Mayoneggs

6th September 2010

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Tri for Sight Race Report

Today, after three crazy long hours, I became a triathlete! The weeks leading up to this have been challenge enough for me. With getting a new job and other things that have come up (weddings out of town, etc.) I’ve had a hard time getting in all my training. Another thing that made me nervous this morning was for the last week I have been getting these dizzy spells. I really didn’t want one to happen during the tri because I would probably have to quit if it did. I was nervous the week leading up to today but I decided I would give it my best shot and see how I felt about everything. I was lucky enough to know the rules and have Nikki teach me about transition too.

This morning I woke up a little before 4:30 well rested for once! Usually the night before a race I never get good sleep but today was different. I ate an english muffin, egg, and a banana with milk and some gatorade. I went over my bag again and at 5:30 I headed to the transition area which was only 5 min from my apartment. I got marked up (thanks to Gary for pointing me in the right direction!) and set up my bike and my transition area. I don’t think I have it down to a perfect science but I think I set it up real well. 

We headed to the pool and it was fun to see the fast people swim. I could tell it would be crowded but I wasn’t nervous. I knew I could swim the distance and I felt confident. That all changed once I got in the water. I was one of the last people in, which was probably a good thing. I just couldn’t get comfortable in the water and I couldn’t keep my head down. I felt like every time I turned my head I was just taking in water instead of air. So I swam most of it with my head above water. I tried to rest on the pool edges but there were too many people with that idea already. I knew I had the fitness to just keep going so keep going I did. I was frustrated because I knew this wasn’t ideal. I don’t know why I got scared, or even if I got scared. To be honest I’m very confused by it. 

I got out of the water dizzy (and therefore worried) and a little nauseous. I walked most of the way to the transition area but got a little jog in. I thought I put on my clothes quickly. It was nice to see my dad and I think I heard Gary cheer for me too. I headed out on the bike still feeling pretty crappy but I decided I would see how I felt a couple miles in. I started to feel better but instead of focusing on my bike ride I kept thinking back to the swim and how much of a disaster it was. I knew that wasn’t the right attitude so I just decided to take things easy and enjoy the ride. Nikki and I talked the night before the race and I decided I wouldn’t wear a watch and just treat the race as “a really long training day.” I ended up having a good time for me on the bike (1:30) and enjoyed the ride. None of the hills bothered me very much. The sorority girls were really great.

I got back to transition without hitting any cars :) or getting any flats I was actually concerned about both of those things the night before the race. I had a quick transition and started out running. I have no idea what my pace was at certain points but I felt like I started out pretty strong. I wasn’t able to run as long as I usually do, but I knew that going into the day. That’s the main reason I didn’t wear a watch, I didn’t want to think about how fast I could run compared to how fast (or slow depending on how you look at it) I was running. That would frustrate me. I started counting to sixty and doing one minute walk/run. It let me rest often and kept me motivated to keep moving. Throughout the run and the bike I didn’t pass many people but that was OK. I heard Lauren cheer for me near the stadium. Around the 2 mile mark I realized I was actually going to finish and I finally calmed down from the swim and finally felt confident. Too bad it took me that long to get settled.

When I finished I saw a lot of people that cheered for me and even some that knew my name that I didn’t know! Gary and Nikki were there, and they were concerned about my swim but as Nikki pointed out, “You just did a triathlon!” It’s a very accomplished feeling. I feel more proud of this than my half-marathon, because there were so many more things to learn and so many things that had to work out in order for this to happen.

Even though I am moving to Pennsylvania soon I’d like to keep doing at least one race in Kentucky each year because I think the people here are so great and the races are really put together well. 

I enjoyed my first triathlon. I really enjoyed all the training that went into it. I don’t know how people train to do longer events. This was time consuming and happened at a crazy time in my life but I’m so proud of what I have done. I finished with a lot of questions. I have a lot of work to do if I want to get better at racing. I don’t have a plan for when I will do my next one, but I do plan to keep working on the swimming and cycling in the meantime. 

Thanks to everyone who helped me and gave me advice, especially to Nikki for motivating me and dealing with all my nervousness. I’m just glad I’m finally a triathlete and in the cool club now. :)

9th June 2010

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opps I forgot you

Some Running Thoughts I’ve had since the Lexington Half:

I ran the Bryan Station Classic 5k a couple weeks after the half and got a 7 min PR! I’m faster than I think I am. I am one of those runners who always needs to save some energy, I always need to have something in the tank. I learned at this 5k that if the race is a 5k I don’t need to save any energy, it’s done in a half hour!

I’m in the middle of my training for the Bluegrass 10k. Hitting a little mental speed bump what all with school finishing up for me and other things I love about the summer taking up my time like softball and seeing friends. I beat myself up for not being as fast as I was at the 5k, but I did take a significant break.

I’m not sure what my goal for the 10k should be, I would love to see a 1:10 to 1:15 time. 

I do not like how running on Chinoe somehow always feels like I’m going uphill!

I’ve also committed to doing the Tri for Sight in September. First Tri, haven’t even been in the water yet but I’ll start next week!

Soon, I will post a picture of my sweet bike!

Tagged: tri thisrunning

30th March 2010

Post with 1 note

Lexington Half Marathon

Well, I will finally write down my thoughts regarding the Lexington Half before I forget it all. Forgetting it is not that likely though.

I have been training for this half since mid December. On every run I have visualized running the Lexington Half and finishing well. I was so excited for this race! I woke up at 6 and met up with my brother a half hour later. I ate a bagel and a banana for breakfast so I thought that was good for a race breakfast. My brother and I headed over to Fasig Tipton… and met a huge line of traffic. I work downtown so I’m used to traffic but it really worked up my anxiety. This was my first big race, I had only done one 5k before this. I started freaking out a little bit. So I called Nikki and she gave me a pep talk. She told me to be conservative in the beginning and to not worry about getting there. 

The race time was delayed due to the traffic but that was a good thing for us. When Chris and I lined up to start I saw Brad, he trains with Gary and Nikki too. I gave Chris some Luna Moon gummies and even though they are for women Chris was glad I thought of him when I bought stuff for the race. The gun went off and we were running! 

I hit my first mile at the 12 min mark almost to the second. This was a good pace for me in the beginning and I planned to keep it up for the first five miles or so. I was amazed at how I was able to keep my pace, sometimes I think I fluctuate too much. I hit mile 2 at 24 min and it kept going. Chris stayed with me the entire time. We saw Gary while going up Newtown Pike, it was exciting to hear someone call my name! Once we entered the horse park the view got to be so pretty and the rain didn’t bother me so much. I really started to enjoy the run. We saw the first people passing us on their way back to Fasig Tipton and I cheered for them! It was so cool to see someone running so fast! I started telling Chris, “We’ll see Nikki soon, we will!” I didn’t know how fast she would be going or even her goal for the race but I knew I would see her before the course split in the middle of the park. I saw her and yelled at her. I was happy I spotted her, she looked great running and I had confidence in what I was doing once I saw her.

Around the 6 mile mark there were porta potties set up and Chris said he had to go and that he would catch up. Once I got a little past the halfway mark and close to the 7 mile marker I knew he would not. I teared up a little because I was tired and I didn’t want to run alone. I didn’t bring an ipod or anything so this was my longest run on my own without music. There were nice people running near me but I didn’t feel like talking. I just focused on my pace.

I hit the 9 mile mark around 1:45. I thought to myself, “45 minutes to run 4 miles, I can do that!” My confidence soared. I ran really well out of the horse park, one of the spectators yelled, “you look great!” Running down Iron Works was steady for me, not too bad. I saw Gary there again I think, he told me I was looking good and I knew I could complete the race at my goal of 2:30. I turned the corner and headed back down Newtown.

At the 12 mile mark I started to get really tired. The rain was stinging me and my body just wanted to walk. So I walked an extra minute. I was so bummed I couldn’t just keep going at my run 8 walk 2 plan but I needed the time to mentally prepare myself. I started to tell myself it would be OK if I didn’t get under 2:30 and I could feel myself slowing down. Then, I stopped walking and started running. I figured I had worked really hard to do this and I had to try. If I didn’t get under 2:30 at least I got my time running hard towards the finish. So I got to Fasig Tipton and ran hard. I don’t think I passed many people, so I might not have been going that fast but I was giving it all I could. I covered my watch and just ran. Once I crossed the finish line I felt so great and I looked down at my watch. It said 2:29. “What?” I couldn’t believe I had done it! I knew I could but actually standing there looking at my watch while my tag was being cut and actually looking at my medal was an incredible experience. I didn’t cry though because I was really dizzy haha.

I wanted to sit down but I promised my brother that whichever one of us finishes first will be there waiting for the other. So I stretched near the finish line. A couple minutes later I saw him, really running hard! I yelled and I was so proud of him too. I don’t know how he has been training for the event but he certainly did some hard work to finish so well. We got some food but I could only take one bite of everything and we drove home. 

I’m already thinking of other events I can run. I think it helps my training if I have a date and event in mind. However, the Lexington Half will always be my first half and I probably won’t ever get the same feeling of accomplishment as I did here today. For the last 3 months I have told people I was going to do this and they looked impressed while on the inside I was nervous and not 100% confident. Running that last mile even though everything in me just wanted to take it easy is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. 

I want to thank Gary and Nikki Ditsch (especially Nikki) for encouraging me to be a runner and for giving me the training tools I needed. If you want to know more about what they do click here. I think that the people organizing the Lexington Half did a great job, you should run it next year!

Tagged: running

14th March 2010

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longest run

OK I’ll get back on the tumblr thing since this should be a workout log for me. I wanted to write something about today because it was a test, one that I could have easily failed.

Since November I have been running. I ran the 5k in December which I wrote about on here and since then I have been training for a half marathon which is two weeks away. This has been a long journey for me. Throughout this journey my family and friends have begun to think of me as a runner. However, I have not seen myself as a runner. Any time someone would ask me about it I would say something like, “Well I run, I’m running a half marathon soon but I’m not really a runner. I’m not like that.” 

There are a lot of reasons why I didn’t classify myself as a runner. In the last couple of months its been very cold and I’ve done the majority of my running inside. Sure, I’ve been out in some of the cold weather but not often enough to consider myself tough. Also, I run alone. I know about groups in the area and I have run with my brother and trainer some but I tend to run alone. Having no one to compare myself to, I’ve always considered myself slow… not fast enough to be a runner.

I have had a couple of long runs but this morning was my longest. I ran two hours today. I also ran with a group for the first time. I also ran in the rain for the first time. I also, for the first time, consider myself a runner.

I didn’t at the beginning at the run. I was easily the slowest runner out of the group and I tried too hard to keep up. I felt horrible the first thirty minutes. I knew I had wiped out, and now I was going to have to focus on myself and just try to keep my head above water the rest of the run. Luckily, Nikki, my trainer, and her friend, Jill, ran with me for the first hour. Their conversation kept me occupied but I still went too fast and didn’t recover well for my foolish pace in the beginning. 

The second hour I thought I was going to run alone. Nikki and Jill both ran hard yesterday so they were only planning to run the first hour. I set out on my own and found my pace. About five minutes into the second hour Nikki caught up with me. She had decided to run the whole way with me and I was glad. Our course was hilly, muddy, and smelly (cows) and it was good to have company. The second hour went much better because I had started at a pace more comfortable to me.

I felt wasted but great at the end of the run. It was a bummer to realize my Nike+ is not calibrated well. It said I ran 12 miles but I really only ran 10.7 according to Nikki’s Garmin. I trust the Garmin and will recalibrate the Nike+. Still, running about 5 miles an hour right now I think I can kick it up to 5.5 an hour at the half marathon and get very close to finishing the half within 2:30. If I do that then I will get myself a Garmin as a reward.

I came home and peeled off my clothes which were covered in rain and sweat. My calves, socks and shoes were covered in mud and probably a little bit of cow manure. Every muscle in my body aches and probably will throughout tomorrow as well. Currently, I’m icing my knee and waiting for the UK game to start. I think I ran my hardest today and I never gave up, even though I wanted to so very badly. Because of these things, I think I can finally consider myself a runner.

I’m glad it took me three months of training to get myself to think of myself as a runner. I’ll enjoy the taper period of training now and after the half, I’m sure I’ll finish as a stronger runner because of today. 

Tagged: runningsmelly trails

10th January 2010

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Workout Schedule

OK so planning is the key I suppose. Here is what my weekly schedule is going to look like now that I’m doing weekly sessions with Nikki, training for the half-marathon, and there’s a new class schedule at the gym.

Monday - Rest Day

Tuesday - Easy Run (during lunch) & Spin (after work)

Wednesday - Spin (during lunch) & Recovery Run (some weeks after work)

Thursday - Strides (mornings) AND/OR HardCORE (during lunch) & Nikki (after work)

Friday - Spin (during lunch)

Saturday - Long Run

Sunday - Recovery Run & Nikki’s workout

So there you go. It seems like a lot but since I have a schedule I know I’ll be able to do it.

Tagged: workout schedule

26th December 2009

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I went up .4 lbs?

FUDGE. I blame it all on the damn fudge. Also I didn’t track anything I ate this week. I was bad. So for being bad I did alright. I guess that means as far as WW is concerned I won’t hit my 10% until 2010 but is there a better year to do so?

I guess it is true what my London mates say about me - I really am the most optimistic person I know. I can spin anything.

Tagged: food,wwsad scale

24th December 2009

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Christmas Eve workout

I should start with last night. I met with Nikki and I got a new cross-training workout. Ugh. I hate the first go around I’m so confused but Nikki put lots of notes in my phone so I should be ok when I have to do it on my own. I am doing a lot of things that involve coordination which I am not so good at, but I know improving my control will benefit me more than the actual weights or reps will.

Today I did my first run with strides. I did it at the gym because I’m worried about my time. Anyway, I ran super fast for my strides this time but next week I may try to go faster. I think after I get my tuition reimbursement I will get a heart rate monitor. I get this feeling I may not be pushing myself hard enough.

I saw one of the attorneys I work for at the gym I’m glad when he waved at me I thought it was him and waved back. You see, I wear glasses but not when I run so sometimes when I’m at the gym I don’t know if people are waving at me or someone else. I should invest in contacts as well I guess.

I stepped on the scale at the gym and it put me at 134.4 which would be a loss of 2.4 lbs for me! I don’t know if that is what the WW scale will say to me on Saturday but I will try to be real good tonight and tomorrow!

Happy Holidays!

Tagged: workout reportscary strides

18th December 2009

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WW Anchors

So last night I weighed in at WW and lost .4 of a pound so I’m at 136.8 lbs. That means that I have one pound to lose before I hit my 10% goal. I REALLY want to do this by the end of 2009 but with all this Christmas stuff it’s going to be very hard. We shall see. I am working out a lot so I know that helps. I think I’m going to have to just eat those 0 point soups for dinner and see if that helps.

In our meeting we talked about having an anchor when you meet a challenge. I think about Dexter. I’ve lost 14 lbs since May and Dexter is 13 lbs. Sometimes I look at him and I think “I’ve lost you!” and he wags his tail like he knows why I’m so happy. I think this week I will try and take him on more walks so that I can have a reminder of what used to be on me that now isn’t. I really wish that I knew how much I weighed in January of 2009 when I started working out regularly but I don’t know. I usually just add 5 lbs to what I’ve lost at WW so if I get to 15 lbs then I can say in 2009 I lost 20 lbs which would be awesome.

With the holiday season I don’t weigh in again until Saturday, December 26 so I hope that I can reach my 1 lb goal in little over a week.

Tagged: ww