Last Saturday was my second trip to Kansas for the Dirty Kanza mountain bike race… a 200 mile gravel road thang. This year I had the added challenge of Drew not going with me (there was a conflicting race in Az he really wanted to do) but the bonus of having done it once before and the race director's cell phone number in my pocket in case I broke myself or my bike…
So, I tossed the K (my old Kestrel CSX) into the trunk and headed out Friday morning to Kansas. Not too bad of a road trip, took my iPod and played the tunes loud and sang offkey… a good mix of country, alternative, and hardcore. Checked into the hotel, put a bike computer onto the K, and did a little test ride on the end of the course to check my setup. Quick packet pickup, some takeout, and I closed the curtains and pretended it was late enough to go to sleep.
Finally 5am rolled around and I flipped on the TV. Weather forecaster was babbling about storms, hail, etc. east of Emporia. Hmm. Look outside and it looks good so fill the camelback with ice and roll to the start line. They announce that they may hold the race a few hours, but hold on. Chat with some other racers and say hello to the gals who are there. I think there were 5 of us this year!!! A few of them said that they were inspired to come out because of my finish last year… shucks… I know the truth! It was this horribly bloated picture of my finish where I look like someone who would barely be able to leave a couch. They saw that and thought "If she can do it, I sure can!". In any case, it was great to see some more women there!
The RD came back, said it was a go, and before I had time to freak we did our rollout. We rolled through town with a police escort to the start of the gravel where the pack exploded. Lead men took off. Several speed groups formed. I tried to remember to ride my own pace, and became a chatty girl hello'ing and babbling to the folks around me, I figured as long as there were folks around I would have entertainment. We kept chasing the storm, black skies with lightening ahead of us… but only a few occasional splatters of rain. It ended up being just a perfect weather day with the skies staying overcast, a moderate wind, and enough humidity to give my attitude braids a big fuzz.
Up, down, nice gravel, gravelly gravel. I kept a sharp eye on my map because I did not want to get lost. But, of course, I did. Around mile 40 there was flagging at a corner and three guys just ahead turned right. It seemed a mile early on my map, so I waited for the next group to catch up and kibitzed with them. They thought it was the right turn, so I followed along. Nope. Two miles later we were supposed to turn left and there was no left turn to take. We were only 8ish miles from the checkpoint, a little town with the ubiquitous water tower that we could see from that distance so we generally headed in that direction. I followed along in the pack of 8 now, and tried not to stress. When I stress things go badly… can I keep up with these guys? How lost are we? Crap a hill, I dropped a bit… push it. Oh, a downhill, nice, but don’t go ahead. Crossed an asphalt road so we knew we were getting close and I really wanted that rest stop and the guys all stopped to pee. Um… a little jealous here! We finally rolled into town and I could use the facilities, re-lube, and get the map for the next section.
One of the gals was there already and was about to head out so I said I'd roll with her. Few miles out of town we hit a big water crossing. Whew, that's chilly and now my socks are soaked Eventually she went ahead and I settled back into my own pace. Some guy groups came by and I'd chat a bit, they'd roll on, then stop to eat or pee or whatever and I'd go by again. One of the benefits of riding alone is being able to totally settle into my own pace. One of the drawbacks was the cows. Some poor cow was stuck in the road and none to happy about it. She charged the guys ahead of me, and they stopped to figure out how to get by and I could slide by with them. Whew. Nice to be around people this year! Eventually the section slid by and I hit the mid-way checkpoint. Sweet!
Lots of people around resting, eating, and trying to decide whether to keep going. This is a risky place if you have a support crew because you're tired, it's hot, and it's pretty easy to quit. Not an option for me. The gal I'd left the last CP with talked herself out of continuing. I tried to get her to go, but nope. The RD had water and a cooler of cola and best of all a box of homemade ginger cookies. WOW! They were awesome! Settled my tummy and tasted great. Here's my total guy story. He said his girlfriend Michelle made them. She was racing, on a redline, did I meet her? Now here's the basic difference between men and women. I met her at the start. She was this totally positive and upbeat gal wearing combat boots… yup, doing the race on a MTB with combat boots. What kind of bike??? Don’t know, but I sure can tell you her footwear! Anyways, I ate and drank a nd changed my shorts and then headed out for the 3rd section.
This section was kinda just there. I was tired, but not oofed. The miles slid by and again I was around several guy groups, but they kinda leapfrogged me. Saw one group of 4 make a wrong turn and tried to yell at them to get their attention but no luck. They caught back to me about 10 miles to go and I apologized for not being able to yell louder. Saw on solo guy go straight at a turn and did get his attention so that neutralized my karma. I finally rode back into the CP at mile 155. Very cool here… it was still light out! And, I was not last!!! Changed my jersey, talked to the cookie maker Michelle who had dropped at the half, set up my lights and headed out.
The light faded and it was now Kansas dark. A few farms around, but no lights except the lightening in the distant storms. Went around a lake and got lost. Way lost. No clue where I was on the map lost. Shit! The map is relative, easy to follow if you know where you are but no road names to try to figure out where you are if you don’t know. Tried my emergency call, but no answer. Crap! Looked around and saw headlights approaching and it was 4 guys who were also lost. They pulled out compasses (note to self, figure out how to use a compass, and by the way I learned that town names are printed on a map so up is north… who knew?). We headed back up hill and then there were 2. Where'd the other three go? Crap. We talked it out, and headed back down the hill. There was a flat. All sorted out, back up the hill, made a turn over a bridge and then a steepish hill. Crap! Wait for me!!!! Huffing and puffing and tired and lost. They slowed down on the downhill a nd I caught back up and we finally found the marked turn we were looking for. I asked them to point me on the map and said I'd see them at the finish because I needed to stay at my own pace.
Followed their taillights through the dark. Their support drove up and they stopped and chatted a bit. Something about a big dog ahead. Oy. I went ahead, they passed me, and then they waited at a corner. Apparently an angry dog was in the next section and they waited to escort me through so I wouldn’t get eaten. I almost cried at their thoughtfulness! Fortunately there was no dog and at the next corner we were 8 miles to go. They went ahead and I kept their taillights in site. I thought I did. 4ish miles later there was a turn but there was still a flashing red light ahead so I kept going. Got to the freeway and realized it was not their flashing taillights. Drats! Missed another turn. Finally made my way into town and to the finish…
2nd place female (found out today that the first place gal whomped the course in 16:07!). Won a sweet hiking pack and a white cowbell trophy. 19:28. 2.5 hours faster than last year!!!! All in all I'm quite pleased with my finish. Two days later I'm still tired but the aches and pains are fading. I really really love this race, but I'm not sure I'll be able to go back the next few years because the timing is too close to RAAM. (Next June I'm going to do the 1000 mile race that covers the first third of the RAAM course the first weekend of June). But, if the date moves back a few weeks again I'd do it in a heartbeat! Great course, great people, solid challenge. Love it!
The K is retired now for the season since my next race is the Double IM on July 5th. Time to pull out the Raven and see if all this mountain biking will translate into strength on the road. That's the hope!!!
Keep the rubber side down,
Leslie
Waterfalls
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Davis Phinney R2V
Hi ya'll:
Not a race report, but a ride report. Last Saturday (May 17th) Drew and I and a bunch of folks I work with did the Davis Phinney ride to raise money for his Parkinson's organization. It was an amazingly perfect weather day, a gorgeous ride, and I fought back tears through the first 20 miles watching this man I admire ride his bike and knowing that in some way the work I do has enabled him to ride again. 20 miles in the ride broke up a bit as we hit the hills but for the first 20 it was quite the pace line...
There's a news video linked below. In it you can see how deeply his Parkinson's was affecting him weeks ago before he had deep brain stimulation (navigated by the technology we develop here). And, even better you can see how solid he is now. And, about 1:08 into the story there is a shot of him with his arms around two gals in Medtronic jerseys... The one on the left is me...
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/16332397/index.html
Pretty cool!
Leslie
I'll add in my two cents here. I always think its interesting how people given the opportunity to talk with celebrities feel they have to have big tough questions for these people. I think many of them are happy just to do their thing and talk about the weather if anything and not be hounded with questions, be just a regular guy. When I ran the Boston Marathon I kind of got the impression that Lance really wanted to just run his own race and not be distracted by people asking him questions during the race. Some celebs are hard to pick out of a crowd when they aren't in their element, like athletes, I think these guys kind of like being recognized. For example, I and a buddy and his wife went to the Altanta Olympics to watch track and field for the week. We were sitting up in the stands during one of the early rounds of prelims I think, and I noticed a guy at the end of our row (maybe 10 or 12 seats away). I asked my buddy to double check and indeed it was. At the end of the row was Dave Johnson, the decathlete (from the Dan & Dave pair). Anyway, no one around him recognized him until we went down and asked for his autograph. I guess my point is, I think Davis likes being out on his bike and I just happened to be right up front when the ride rolled out. I had planned on riding with Leslie in the middle or back of the pack, but everyone seemed to be afraid to be up front to start. Well we rolled out and a couple miles in I was 4th man back (we were riding in pairs for awhile) talking with a legend and then next thing I know I'm riding next to Davis, Andy Hampstein was in there also. We talked but not really about anything specific and it wasn't like I'd planned any questions for him, but I really got the feeling he was happy to be on his bike and I think he really appreciates the support he is getting.
Anyway, til next time
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
18 Hours of Fruita
6 miles of pretty sweet single track, midnight start, as many laps as possible in 18 hours, 6 solo women, this somewhat inexperienced mountain biking gal among them...
The race was really fun, but I am a total chickensh*t in the dark and it ended up being way more a long training day then a "race" for me. Although I do spend quite a bit of time on my MTB in the spring it's mainly training for gravel grinder racing. I don’t ride much single-track and it's easily been 6 years since I rode it in the dark.
The race started with a short run up the beach to the bikes. I started in the back and figured I'd let the crazies out front. Up a steep hill and then onto the single-track. Wham. 5 minutes in and I'm already laying on the ground. Couple of nice bruises, but shake it off and where'd everyone go? Get on the bike and get after them. I was really tense at night and over steering and just death grip on the bars. I spent quite a bit of time talking to myself "Stop being a chicken", "Relax you moron", "Don’t fall into the lake", "Come on, easy now, you can do this", "Big hill… ugh", "Don’t freak… RELAX", "Chicken chicken chicken".
Somewhere in the second lap I started to get passed and I'm sure that folks were confused by the muttering, slow gal. The other racers were great… only a few meanies (like a guy who came up on me in a twisty narrow section at night and just started screaming "Trail trail trail"… I got off and out of his way at the first opportunity but he just passed by with a hmmph noise…). Most of the racers were quite nice and I tried to be as minimal of a moving obstacle as possible throughout the race. As the race went on more and more realized I was riding solo and were quite positive and supportive as they sped past.
Around 5:30am the daylight started to show and I finally was able to relax my grip a bit. My hands, shoulder, and arms took a beating though in the early hours. Got in about 6 hours of good riding, and then started to get tired. My quick drinks between laps started to get longer and I started really watching the clock. This style of racing was a big change for me, short steep hills, twisty turns, a fun sweeping banked section. There were 6 big hills on the course, 4 major (that I only managed to ride up occasionally) and 2 minor (that I went into an easy gear and worked hard but consistently made it up) along with a whole lot of texture. I'm much more used to a steady state pace, and as the hours ticked by I could feel the mental and physical debts ratcheting up. Finally it was 5:15 and I knew I had only two to go… they were two of my faster laps all day.
Finished in 5th place… not that it really matters because from the beginning I knew I was in over my head as far a racing went. All in all, a really solid training day. If I did it again I would want to do some training at night, and a good amount of single-track riding so that I could actually race it. I never felt like I was really "on" and working the course, so much as getting through the laps. It was a fun challenge to be so out of my comfort zone and just do as best I could to survive.
Both shoulders, both hands/wrists, and my triceps are sore today. The rest of me is pretty good muscle-wise. While I'm overall tired, my legs are not at all muscle sore. I am a bit bruised though… I did not hurt myself but I did fall a half dozen times and the bruises added up to a colorful Leslie in the shower this morning.
Here’s a picture in the sweeping bermy section:6 miles of pretty sweet single track, midnight start, as many laps as possible in 18 hours, 6 solo women, this somewhat inexperienced mountain biking gal among them...
The race was really fun, but I am a total chickensh*t in the dark and it ended up being way more a long training day then a "race" for me. Although I do spend quite a bit of time on my MTB in the spring it's mainly training for gravel grinder racing. I don’t ride much single-track and it's easily been 6 years since I rode it in the dark.
The race started with a short run up the beach to the bikes. I started in the back and figured I'd let the crazies out front. Up a steep hill and then onto the single-track. Wham. 5 minutes in and I'm already laying on the ground. Couple of nice bruises, but shake it off and where'd everyone go? Get on the bike and get after them. I was really tense at night and over steering and just death grip on the bars. I spent quite a bit of time talking to myself "Stop being a chicken", "Relax you moron", "Don’t fall into the lake", "Come on, easy now, you can do this", "Big hill… ugh", "Don’t freak… RELAX", "Chicken chicken chicken".
Somewhere in the second lap I started to get passed and I'm sure that folks were confused by the muttering, slow gal. The other racers were great… only a few meanies (like a guy who came up on me in a twisty narrow section at night and just started screaming "Trail trail trail"… I got off and out of his way at the first opportunity but he just passed by with a hmmph noise…). Most of the racers were quite nice and I tried to be as minimal of a moving obstacle as possible throughout the race. As the race went on more and more realized I was riding solo and were quite positive and supportive as they sped past.
Around 5:30am the daylight started to show and I finally was able to relax my grip a bit. My hands, shoulder, and arms took a beating though in the early hours. Got in about 6 hours of good riding, and then started to get tired. My quick drinks between laps started to get longer and I started really watching the clock. This style of racing was a big change for me, short steep hills, twisty turns, a fun sweeping banked section. There were 6 big hills on the course, 4 major (that I only managed to ride up occasionally) and 2 minor (that I went into an easy gear and worked hard but consistently made it up) along with a whole lot of texture. I'm much more used to a steady state pace, and as the hours ticked by I could feel the mental and physical debts ratcheting up. Finally it was 5:15 and I knew I had only two to go… they were two of my faster laps all day.
Finished in 5th place… not that it really matters because from the beginning I knew I was in over my head as far a racing went. All in all, a really solid training day. If I did it again I would want to do some training at night, and a good amount of single-track riding so that I could actually race it. I never felt like I was really "on" and working the course, so much as getting through the laps. It was a fun challenge to be so out of my comfort zone and just do as best I could to survive.
Both shoulders, both hands/wrists, and my triceps are sore today. The rest of me is pretty good muscle-wise. While I'm overall tired, my legs are not at all muscle sore. I am a bit bruised though… I did not hurt myself but I did fall a half dozen times and the bruises added up to a colorful Leslie in the shower this morning.
Here’s a picture in the sweeping bermy section:
Next race is the Dirty Kanza 200 mile gravel grinder at the end of the month… I'm really looking forward to it this year and I should be prepared to "race".
Still grinning tiredly,
Leslie
The race was really fun, but I am a total chickensh*t in the dark and it ended up being way more a long training day then a "race" for me. Although I do spend quite a bit of time on my MTB in the spring it's mainly training for gravel grinder racing. I don’t ride much single-track and it's easily been 6 years since I rode it in the dark.
The race started with a short run up the beach to the bikes. I started in the back and figured I'd let the crazies out front. Up a steep hill and then onto the single-track. Wham. 5 minutes in and I'm already laying on the ground. Couple of nice bruises, but shake it off and where'd everyone go? Get on the bike and get after them. I was really tense at night and over steering and just death grip on the bars. I spent quite a bit of time talking to myself "Stop being a chicken", "Relax you moron", "Don’t fall into the lake", "Come on, easy now, you can do this", "Big hill… ugh", "Don’t freak… RELAX", "Chicken chicken chicken".
Somewhere in the second lap I started to get passed and I'm sure that folks were confused by the muttering, slow gal. The other racers were great… only a few meanies (like a guy who came up on me in a twisty narrow section at night and just started screaming "Trail trail trail"… I got off and out of his way at the first opportunity but he just passed by with a hmmph noise…). Most of the racers were quite nice and I tried to be as minimal of a moving obstacle as possible throughout the race. As the race went on more and more realized I was riding solo and were quite positive and supportive as they sped past.
Around 5:30am the daylight started to show and I finally was able to relax my grip a bit. My hands, shoulder, and arms took a beating though in the early hours. Got in about 6 hours of good riding, and then started to get tired. My quick drinks between laps started to get longer and I started really watching the clock. This style of racing was a big change for me, short steep hills, twisty turns, a fun sweeping banked section. There were 6 big hills on the course, 4 major (that I only managed to ride up occasionally) and 2 minor (that I went into an easy gear and worked hard but consistently made it up) along with a whole lot of texture. I'm much more used to a steady state pace, and as the hours ticked by I could feel the mental and physical debts ratcheting up. Finally it was 5:15 and I knew I had only two to go… they were two of my faster laps all day.
Finished in 5th place… not that it really matters because from the beginning I knew I was in over my head as far a racing went. All in all, a really solid training day. If I did it again I would want to do some training at night, and a good amount of single-track riding so that I could actually race it. I never felt like I was really "on" and working the course, so much as getting through the laps. It was a fun challenge to be so out of my comfort zone and just do as best I could to survive.
Both shoulders, both hands/wrists, and my triceps are sore today. The rest of me is pretty good muscle-wise. While I'm overall tired, my legs are not at all muscle sore. I am a bit bruised though… I did not hurt myself but I did fall a half dozen times and the bruises added up to a colorful Leslie in the shower this morning.
Here’s a picture in the sweeping bermy section:6 miles of pretty sweet single track, midnight start, as many laps as possible in 18 hours, 6 solo women, this somewhat inexperienced mountain biking gal among them...
The race was really fun, but I am a total chickensh*t in the dark and it ended up being way more a long training day then a "race" for me. Although I do spend quite a bit of time on my MTB in the spring it's mainly training for gravel grinder racing. I don’t ride much single-track and it's easily been 6 years since I rode it in the dark.
The race started with a short run up the beach to the bikes. I started in the back and figured I'd let the crazies out front. Up a steep hill and then onto the single-track. Wham. 5 minutes in and I'm already laying on the ground. Couple of nice bruises, but shake it off and where'd everyone go? Get on the bike and get after them. I was really tense at night and over steering and just death grip on the bars. I spent quite a bit of time talking to myself "Stop being a chicken", "Relax you moron", "Don’t fall into the lake", "Come on, easy now, you can do this", "Big hill… ugh", "Don’t freak… RELAX", "Chicken chicken chicken".
Somewhere in the second lap I started to get passed and I'm sure that folks were confused by the muttering, slow gal. The other racers were great… only a few meanies (like a guy who came up on me in a twisty narrow section at night and just started screaming "Trail trail trail"… I got off and out of his way at the first opportunity but he just passed by with a hmmph noise…). Most of the racers were quite nice and I tried to be as minimal of a moving obstacle as possible throughout the race. As the race went on more and more realized I was riding solo and were quite positive and supportive as they sped past.
Around 5:30am the daylight started to show and I finally was able to relax my grip a bit. My hands, shoulder, and arms took a beating though in the early hours. Got in about 6 hours of good riding, and then started to get tired. My quick drinks between laps started to get longer and I started really watching the clock. This style of racing was a big change for me, short steep hills, twisty turns, a fun sweeping banked section. There were 6 big hills on the course, 4 major (that I only managed to ride up occasionally) and 2 minor (that I went into an easy gear and worked hard but consistently made it up) along with a whole lot of texture. I'm much more used to a steady state pace, and as the hours ticked by I could feel the mental and physical debts ratcheting up. Finally it was 5:15 and I knew I had only two to go… they were two of my faster laps all day.
Finished in 5th place… not that it really matters because from the beginning I knew I was in over my head as far a racing went. All in all, a really solid training day. If I did it again I would want to do some training at night, and a good amount of single-track riding so that I could actually race it. I never felt like I was really "on" and working the course, so much as getting through the laps. It was a fun challenge to be so out of my comfort zone and just do as best I could to survive.
Both shoulders, both hands/wrists, and my triceps are sore today. The rest of me is pretty good muscle-wise. While I'm overall tired, my legs are not at all muscle sore. I am a bit bruised though… I did not hurt myself but I did fall a half dozen times and the bruises added up to a colorful Leslie in the shower this morning.
Here’s a picture in the sweeping bermy section:
Next race is the Dirty Kanza 200 mile gravel grinder at the end of the month… I'm really looking forward to it this year and I should be prepared to "race".
Still grinning tiredly,
Leslie
Friday, April 25, 2008
Boston Marathon
Well, what a cool race. Everyone saying "you got to do the race", seem to be right.
I'm pretty sure this is the first marathon I actually trained for and put in long runs and such for. The distance was no problem and I was on pace to run my goal of under 3 hrs through 14 or 15 miles then things went down hill, literally and figuratively. I had a little goal of attempting to be around Lance Armstrong for picture if it worked out but not to mess up my race to do it considering he was shooting for 2:45 or something faster.
The race - I had picked up from the folks we were staying with that it was in my best interest to go out easy and really quiet a bit slower than my goal pace for the first 10 miles and then work the second 10 miles. I went out at what felt very slow and very easy, that got me 6:30 at the mile. Hmmm, if I hadn't held back I probably would have been sub 6. I stayed relaxed and tried not to work the uphills to hard from there on. The 5k was right on pace (maybe not a good thing, but I thought so), the 10k was getting 40: something, which was right on pace or lets say within my capabilities. To run under or around 3 hrs it was.....lets just say a little fast.
Oh, so about 3 or 4 miles everyone I was running with just seemed to slow down, almost stop. Yup, they were all running behind Lance or next to him. Long story short, I ended up being near Lance til 12 or 13 miles, at one point I was one person away. I'm pretty sure I didn't get any pictures with him, since everyone else knew the pictures were at 15k and I didn't and positioned themselves accordingly, I was probably 20 feet behind him. So no pictures.
Anyway, I hit the half mark in 1:27, which I was happy with. Then the downhill at 15 was brutal. I ran the uphills after that just fine and felt fairly strong, now I wasn't sprinting up them, but I also wasn't going to be negative splitting the second half. The downhill after each uphill just killed me and by the end, my quads were really sore. I think I may have been just trying to conserve and not blow myself out, like at the start, but I think that ultimately just translated into going slower.
Well, I didn't make my goal but did manage to still get a qualifying time, so I'm thinking I may try it again next year. Leslie usually rights her own little race reports and did one for this even though she just spectated so enjoy her perspective.
Drew and I headed to Boston on Saturday so he could run the Boston Marathon for the first time and I could chill and have fun... And I did!
We arrived late Saturday after some plane issues... missed the big dinner but met up with Joe Bator and his most lovely wife Julia and the rest of their house guest clan. They have a beautiful place just a few miles from the marathon finish line... and I must say if you ever get an opportunity to be their house guest... DO IT! I met a new breed of people there... Marathoners. Now, I've run my share of marathons, but I am not a marathoner. These folks have their spring races, their fall races, (and in one guy's case a marathon a month for the last some 60
moths). They can compare and contrast the courses, the schwag, and the
feel of races across the globe. I guess I have met a few Ironmaner's, and maybe my hubby is one now, who are the same but different. It's not will you do an Ironman this year, but which one(s).
WOMEN'S OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS/ SATURDAY So, the plan was to wake up Sunday and run over to see the trials. I was a bit nervous about this (running with Drew who knows how slow I am, and Joe who suspects it) but they were nice to me and we did a scenic run over to a point on the trials course where they passed by twice per lap. First lap they went by and some gal was off the front, then there was a big pack (with Deena Kastor in it), then a second pack and the dribbles off the back. I spotted my now new idol who we call "T-Shirt Girl" about third from last. This gal was running strong, but was wearing a plain white tshirt and a pair of shorts and looked like someone I would line up next to at a 5K and think "ah, maybe... we'll see how fast she is". Here's her pic:
http://eliterunning.com/photos/index.php?g2_itemId=130586
Second and third lap they came by and things were about the same. The gal off the front was pulling away (up to 2 minutes at one point), Deena and the fast pack were together, the second pack was breaking up, a few women dropped out, and tshirt girl was slowly picking people off the back.
Fourth lap Deena put her foot down and broke up the field. She was slowly reeling in the lead girl and carnage was happening behind her.
Tshirt girl was hanging strong and still looked solid. We moved to the finish line and Deena made the pass and finished first. The lead gal got second. Tshirt girl finished strong, looked like any old runner girl, and would have put Drew in a hurting if he was trying to beat her (Drew is my measuring stick for fast... There are really fast people who can beat him, fast people like him, normal people after that, then people like me in my runner speed categories).
We jogged back (well, Drew and Joe jogged and I tried not to redline) to Joe's house afterwards and they hosted a gorgeous brunch for an interesting and diverse group of runner types. Star of the lunch was something Julia made called Strada... this egg and bread, cheese and bacon casserole of heaven. Then Drew and I headed to the expo (HUGE!
With much fun stuff) and came back to a fabulous dinner that Joe made (meatballs to die for were the star of this meal...). Lemme tell you, these guys can just plain cook! An early evening because the marathon is the next day.
BOSTON MARATHON
Drew headed out race morning to catch the bus and I caught a few extra Zzzz's and then got in a really nice 4'ish mile run. I love the combination of hills and lack of altitude in Boston. I actually felt strong running and enjoyed it. Joe, Michael (another spitting spouse) and I walked down to the finish to watch the race. Very cool! My cheeks were sore that night from grinning as I soaked in the atmosphere, watched the pretty runners, winced for the ones who struggled at the finish, and generally had a blast. We found a spot on a grass mound where we could see both the TV and the road. This was great because we saw the coverage of the Women's and Men's fields on TV, watched the wheelchair athletes come in, and then saw the sprint to the finish as the lead pair of women came in. Then the first place male. The finishers started as a trickle and turned to a steady stream. Joe kept track of Drew and Mary (Michael's wife) and Lance on his blackberry.
First report Drew and Lance were running close together at the half...
2:50 projected finish. Lance came by (looking quite buff in the chest and arms) with his crew of pacers. Drew's finish time slipped a bit (he said it had something to do with the up and downhills...) and at final report was to be something like 3:12. We scanned the crown from 3:10 on looking for a red shirt. There were a lot of red shirts! Finally he came by and we screamed an yelled. 3:19. What a great and fun day I had!
The difficulties began there and I won't bore you with the details but Drew forgot where to meet us and we missed a flight (the only on time flight of the weekend). Of the 7 flights we dealt with 1 was cancelled,
1 was on time, and 5 were late. Hmm...
But, that cannot quash the fun weekend we had. I'm motivated to run, and Drew requalified for next year so we get to do it all over again then and I cannot wait!!!
Leslie
WUSSING OUT UPDATE
So, I was supposed to go do this 340 mile mountain bike race in Iowa this weekend, but the 13 hours each way drive, and the forecast which calls for rain and cold wussed me out... so it's a training weekend instead and I'll be racing solo at the 18 hours of Fruita (MTB) the following weekend instead. WUSS!
Ciao for now
Drew & Leslie
I'm pretty sure this is the first marathon I actually trained for and put in long runs and such for. The distance was no problem and I was on pace to run my goal of under 3 hrs through 14 or 15 miles then things went down hill, literally and figuratively. I had a little goal of attempting to be around Lance Armstrong for picture if it worked out but not to mess up my race to do it considering he was shooting for 2:45 or something faster.
The race - I had picked up from the folks we were staying with that it was in my best interest to go out easy and really quiet a bit slower than my goal pace for the first 10 miles and then work the second 10 miles. I went out at what felt very slow and very easy, that got me 6:30 at the mile. Hmmm, if I hadn't held back I probably would have been sub 6. I stayed relaxed and tried not to work the uphills to hard from there on. The 5k was right on pace (maybe not a good thing, but I thought so), the 10k was getting 40: something, which was right on pace or lets say within my capabilities. To run under or around 3 hrs it was.....lets just say a little fast.
Oh, so about 3 or 4 miles everyone I was running with just seemed to slow down, almost stop. Yup, they were all running behind Lance or next to him. Long story short, I ended up being near Lance til 12 or 13 miles, at one point I was one person away. I'm pretty sure I didn't get any pictures with him, since everyone else knew the pictures were at 15k and I didn't and positioned themselves accordingly, I was probably 20 feet behind him. So no pictures.
Anyway, I hit the half mark in 1:27, which I was happy with. Then the downhill at 15 was brutal. I ran the uphills after that just fine and felt fairly strong, now I wasn't sprinting up them, but I also wasn't going to be negative splitting the second half. The downhill after each uphill just killed me and by the end, my quads were really sore. I think I may have been just trying to conserve and not blow myself out, like at the start, but I think that ultimately just translated into going slower.
Well, I didn't make my goal but did manage to still get a qualifying time, so I'm thinking I may try it again next year. Leslie usually rights her own little race reports and did one for this even though she just spectated so enjoy her perspective.
Drew and I headed to Boston on Saturday so he could run the Boston Marathon for the first time and I could chill and have fun... And I did!
We arrived late Saturday after some plane issues... missed the big dinner but met up with Joe Bator and his most lovely wife Julia and the rest of their house guest clan. They have a beautiful place just a few miles from the marathon finish line... and I must say if you ever get an opportunity to be their house guest... DO IT! I met a new breed of people there... Marathoners. Now, I've run my share of marathons, but I am not a marathoner. These folks have their spring races, their fall races, (and in one guy's case a marathon a month for the last some 60
moths). They can compare and contrast the courses, the schwag, and the
feel of races across the globe. I guess I have met a few Ironmaner's, and maybe my hubby is one now, who are the same but different. It's not will you do an Ironman this year, but which one(s).
WOMEN'S OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS/ SATURDAY So, the plan was to wake up Sunday and run over to see the trials. I was a bit nervous about this (running with Drew who knows how slow I am, and Joe who suspects it) but they were nice to me and we did a scenic run over to a point on the trials course where they passed by twice per lap. First lap they went by and some gal was off the front, then there was a big pack (with Deena Kastor in it), then a second pack and the dribbles off the back. I spotted my now new idol who we call "T-Shirt Girl" about third from last. This gal was running strong, but was wearing a plain white tshirt and a pair of shorts and looked like someone I would line up next to at a 5K and think "ah, maybe... we'll see how fast she is". Here's her pic:
http://eliterunning.com/photos/index.php?g2_itemId=130586
Second and third lap they came by and things were about the same. The gal off the front was pulling away (up to 2 minutes at one point), Deena and the fast pack were together, the second pack was breaking up, a few women dropped out, and tshirt girl was slowly picking people off the back.
Fourth lap Deena put her foot down and broke up the field. She was slowly reeling in the lead girl and carnage was happening behind her.
Tshirt girl was hanging strong and still looked solid. We moved to the finish line and Deena made the pass and finished first. The lead gal got second. Tshirt girl finished strong, looked like any old runner girl, and would have put Drew in a hurting if he was trying to beat her (Drew is my measuring stick for fast... There are really fast people who can beat him, fast people like him, normal people after that, then people like me in my runner speed categories).
We jogged back (well, Drew and Joe jogged and I tried not to redline) to Joe's house afterwards and they hosted a gorgeous brunch for an interesting and diverse group of runner types. Star of the lunch was something Julia made called Strada... this egg and bread, cheese and bacon casserole of heaven. Then Drew and I headed to the expo (HUGE!
With much fun stuff) and came back to a fabulous dinner that Joe made (meatballs to die for were the star of this meal...). Lemme tell you, these guys can just plain cook! An early evening because the marathon is the next day.
BOSTON MARATHON
Drew headed out race morning to catch the bus and I caught a few extra Zzzz's and then got in a really nice 4'ish mile run. I love the combination of hills and lack of altitude in Boston. I actually felt strong running and enjoyed it. Joe, Michael (another spitting spouse) and I walked down to the finish to watch the race. Very cool! My cheeks were sore that night from grinning as I soaked in the atmosphere, watched the pretty runners, winced for the ones who struggled at the finish, and generally had a blast. We found a spot on a grass mound where we could see both the TV and the road. This was great because we saw the coverage of the Women's and Men's fields on TV, watched the wheelchair athletes come in, and then saw the sprint to the finish as the lead pair of women came in. Then the first place male. The finishers started as a trickle and turned to a steady stream. Joe kept track of Drew and Mary (Michael's wife) and Lance on his blackberry.
First report Drew and Lance were running close together at the half...
2:50 projected finish. Lance came by (looking quite buff in the chest and arms) with his crew of pacers. Drew's finish time slipped a bit (he said it had something to do with the up and downhills...) and at final report was to be something like 3:12. We scanned the crown from 3:10 on looking for a red shirt. There were a lot of red shirts! Finally he came by and we screamed an yelled. 3:19. What a great and fun day I had!
The difficulties began there and I won't bore you with the details but Drew forgot where to meet us and we missed a flight (the only on time flight of the weekend). Of the 7 flights we dealt with 1 was cancelled,
1 was on time, and 5 were late. Hmm...
But, that cannot quash the fun weekend we had. I'm motivated to run, and Drew requalified for next year so we get to do it all over again then and I cannot wait!!!
Leslie
WUSSING OUT UPDATE
So, I was supposed to go do this 340 mile mountain bike race in Iowa this weekend, but the 13 hours each way drive, and the forecast which calls for rain and cold wussed me out... so it's a training weekend instead and I'll be racing solo at the 18 hours of Fruita (MTB) the following weekend instead. WUSS!
Ciao for now
Drew & Leslie
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Oh yeah, so the tasks at hand. For starters this spot is going to be a "what are the Holton's doing now" thing.
It's been kind of crazy for the last 2 weeks or so. Of course, didn't get interviewed or make the short list for Evotri. Then I proceeded to get slammed at work on proposals (I digress). So I've been in a kind of forced taper for Boston. Boston is on Monday, we leave Saturday, and I'm not feeling exacty speedy. So we'll see how Monday goes. Last week our oldest dog (best we can tell maybe 21 years old), Trixie, took a turn. She stopped eating, even her favorites, then almost couldn't stand up on her own. Long story short Leslie was a bit down most of last week, but seems to be doing good now. This week Leslie has become a little concerned over the conditions of the TransIowa race course which we are scheduled to do on the saturday after Boston. I guess someone test rode part of the course as training and what should have been a 2 hr ride ended up being 4 hrs. Yesterday Leslie decide it best to enter the 18 hrs of Fruita, which is 2 weeks after Boston. Not sure if I'm going to do Fruita as well or support her til the sun rises and then go off and do my own training or race in the solo division. Well, I was going to add a picture here but my computer is having issues, so I'll do that next time.
Thanks for check in on what we're doing.
It's been kind of crazy for the last 2 weeks or so. Of course, didn't get interviewed or make the short list for Evotri. Then I proceeded to get slammed at work on proposals (I digress). So I've been in a kind of forced taper for Boston. Boston is on Monday, we leave Saturday, and I'm not feeling exacty speedy. So we'll see how Monday goes. Last week our oldest dog (best we can tell maybe 21 years old), Trixie, took a turn. She stopped eating, even her favorites, then almost couldn't stand up on her own. Long story short Leslie was a bit down most of last week, but seems to be doing good now. This week Leslie has become a little concerned over the conditions of the TransIowa race course which we are scheduled to do on the saturday after Boston. I guess someone test rode part of the course as training and what should have been a 2 hr ride ended up being 4 hrs. Yesterday Leslie decide it best to enter the 18 hrs of Fruita, which is 2 weeks after Boston. Not sure if I'm going to do Fruita as well or support her til the sun rises and then go off and do my own training or race in the solo division. Well, I was going to add a picture here but my computer is having issues, so I'll do that next time.
Thanks for check in on what we're doing.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Making the Team: 2008 - Voting extended
So everyone thanks for the votes so far. If you thought you missed out. You thought wrong. Apparently some other competitors had issues getting the link code to work. So the deadline to vote for me has been extended to next Friday the 28th. Spread the word I'm still in it. That's http://http://www.andrewholton.blogspot.com/ when you click on the Logo down below. Thanks again
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