The Buffalo Creek Half Marathon is a great race: I have run it 4 out of the 5 years it has been held- the only reason I didn't run last year was b/c I was out of town. It is a point-to-point on a flat soft trail near (wait for it) Buffalo Creek. The weather has always been great, and this year was no exception. My training was going well, but I didn't do much speedwork, so my goal was 1:42 which is a 7:47 pace
I drove up to the start with my good friend J, and another gal who I have run with a bit. Car ride went well, and we got to the start with time to spare. Ended up bagging the porta-potty line for the bushes, but heck- we're all runners, right? It was low 40s to start, so I wore shorts, my compression socks, a short sleeved shirt, throw away arm warmers (socks) and throw away shirt.
The first mile is downhill, so I was ready for that;
1-7:15
2-7:50
By the end of the second mile we are on the trail, and I was trying to get into a good pace. I wore my watch, but not my Garmin. I was pacing off a woman ahead of me, but realized by the end of mile 4 I needed to pass her.
3-7:42
4-7:50
5-7:36
I ditched my LS shirt around mile 3, and was taking water at the water stops. I did not start with my own bottle of water, which I will do next time. Miles were ticking off nicely, at this point.
6-7:46
7-7:40
After mile 7 I slowed down a bit on the next mile, but a little too much:
8- 7:58
9-7:43
10-7:53
Sometime during the 10th mile I passed another woman, and only saw men ahead of me for the rest of the race. I had been running with a guy who was also shooting for a 1:42 for a couple of miles, but he fell back around mile 11.
Miles 11 and 12 were mis-marked, which was really annoying. I actually called out at one point to the runner ahead of me b/c it seemed very unlikely that the 4 runners that were all running around the same pace had fallen off. I had mile 11 at 8:45. My friend with her Garmin told me it was actually 1.3 miles
11/12 16:15 Mile 12 has the only hill, but it wasn't too bad this year.
13.1 8:32
1:42:09 2nd AG, PW on this course.
I am content with this time. I did slow down the last few miles, which was not due to endurance (I think) b/c I ran a lot of long runs over 10 miles for this race. I think it was due to lack of speedwork, and knowing what my goal HMP should feel like.
Even though it was a PW for this course, I am happy to be running injury-free again, and am pleased with the time.
Next up: winter running with Kristin and maybe a 10k. Who knows?
Friday, November 12, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
September Mourn...
again- another cheesy post title, but am giving thanks daily that September is OVER, and we survived (somewhat) intact. At the end of August, we adopted a puppy, Bella. We had her name picked out for 8 months, and both Bob and I spent hours scouring website and talking with people; looking for the ideal pup to join our family. Well, here she is:
We got her from a rescue organization in Ohio, and she is the sweetest little gal. We were all quite taken with her, DH in particular. A week or so after we had her, DH got some devastating career news; we are still recovering from the shock, and he is moving forward, albeit slowly. Two weeks after she arrived, DS#1 had an asthma attack that landed him in the ICU at Children's Hospital for 4 days. At the advice of both our allergist, and the one at Children's, we chose to fine a home for our sweet little Bella. Happily for her, one of DH's colleagues had lost a dog around the same time our Beta died, so they took Bella. It was a brutal month with lots of sleepless nights, and both personal and professional worry. We went to visit Bella last weekend at her new home, and must say it was good closure; she was obviously someone else's dog now. Still very, very sweet and getting really good at chasing the ball. The real killer part of realizing DS cannot live in comfort with a dog is the realization that we will not have a dog again. Maybe never. That is really suckful, and took a long time for me to get my head around.
On the running front, things have been GREAT! I have been actually running with some friends and other gals on Friday mornings, and that has been really fun. More on that in the next post....
Friday, August 27, 2010
Colorado Rocky Mountain High
ok, so I KNOW it is cheesy, but there is something to the song, and the great feeling I get when in Colorado. It is truly my 'Happy Place'. I was fortunate enough this year to spend 30 days in Colorado, and our summer trip was truly amazing.
The boys and I flew out on a Tuesday, and had a great visit with my sister, BIL and new nephew, Jack. The boys really enjoyed him, and he is a happy, happy little boy. One highlight was sailing on Lake Dillon with Dad, Sis, BIL and the boys.
Bob arrived on Friday, and promptly scared Jack, so we had a fun afternoon of the baby getting used to Bob. (Good Times). We had a very fun 'Summer Birthday' dinner and Jack warmed up enough by Saturday to let Bob hold him. Sis, BIL and Jack left on Saturday, so we went hiking with Mom/Dad to Shrine Mountain, up by Vail.
Our friends arrived on Sunday, and we had a great week of hiking, biking, kayaking and hanging out. D took a baseball to the mouth on Tuesday, but other than that we were injury-free for the week. Here is our view of Lake Dillon:
The kids loved playing baseball on the lawn:
The last day the four of us hiked the McCullough Gulch Trail, which had some amazing waterfalls and views:
The boys and I flew out on a Tuesday, and had a great visit with my sister, BIL and new nephew, Jack. The boys really enjoyed him, and he is a happy, happy little boy. One highlight was sailing on Lake Dillon with Dad, Sis, BIL and the boys.
Bob arrived on Friday, and promptly scared Jack, so we had a fun afternoon of the baby getting used to Bob. (Good Times). We had a very fun 'Summer Birthday' dinner and Jack warmed up enough by Saturday to let Bob hold him. Sis, BIL and Jack left on Saturday, so we went hiking with Mom/Dad to Shrine Mountain, up by Vail.
Our friends arrived on Sunday, and we had a great week of hiking, biking, kayaking and hanging out. D took a baseball to the mouth on Tuesday, but other than that we were injury-free for the week. Here is our view of Lake Dillon:
The kids loved playing baseball on the lawn:
The last day the four of us hiked the McCullough Gulch Trail, which had some amazing waterfalls and views:
Pittsburgh Triathlon
Stats: 1:19:10 1st Place Female 40-44 AG
Summary: More enjoyable than 1st Triathlon, mostly due to bike
Two years ago I did the Olympic Distance Relay for this race with A and J. I did the swim; borrowed Jen's wetsuit, and got colitis the day before the race. Ended up swimming anyway- but did NOT feel good at all. This year's experience was MUCH more pleasant.
Saturday J, A and I went down to pick up our packets and have lunch. We bumped into a few folks we knew, and I was amazed to see so many fit people in downtown Pittsburgh. The race has grown in size in the past two years, which is great.
Got a decent night's sleep, and picked A up around 5 am. Everything went very smoothly with setting up transition, getting our body markings, and getting to the start of the race. No pre-race GI issues, which is always good.
We were swimming in the Allegheny River (the 'cleanest' of the Three Rivers?) and wetsuits were not allowed due to the warm temps of the water. We did see a dead fish while we were waiting to start, but no pythons or bodies were in view.
Swim went well- I think I actually enjoyed NOT having a wetsuit. I climbed out of the river just ahead of A, and we entered the transition area together. Time for swim (600 meters) and 1st transition was 12:51.
Bike went much better than anticipated- we were out and back on the HOV lane of a highway outside of Pittsburgh. The out was on a slight uphill, the back very easy. I was passed by a few people on both the out and back; including J and another woman from our group. I was happy with myself for not putting on the brakes on the downhill-- my 'granny' biker-self is getting the need for speed~
Due to the fact the boys had just had Science Center Camp the week before the race, I had run the trail the 5K was on 3 times that week, so I was pretty sure I knew were the turn-around was, which helped my mental game. I passed a lot of people in the run, and ran a 24:26 for the 5K.
Felt great afterwards, hooked up with my friends to watch J's husband finish the Olympic Distance, then headed out to RMU to watch DS#1's 3 on 3 Championship Game. Found out later that #1 and #2 women were both in our AG, so thus placed 1st in AG, with A getting 2nd.
I was happy to have done those two triathlons this summer, and really enjoyed biking with A every week. I don't see myself doing much more than that next summer, but perhaps an Olympic distance might be in my future. Only time will tell.
Summary: More enjoyable than 1st Triathlon, mostly due to bike
Two years ago I did the Olympic Distance Relay for this race with A and J. I did the swim; borrowed Jen's wetsuit, and got colitis the day before the race. Ended up swimming anyway- but did NOT feel good at all. This year's experience was MUCH more pleasant.
Saturday J, A and I went down to pick up our packets and have lunch. We bumped into a few folks we knew, and I was amazed to see so many fit people in downtown Pittsburgh. The race has grown in size in the past two years, which is great.
Got a decent night's sleep, and picked A up around 5 am. Everything went very smoothly with setting up transition, getting our body markings, and getting to the start of the race. No pre-race GI issues, which is always good.
We were swimming in the Allegheny River (the 'cleanest' of the Three Rivers?) and wetsuits were not allowed due to the warm temps of the water. We did see a dead fish while we were waiting to start, but no pythons or bodies were in view.
Swim went well- I think I actually enjoyed NOT having a wetsuit. I climbed out of the river just ahead of A, and we entered the transition area together. Time for swim (600 meters) and 1st transition was 12:51.
Bike went much better than anticipated- we were out and back on the HOV lane of a highway outside of Pittsburgh. The out was on a slight uphill, the back very easy. I was passed by a few people on both the out and back; including J and another woman from our group. I was happy with myself for not putting on the brakes on the downhill-- my 'granny' biker-self is getting the need for speed~
Due to the fact the boys had just had Science Center Camp the week before the race, I had run the trail the 5K was on 3 times that week, so I was pretty sure I knew were the turn-around was, which helped my mental game. I passed a lot of people in the run, and ran a 24:26 for the 5K.
Felt great afterwards, hooked up with my friends to watch J's husband finish the Olympic Distance, then headed out to RMU to watch DS#1's 3 on 3 Championship Game. Found out later that #1 and #2 women were both in our AG, so thus placed 1st in AG, with A getting 2nd.
I was happy to have done those two triathlons this summer, and really enjoyed biking with A every week. I don't see myself doing much more than that next summer, but perhaps an Olympic distance might be in my future. Only time will tell.
Friday, July 30, 2010
One more thing I 'Get' now.
I now finally understand how my parents could be so proud of me for finishing a marathon, even when I am so disappointed that I want to scream. I used to think they were just trying to sugar-coat the experience, and focus only on the positives. (which is a wonderful trait that my mother has).
I remember cringing when we were at dinner after the NYC marathon: my 4:02 finish in my mind a disaster b/c my goal was a BQ of 3:50, and I was in severe ITBand pain for the last 16 miles. They were proudly telling folks at nearby tables (other diners wearing finisher medals and their friends/families) how I had run the marathon, and we had all traveled from Pittsburgh. At that time I just wanted to crawl under the table as I mumbled 4:02 time and time again.
What was to me a failure was to them something to celebrate.
Fast forward almost 4 years. When T and D finished their Kiddie Triathlon races I could not have been more proud of them if they had won an Ironman. To me it really did NOT matter where they finished in their age groups (near the bottom), but that they went out there and competed and finished. I want them to know that I am proud of them for trying and their success is in the completion.
They wanted to look their times and AG placement up online (wonder where the competitive nature comes from- ahem) and I had to watch as their faces both fell when they saw where they had finished, and recognized names of classmates and teammates above theirs. The fact that D finished after his 3 falls off the bike and T did the longer distances in his first time out is something I hope they can be truly proud of themselves for doing.
And, the great thing about timed races... THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR!
Cheers-
PS-- I ALWAYS appreciated the support from my parents; THANKS for being there!
I remember cringing when we were at dinner after the NYC marathon: my 4:02 finish in my mind a disaster b/c my goal was a BQ of 3:50, and I was in severe ITBand pain for the last 16 miles. They were proudly telling folks at nearby tables (other diners wearing finisher medals and their friends/families) how I had run the marathon, and we had all traveled from Pittsburgh. At that time I just wanted to crawl under the table as I mumbled 4:02 time and time again.
What was to me a failure was to them something to celebrate.
Fast forward almost 4 years. When T and D finished their Kiddie Triathlon races I could not have been more proud of them if they had won an Ironman. To me it really did NOT matter where they finished in their age groups (near the bottom), but that they went out there and competed and finished. I want them to know that I am proud of them for trying and their success is in the completion.
They wanted to look their times and AG placement up online (wonder where the competitive nature comes from- ahem) and I had to watch as their faces both fell when they saw where they had finished, and recognized names of classmates and teammates above theirs. The fact that D finished after his 3 falls off the bike and T did the longer distances in his first time out is something I hope they can be truly proud of themselves for doing.
And, the great thing about timed races... THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR!
Cheers-
PS-- I ALWAYS appreciated the support from my parents; THANKS for being there!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Boys' Triathlon
Today the boys participated in the South Park kid's triathlon. We 'trained' a bit at the trail, which consisted mostly of helping Danny get acclimated to his 2-wheel bike, and Tommy working on the run portion. I left the swimming training up to the swim team coaches. I was really happy they both wanted to do it; Tommy b/c the distances were double what Danny would have to do (100yd. swim, 2M bike and 1M run) and Danny b/c he really just got started on getting off/on his bike this week. He had some issues turning, which would come into play today.
We got them there, and they found their transition areas, and got their timing chip around their ankles and got their body marking done. Danny was in the 4th heat, and he had a 50 yd. swim. All went well:
He made it to the transition area and on the bike. Now, remember Danny had been having some trouble turning. Well Bad Mom over here didn't take them up to see the bike course, so we didn't know how many turns he would have to make. Poor Dude ended up falling off 3 times, once was an over-the-handlebars type move. He got back on each time, and came in off the bike course a bit battered:
Got off the bike, and finished his run with a big smile on his face:
We got him attended to right after the race, but here are some pics:
Note the road burn on the chest- OUCH!
We both told him how proud we were of him for finishing with those injuries, and he said "why wouldn't I finish?" Great attitude!
Tommy was in heat #12, so here he is during the 100 yd. swim:
Love the position of the elbow. The race was in a pool that was 50 yds. long, so they had to do two laps.
Here he is waving to Danny and I after the swim:
And on the bike:
The one-mile run the 10-12 yr. old kids have to do was half-mile down and a half-mile up a hill. I was really proud of Tommy for running all the way up the hill- he did great:
(note how Tommy has his shirt on- he saw what happened to Danny after his bike fall)
Each athlete received a nice medal for finishing:
When asked if they wanted to do the Triathlon again next year the answer was 'YES'.
Great way to start the weekend for all of us!
Oh, and me: ran 25M on 4 runs this week with a LR of 10M @ 9:08 pace. Hope to get out tomorrow for 3-4 more. Finally feel like I am truly running again. Also, biked 21M, and swam 1000 yds.
We got them there, and they found their transition areas, and got their timing chip around their ankles and got their body marking done. Danny was in the 4th heat, and he had a 50 yd. swim. All went well:
He made it to the transition area and on the bike. Now, remember Danny had been having some trouble turning. Well Bad Mom over here didn't take them up to see the bike course, so we didn't know how many turns he would have to make. Poor Dude ended up falling off 3 times, once was an over-the-handlebars type move. He got back on each time, and came in off the bike course a bit battered:
Got off the bike, and finished his run with a big smile on his face:
We got him attended to right after the race, but here are some pics:
Note the road burn on the chest- OUCH!
We both told him how proud we were of him for finishing with those injuries, and he said "why wouldn't I finish?" Great attitude!
Tommy was in heat #12, so here he is during the 100 yd. swim:
Love the position of the elbow. The race was in a pool that was 50 yds. long, so they had to do two laps.Here he is waving to Danny and I after the swim:
And on the bike:
The one-mile run the 10-12 yr. old kids have to do was half-mile down and a half-mile up a hill. I was really proud of Tommy for running all the way up the hill- he did great:
(note how Tommy has his shirt on- he saw what happened to Danny after his bike fall)
Each athlete received a nice medal for finishing:
When asked if they wanted to do the Triathlon again next year the answer was 'YES'.
Great way to start the weekend for all of us!
Oh, and me: ran 25M on 4 runs this week with a LR of 10M @ 9:08 pace. Hope to get out tomorrow for 3-4 more. Finally feel like I am truly running again. Also, biked 21M, and swam 1000 yds.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Firecracker 5k
Quick stats: 22:44 (watch time) 22:49 clock time
7:20 pace
2nd in Age Group out of 36
Today I ran the Firecracker 5k that I have run probably 9 times in the past 14 years. It is a hilly out and back course that I enjoy because it is a relatively big race (1400 people this year) and there are LOTS of fast runners. Many of the area college and high school XC teams run this race.
My course PR is 22:06 and I was targeting 23:00 with a pixie-dust goal of 22:30. Most importantly, I wanted to race well and not get injured (which happened the last two times I ran 5ks- last year and after this race 2 years ago.
The weather has been glorious for western PA this whole week- cool in the morning and getting nice and warm during the day. Today is going to be in the high 80s, but it was cool in the morning. Nice day for a race.
I got up, had my usual bagel w/PB and headed over to the race. Parking was easy, and I got a mile warm-up in before realizing it had gotten very hot since I had arrived. (race time temp. was low 70s). I made a last-minute dash back to my car, changed into a tank top, and headed to the start.
This is a chip-timed race, but only has 1 mat. I lined up 10 or so rows back, and knew my watch time would be a bit off of clock time. I was trying not to go out too fast, but once again, did just that.
First mile is rolling hills, and the 1 mile marker is just past a church. 1st mile was 7:02-oops!
The second mile includes the turn-around point, which is my favorite mile because you get to see all the fast runners (winner was 15:38, 20 runners below 17 minutes). Great inspiration. The turn-around went fine. (I fell here a few years ago)
The third mile was very weak-- mentally and physically. I sort of zoned out for awhile, and a few women passed me. I just didn't have my mental game today. The last hill by the church seemed bigger than in past years, but since I know the course so well, I knew it was the last hill, and that the end of the race was sort of a small incline.
I did put on a bit of speed at the end, but was content with my 22:41. Not the fastest on this course, but not the slowest in the past 5 years either. I ran 3 more miles to warm down, very easy. I wanted to make sure to get everything loosened up, so as to avoid injury this year.
I was happy to get 2nd in my AG. The 45-49 age group winner ran a 19:57, and 2nd place 20:15. yikes! And I thought moving up to 45 AG would HELP me next year :)
All in all, I am very happy to be healthy again with the running, and feel as though my fall half marathon training and goals might be accomplished.
Cheers-
7:20 pace
2nd in Age Group out of 36
Today I ran the Firecracker 5k that I have run probably 9 times in the past 14 years. It is a hilly out and back course that I enjoy because it is a relatively big race (1400 people this year) and there are LOTS of fast runners. Many of the area college and high school XC teams run this race.
My course PR is 22:06 and I was targeting 23:00 with a pixie-dust goal of 22:30. Most importantly, I wanted to race well and not get injured (which happened the last two times I ran 5ks- last year and after this race 2 years ago.
The weather has been glorious for western PA this whole week- cool in the morning and getting nice and warm during the day. Today is going to be in the high 80s, but it was cool in the morning. Nice day for a race.
I got up, had my usual bagel w/PB and headed over to the race. Parking was easy, and I got a mile warm-up in before realizing it had gotten very hot since I had arrived. (race time temp. was low 70s). I made a last-minute dash back to my car, changed into a tank top, and headed to the start.
This is a chip-timed race, but only has 1 mat. I lined up 10 or so rows back, and knew my watch time would be a bit off of clock time. I was trying not to go out too fast, but once again, did just that.
First mile is rolling hills, and the 1 mile marker is just past a church. 1st mile was 7:02-oops!
The second mile includes the turn-around point, which is my favorite mile because you get to see all the fast runners (winner was 15:38, 20 runners below 17 minutes). Great inspiration. The turn-around went fine. (I fell here a few years ago)
The third mile was very weak-- mentally and physically. I sort of zoned out for awhile, and a few women passed me. I just didn't have my mental game today. The last hill by the church seemed bigger than in past years, but since I know the course so well, I knew it was the last hill, and that the end of the race was sort of a small incline.
I did put on a bit of speed at the end, but was content with my 22:41. Not the fastest on this course, but not the slowest in the past 5 years either. I ran 3 more miles to warm down, very easy. I wanted to make sure to get everything loosened up, so as to avoid injury this year.
I was happy to get 2nd in my AG. The 45-49 age group winner ran a 19:57, and 2nd place 20:15. yikes! And I thought moving up to 45 AG would HELP me next year :)
All in all, I am very happy to be healthy again with the running, and feel as though my fall half marathon training and goals might be accomplished.
Cheers-
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