D - The Goal I Met That Is

Yep!  The goal I met for my solo bike ride in the triathlon was D.

Before the race.  The weather had clearly changed from the previous week.

I did not get under 50 minutes, or under 52.  My time was slightly less than 2 minutes slower than when I rode this course following a swim.  I expected a better time and thought I rode well enough for a better time. I felt like I was pushing it. I passed a lot of people and only a few passed me.  I gave it my all.  So for today I will have to be happy with that and try again another day.  It was windy, but I didn't think it was windy enough to make a big difference.

But the three of us had a good time together.  The swimmer was a race virgin. She says she is the least competitive person out there but she is anxious to do it again another year!  I was riding sooner than usual because she came out of the water sooner than I would have (the wavy rough water) and transition was almost non existent. So I got to be in  a "pack" a lot more of the time. I like that as it seems to make me go faster.  (seems)  Our runner was very fast and really got us the place we got.  We were 4/6 relay teams. We beat the team behind us by one hundredth of a second.

The swimmer's mom, sister and niece came from 2 hours away to watch her.  Well to cheer her on. It's hard to know who is who in the water.  But I thought it was very sweet they all came.

I was 95 out of 130 bikers forgetting that most of them swam too!

Pointing to our numbers on our legs because we are the bad ass older ladies!

So on to  a new tri this weekend.  I also think I felt a little let down I wasn't doing the whole thing which I didn't expect.  But I was racing and any day you're racing is a good day.

Triathlon Relay - Only Biking - Whoopee!!

This weekend I'll be back at Lake Dunmore for another triathlon.  But I won't be having to be brave and get into the water and swim 5 miles one third of a mile before I hit the first transition.

I also won't have to jump off my bike and immediately head out for a heavy legged run.

The ONLY think I will be doing is riding on my magnificent bike for a fun filled ride around the lake.

Well except for that long horrible hill by the fish hatchery that is.

I'll do the whole thing on my own another weekend.  When my friends first asked me to bike in the relay they were doing I said no. I was thinking I wanted to do the whole thing. But thankfully I quickly thought about it and realized I was insane.  I have plenty of chances to do triathlons including another shot at this one.  I dread the swimming.  The run is so tiring.  And the bike ride is bliss!  I love racing on a bike and tris present that opportunity.  Why wouldn't  I jump at the chance to only ride the bike?

So tomorrow I will head off for this triathlon eagerly awaiting my first race as just a cyclist!  

And I do have some goals.

A goal: to bike it under 50 minutes. I never have but man I would like to.

B goal: to bike it in 51:08 or less as that would be a best time for this tri.

C goal: to bike it less than 52 minutes. 

D goal: to enjoy the day and whatever I do.  When I biked it earlier this week with nothing before it I did it in 53 something and did a little less than the whole course.  Yikes!  But I'm counting on race day excitement and other racers out there to spur me on to a faster speed.

And the heat wave has broken. Sunday should be in the 70s with lower humidity.  Best news ever!

Three Strange Things Seen on my Bike Ride Thursday

Can you see the white shape in the water in the distance?

A closer view

1.  Yesterday my friend and I were riding out bikes by 6:00 to try to beat the nasty heat we are having.  

She had also ridden the day before and seen these large white "things" all along Otter Creek.  She said they were larger the day before and gone later when she rode back by.  We did not ride back by as I cut the ride a few miles short.  That is very unlike me but I think I was still feeling some dehydration effects and 50 miles was plenty.  It was getting hot and I was feeling somewhat "off" for sure.  Back to the above. Does anyone know what these are?  She thought they had something to do with frogs.  As you got closer they looked foamy.  They were all up and down the river.  

Can you tell what this is?

2.  Quite a ways into our ride I spotted this.  It was a little hard to get a good picture without moving it around and I had no desire to do that. It is a bra. A red bra.  A lacy red bra.  A big lacy red bra.  A big lacy red bra lying on the side of the road.  Guesses as to how it got there?

I went back for this photo and kind of blew it. When

I first went by the house was much higher in the air

and it was more dramatic.

3. This is a house that was being picked up in the air off it's foundation. Some of the house has been torn down but I guess they're moving the rest to another spot.  It almost seems like it might have been best to tear it all down and start over.  But it wasn't my decision to make.

Did you see anything strange on your workouts this week?

Also - I think I must have been suffering from dehydration when I talked about not having any identification on me in the Shipyard Half.  I had my bib number of course plus my first and last name on my bib!

Shipyard Half Marathon - My Worst Race Ever

With my friends before the race

This was easily the worst race of my life.  Easily.  It's kind of funny because my marathon in Portland was my worst marathon but not on the same scale as this race.  I knew within the first two miles it was going to be a bad day.  I was already wondering if I would finish the race.  Seriously?  Wondering in the first two miles if I could finish?

I located the cupcake truck before the race so I would know where it

was later.

Waiting for the start was very pretty.

Yes. I wasn't injured but it was hot and humid like you couldn't believe.  I had nothing to give.  A friend told me she heard on the national news this morning about the dangerous conditions of the Shipyard Half so I am not just whining.

This hill went on and on with many turns. It 

was my slowest mile.

The first two miles were slow which I figured  were good as I was starting out slowly.  Well...really I wasn't.  These first two miles were my speedy miles. In the third mile there was a steep hill that went on and on.  So what did I do?  I walked. I am a pretty fast walker and I couldn't see wasting what little energy I had running up this hill. So I didn't. I decided I would walk up all the hills.  I decided I would walk each and every mile at the beginning of it.  I knew time was no longer a factor. And I still wasn't sure I would finish.

The first five miles go by the Casco Bridge in each direction.  Some of the neighborhoods were nice but some of it was on a main street that had nothing much to offer. We went back by the beginning but I knew my friends weren't there as they were heading out to eat breakfast as soon as I had started. I had been amazed when they saw me in the beginning as I couldn't find them.

One of the prettier views on the course

I kept finding more hills and seemed to be walking longer and longer. I would tell myself I would start running when "that guy ahead of me" did. This worked very briefly.  We got to a point where we started meeting runners heading back to the beginning.  Not only am I wondering at this point if I will finish I am wondering if someone will call my husband if I end up in the medical tent. I realize I have no identification at all on me.  I am wishing I had my phone so I could call my friends and tell them not to worry when I don't appear at the time I said I would.

So we meander along. Much of the course is pretty and now we are heading for the Back Cove.  For years as I have driven through Portland I have salivated as I have driven by the Back Cove wanting to run it.  So here I am.  And what do I think?  I cannot believe that we are going to run around the whole thing. I cannot believe that that isn't way too far to run and get back to the finish in 13.1 miles.  I cannot see anyone across the cove so I am sure we will  not run all around it even though the race course clearly showed that we would.  I walk and think about how I could so easily walk the rest of the way. But then my friends would really worry about me. I drink water at all the water stops and splash water on my arm sleeves which are supposed to keep me cool if wet.

This Back Cove went on forever. It was actually 3.5 miles.

Portland skyline

Not the Back Cove's prettiest moment

I decide I am going to run 100 steps (counting on my right foot.)  When I get to 100 I have to run.  Then I am going to run 100 steps but I can do more if I want. When I start out I think this is easy, I am going to go to 200.  This does not happen.  I can run longer than 100 but I CANNOT walk more than 100 steps.  Surprisingly I always obey this Law Of Andrea.  This method works for me.  I had thought I would do it for 5 times but I basically do it for the remainder of the race.

Everyone around me is running and walking. We pass each other back and forth the whole way.  It felt good to have everyone else struggling as much as I was.  Not that I wanted people to struggle but it made me feel the weather had a lot to do with it and it wasn't me.

I was glad to get to the end of the Back Cove. We had come down that steep hill earlier and I was preparing to go up it but pleasant surprise - we didn't have to. It was all pretty flat the rest of the way.

But at the last few water stops they had NO CUPS!  Not okay.  Plenty of water so they would pour it into your hands.  But you don't get a lot that way. When I was still in the Back Cove I saw them drag the container of used cups over and start to reuse them.  Ewww!  Did they let people have an informed decision as to how badly they needed that water by telling them the cups were recycled?

The final part was quite nice

The last part was very pretty. I would love to go back and bike it (of course) or run it on a more pleasant day when I had energy.  I was still struggling but knew I would finish. I did not want to walk over the finish line so I had to plan for that.  It was definitely more than .1 from the mile 13 mark.  The 3 mile mark for the 5K was quite a ways farther so yeah, shouldn't they be in the same place?

I saw/heard my friends but I admit I could not muster up a smile for them. It was definitely put one foot in front of the other and move forward until you cross the finish line.

Then I went and hung - really hung - on a pole until I thought I could move.  I got my water bottle and went to fill it up but the line was long. Really?  I need that water NOW.  That was hard.  I needed to walk and I needed water. Standing in a line not moving with no water was not working.

The first thing I ate was a Yoplait Greek Frozen Yogurt bar and it really hit the spot. I had no desire for the pizza but did get the ice cream.  Coffee!  I found my friends and we all wandered around having some samples.  I did not get my beer as the line was very long and I didn't want it badly enough.

One problem I was having was leg cramps. Kind of bad. I had never had these before and assume it was something to do with dehydration. I didn't have to pee forever!

Before we left we all got cupcakes.  Then we headed back to the hotel which had a 2:00 checkout for racers!  We shopped a little and had a great lunch/dinner on the way home.  A great weekend in spite of  not a great race. I still enjoyed it. That's who I am I guess.

 I almost forgot stats.  Nothing to write home about. It was my slowest half ever.  But I'm okay with that.  I was 1385 out of 1841. Age group was 11/28.  My overall time was 2:38.  I had many miles in the 12s. One in the 13s.  Some in the  11s and the speedy ones in the tens.

Before the Shipyard Half

Two friends went with me to Maine for my half marathon. We left early Saturday and got back late Sunday. We all agreed that we packed a lot into the short time we had and a good time was had by all.

During the drive over we caught up on work gossip (we all work together) and family lives.  We stopped for breakfast, encountered no bad traffic (the whole weekend) and arrived in plenty of time in Portland for packet pick up.  I found a new running store which is right near the Whole Foods store we visit often since we don't have one in Vermont.

The race t shirts were way small but they are sending us a new one that will fit.  They apologized a ton for the sizing and are doing what is needed to make it right. A class act.  I will give mine to a friend who is smaller - much - than I am and always covets my race shirts.  She really covets my medals but no deal there.

Then we checked in to the hotel - no problem that we were early. All weekend I kept telling them it was up to them what we did because so much of the time was taken up with my race.  We all agreed a beach visit would be nice and headed to Crescent Beach State Park.  There was plenty of parking although it was expensive ($6.50) a piece.  But it was heavenly. It wasn't too hot, in fact I was a little cool. We read and talked and MJ napped.  Heaven!

Next up was the big decision of where to eat supper.  We ended up at the Lobster Shack which wasn't crowded (where was everyone?) and wonderful.  I always get a lobster roll so no surprise there.  We split a whoopie pie which was to die for.  But the best thing was the view and sound of the ocean as we  were eating.  Pure delight.

Then we goofed around and sat in the rock chair in front of the light house before making one more stop.....

......at this place.  Next up: the actual race.

Three Things Thursday......Maybe

1. Last Saturday night we drove quite a ways to see a student of mine in a play. It was a long way to go but so worth it.  It was a great play with a lot of kids in it and well done. My student was Chip and did such a good job.  Once she knew we were there (after intermission) she was so excited!  She loved that we came and it made me feel good that I made the effort and took the time. Sometimes it's the small things.

The last time I ran in Portland (I think) was also my last

marathon.  

2.  I got a new camera today.  It was a pain.  I'm still not sold on the whole extended warranty thing yet I got another one with the new camera.  I would have had to buy the camera today and I only had to pay the difference.  I am rough on cameras but I do use them a lot.  Tomorrow I will have to play with the new one and make sure I know how to use it BEFORE I GO TO MAINE THIS WEEKEND!  Why am I going to Maine this weekend? To run in the Shipyard Half Marathon.  It looks like a great race, a well organized race and a fun race but racing (running in my case) 13.1 miles in July???  My friends going with me are more excited than I am and that's because they're not running it! I must say when I look at the course map I think I remember why I signed up for it.  Fun, AJH, have fun. Don't worry about your time!

The course looks pretty sweet.  I'm all about the scenery.

3. Today I ran at home after sleeping rather late. Sleeping late takes a big chunk out of your day. Then I  went to Burlington and biked on the bike path and causeway which I always enjoy!  Tomorrow morning I'll try to get one more swim in this week and then I am done until Sunday and the half.

4. Did I mention that there will be food trucks after the race?  And one of the trucks is a cupcake truck? I think my excitement is building!

Running in a New Place

Today while my oil my car's oil was being changed I ran.  Usually I bike but I have had  a couple good days of bike rides and only one run so run I did.  I have run parts of the route I took when I ran the Maple Half in May but not all of it.  I loved running it even though it was muggy at 8:00 a.m.  I always like running in new places and this is the second time this week I have done that.  Plus I love getting my run in rather than just sitting in the waiting room.  I've been on this road on my bike many times but I saw new things perhaps because of my oh so slow speed.

I also went swimming this morning and man oh man was it busy.  A lady got into my lane and kept swimming right at me.  Rather nerve wracking.  She never said a word or asked about being there.  About 5 women appeared together and just took over the side I was on.  I was all set to get out but she irritated me so I stayed in longer to not give it up to her sooner.  I know I am a horrible person.

So here it is in pictures (no surprise) although sub par ones from my phone.

This covered bridge replaced a previous one. It has

lost some of it's charm but at least they replaced

it with another covered bridge.

I was going to run to the Morgan Horse Farm but I was having

such a good run I went quite a bit farther on a road I recently

discovered on my bike.

I love sheep and there were lots to see.

Yesterday I got to stop for a drawbridge. Today I got to see a

train.  I didn't have to stop for it but still enjoyed it.