride.

Next week the Good Times summer series begins and I'm gunning for 3rd place bigtime so I hope it's not too hot and I can get a good time, maybe even PR again.

My DFMC fundraising has sadly come to a screaching halt just shy of my 10K goal. I was able to raise $9665 for Cancer research. I am extremely proud of this accomplishment and I hope that I can repeat my success next year with the 2011 DFMC team.

Good Times

Last night I completed the Good Times 5K Spring series. It was a perfect night for a run in beautiful downtown Lowell. In the mid-60s, sunny, with a light breeze; ideal running conditions for me. I knew going into the final race that I was in 4th place in my age group and it would take a miracle to get third. Basically, the overall points leader would have to trip and fall or the third place girl would have to miss the race due to food poisoning or something crazy like that. Neither one of those things happened, but it was still a great night.

The gun went off and I was not prepared, it startled me a little and I fumbled to start my Garmin. It wasn’t working so it took me a few steps to get it figured out and get back into a comfortable rhythm. Once I was settled, it was ON! I cruised through the first mile and looked down at my Garmin and saw 8:07 and thought, “That can’t be right, must be because it didn’t start right away.” I saw some friends up ahead of me running with their dogs and I tried to catch up. With a little more than a mile left to go, I passed them and took off as if the dog was chasing me. I don’t know what I did right, whether it was the yummy hummus wrap I had for lunch or the much needed rest day I took the day before, but I was unstoppable.

Less than a mile left to go and I looked down at my Garmin and it said 17:24 and I thought, “A mile is still pretty far, just keep running.” I used my favorite finish technique, pick a person and pass them, and one by one I leap-frogged my way closer and closer to the finish. With less than half a mile to go I really kicked it up, took some deep breaths and tried to catch just one more person. THEN, I saw the clock. It still had a 24 on it!!! I could get under 25:00. Holy crap. Last tenth of a mile was a full sprint and I crossed the finish line with a new PR, 24:51!

So, I might not have worked my way into 3rd place, but I did get a new PR and for someone that just 3 years ago couldn’t run at all and weighed almost 300lbs. I’d say 4th place is an AMAZING accomplishment and definitely something I am very proud of. AND since I completed all 8 races in the series I got a GOLDEN MYLIE:

A Run to Remember

This weekend I ran Boston’s Run to Remember half marathon. I was really hoping to break 2hrs, but as soon as I saw the weather forecast go above 90 degrees I knew that was not going to happen. Next best thing would be a PR and if that didn’t happen I would settle for just finishing and not dying in the heat.

Saturday, I went into the expo with a bunch of friends to get my bib number and to get lunch. We ate at this great little place on Newbury St. We just stumble upon it and what an amazing discovery! It’s called “Cafeteria”. Everything on their menu is organic, all natural, made from scratch. I had the grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Then we got dessert. They had a brownie Sunday and a cookie plate and we couldn’t decide which one to get so we got both. Both had homemade ice cream and fresh whipped cream on top. OH MY GOD, it was out of this world. It was so good, we went back for another helping after the race, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Sunday morning we drove into Boston, it was already 70 degrees at 7:00am! Not a good sign. I just kept telling myself, start slow, get comfortable, see how it goes and then if there’s still gas in the tank in the last 5K kick it up and finish strong. We all got separated when we parked so we tried to find everyone in the start corrals and it just didn’t happen.

At 8:00am the gun went off and we started the race. The first few miles went by incredibly fast. I was glad I had my fuel belt with me though because the water stops were few and far between. After winding through some of the downtown streets of Boston, the course dumps you out onto Memorial Drive (very fitting considering the race is held every Memorial Day weekend in memory of fallen Law Enforcement Officers). The course is mostly an out and back along Memorial drive. There is a little shade and usually a light breeze, but it’s so hot it doesn’t help much. Before I knew it, I reached the turn around a little after Mile 6. I hadn’t seen any of my friends, but I was maintaining a pretty decent pace, not record breaking, but not bad considering the heat. I kind of knew as the race went on even as I passed the halfway mark, the halfway point distance wise is NOT the same as the halfway point energy wise; I wasn’t feelin’ great. I’d be lucky to just finish the race.

In years past I have always bonked around the 9 mile mark on this race course, but this year as I ran by the 9 mile marker I felt pretty good. I even got a little boost of energy knowing that I hadn’t bonked yet and it didn’t feel like I would. The course leaves Memorial drive and winds its way back through Boston, around the common and over the Seaport Blvd. bridge to the finish in front of the World Trade Center. It’s just about 2 more miles, but it feels like an eternity because there are a lot of twists and turns and when you finally reach the Seaport you can see the finish, but it’s still about ¾ of a mile and it’s the LONGEST ¾ of a mile EVER! Your in the blazing sun and you just want it to be over and done and you have to keep running.

I did it. I finished, alive and standing, AND I even managed to squeak in just under my time from the previous year and PR’d. My GPS read 13.5 miles and I was exhausted and dehydrated. Just as I crossed the line the girl in front of me STOPPED right in her tracks and I collided with her sweaty nasty back and yelled at her, “DON’T STOP!” I friggin’ hate it when people do that. It wasn’t entirely her fault though. The finish chute was very poorly organized. There was only about 10ft. between the line and a sharp 90 degree turn into a dark, crowded, sweaty, stinky, air conditioned hallway. Going from 90 degrees and humid into air conditioning with no cool down walk while your heart is still racing IS NOT IDEAL. I almost passed out.

I made it out of the crowd and to an open space inside the Trade Center and tried to drink some water. I felt really sick to my stomach and light headed and I was crusty and dry and covered in salt so I knew I was severely dehydrated. I sat down and sipped my water and tried not to vomit. After a while I got up and walked around a little more trying to find some friends and in the chaos of the crowd I found two of my best friends ever….. Ben and Jerry!

More Flags, more fun!!

So, this weekend I decided to take it easy and take a break from running. I went to Six Flags with some friends to celebrate my birthday and "be a kid again". It was AWESOME!!! We left my house around 8am Saturday morning and drove all the way to the middle of nowhere in western Massachusetts. Along the way we enjoyed some awesome 80s flashback tunes and organic lollipops to start the day off and go back in time and maturity for the day. We got to Six Flags right when the park opened and hit all the major thrill rides right away. Started off slow with the Tomahawk ride and then moved on to bigger and better rides like Flashback and Bizarro (redesigned Superman), then Batman and Minderaser. The Superman/Bizarro ride is still my favorite. Although the last time I went to six flags it was a totally different experience. I was too wide to fit comfortably in most of the rides and the safety harnesses were kinda painful. This time was awesome, I had lots of wiggle room and my butt fit in the seats just fine. I'm a little bummed that for some reason when we rode the Bizarro ride the cameras weren't working and we didn't get a picture because that one would have been AMAZING! But we did get this pretty great photo of all three of us on the Batman ride (I'm the one in the yellow T-shirt with my hands up):

Now THAT's how you should celebrate getting old, act WAY younger than you really are and just have FUN!

After we ate lunch in the parking lot tailgate style, we headed back into the park for some slower paced rides like the merry go round (to really feel like a kid again) and then a few other fun thrill rides. The last ride we went on Pandamonium, probably would have been fun, but the line was wicked long and the entire time we were waiting we were stuck behind this ridiculously annoying old woman. She was complaining about the teenagers in the line being loud, but she was louder than them! We made every attempt to turn our backs to her and ignore her, but she continued to talk to us and scream "Ladies!! Ladies!! I asked you a question...." By the time we got on the ride and finished it, we were all pretty much spent. We stopped at the Coldstone Creamery on the way out and got some yummy ice cream to finish off the day.

Sunday, I got up and ate breakfast (waffles with fresh berries and whipped cream) and ran into the Lowell for the Lowell Firefighters 5K. It started a little over a mile from my house so running there was a good warm-up. The clouds hung around for most of the race, but it still felt pretty hot and steamy (and for once, I'm not talking about the firemen). I ran the race in a respectable 26:03 and finished 8th out of 52 in my age group. Stuck around after the race for some free lunch and socialized with some fellow runners. Then ran back home and hopped on my bike for a nice 23 mile cooldown. Perfect way to end my birthday week. :)

Flat Tires SUCK!

This morning I totally got up on the wrong side of the bed. I woke up an hour before my alarm clock went off, but forced myself to fall back asleep and I was so successful that when my alarm did go off I felt like I only got an hour of sleep total (instead of the 8+ hours I really did get) and didn't want to get out of bed. I managed to drag myself out of bed, throw on my bike gear, pack my bag and scramble out the door. My whole body was resisting waking up at this point and pedaling was pretty difficult. I questioned my decision to ride my bike to work, but then the sun started to come up and I felt a little better. THEN I got a flat tire! Not a total catastrophe, but it's the 4th one I've had in two weeks! And it was on the back tire which is way more of a pain in the butt to change than the front tire.

Luckily I had a spare tube and I was able to swap it out relatively quick, but as I was re-inflating it I noticed the tire itself looked a little funny. It is not fitting properly into the rim and it looks slightly deformed and it's totally time for a new tire. I'm pretty sure I have one, but it's at home not in my backpack! So I wrestled with the tire and was able to re-inflate it and get to work, but who knows if I'll make it home. Not a great way to start the day.

As I'm venting my frustration with my flat tire fiasco, I just had a thought. The flat tire can be a pretty good metaphor for how my fundraising has been recently. I was going along great. Got up over some tough hills and slowed down a few times, but picked up the pace flying down the other side after an update email or cheesecake fundraiser. Overall, my average pace was very impressive, almost $2000 a month since December. Then the "flat tire", my post race push to try and get a little bit more is not really working and my fundraising has slowed down to a stop and it's really bumming me out that I'm so close to my goal (only need about $1000 more) and I just can't get there. BUT on the bright side, I hope that like my flat tire this morning, with a little creative thinking, a positive attitude and maybe even a little forceful persuasion, I can fix it and get back on the road again and reach my destination.