How Do I Get Talked into this Stuff??

 

How do I get talked into more races?? OK, last Saturday Coy and I are on a 17.5 mile run. She mentions running another FULL MARATHON!! What?? Are you kidding me? This will be our schedule of races:

Sunday, October 16  Louisville Water Tower Full Marathon



Sunday, October 23 Midway Half Marathon



Sunday, November 6 ING NYC Marathon



Sunday, November 20 Tough Mudder 

     WOW!!  Of course I’m always up for a challenge and I said Heck Yeah!!  The Water Tower Marathon we plan to take easy, just to get this miles in.  Same with the Midway half.  Now, on the NYC Marathon I’m planning on getting a PR by myself (that’s the real challenge for me!).  The Tough Mudder on the other hand is just to make it through.  It will be one tough mudder!!  I am really looking forward to this fall race season. 

     Last night Maddie and Jacob had their first real Cross Country meet.  They went to Frankfort with another family because I had to work and coach soccer practice.  Tuesday when they were at CC practice Maddie ran the course in 11:44 and Jacob ran it in 12:40.  I had my fingers crossed that they would both beat their time.  Maddie sent me a text telling me she ran it in 10:09 and Jacob ran it in 9:13!!!!  Maddie is 9 years old and Jacob is 8.  I wish I could have ran this fast when I was their age.   Maddie said she told herself to keep running for her Momma!!  I loved hearing that from her.  That meant a lot.  Maddie tends to stop a lot during her 1 mile run but she learned how to pace herself and keep running the whole time.  I think that is one of the hardest things to do for a beginner.  I am so proud!! 

4 Days Off!!

     I can't believe I have taken 4 days off especially after having such an awesome running week last week.  I have been so busy this week.  We have had soccer practices, open house at school, dance practice, an extra day at work, overtime, and tons of homework with the kids.   Carlie has a Land Form Project due Monday, that's what we will be working on tonight.  Plus I haven't felt so good since last night.  I think some kind of stomach bug.  So, I forced myself out the door to go for a run.  I has hoping to make 3 miles but aim for 6.  I made it 4 miles!!  I'm happy with that!!  If I get a chance to run this evening I'm going to try for 2 more miles.  Better go work on this project.  I will post a picture later once we get it done.

Tri for Sight

This is how my morning started out!!  Beautiful!!  It was a little warmer than last year so I was a little fearful that it would get very hot today.  I am not a big fan of running in the heat let alone swim and bike in it.  This is my first race report ever so I'm sorry if it is LONG!!  I am very excited about writing this report.  Here I go:

     

This is my husband Jim and I before the race.  I have done this race before (last year) and this is Jim first time doing it.  So I had the pressure of beating my last year's time and he just had to finish.  I freak out when it comes to competing against myself.  I don't know why but I do.  It was the crack of dawn and I was feeling great. 

This is my running BFF Coy!!  She is amazing!!  I'm sure she will have her race report up soon.  Just a little hint, she did FANTASTIC!!!!  She is one strong and determined woman and I love that about her!!  She is my hero when comes to all of this stuff!!

This is the Good Luck kiss right before I jumped in the pool.  I was number 309 and Jim was number 316.  He was not far behind me.  I was waiting any minute for him to pass me up like he does on training days. 

The swim was a 1/2 mile long or 8 laps.  Lap one, I'm calm, relaxed, and feeling good.  Do you notice the guy in lane 2?  He has a snorkel!!  Is that legal??  I don't know, but I'm jealous he thought of it before I did!!  I passed someone on my first lap and and got excited and started to lose my breath.  I had to tell myself to calm down it's only lap 1.  Last year a few people passed me up but this year only 2 people passed me and then I passed them.  I was so excited that I felt so good and comfortable during my swim.  This is the event I was most nervous about today. 

Here is my transition out of the pool.  We had to run barefoot upstairs and about .2 of a mile to our bikes.  I said ouch several times!!  I love that they try to give you water right you get out of the pool.  What??  Are u kidding me?  I just had plenty of water in the pool. Lol!!  But I'm glad we had volunteers that were very good at their jobs. 

The bike ride was 18.9 miles.  Ok!!  I have to admit Jim caught up to me at mile 18!!  Dang it!!  Honestly, I thought he would have passed me a lot sooner.    He pulled into transition right before me.  So my Dad got some good shoots of us together!! 

Jim waited for me while I changed my shoes and grabbed my visor and fuel belt.  I felt like I was taking forever on the transition!!  But in reality it wasn't bad at all.  I was nervous about having to change shoes twice during the race.  I have never had to do that before so I thought it would really slow me down.  Luckily when I put my bike shoes on they were easy and fast.  Thank goodness!!  And my tennis shoes weren't bad either. 

Here we go off to run 4 miles with lots of hills.   On our way out we got to see Coy finish her last 1/4 mile.  She is so inspiring and we were so proud of her!!  Last year this was my best event.  I really didn't think I could beat my time from last year because I was surprised how well I did it.  I ran it last year in 39:54, I normally run 4 miles in 40-44 minutes on practice days.  So today I was not expecting to beat my time from last year.  When we took off for our run I messed up my Garmin some how??  So I didn't even know our pace or distance.  Jim and I stayed together the whole run, I felt good for the most part.  Towards the end I was burning out but we kept on trucking.  It felt wonderful turning into the stadium parking lot  because that is where the FINISH line is!!! 

FINISH LINE HERE WE COME!!!! 

 Woohoo!!! I love this race!!  I smiled all the way through it!! 

Here we are right after the race!!  I am still smiling and loving triathlons!!  I am so proud of Jim because I know what a tough race this is!!  Good job Babe!!  Also, A big Thank You to my pops!!  He was our photographer for the day and for my Mom for watching the kids!! And to all you guys for taking the time to read my blog!!

Here are my results from last year and today:

Last Year: SWIM 23:09, T1 6:43, BIKE 1:17:57 (14.2 MPH), T2 2:12, RUN 39:54 (9:59 PACE)

TOTAL 2:29:53

This Year: SWIM 22:39, T1 4:48, BIKE 1:13:48 (15.0 MPH), T2 1:32, RUN 39:07 (9:47 PACE)

TOTAL 2:21:51

Jim's Times: SWIM 27:17, T1 4:01, BIKE 1:08:43 (16.2 MPH), T2 1:39, RUN 39:08 (9:47 PACE)

TOTAL 2:20:45

Can you believe it??  I beat my time by 8 minutes!!!!  I also beat my run time from last year!! Woohoo!!

Do you struggle with competing with yourself?

Does your spouse compete with you?





My Baby Boy is Growing Up!!

      Today is a special day, it's my baby boy's 8th birthday!! When I left for work I left him 2 Angry Bird stuffed animals and a card.  Once he woke up he found his toys and then got the royal treatment from his Dad and 2 sisters, he got breakfast in bed!!!  He was very excited.  When he went to school he saw his Yard Card that said, "Happy Birthday Jacob".  I can only imagine how big his smile was.  Later Jim took cupcakes for his class and had lunch with him.  He has been really spoiled today!! 

    Last night was packet pickup for our big Triathlon!!!  This is my second time doing the Tri for Sight and my husbands first.  We are very excited and nervous!!  I am nervous because I just want to drop time, even if its only transition time!!  I have really taken it easy with the workouts this week, I usually don't believe in tapering or anything like that but I did!  I ran 4 miles one day, biked a very easy 20 miles, and 1 hour of strength training.  I am running about 3 miles with a friend in the morning and then sitting by the pool the rest of the day.  Maybe even get my nails done!!  :)  I am super pumped about the race on Sunday especially now that I have blogged about it.  I am also excited that my Dad is coming to the race to take pics of me and Jim.  Jim was my photographer last year so I had to recruit a new one this year since Jim is racing.  Who knew this would be a family sport? 


Do you have a special routine when it's your kid's birthday?  Ours is breakfast in bed and they love it!!  I love it when they try and do it for us.  It's very special!!

Does your family come and support you at your races? My parents would be at every race except they are usually watching the kids for us or they are at the race with our kids.  They are great cheerleaders!!!  Thanks Mom and Dad for all the help and support!!