Weekend Recap ~ Tri-ing & Cheering

My weekend was kicked off with a bright and early wake up call for the Watermans Half IM tri on Saturday. We carpooled with Steph and got lost trying to get out of the city. Luckily we spotted a car with two tri bikes on-top and figured they were going to the same race and just decided to follow them! That was until they were going the wrong direction and making U-turns... I thought to myself .... you dumb asses ...but as we got closer to the car it looked like Lauren's bike, and sure enough it was Lauren and Phil. They were lost too! After the debacle of getting out of the city with 295 being closed, we finally made it to the race site in Indian Head MD with plenty of time.

Team Awesome!

I was in a relay team, doing the run leg, so I had lots of time to sit around and relax before my leg actually started. Steph did the swim leg and was super duper fast and was one of the first people out the water!

Great Swim

Jason was on the bike in no time and off he road to enjoy the 56 miles of hills. Steph and I waited around the transition area and cheered on the rest of our friends as they came into T1. Then there was just a lot of waiting around until Jason returned.

Good Job on the Bike

Jas got back to transition earlier than expected and off I went running as I fumbled with my watch. By the time I started the run it was hot and sunny. The course was hilly with a surprise wooded part that I loved!!! My watch died on me and I just ran by feel so I was nice and relaxed.

Yippy, it's finally my turn!

Once we finished we stuck around and watched our friends finish their races! It was a great day and I had so much fun! Although I should have put sun screen on because I got pretty red.

So happy I'm able to do this with my Husband

 

Good Job everyone!

Later that night we went out for a friends b-day, but did not make it long because Jas and I were both so tired from biking/running and the sun!

Sunday morning Jas and I rode our bikes down to about 7th and Independence to watch the Army 10 miler.

3.2.1 ....Cheer

It was fun watching a race and I think my arm and fingers actually got sore from ringing my cow bell non-stop for over an hour and something!

More Cow Bell

It was cool to watch the lead runner with all the cop cars around him, then watch the flood of non stop runners behind.

Lead Runner

Cars before the lead runner

The course looked crowded and I somehow managed to spot Beth and Allison, but didn't see anyone else out there, sorry. But, great job to all the runners!!

Today, I am off work and being all around lazy!

And now I know what Kiwi does while I'm at work!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! And awesome job to everyone who raced!!

Full Race report on the run leg to come tomorrow :)

Being a Spectator at the Army 10

 

This Sunday is the Army 10 miler. I have ran this race several times, including the time that they extended the course because there was a suspicious package under the 14th street bridge. I remember thinking, good god my splits are off and this seems longer than 10 miles.... well because it was!! Anyhow, this year I somehow missed the registration date and lost my chances of running this race since it sells out so quickly.

 

So, I'm doing something differently this year .... I will be a spectator!! This is something that I usually don't get a chance to do because well I don't like to miss out on races. But, I think it's going to be a lot of fun!!!! I plan on standing at 7th and Independence Ave which will put me at about mile 5.6 something and the mile 7 marker on the way back. I will have a cow bell in hand and plan to do a lot of cheering for all my friends who are running. Hopefully I will be able to spot everyone as they zooming by me.

 

It will also give me a chance to see what being a spectator is all about. Sometimes I think that my support crew has it harder than me with all the running around they do during one of my races to see me at different points. I'm still undecided as to what is harder, doing a tri or being a spectator at a tri.

 

My support crew:

 

 

Anyhow if you're free this weekend and want to come cheer with me, just let me know! If you are racing this weekend, good luck and kick some butt out on your course!

Waterman's Goals

So I'm pretty excited for this weekend. I will be heading down to Indian Head, MD for the Waterman's Half IM. This race is exciting to me for several reasons:

 

1. It's only an hour from my house, which means no hotels and maybe a little extra sleep! The more sleep the better!!!

 

2. It's a small race with about 150 people. Small races are all around usually always nice. Plus it's on a Saturday which means I might actually be able to enjoy my Saturday night without having to wake up and race on Sunday.

 

3. It'll be my first time being at a half IM event. Even though I am only doing this as a relay team, it will give me a chance to see what the half distance is all about in a nice small setting. But, I have a small feeling I am already in love, so yeah.

 

4. It's also my first time being a part of a tri relay team. I am doing lucky leg #3... 13.1 miles of running fun :) Steph is doing the swim leg and my M is doing the bike leg.

 

 

So what about goals you ask?

 

Well, my main goal coming into this race is too have fun!!! I will be sitting around for a few hours before I actually start my leg so I hope I'm able to cheer on my friends on the swim and the bike. The run course it self looks pretty hilly and even though I have trained on plenty of hills, taking the two weeks off running surely doesn't help me going into this race (well maybe it helped my back, but not my legs). Neither does racing 13.1 last Sunday. My legs are still recovering from that race and I hope they feel 100% in 2 days.

 

Since I will be sitting around for so long before my leg starts I want to make sure I nail down my nutrition before the run. I don't want to have stomach issues like I did at the rock n' roll. Nothing is worse than running with stomach issues!

 

I would also like to stay positive the entire run and remember I am out here to have fun! Everyone else on the run will be a lot more tired than me, so I would also like to support the other runners out there any way I can.

 

Last but not least, I'm not trying to PR on this course. There are just to many factors against me for this run and I don't want to set myself up for disappointment. At the same time I don't want to let my team down either. I think with the hilly course I'll take 1:55 give or take a few seconds or minutes.

 

Happy Thursday All!!