Turkey Trot '08

First off, happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I'm thankful for so many things that I couldn't list them because it would be too boring to read and they would all be at the top of the list. The Dane and I are chilling at home this year, cooking our little turkey and watching football, movies, whatever. We did the Turkey Trot 10K this morning. We saw a lot of friends and got to catch up with some folks that we haven't seen in a while. That is one of the biggest reasons for doing this race. It was chilly by Florida standards, in the mid 40's for us at race time, perfect for racing. No real goals but with what I've been doing in "training" lately as far as running, all base pace, no tempo/speed/long. Felt if I could break 42 minutes, that would start the winter off pretty well. Went through the 5K faster than I ran the stand alone 5K last year at this race, good sign. My main goal, other that getting my VDOT score for my half ironman program, was to really try and even split this. I had a not so hard time until about mile 5 when we head uphill a bit. Ended up breaking 41 minutes and nearly even split the race, ran the second 5K only 9 seconds slower which is pretty solid for me. I was 4th overall female and first Masters. Crazy on no real run training! Very happy with this. I will note that the Dane regained the household 10K trophy by going 30 seconds faster than me! He's been running a lot, frequency only at this point. I'm very proud of him and we both got our annual coffee mugs (which we need like a hole in the head). All in all, really good effort, had to pass the girl in front of me at the six mile mark, that hurt! I also had a really good speed swim, for me, yesterday. Hit all my 100's (SCY) 1:16 and below - doesn't sound like much, but a breakthrough for me! I really want to swim under an hour at IM Canada (have 1:02 PR) and I have to keep getting my 100 time down to do it. One thing's for sure, I'll die trying! So, we will enjoy our day relaxing, eating and having some tasty wine. Best to all.
Also, congrats to IMAZ folks - Lisbeth setting AG record and 3rd female amateur, Val finished with vertigo, Jennifer got her Kona slot.
Racing with aloha!

A hole in the ice

Another beautiful sunset in Kona


Yes, yes. I'm in Florida. That said, this has by far been the coldest November since I've lived here (since '97). As I mentioned before, we are trying to swim 2-3 times per week in this "offseason" portion of the year at our OUTDOOR pool. Well, it has been pretty chilly, even for here. We slept in Monday, no swim, it was cold. Wednesday was not to be missed. Another cold front came through (we're getting 2-3 per week as opposed to 1 per week in normal fall/winter). Unfortunately, it was 41 degrees on Weds morning. Gotta swim, can't miss. Got to the pool at 5AM, coach is there but nobody else. So, the Dane runs over and tells coach that we can live without a swim if nobody else shows up. Then the headlights, other cars showing up....hmmmm. Out of the car, here we go. There were only three of us initially, so we can swim in the 2 lanes in the middle of the pool between the tarps which means we didn't have to pull the tarps off half of the pool. It felt like swimming in a hole in the ice. The water was warm, thank God. The air was not. Dashing out of the locker room through the cold air to dive into the pool. Getting out is worse. This, after all, is the winter of HTFU. The weather is living up to the bill. Thanks, Mother Nature! Anyhow, our two swims this week were of high quality. I can add volume later. We have Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, looking like we'll run the 10K this year and not the 5K. I've never just done the 10K here but I have absolutely zero foot speed but plenty of endurance so looks like the 10K will fit the bill. We'll see. It'll be fun. The household trophy is in serious threat this time, the Dane is running a lot. (I wouldn't be upset to lose this one anyway!).
As before, best of luck to those out in Tempe, AZ.
kia kaha.....still

Mad Dogs

Serenity and safety in Kona

Today was the Mad Dog Tri club anniversary party......and early sign up for St Anthony's tri in April! It is always fun to regroup with people we haven't seen for a while. Especially having the Dane with me, every encounter is always more fun. He has done some amazing feats of late. Since a little before we left for Kona, he has lost over 13 pounds (he's not fat, just not at "race weight") and has been running like a fiend. I can barely keep up with him anymore......except in the pool!! Anyhow, we are having fun doing training that is just what we feel like doing. I do love being back in the gym lifting weights! You may not know it by looking at me, but I do love lifting weights. I am holding off on the leg weight training until Dec to give the little chicken legs some recovery from a hard Kona effort. None the less, doing some very challenging group rides on the road bike and swimming with the masters group is all I can handle right now! I will continue to try and increase the run mileage as much as my body will allow - stupid to get injured in the off season (like last year). Running fast is such a powerful weapon in my age group now I'm really seeing! We'll keep plugging away and staying healthy!
Best of luck to friends doing IM Arizona next Sunday. Mostly to Val, my only sponsor and best of friends! Also, Mark, Pam, Ken, Jennifer and Lisbeth. Go get em! Better you than me at this point!!

Clearwater....glad we live here!

BEAUTIFUL VIEW!

JZ GOING FOR THE WIN

This weekend was the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater and since we live literally 2-3 miles from the start, we rode out to spectate and cheer everyone on. Truth be told, I didn't qualify (which I'm sure is known if you follow along here) but only had one qualifier this season. The course (Rhode Island 70.3) didn't suit me the competition was quite strong and I wasn't fast enough. After seeing the times and the pelotons coming (here at Clearwater) on the bike, I didn't miss this race and may never wish to do it again. Anyhow, met some friends on the top of Memorial causeway bridge with cowbell in hand and cheered like it was my job. We had a great time and saw some really impressive performances and were truly impressed. I'm really happy that at the age of 38, JZ was able to win. She dominated on the run and suffered. The other impressive performance on the women's side for me was Nina Kraft. Say what you want but she dug in and had an impressive finish at 5th at 39 years of age! She has had some adversity in her career, chosen and otherwise, but has overcome. I have met and talked with Nina and she is a very nice, down to Earth woman and I have the best wishes for her. We missed the post race festivities because we were just too tired. Back to training though, easing into it. Trying to run with some consistency, swim 3 days per week and ride on the weekends. Back in the weight room full on in another week, can't wait to get STRONG! We had chamber of commerce weather and truly enjoyed it. You can talk about moving the race from Clearwater, but you won't get better weather but you'll always have drafters/cheaters. As you were.......
Racing with aloha

Another biathlon......aka anaerobic nirvana!

Ouch!

Brrrrrr! Glad to get out of the water!

Erin and me prior to start

Ok, I haven't done anything anaerobic in several months building up for Kona. So, today was the race formerly known as Strangeman's Biathlon. A grueling 2 mile run, 1/3 mile swim (brrrrr) and 2 mile run. I thought it would be fun, silly me. My goal this winter is to HTFU against the cold and get out in it, embrace it and get faster. This was day one. It would figure that we had record breaking cold weather this week to boot, enough to cool the Gulf down below 70 degrees. No wetsuits here, we're running first, no time for such luxuries. The weather this morning was much nicer, 60 degrees, as opposed to the 40's during the week. The Dane decided to run to the race site (Clearwater Beach) and cheer me on instead of racing - waiting to unleash his new found fitness on the AG next year! I was out here for fun and a good workout so no goals as usual. That said, I wanted to win depending on the competition. Ironman 70.3 World Championship is next Saturday at this very site so I felt maybe a great age grouper or pro might show to sharpen their form. Lucky for me (not the men, congrats Darby from Finland), that didn't happen. I went out hard on the first run and felt I could survive in the water, however I never actually got in the water to see how cold it was! I lead at the beginning with two gals not far behind. Into the water, it was COLD! I almost couldn't function and certainly couldn't dolphin out because when my face went into the water, I went into a full spasm. When we got past the sandbar, it was swim time so I dove in and went. Wow, it was cold. The swim was uneventful otherwise but I could see the second girl, Erin K, not too far behind. She is a solid swimmer so I couldn't slack and claim hypothermia. Got out and had trouble putting my shoes back on because hands were numb. The Dane was letting me know that Erin was "right there" so I ran scared. I am not in shape enough to run scared for short distances but I managed to pull it out for the overall womens win. Whew, it was indeed painful and cold. The winter of HTFU is in full force! Some friends are currently surviving IM Florida as I type, best of luck to them and I can honestly say, I'm glad I'm not there (even though they are having record-breaking conditions). I'm done. We will do Turkey Trot in a few weeks just to keep the running going and it's super fun. We'll be out at Clearwater Beach next Sat to cheer everyone on as they fulfill their dreams of competing in the 70.3 World Championships - it's actually much more fun to watch!
Cheers and race with Aloha!